SEC Shorts Takes on the Signs, Points Out How Stupid it Is
October 25th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
Not sure I'd use the phrase "How stupid it is" as much as "How stupid Stalions was"
October 25th, 2023 at 9:24 AM ^
I'd use the phrase "how stupid it is" considering how out in the open this supposed vast and highly technical covert operation was.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
Honestly, the idea that Stalions was stupid doesn't fit at all.
Either he didn't know it was a rule (less likely) or knew he wasn't breaking one (more likely).
If the SEC shorts clip was meant to dunk on Michigan, then I think it has done exactly the opposite. The video was hilarious, one of the best things I've seen on YouTube about this entire drama.
Of course, what is actually true is only marginally related to how this will actually play out. It seems obvious that the leakers and squeakers are telegraphing what the planned end result already is.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:48 AM ^
Yeah, I actually think it makes Michigan look better.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:51 AM ^
So much so that if it was anyone else producing it, I would have thought it was intentionally designed to make Michigan look better.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:54 AM ^
The SEC Shorts team is pretty cool. I would put them in the "dunk on NCAA" camp above anything else. Since I like to follow them, I'm glad they have taken the preferred position.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:23 AM ^
The leakers and squeakers are haters. They will push their agenda to try to achieve that goal. It does not mean it's going to happen. Long way to go here. If due process is not allowed in this instance, then that will expose the NCAA for sure, since most decisions take years, despite wiretap evidence and transcripts. But you can see how stupid people are in their rush to judgement, and I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of people very wrong in their opinions. This skit is hilarious. And lets get the student section going in the OSU game with 35,000 cell phones all lighting up, and then the rest of the stadium. Total FU. I hope it gets done.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:30 AM ^
Speaking of stupid: I noticed that a number of news stories stated that he (Stalions) graduated from West Point. So many journalists today are alarmingly ignorant. He is a Marine. He would have graduated from the Naval Academy. And that means he definitely is not dumb.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:44 AM ^
I don't believe for a second that Stalions knew that what he was doing was against the rules. He's a former Marine, which means that he has a lot of Marine and former Marine friends. The Marines pride themselves on getting the job done, but abhor actions that could make the Corps look bad. Stalions would not undertake dishonorable actions because he'd not be able to face his friends again if he created headlines like "Former Marine Acts dishonorably."
Was he gung-ho and willing to give 110% to help his team? Sure. Was he seeking even the tiniest additional advantage to help him do his job? Clearly. Was he risking a headline that would tarnish the Corps? Clearly he didn't think so, because he didn't try to hide any of his actions.
He wasn't dumb, he wasn't careless, he just didn't think that what he was doing was against the rules, because he had a reason to be inclined to interpret those vague rules in a way that allow him to get on with his mission.
And it isn't clear that he was wrong.
Full disclosure: I'm not a Marine or former Marine myself, but I worked with Marines during my Navy career and have worked with a number of former Marines since then.
October 25th, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
I agree with this take. I think he was very familiar with the rules and thought that this was a loophole he could take advantage of which was not explicitly banned by the NCAA. Given the front page posts, I think you could - and I expect the University will - make a strong case for it.
The only gray area is if the scouts were compensated for their work which could make them agents of the University, whether anyone else outside of Stalions knew about it or not.
October 25th, 2023 at 11:28 AM ^
He knew what he was doing was against the rules. Jesus people get your head out of the sand
October 25th, 2023 at 1:23 PM ^
When did he tell you this (because him telling you is the only way you could possibly know what you claim to know)?
Jesus, people, stop making these claims of fact without supporting them with evidence.
October 26th, 2023 at 10:27 AM ^
I've been watching these for a long time. I think they're just designed to be "funny because it's true" based on what's going on in college football, not really to harm anyone in particular
October 25th, 2023 at 9:52 AM ^
What if against Ohio we just have the entire student section film the OSU bench the entire game?
