Self Imposed Sanctions just released
I'm getting from the various media is that the punishment fits the crime, as the crime is described by UofM. If the NCAA were to feel that the crime was worse than UofM does, then they might find the punishment a little weak, BUT, it would be pretty hypocritical of them to find Michigan more heavily at fault, given how helpful, forthcoming, and resolute in fixing things Michigan has been, so this'll probably get accepted.
Until it happens anymore. Anything can happen and will.
for trolls, sparty's and the Freep's editors.
Yeah, but it is also a day of desperation for them. This could be their last legitimate chance for years.
1. The Freep dug their own grave with this one.
2. The Trolls are always trollin'
3. The Sparty fanbase knows they are screwed. The goal was for this report to take down Rich Rodriguez, and it failed to do so.
what are you talking about? It's over now.
We go in front of the NCAA for a kabuki dance in August and then we start kicking ass shortly thereafter.
No More Jihad!!!
However, Rosenberg is probably still punching dolphins.
There are two perspectives here, both equally valid.
1. This sucks. It's always tough to see the program dragged through the mud, and someone was clearly in the wrong at some point. We need to take our lumps and deal with it, and we have.
2. This is great. Whoever put this document together did a great job of attempting (because we know things will still be skewed in the media) to clarify the fact that while there was some wrongdoing, the extent and nature of the infractions wasn't anywhere close to the armageddon-inducing level implied by the media in the first place.
The sanctions suggested seem highly appropriate, and hopefully the NCAA sees it that way as well. I have no idea what their perspective on this is, but attempting to look at the situation from as neutral a position as possible (admittedly not all that neutral), Brandon has come off as completely sincere and honest throughout the entire process. His work so far has been invaluable.
/2cents.
LOL at practice gate. All along, i've been one of the least worried fans about this. And, I remain so.
And, despite what message board trolls might do (seriously, we give a rip what douchnozzles on MLive and RCBM say? We're not all Tater, yo) , this is a good day for the school and program. We're a larger step closer to the finish line of this issue. Brandon, himself, called it a day of relief. The AD has the program and the football coach's back on this.
I could less about these sanctions. And this scandal. It's one big fucking yawn
what are they saying? I'm not going to waste my time with them, but I imagine they're all bitching and moaning about how M let itself off so light, and MSU would never do anything like this (except, you know, way, way worse stuff, 15 years ago), and we should be stripped of half our scholarships forever or something.
After a few minutes of poking, it seems like they're taking the same position anyone would when a rival school announces something like this.
- The self imposed penalties are a joke.
- Rich Rod is a snake because he originally claimed to have done nothing wrong and now admits his errors freely.
- Brandon is a smooth-talking spin doctor that is making this sound as nice as possible.
- Jokes about how Brandon is and should be confused about what competitive advantage is, given our product on the field the past two years.
Nothing surprising, and I can't really blame them. It's exactly what I would expect, especially from Sparty.
So you couldn't care less. But yes, well said.
/pedantic
We will beat you with one arm tied behind our back...
...that in the University's response they shortened "Coach Rodriguez" to "Rodriguez" and not "RichRod". That would have been cooler.
This is completely unrelated but lol at the Sporting News report on this issue where under the You might also like, it has the report on CC Sabathia being traded to the Brewers...because yes that is related to this story.
The essence of UM's response is clear: There was no institutional loss of control, RR did not foster an atmosphere of non-compliance, and players were not being abused in any way, shape, or form. In other words, Rosenberg and Snyder and the Freep are completely full of shit.
Whether the NCAA will see it this way is obviously the most important thing going forward, but UM's response puts the management of the Freep in an interesting position. That proud publication invested a lot of resources in publishing their allegations, and now the target of those allegations has basically said, "You wasted your time on this." No newspaper with the legacy and history of the Freep wants to be told that publicly, because it directly criticizes its credibility as a news source. I'm sure the Freep is already drafting its angry response to UM, and what I'm curious about is whether it will contact the NCAA directly to try to justify its allegations. Will the Freep double down? Will it ratchet up its adversarial role?
