Around the Big Ten

[lineygoblue]

Not so much justify, as embrace. Like everyone else that gets away with cheating. Embrace the moment, and hope you can do it better than anyone else ever has.before.

To think that just a couple short years ago, we thought Harbaugh was a slackjawed idiot. But he fooled everyone, by putting together a spy program that is the envy of teams everywhere. That's really what is going on here. Outsiders see what he's done in the espionage field, and they are filled with envy.

If Harbaugh has done this, can you imagine what a really good coach has done, or is doing? The possibilities are endless.

[iam416]

Cheaters always justify their cheating. It's cute though.

Yep

[iam416]

So, we have a pretty good idea of what Stalions did. He was buying tickets everywhere, sending out his network of folks to records signals at future opponent games and then deciphering the signals using the game film/tv. Pretty straight-forward. And entirely illegal. 100% cheating. I think this is going to be proven conclusively. Zero doubt. But, we shall see.

Stalions was then on the sideline -- some low-level staffer -- with Minter when M was on defense and Moore when M was on offense. Stalions was carrying around a stack of laminated papers that, presumably had some sort of information on it. It's pretty reasonable to assume it was the signs he had stolen.

Now, as I understand it, teams use different indicators and signalers each game -- the signs stay the same -- but it takes some time to figure out how they're being signaled in during that particular game. So, Stalions isn't of use immediately, but as the game goes on and gets it figured, he knows what plays are being called. And, presumably, relays that information to the decision-maker.

M will try to plead some sort of Sargent Schultz shit, but there are a couple of questions. If I were a play-caller on that staff, I'd wonder how this guy knows all their signs before the game even starts -- you know, why is he carrying around their decoded signs and how did he figure that out from our sidelines before the game even started? And then I'd know he was always right.

At this point, I don't think it's going to be a question of what M did. I think it's extremely likely that the evidence will show all of this. Then the only question is whether it's a big deal or not?

Ohio State scored 23 against M's good, but not great defense. Ohio State then absolutely torched a much better Georgia defense. And, of course, the one team Stalions couldn't steal signs from (b/c he didn't know who M was going to play) was TCU. And, well, M lost to a fucking shitass TCU team when they didn't know what was coming.

I mean, they are the fucking Astros. For example, I have little doubt that Jose Altuve knew that Chapman was throwing a slider when he walked off the Yankees. That little fucker hit that pitch like he knew it was coming and no one hit Chapman like that. Now, you still have to execute. It's not easy to take Chapman yard even if you know exactly what is coming. So, M still had to execute -- they still had to have players -- but, IMO, it's a pretty significant advantage to know exactly what play is coming.

And that will end up being the real argument point amongst M fans and the World -- how much did it actually matter?

[iam416]

LOL:

12057566.jpeg?width=600&fit=bounds.jpg

[iam416]

And now that you know what -- or rather -- WHO -- to look for -- when teams go back and watch their games w/ M it's going to be astonishing what they were doing.

The "low level staffer" standing next to HARBAUGH!!!!! telling him "run the same play" -- lol.

Every team is going to do this. And it's going to be so easy. Because they were so brazen.

Nah, there's no way a christian man like HARBAUGH!!! could ever cheat.

LOL.

[iam416]

Figure out how the signs are being sent in during the first half. Destroy them in the 2nd half. "Coaching adjustments"

B1G games from 2022 (10 games)
1st half: Michigan 137 vs Opponents 101
2nd half: Michigan 217 vs Opponents 57

Then TCU drops 30 on them in the 2nd Half.

LMMFAO.

[iam416]

And Stalions -- LOL. His Venmo account was public. Paying a M staffer to go to the Georgia-OSU game. I mean....LMMFAO. This shit is fucking hilarious. So audacious. So Office Space

[THE_WIZARD_]

It's awful quiet in here...

[Mike]

We always forget some mundane detail...

[iam416]

This operation was definitely effective but not exactly airtight. The Chairman can take millions indirectly from various governments, and this guy is out venmo'ing his network of recorders and doing so on a public venmo feed.