October 25th, 2023 at 10:08 AM ^
We should send them our playbook, announce that we have done so, and then go out and get up 40 on them through 3, anyway,with backups extending the lead in the 4th.
63–10 sounds about right.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:11 AM ^
Side note, I now want a "M Espionage Video Dept." T-shirt. Has to have the back wording too about blocking the camera.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
Very funny. What is the Mizzou bit at the end?
October 25th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^
whenever any school does anything, Mizzou gets punished somehow
been going on for a loooong time
October 25th, 2023 at 9:30 AM ^
They deserved to get punished for wearing Michigan’s block M on their helmets for a period of time. Thankfully, they don’t do that anymore.
Although I have to admit, they’ll always have my sympathy for Nebraska’s illegal kick and Colorado’s game winning TD on 5th down and goal. Two plays that happened in the exact same end zone at about the same spot.
October 25th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
That gave both opponents split national titles. Crazy that.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Mizzou is also UofM lol, just not the right one.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
I think because people confuse their block M with ours. At least that was how I viewed it.
Also, how about a spoiler alert?!
October 25th, 2023 at 9:39 AM ^
Funny story, a dude I know went to Missouri and had a (Missouri) M coat from when he went there. He moved to Lansing and was walking the campus, knowing nothing about UM-MSU rivalry. One day, while wearing the coat, people were flipping him off and telling him to fuck off his entire walk. Dumbfounded during the walk, he later found out why.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
"What is the Mizzou bit at the end?"
It's the confluence of two things. Mizzou also uses a block M, and they are having a very good season in the SEC (for them), which SEC Shorts is comically labeling "suspicious."
Clever.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
PERFECT.
Called us out as the most incompetent cheaters of all time and managed to make the NCAA look even dumber than everyone already thinks they are.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^
As a criminal defense atorney I had to laugh at the public venmo line. The level of dumb is amazing sometimes.
I don't think this guy was dumb and clearly he knew the rule. Just speculation, but I think he was under the belief he had found a loophole to the system.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:28 AM ^
Given the bits and pieces out there I’d bet yes he thought he found a loophole and he also didn’t tell his superiors what he was doing. Running this thru his personal venmo, credit card, and ticket buying accounts screams a guy trying to do this on his own…but no one outside of Ann Arbor is interested in hearing that
October 25th, 2023 at 9:50 AM ^
He was also a super fan for years, doing whatever he could on his own dime, before he was hired in May of 2022.
In fact, the bulk of the accusations come from times when he wasn't even on staff.
It's even possible that he knew he would get hit for it eventually, but intentionally did it in a way that screamed lone wolf so that he could fall on his NCAA sword when the time came.
That's the sort of 4D chess that I would expect from a guy with his background.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:14 AM ^
I think the question that people have and that even MGoBlog “insiders” have been wondering is who is funding all of this, and will the NCAA “follow the money?”
It is starting to look like Stalions was providing travel costs, and lodging to the people he is sending to the games - These are not cheap games either, I assume that mid-field, lower-level tickets to the SEC Championship Game (or any P5 conference championship game) is not cheap.
October 25th, 2023 at 11:32 AM ^
I would think its far more likely he had some boosters helping him out than the football staff was giving him money - especially given the NCAA's propensity to investigate Michigan for the slightest things. But we obviously don't know yet
October 25th, 2023 at 10:26 AM ^
Yeah, let's not hire anymore superfans please....
October 25th, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
I don't think he was dumb either. What this screams of, to me, is that this superfan who dedicated much of his adult life in the last few years to getting involved with Michigan football was hired to do a job scouting opponents. Probably even breaking down their film to look for tendencies to exploit. He got an idea of how to get even more film, go above and beyond, and impress his bosses and took it too far. I wouldn't cover my tracks either if I didnt think i was breaking a rule and no one had asked me to do it, but instead I was just trying to be resourceful and get an advantage for my team. Devin Gardner described Stallions as a superfan when he was playing. This guy is a little obssessed with Michigan football and his story of coming to work here reflects that.
