Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

M hero author John U Bacon was on local radio -- to sum up a germane point:

I guess there is some bigwig UM alum (Stapleton??) that has it out for HARBAUGH!!!!! John U says he works the Vikings and was the reason the Vikings didn’t hire Harbaugh. And now this guy works for the NCAA infractions committee and Bacon said he is unquestionably the one who is the leak.

I haven't a fucking clue who it is or if any of it is true -- but that's super-interesting re the Vikings.

[Mike]

Hmmm... Jim Stapleton is also the guy that was muddied up in the RichRod "StretchGate" fiasco.

Did a quick Google search and stuff popped up from last February re: The Vikings interview process.

From Bacon at the time:

As I reported in Three and Out, after Stapleton had been accused of sabotaging U-M coach Rich Rodriguez he wrote a 4-page letter refuting the charges, but still had his sideline pass revoked. He is now one of Harbaugh’s critics, hoping to persuade the Wilfs to reject him.

EDIT: Upon further digging this Stapleton fellow seems to have an axe to grind with Michigan. He's a SJW that was livid over Ron English not getting the job when Lloyd retired and has been on a "jihad" (in the words of a poster at MGo) against the school ever since. He's a trustee at EMU but a Michigan grad.

[iam416]

He's also on the NCAA infractions committee. That I confirmed, too.

John U isn't one to say shit he can't back up.

Well, that's not going to be good for M....or HARBAUGH!!!!....

I'm starting to think HARBAUGH!!!! is going to have eat some sort of punishment and it's going to come sooner than we all expect. I still don't think it's likely, but I've move off of the "nothing at all will happen" to "something very well could happen"....

[froot loops]

I doubt the NCAA does anything that can be worse than knowing Jim betrayed Bo and his lasting lessons.

[Mike]

How rich that a Sparty returns from hiatus to roll around in the muck. Even richer, that a Sparty wants to lecture anyone about morals. Hey Froot, how many young ladies were sexually assaulted by MSU athletes yesterday? If it's zero, congratulations! You'll receive your coin tomorrow. Remember: The first day is always the hardest. Never quit quitting!

[Mike]

This is hilarious.

[lineygoblue]

John U isn't one to say shit he can't back up.

This x2

John Bacon has personal friendship ties to the Harbaugh family, and has been known to contact them before running with a story. I'd believe him before a lot of other people.

[Tom W]

Just scroll back in ths thread over the last 48 hours if you ever wonder "Gee, what happened to so and so? They never seem to post anymore.."

[Niffla]

This is all well and good. But I was here when Tressel went down. I was here when UFM and Zac Smith went down. I was here for the full-voiced assault.

AND, I've made it clear I'm not going to sass any M fan on their Season Thread -- I leave M Season/Game threads alone (almost 99% of the time) and let them carry on -- like I did w/ you and Mike (except to point out Rhule actually send filiming games is wrong). AND I've made it clear I'm going to sass the ever living fuck out of "M Men" for this -- for reasons I'm sure everyone understands.

AND I've said the real issue will be how much of an advantage do you think this was (because the cheating is a given) and I told Mike exactly what I think M should do.

All that said, I don't think everyone does what M did here. There's a degree here that is really, IMO, becoming astounding. Yeah, everyone tries to steal signs but this is on another level. Like, you know, there's a difference between HARBAUGH!!!!! buying a kid a hamburger and Auburn buying Cam Newton. Yeah, technically, "every school tries to buy players" (before NIL), but the degree is wildly different. And, FTR -- I didn't shit on HARBAUGH!!!! for that nor do I much care that he lied to the NCAA and nor do I care that we was suspended. It was nonsense.

This is different, IMO. And, look, we're never going to agree on OSU-M so it's not even worth responding. But to tilt at that windmill one time and one time only, in 2022, OSU was winning at half and down by 4 at the end of the 3rd. But their offense only scored 3 points the enitre 2nd half. I think that's M's best defensive performance against OSU in a half since maybe 2016 and then probably going back at least to 2007 (I can't remember if OSU scored 7 in each half in that rock fight). Anyway, that was a really, really, reall good OSU offense. They had far less trouble railing Georgia's defense. And M had far more trouble stopping TCU. And it's clear -- whether CRD changed the signs or not -- that M had them -- 100% -- and used them. Whether that made a difference or not -- I can't possibly know and won't say. But if I were going to build a circumstantial case -- the only case you could build in a "what if" world -- that's what I would rely on. You obviously wouldn't buy any of it. Fair enough.

I appreciate the response, iam.

[iam416]

CFB Nerds, god bless ‘em, absolutely nails this. It’s long, but it’s right, IMO.

https://youtu.be/ELxqoUuTe1A?si=Z1JnZWMMEvoDhNeh

[Mike]

Ohio State was HAD. LOL. Poor saps never had a chance. They never knew what hit them. Well… other than Donovan Edwards. And Cornelius Johnson. And that trick play where our converted LB threw a pass to our freshman TE on 4th down. And JJ McCarthy PLOWING an OSU defender into the endzone.

Other than that…. CHEATING.

[iam416]

HARBAUGH!!! was a total failure and the he went total dirt bag. Entire program is so fucking dirty. Couldn’t win shit before. That’s for damn sure.

So. Fucking. Dirty.

[Mike]

I envisioned being welcomed into the club with open arms. Alas, OSU is too butthurt.

[Mike]

Wake me up when Connor Stalions forced Jim Knowles to run his stupid-ass WEAK defensive alignments.

[iam416]

So. Fucking. Dirty.

6 failed season before. Then So. Fucking. Dirty.

#FactsSuck