I noticed the Freep has absolutely no mention of the line about the actual allegations being a "far cry" from what was originally stated in the media.
While it won't save his sorry excuse for a newspaper, Rosenberg got what he ultimately wanted from this article: he's now a regular columnist for Sports Illustrated. He has a truly national audience and will likely have a long career. UM and RichRod were just grist for his mill.
As he is a UM grad himself, it demonstrates just how self-serving he really is. Nothing and no one, not even a tale spun out of the most meager of yarn, is out of bounds. He is contemptible.
EDIT: And if he ever shows up at a meeting of the AAUM, I will personally piss in his drink.
When I didn't renew my SI subscription last month, I sent them a letter telling them that the fact they were running his columns was the SPECIFIC reason I no longer wanted my subscription.
Nice gesture, but knowing how SI has treated Michigan over the years, I'd doubt they're really worried.
Just give him the ol swizzle stick.
1. I don't think the August '09 story won him a job at SI.com. I think he'd been a contributor before.
2. I wish Rosenberg success at SI.com, in the hope that he leaves Michigan, for good, and spends the rest of his career writing about Australian-rules football and French Open tennis.
Michael Rosenberg has broken the story of rampant cheating in the world of tractor-pull competitions....
It can be said that Michigan is now running the cleanest program in college football. The scrutiny to which they have been subjected demands it. It's sorta like the theory that an airline which has just had a crash is the safest to fly. Anyway, this will make it even better when RR's vision fully takes shape in the form of a National Championship-caliber team.
We just got paroled and are trying not to get shipped back up the river. Surprised?
The thing that scares me most is that UofM is using a law firm based out of Alabama. Don't they know they're going to get sabotaged with this firm's obvious SEC ties?
/sarcasm
What would SEC schools do in this situation.
Those penalties should more than suffice in the eyes of the NCAA.
The NCAA still has the right to throw whatever sanctions at us they deem appropriate, right? When will that decision be made? In the fall?
I agree though, it seems unlikely they will hit us harder than we've already hit ourselves.
The NCAA still has to "punish" Michigan football. The belief is that they will accept Michigan's self punishment as enough, because presumably Michigan did their homework in understanding what the infractions committee will accept (plus the council that M hired used to be the head of that committee).
My take is the NCAA will stamp these and add on a few minor actions for good measure. I think the University has done a good job of selecting appropriate sanctions to the violations, and leaving the NCAA some room to add their two cents on top.
This is politics, you want to be open and self-accountable, but the NCAA needs to be able to look like they are in charge. Looking back at some of the precedent cases, the NCAA added on a few censures in each case. Rich, and others will probably get a letter from the NCAA, some requirements around remedial NCAA compliance training, etc. I don't expect scholarships, or anything major, but we have to expect the token gestures of oversight.
It's also possible to argue that this is a model for a self-investigation/response, and the NCAA will want to encourage other schools facing allegations to do similarly thorough jobs. So no additional sanctions is possible.
The University hasn't disputed any allegations. The punishment for practice hours seems to be well established. The reduction in QCs seems measured. I think the only battleground for the NCAA to come back at Michigan is whether a competitive advantage arose as a result of the infractions.
Much Ado About Nothing, this whole fiasco is it.
Can we now,PLEASE return to the business of playing football.
So in the end, all this Free Press war against Michigan was for 65 hours of extra practice in 2 years? This is like me asking for a divorce because my wife bought too much booze for my birthday party. Somebody from Free Press must really hate Michigan or RR.
You can practice too much under the rules. There's no such thing as too much booze.
I know "there's no such thing as too much booze", but my point was that if you hate somebody you can pick a fight for no reason. You just came up with pitiful excuses and also try to exaggerate thinks making them look bigger than they are.
Ok, it's pretty much over now. Can we please move on now and get back to, you know, football?
