Rumeal Robinson Not Attending 1989 Reunion Sunday
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!")
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
Good.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
I totally agree with you. Sometimes it seems fans fail to see the human side of people who have made serious mistakes. He has to live with what he did, but he did his time.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
Rumeal is still under supervised release and would need to get permission to travel to Ann Arbor. Whatever the reason is for his not attending, it seems unlikely he could change his plans on short notice.
February 22nd, 2019 at 2:39 PM ^
That kind of thing can usually be resolved pretty easily, even on short notice. Would be nice to have him back.
February 22nd, 2019 at 5:51 PM ^
Sometimes. Sometimes it requires the written consent of a judge. That doesn't always happen quickly.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Larry has never made a single mistake in his life so he's allowed to judge the rest of us from on high.
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:37 PM ^
This is correct. My last name is actually Flanders.
February 22nd, 2019 at 10:16 PM ^
Haven't you seen the Hurricane Ned episode?
February 22nd, 2019 at 10:16 PM ^
Haven't you seen the Hurricane Ned episode?
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^
it could be worse. He could be Art Schlichter. . .
February 22nd, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
Robinson hit prolly the two biggest free throws in the history of the program
They might be the two biggest free throws in NCAA history. Has any other title game ended that way?
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.
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.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Pep is sitting in his XFL office reading your post like...
February 22nd, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
Unabomber, ann coulter?
February 23rd, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
One of these two would still be welcomed back with open arms. The other is a female ;)
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
I met Rumeal Robinson in 1991 - he was the nicest athlete I have ever met in my life. And I am a Ohio State fan.
February 22nd, 2019 at 6:04 PM ^
which explains not using proper grammar...."And I am AN Ohio State fan."
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.
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.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
U r 2 old to say “prolly”
February 22nd, 2019 at 11:55 PM ^
I have tremendous respect for you as a poster on this blog. Let's get that out of the way first.
But please...probably* is not that hard to spell or remember. The use of "prolly" is lazy. Let's not do that.
February 23rd, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^
This grammar nerd is totally ok with "prolly," not that anybody cares.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
Nice cameo on Blacklist last week Larry.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 5:53 PM ^
One of those financial crimes was stealing his adoptive mother's home and her not finding out about it until the note on it had been sold multiple times and she was evicted.
White collar crimes have victims too.
February 22nd, 2019 at 6:48 PM ^
yes. i wonder if anywhere in my previous comment i acknowledged that what he did was bad.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
This sounds like a crime.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:23 PM ^
Like you wouldn't have done the same.
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:04 PM ^
User name checks out
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
Oh, it absolutely was. The only thing I took was a UM lapel pin. I figured he didn't need it. I thought stealing the B1G coach of the year trophy would probably be noticed.
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:21 PM ^
Friedergate!
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Very sad Rumeal will not attend.
He Won the NC.
He made mistakes, but deserves to be honored with HIS Team.
February 22nd, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
Hopefully they have a good video tribute with many highlights of Rumeal to make up for him not being there in person.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
I'm not giving him any credit at all - I just loved the Bo stories.
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
I dont think any one is going to give Rumeal Robinson credit for the rest of his life.
February 22nd, 2019 at 2:00 PM ^
He got credit for time served.
February 22nd, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
Dude relax, he's just relaying to you what he heard on the radio this morning.
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.
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.
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.
February 22nd, 2019 at 3:24 PM ^
This was also the moment where he inadvertently saddled us with the "Michigan Man" ethos that almost tore the Football Program apart. Interesting how bittersweet some of that time would ultimately prove to be in hindsight.