Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

Liney, the Big Ten gave Michigan until today to respond to their notice of disciplinary action. I don't know what time today but I'm guessing the suspension will be announced tomorrow. The only question is whether it will be 2 games or indefinitely. The commish can do a two-gamer on his own but going longer than that requires approval from the other league members (I don't know how many).

It seems like it's gonna be Thursday or Friday. And judging by M's desperate parasol efforts this week and desperate mouthpiecing of "we'll fight this!" -- it's not going to be good. If ti was something M could accept things would have been quiet.

Right now there is almost nothing that wouldn't surprise me.

[THE_WIZARD_]

But....Purdue!!!!!!!

[Mike]

Nicole Auerbach has a good piece up at The Athletic about the sign sharing between OSU, Rutgers, and Purdue.

https://theathletic.com/5041776/2023/11/07/michigan-purdue-rutgers-ohio-state-signal-stealing/

It's paywalled but I'll share a few pertinent quotes.

The person who sent the documents to Michigan worked for Purdue last season and told the Wolverines that the information came from Rutgers and Ohio State, the university source said.

He said it took him 10-12 hours per week to decode opponents’ signs off of TV copy and other film. He said he wanted to share the information to support those on Jim Harbaugh’s staff he had previously worked with and had an affinity for, believing the two sheets of information showed how pervasive the act of sign-stealing was and how other teams would have had similar intel to whatever former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions had on Michigan’s opponents.

We're getting a pretty clear picture of how pervasive sign-stealing is. There's truth to the 'everyone does it" claim. The problem for Michigan is that there's a divergence in "how" everyone does it. According to the guys quoted in the article, the info that Purdue was given prior to the championship game was all obtained legally by watching the TV copy of Michigan's games.

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” the Big Ten staffer said. “Zero. They took it to another level. And they can’t hide it. They’re trying to divert it but they can’t hide it.”

So it's basically as if bank robbery were legal but only if you robbed them with a knife. If you use a gun, it is illegal. The bank was still robbed but in the case of Michigan's sign-stealing, CS used a gun while the rest of the Big Ten used knives and that is the distinction here.

I would like to know if the guys from OSU and Rutgers who deciphered Michigan's signals were on the sidelines for their games against Michigan. I'll take them at their word that they used TV/film study to crack our codes but if they were on the sidelines during games, wouldn't that count as in-person scouting if they turned around and supplied info to a future Michigan opponent?

This snippet sums up what I've concluded in learning about this stuff:

Trading information about other teams’ signals is common practice, three current and one former Big Ten staffers said. Like Stalions, the staffers involved in decoding signals are often young and ambitious, eager to acquire information that can help them move up the ranks. For some, it’s the best way to add value as a relative nobody who isn’t allowed to coach during the game. It’s typical for those staffers to communicate with friends on other staffs and assist each other in preparing for games, a former Big Ten staffer said.

This is exactly why I think it's plausible that Harbaugh and coordinators didn't honestly know the full extent of what Stalions was up to. They could very easily assume he was just studying the TV/film like everyone else and he was good at it. I find it INCREDIBLY hard to believe that the coaches would jeopardize their careers and this season for something that provides such a marginal benefit.

And this is the damn shame of it all...

The staffer involved in decoding the Wolverines signals said he doesn’t buy that the way Stalions and Michigan allegedly gathered their intel actually gave them much of an advantage over the way other teams usually do it. Or that they actually needed this.

“Michigan didn’t have to do it to win,” he said. “That’s the f—ed up thing. It’s still about blocking and tackling. That’s why they didn’t have to do it. They’re really talented. They are better than Penn State, and they are better than Ohio State. They can legitimately win it all.”

[iam416]

The other problem for M is that the legal sharing of signs is documented once (for now). The illegal systematic stealing of signs is a massive operation. If CS had done this for one game then we're not here. Or two.

It's both a real difference in kind and breadth. That's why it's a parasol and why this is all some sort of pathetic Pickett's charge.

[Mike]

What do you think the suspension will be and do you think it will only be for Harbaugh?

[Mike]

Dan Wetzel dropping logic.

Either everyone's guilty, or no one is

https://newsletters.yahoo.net/H/2/v60000018baecf39de90c17d6e96638858/cb4183be-f1a9-450c-8abf-c0e1887ce359/HTML

At Michigan, Connor Stalions allegedly ran a smash-and-grab sign-stealing operation. Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue, meanwhile, were reportedly operating the equivalent of a criminal conspiracy. It was pure white-collar stuff.