Top people.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Spies Like Us

[iam416]

There's so much that is just jaw-droppingly hilarious, but the reason this shit is coming to light -- I'm almost certain -- is because a couple teams they played this year were flagging it.

Ohio State and Penn State (and most other B10 schools) knew about it, but they didn't have proof. They would have flagged this shit last year if they had proof. But someone in the B10 finally figured out how to prove this shit up and it had to be someone they played.

Which means Rutgers, Indiana, Nebraska. These are teams that HARBAUGH!!!!!! could hamblast by 30 any day. Shit, man, he could let them in on the M coaches feed and it wouldn't matter. But, they were so committed to the operation that they didn't care.

It's also hilarious that M's 3 of their 4 lowest scoring games are agains their shit OoC teams -- but once they got into conference play things really started humming!

[Mike]

What college football coaches are saying about sign stealing

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38727764/what-college-football-coaches-saying-sign-stealing

Some illuminating takes here. This is not meant to be a "See? Everybody does it so what's the big deal?" hot take. I'm trying to gauge the level of seriousness and how hard the NCAA/Big Ten might come down on us. Here's the bits that stood out to me:

ESPN surveyed coaches in the aftermath of the news out of Michigan to see what they thought. Some were aghast at what Michigan is accused of doing. Others shrugged their shoulders. A Big Ten coach said, "If they were sending people to live-scout and film, that's bulls---, then they should catch hell."

But another coach with Big Ten and SEC experience asked what the big deal was in practical terms... "Anything that happens in the public eye hasn't gone too far," the coach said. "To be honest, I can watch TV copy [of] two to three games and get everything I need."

Sign stealing, whether legal or illegal "is incredibly rampant in this business," a longtime Power 5 assistant said. Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles told ESPN in December that he estimates 75% of teams do it in some form.

Heh.

Football Coaches Association executive director Todd Berry on people filming sidelines:

"But I will tell you this: Anybody that denies it and says, 'Oh, nobody's doing that,' that is ridiculous. That's silly to even think that."

The article goes on to cite examples from the 2013 BCS title game between FSU and Auburn and the 2019 title game between LSU and Clemson as examples of teams that had their opponent's signs.

I think this episode will be the impetus for helmet speakers for the coaches to communicate with the QB directly.

"It's 10:56 right now," an industry source said. "They could call CoachComm" -- which produces headsets for nearly all of the FBS -- "and have this fixed by 11. They could overnight helmet speakers to every school by the end of the day."

"This is too easy a problem to solve," he said.

"If you want to clean up what's going on at Michigan and every other school, put a transmitter," a longtime official said. "The NCAA talks about losing the warranties on the helmets. With the USFL, XFL, NFL, with transmitters, it does not lose the warranty. I don't care what it costs, we want it. Clean up the game, make it more professional. It's just technology."

"We were able to play a COVID year, but we aren't able to put transmitters in headsets?" a Power 5 coach said. "C'mon. You look at sideline technology, you go to high school football games, they all have sideline technology. They're watching video in between series, they have it just like the NFL. We have none of that. Of all the games, we're the worst right now. It's weird. It really is weird."

[iam416]

Yeah -- I mean, it's time to fast forward -- it's clear M did this. It's clear they cheated. It's clear the entire staff knew. It's clear it made a difference.

We're now at the point of -- "yeah, well, it wasn't THAT big a deal." And that will be argument.

There is absolutely no denying that M brazenly cheated and the entire program knew it.

[Mike]

I'm not convinced the entire program knew it. Yet. But what levels are the violations? I or II? What penalty does it carry? How significant was the competitive advantage gained by the violation? There's a lot of questions that need to be answered and I'm guessing it will be a while. Definitely not this season.

How long did the Kansas and Arizona basketball investigations take again? LOL. Coaches on tape buying recruits backed up by FBI evidence and after 4 years... nothing. Oh and Kansas won a natty last year in the process.