I know we are not out of the woods yet, as the NCAA still has to make it's decision and we have to live with the penalties. I just hope this puts us one step closer to moving on and past this. Just rip the band-aid off and move on. Please.
Iron Man with the winged helmet. Love it. What do you call him, the "Iron Wolverine"?
I was thinking of simply calling him Brandon Graham…
I do like "Iron Wolverine"
Perhaps he's made of Dilithium?? "Dilithium Wolverine"
No, no, "Brandon Graham" works just fine.
Kind of like when you have to write a 20 page essay at the end of the year - where you know the prof isn't gonna read it. I mean, I got to about page 40 and my eyes started to hurt, psh, like anyone's actually gonna read this...
Having read through both the UM and RR responses, I'm glad they have this all out in the open for anyone to read. If people do read the entirety of the responses, they'll see exactly how borderline some of these allegations really are (RR's response is more enlightening because he disputes allegations when, from memory, the University didn't dispute anything). Unfortunately, most will just read the headlines.
Personally, I found it hard not to read through the whole thing and not just laugh at some of the things considered violations by the NCAA:
- QC staff providing "coaching" because they responded when one of the QBs asked on the sideline what defense did you see on the last play rather than picking up the headset and asking Rod Smith
- Use of a foam football on a stick to simulate a snap during offseason voluntary skill development
- Qbs holding a taped towel in their hands when running footwork drills
It's also enlightening (and extremely frustrating) to read how these violations actually arose:
- the Sunday 1 hour mandatory lift was left off the detailed weekly schedule reviewed and agreed at the pre-season coaching offsite (attended by Labadie and compliance) because there were two shifts of lifting but then Labadie forgot to put it on the CARA form and compliance didn't call him on it
- the non-inclusion of the stretching on the CARA forms was agreed by compliance but only because they didn't know that (and didn't ask whether) part-time S&C staff not available to the entirety of the athletic department (ie the QCs) might be in attendance because they declined Barwis' invitation to observe an off-season S&C session
It seems awfully hard to put some of these things on RRs doorstep. I can't see the NCAA making the failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance charge against RR stick.
Way to go Freep. Having read most everything posted on the matter today can someone tell me what is the big deal? Go through any program with a fine tooth comb and tell me what you come up with. This situation is the product of a shitty paper and a few bitter former players. The practice hours hurts a bit but if we make bowl games over the next two years the impact should be some what negated. Now lets get back to returning UM to greatness.
As a life-long Michigan fan, as an alum, as someone who cares deeply for this University and its reputation, I never thought I'd see the day where Michigan Football would be put on probation. This is a sad, sad day.
I am glad David Brandon has responded to this in a very above-board, transparent way, and that's the only way to deal with it. And I think blaming the Free Press can only go so far, because obviously -something- was found, even if not to the extent they claimed, and we have to be punished for it. Yeah, it's minor, and yes, it's likely other schools do it and don't get caught, but that's not the point. The point is that Michigan has never been in this position before. And now we are. And I am not the only one who is extraordinarily disappointed in the Football staff, and the Athletic Department as a whole, that our previously unblemished record of NCAA compliance in football is now tarnished.
I hope Athletics has learned something from this, and I hope the proper protocols are put into place so that this NEVER happens again. And from the looks of things, that's exactly what they're doing.
I know you're a smart guy. I know that you have a long history with the University that we both love. I know that you've got a lot of historical information, and that you are also well informed on current events on this topic.
Do this; not for me, but for yourself... Read the Response prepared by Gene Marsh and Bill King at Lightfoot. It's about 70 pages. And read the Response by Rich Rodriguez authored by Scott Tompsett. It's slightly shorter. Skip the exhibits for the time being; just do the work on that first 130 pages or so. Read those reports, and then reflect on the gap -- the gulf, really -- between all of the inflamed statements of last August, and what really happened. You owe it to yourself, and to the football program to be at least that well informed.
I knew who you were replying to without having to see the post above. I'm going to read it myself now that it's available, thanks.