In the end, they both stole, or participated in the stealing of, the same thing — information on opponents' play signals in an effort to secure an advantage.

It's just that one was a ski mask bank robbery. The other was an inside job, cleanly wiring the money to the Caribbean.

Forget all the noise. Forget the grandstanding coaches screaming for Jim Harbaugh’s head. Forget if Michigan deserves all the scorn.

Forget even what or when the punishments should be.

Whatever it is, just make it even, because the actions of Connor Stalions and the actions that Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue allegedly engaged in are the exact same thing.

Yes, the exact same thing.

In Michigan’s case, the “advanced scouts” were Stalions’ band of iPhone-toting buddies.

In Purdue’s case, the “advanced scouts” were the professional coaching staffs of two other Big Ten teams that had just played the Wolverines, and thus could battle-test the signs they stole as accurate.

Which would you rather have? Raw cell phone footage that still needs to be broken down, or highly experienced coaches just handing over their work?

Everyone would choose the Purdue option.

[iam416]

What do you think the suspension will be and do you think it will only be for Harbaugh?

I think it's over 2 games for HARBAUGH****, but I don't know how they'll phrase it -- hard number or indefinite. I'd bet on other staff suspensions. And it wouldn't shock me to see them go beyond suspensions. I really think M's play to get "in the clear" with the B10 was to agree to the HARBAUGH**** suspension and they wouldn't do it. And now I think more is on the table. I really do mean it when I say I don't think M fans realize what a precarious spot they're in. I think the Administration does -- I think that's why you're seeing the "dirt" and why M mouthpieces keep leaking "we'll fight!" They don't see any good options on the table -- and those are what would be the "negotiated" options.

But, hey -- I've been wrong many, many times and I have many, many more wrongs in my future. This could very easily just be one more of those wrongs.

Regardless, sass aside, I don't have a vested interest in this sufficient enough for me to burn credibility -- and believe me, message board credibility is what I live for. But, I don't much care to take positions I can't easily defend. If I thought this was gonna be 2 games, that's what I'd tell you.

[Cody_Russell]

Cheatin Ohio State, Rutgers, Purdue, Michigan, and just about everyone else. What a shame.

I suspect the Harbaugh suspension news drops today or tomorrow morning. M files a lawsuit and that rightfully permits Harbaugh to coach the rest of the season. Chaos! I was wrong that the Big Ten acts as they most certainly do something despite the buffoonery.

[iam416]

I usually use "cheat" to mean "breaking the rules" but if cheat now also means doing something that doesn't break the rules, then, yes, everyone cheats.

Well-played, M man!

[Mike]

Timing will be key. As I understand it a TRO is only good for 10 days. Talent, was that info from you? I can't remember. Anyway, even IF Michigan prevails in getting the TRO, they still have to win the injunction for Harbaugh to be on the sideline for OSU. That is highly doubtful.

[iam416]

Yeah, that's right. They can ask the judge for an extra 10 days given that their key witnesses are coaching -- if they're challenging the facts instead of just the rules.

The other thing is that if it's just a HARBAUGH**** suspension HE can challenge it in his individual capacity. I dunno.

I would guess something comes out this week, but I don't know.

[Mike]

There's no way this isn't having a massively negative effect on the team's preparation the rest of the season.

[iam416]

Yeah, I don't know how it's affecting the coaches. But, I can tell you if the B10 goes hard and suspends the coordinators along with HARBAUGH***** then, yeah -- that's a yuuuuge problem.

[iam416]

I also still can't get over how someone like CS ended up with such tremendous access to the M program. Regardless of everything that's been alleged, they almost deserve the death penalty for that alone. That guy is, woof....that guy....

Upside is he'll be the gift that keeps giving in the sass world for years to come!

[Mike]

I'm really starting to wonder about the CMU thing. The forgone conclusion is that he was there to spy on MSU for Michigan and somehow snuck in like some covert operative. But it doesn't pass the sniff test. I think it's very possible he was there working for CMU. He had the exact same coaches gear so someone had to get that to him ahead of time. Maybe there's some sort of "Bro Network" among young ambitious staffers? He clearly was working with peers at other schools and getting them tickets for the games he wanted to scout. There's a big hustle going on.