Michigan Tuesday: Sign, Sign, everywhere a Sign

Blockin' out the scenery

Breakin' my mind

Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?

The quiet didn't last long.  Pete Thamel from ESPN wrote another salacious article with more "leaked" information about the possibility of Connor Stalions buying tickets to a number of Big Ten Games, sending them to other people, and surveillance video shows them holding an iPhone.  That he had purchased the tickets with his personal credit card, even tickets on both sides of the OSU - PSU game but the seats went unfilled. 

First off, WARDE WAKE THE F' UP.  You better be on the phone with the NCAA on these intentional leaks and shut them down right now.  There is zero upside for Michigan to cooperate with this investigation if the NCAA continues to play it out in the media.  You have unlimited Michigan lawyers at your disposal, use them and tighten this up right now.  If you don't, it's time for you to find another job. 

Mgoblog did a very good piece last night.  

To me this is interesting and the NCAA considered changing the rule in 2021:

Rationale: The Board of Directors Infractions Process Committee requested that the Legislative Committee Modernization of the Rules Subcommittee focus its rules modernization efforts on identifying rules that no longer serve the needs of the membership and the 21st century student-athlete, and recommending modifications to or the elimination of such rules. Specifically, livestreams of intercollegiate competition and prerecorded game film are readily available in the digital age. The minimal competitive advantage gained by scouting future opponents in-person is outweighed by the monitoring and enforcement burdens of ensuring compliance with the legislation.

Let's look at the gray areas first and then the potential penalty. 

You have to follow the expense reports to find who is at fault here.  If Connor funded this himself with his buddy network, I think Michigan's exposure is much less.  If Michigan was funding this by reimbursing Connor for tickets and travel costs for his buddy network to these "other" Big Ten games, then Michigan might get hit with a harder penalty. 

Is Connor's buddy network a representative of Michigan Football?  If they are paid or expenses taken care of, you can make the argument they are.  If they are not getting reimbursed (outside free tickets), maybe they can be considered an overly zealous fan. 

Reports are that Connor loves Michigan Football and would do anything to be on staff and probably believed he wasn't breaking any rules by sending his buddy network to games. 

Potential Penalty:

There are fans worried about a Post Season ban this year.  There is little to no chance that will happen.  Michigan has not even been officially notified of a rules violation and has 90 days to respond.  These types of situations take years to resolve.   The Kansas FBI thing just got settled.

Main Points for Michigan Fans to consider:

• Was this scouting activity funded by Michigan Football outside of Connor?
• The NCAA is already on record saying this rule might be obsolete. 
• Everybody at games is holding an iPhone 
• Connor's probably going to get a show cause by the NCAA at some point 
• The NCAA is clearly after Harbaugh by leaking these stories to the likes of Thamel and Yahoo's Ross Dellenger.  Since Michigan can't respond, the NCAA can't stop breaking their own rules and should be shut down by Warde immediately. 
• Time for Michigan Lawyers world-wide to unite against the NCAA 

Lastly, why doesn't the NCAA have coaches to helmet communications?  It's not becuase Little St. Mary's of Northwest Iowa can't afford it, they already have headsets and communication from the coaches press box.  It's because coaches love stealing signals and everybody believes their signals are being stolen and changed every week.  

• MSU interim head coach Harlon Barnett said on Monday that he knew Michigan would try to score on that last drive.  "I’m not surprised, not surprised. Not at all … (I will) definitely (remember that). I always remember. I’m gonna remember everything about that game.”  My question would be, where are you going to remember it at?  Because the chances of you still being at MSU with a new staff are slim and none.  Barnett has yet to win a game as MSU's interim head coach.