Rumeal Robinson Not Attending 1989 Reunion Sunday

Submitted by BursleyHall82 on February 22nd, 2019 at 12:04 PM

According to this story in the Wolverine (LINK), Rumeal Robinson will not be joining his 1989 teammates on Sunday as they're honored at the MSU game. Robinson apparently has a "prior engagement."

I thought that "prior engagement" might have been prison, but it turns out he was released in 2016. Considering his crimes (among other things, he swindled his mom out of her house), it would have been interesting to see the reaction among the crowd if he had shown up.

Speaking of the 1989 reunion, Sam Webb had several members of the team on his show today (including Terry Mills, Sean Higgins and Mark Hughes), and they told some great stories. The best (which we've heard before) was about Bo's speech to the team after Frieder was booted out. The way Bo went around the room and called out each player personally was awesome. ("Higgins, if I hear one more word about you wanting to transfer, you can bring the transfer paper to my desk and I'll sign it on the spot!")

In reply to by Larry Appleton

mGrowOld

February 22nd, 2019 at 12:13 PM ^

Respectfully disagree.  Robinson hit prolly the two biggest free throws in the history of the program and some argue the most pressured shots (a true 1 and 1) in the tourny's history.

He paid his debt to society and was released.  He's prolly embarrassed and ashamed and doesnt want the public scrutiny but he definitely belongs there with the rest of the team.

I hope he changes his mind and attends.

Chalky White

February 22nd, 2019 at 6:07 PM ^

Rumeal Robinson was homeless. A couple took him in. He said thanks by swindling the woman out of her house. I'm sorry but that debt can't be repaid. This wasn't just some misunderstanding. It takes a special kind of scumbag to do something like that.

What's Good Fo…

February 23rd, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^

The closest thing to it was in 1957. North Carolina and Kansas were in triple overtime (!) and UNC's Joe Quigg was fouled with UNC down by one and six seconds on the clock. He sank both free throws to give UNC a one-point lead. But there were six second left, so Kansas's final play was less of a desperation shot than Seton Hall's in 1989 (Quigg broke up a pass to seal the win).

In 1953, Indiana won by one point, a free throw, but that was made with 27 seconds left on the clock.

Ibow

February 22nd, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^

I totally agree. He did his time, paid his price, let him move on with his life. Which, I wish a life that would have included a visit to AA this weekend. It would have been heart warming to see the fans & his former coach & teamates give him a great homecoming. 

stephenrjking

February 22nd, 2019 at 3:33 PM ^

He's flawed. What he did was unconscionable. I have no idea if he has "changed" or not, whatever that means.

But he's a Michigan man. Not all "Michigan men" are saints. Michigan is a family. He's a part of it, an important one. We don't cut off our own. 

I understand him not coming. I hope one day he returns and is welcomed.

Don

February 22nd, 2019 at 3:44 PM ^

"He's prolly embarrassed and ashamed and doesnt want the public scrutiny"

None of us has the slightest information indicating whether that's true or not. Some people are sociopaths who are not capable of shame or remorse, regardless of the circumstance.

Considering he intentionally defrauded the woman who took him in as a youngster, I'd put him in that category, but that's just my opinion. The real question is whether or not he's truly remorseful. None of us knows.

LSAClassOf2000

February 22nd, 2019 at 5:24 PM ^

Agreed. I would have liked to see Robinson there as well. I still remember watching those shots fall and it would have been fun to maybe even here him speak a bit about it. 

We can talk about what he did, and yes, what he did was serious, but he is still part of that 1989 team and should be included. 

CLord

February 22nd, 2019 at 8:50 PM ^

Could not disagree more.  Dude hit huge shots, that is utterly trivial relative to what the moral offenses he committed, in proving himself to be a pretty disgusting human being.  Doing time does not net him out to zero or erase his past.  All doing time does is afford him the chance to now go out and prove he has changed and do right by the people he's wronged.  Has he?  If so then cool.  If not, then no thanks.  Seeing Rumeal applauded by Michigan would be even more disgraceful than watching Tressel being revered by OSU fans after he was disgraced for cheating.

No thanks.  I like to think that we stand for a little more than blind idolatry based upon sporting achievements akin to what we've seen at Ped State and Ohio State among others.