The incompetence here is evidence that it wasn't a grand conspiracy, IMO. If I hired you and said hey look i want you to do something borderline illegal and steal their signs, I'd probably tell you to not be obvious about it. Id maybe even help you cover your tracks. It's not an elaborate scheme. It's a staffer doing his job wrong. Fire him and move on.
October 25th, 2023 at 11:34 AM ^
The internet sleuths of this are running parallel to people who think The Rothschilds and the Illuminati are leaving clues to their conspiracies everywhere so people can crack the code. If Michigan wanted to run a spy ring, I think they would be far far more clandestine that what's going on here. This was sloppy as hell
October 25th, 2023 at 12:31 PM ^
This. That is why I think this dude thought he had found a work around. He was really not trying to hide anything, my opinion he believed he was taking advantage of a poorly written bylaw. A underlying principle in law is that the language has to be specific enough so an individual can read and understand what is prohibited. Laws are challenged on vaguness all the time, this seems to be no different.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:42 AM ^
Objection! Speculation.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^
This really exemplifies how horrible of a criminal Stalions is. He left ALL the paper trails. Unreal.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
The easiest explanation for that isn't "he was incompetent" but rather "he thought what he was doing was fine." Why hide a paper trail when you don't think you need to hide a paper trail?
October 25th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
Honestly at this point we actually still don't know if what he was doing was not fine.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:54 AM ^
Good point. Maybe moving forward we shouldn't hire superfans to be on staff, though (according to DG).
October 25th, 2023 at 10:13 AM ^
This is exactly what I believe. It was so out in the open that they didn't try to hide or cover up anything, because they (or he, Stalions) believed it was OK. At that point then, it becomes the compliance department's issue, they are supposed to interpret the rules. I wonder if anyone even consulted them. Regardless, if this team is as good as we think it is, we are going to have to do it the old fashioned way and beat the crap out of the rest of our opponents to show that "code cracking" is continuing in real time.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:46 AM ^
I get your point but "criminal?" Nothing he did was illegal in any way and it's perfectly fine outside of some ancient, cost-saving rule (and most do it in the NCAA anyway).
October 25th, 2023 at 9:52 AM ^
Poor phrasing I suppose, I was simply pointing out that if this guy did choose to go the criminal route in any scenario, he would definitely get caught. Just more of a lack of awareness, long term planning.
October 25th, 2023 at 10:10 AM ^
Oh god... please don't tell me 1994 is considered "ancient" now. I can't pre-date ancient.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:19 AM ^
Cute. I'll allow it.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:23 AM ^
Full agreement. Let's not take this too seriously.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
Thanks. Very creative.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:36 AM ^
In the long run none of this will matter. This is what I'll be doing, for my own sanity, and as a giant middle finger to the B1G & NCAA:
1. This is my last season watching Michigan football. I'll support them from afar, but the twitterfication and spineless unsubstantiated PR takedown of our team, and Michigan's silence on the matter makes me sick (I know, they aren't supposed to comment - fuck that).
2. JJ McCarthy is probably the best QB we'll ever see at Michigan. Him, Jim, Mikey, etc ALL deserve so much better than this. They're legitimately the best UM team I've ever seen, and this is isn't a homer take to say that has absolutely nothing to do with "signal stealing." JJ stunts on these bitches bc their defenses aren't NFL caliber and he is.
3. This is the last season of true college football and the NCAA is actively trying to rob Michigan of a title- it's the start of the entertainment league bullshit and I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing Taylor Swift showing up to boxes at Bama games.
4. The sport isn't good for anyone anymore. Not the fans, not the players who have to see their love for football be violated by begutted. 40 year olds on Twitter.
You'll probably be happy that I'm not gonna be around much anymore but I did thoroughly enjoy most of my interactions with you guys. It's Go Blue forever, let's win a Natty and put me shitposting out of business.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:41 AM ^
I will miss you, old woman.
October 25th, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
MAN lol
October 25th, 2023 at 12:37 PM ^
I didn't vote for you.