BroadneckBlue21

February 23rd, 2019 at 11:14 AM ^

The moral indignation—so Penn State had this thing happen that nobody currently there was part of, yet younger a joy out of calling them Ped State because it makes you feel superior, morally. We can also see that you feel intellectually superior by illogically playing out the Kaepernick situation by creating some hypotheticals that fit your worldview. For some reason you equate Group 2 as being made of black people and others, but you forget to mention that Group 1 also is made up of all ethnicities. This is just your way of moving the argument away from what makes you uncomfortable—the ability to focus on the big fault in critiquing Kaepernick:

Your inability to even address his concerns as he has stated them and your desire to move the argument to what outsiders feel he is doing. What you or me or anyone else “feels” or “thinks” his protest is doing—you are not addressing what it was for, in his own words. You want the narrative to be about your interpretation of his actions, not his actual actions and his cause. You’re making about the very outraged white conservative culture who hate dealing with systemic effects of racism.  You try to support your intellect with “black people think he’s wrong, too.” Ouch. Closeted gay Republican Congress folks have openly supported anti-LGBT laws, then get found in a bathroom stall with another man. But this kind of example for just shifts to the topic of your flawed logic, away from the point.

To tell a black man who says he is protesting racism that “No you are not, you are protesting the military” is an act of attempting to dehumanize and invalidate that black man’s argument. Since that action is invalidating a black man’s argument about how black men are treated, you actually are being racist. Anyone, including a black person, can be racist against a marginalized community—even if they are part of one. Racism has nothing to do with only your feelings towards color. Do not equate basic prejudice with racism. Your actions and all of the anti-Kaepernick responses are to nullify his position on what he’s fighting, actually supporting his argument of systemic inability to hear out and investigate the empirical evidence of inequity and inequality.   So for folks like you, you hold some kind of moral and intellectual “pedestal” over others going forward.

There’s no reason to hold Penn State now to such a degree of mockery for the sins of their past, but you do. Yet you cannot seem to understand how your holding on to a stereotype and creating an irrational hatred for an entire set of folks. And you cannot fathom how people hold on to stereotypes of black men and create a narrative that keeps them being prejudiced against more than the majority. You’re doing exactly that kind of speech-, thought-, and physical acts towards Penn State while denying Kaep’s assertions that people do act these ways towards black men. 

And I wonder how you feel about Trump’s despicable behavior in contrast to what Rumeal has done. Or how outraged are you by Jussie  but not the white nationalist Coast Guard with a hit list based on folks who have a different view of how American laws are enforced or impacting citizens based on ideologies and demographics.

Northfielder

February 23rd, 2019 at 7:39 PM ^

I usually agree with your takes MgrowOld, but not on this one.

To swindle the woman who took you in when you were a child out of her home is a special kind of terrible. You don't just get a "time served" exemption for that kind of shit.

Great college basketball player, terrible human being.

 

In reply to by Larry Appleton

Denard In Space

February 22nd, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^

robinson's crimes, from what i've read, are very serious but are in the realm of financial bullshit and lying about that bullshit. i won't get into politics, but i would hope we can all agree that already-wealthy people literally do this kind of thing all the time without any consequences. he was a young dude that came into money and fame, but couldn't sustain and manage it, and did a lot of shitty stuff to try and stay where he was.  he's not a cannibal nor is he a saint, but dude served his time.  what he is, indisputably, is a michigan legend.  

Ihatebux

February 22nd, 2019 at 12:16 PM ^

I had a buddy that was a student mgr.   After Frieder got fired we went in his office and were checking out stuff in his desk.  I looked thru all of recruiting files.   It was interesting reading about all of the big name players that he didn't get.

 

 

Jasper

February 22nd, 2019 at 1:06 PM ^

No disrespect, OP, but the way some people talk you'd think that Bo sunk the game-winning free throws.

I think he provided good leadership at a challenging time. I also believe that he gets too much credit for what happened.

andidklein

February 22nd, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^

Bo gets credit for kicking Frieder to the curb. There is no way that team would have won the NC with him still there. By removing Frieder and putting Fisher in, it changed the dynamic of the team. They really had nothing to lose, and no pressure on them.

MGoFoam

February 22nd, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^

Frieder was the worst Tourney coach in the history of Tourney coaches. Sooo many high-quality teams squeaked by in the first round and lost in rounds 2 or 3. I was there for the Gary Grant/Roy Tarpley/Richard Relford/Butch Wade years. Grrr.

UMinSF

February 22nd, 2019 at 2:14 PM ^

Bo was uniquely positioned to say what he said. He turned down the big money from A&M out of loyalty to Michigan.

He also did exactly what an AD is supposed to do - show leadership. He threw his support behind his new coach, the players, and the entire Michigan community.

IMO he indeed deserves credit. He didn't play the games, but he played a role in their success.