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RR: "Have any of you ever kissed a girl?" 

You know you’re getting old when driving over, the thought enters your mind that this "late" night press conference will be cutting into your precious ‘Antiques Roadshow’ time.   Yikes.

Full audio from this evening below. Follow MVictors on Twitter for live updates during press conferences this season.

 RR Press Conference: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Key takeaways/notes:

• RR called out "a handful of guys" that aren’t in shape.  Wouldn’t name names. 
• He didn’t name anyone beyond the "guys upfront" for being in exceptional shape.
• Coach Rodriguez wouldn’t comment on the WVU allegations, deferred to his previous statements.
• First practice in pads is Friday morning "full contact"; two-a-days start Sunday.
• All the quarterbacks took the first snap together, haha.  "All three guys are competing."  Said Devin is in "great shape".
• On the Woolfolk comments and Tate.  "I’m glad our seniors are taking some ownership and leadership in this team." …  "Tate knows he’s a lot of work to do to prove himself, not only on the field but off the field."
• On whether Tate is doing the right things to prove himself. "I don’t watch summer practices."  Weeee.
• All the injured players in the from the spring are back 100% except Will Heiniger. 
• Michael Shaw and some other players are still in summer school, into next week.
• On the type of O lineman they want, "We like big guys that can move." 
• Just had one bad snap today [where we've had problems in the past], "you can tell that’s coming from an experience guy."
• On the WVU allegations: <cricket, cricket, cricket>
• The seniors came up with the concept of having two permanent captains, with game captains during the season.  They players voted on it.  RR will announce to the team tonight.  Media will find out tomorrow.  They’ll two more captains for each game "if they’re worthy" and two "permanent" captains at the end of the season "if they’re worthy."   Love it!  Woolfolk?
• 105 guys on the roster.
• RichRod didn’t give a speech or comment on the allegations/pressures/coaching situation to the players.   That’s his responsibility; players need to focus on school and football.
• He won’t know which freshman can contribute until after the first real scrimmage (a couple weeks from now).
• Scholarships for walk-ons?  Yes, coming up.  It’s a sacred thing to RichRod as this was a big day for him while at WVU when Don Nehlen gave him the news.  You know the story.
• –> Best question <–   Did he get a look at the punters today?  Yes.  "Will Hagerup will be what we thought.  He’s got a very powerful leg, he’s a good athlete.  If he progresses like we think he should be the guy against UConn."
• True freshman will have a chance to compete at safety, cornerback (at least 2 deep).
• Kelvin Grady is in really good shape.  Tells RR he’s "a fulltime football player."
• Talked about Facebook/Twitter.  Prefers they don’t do it but understands.  Dave Ablauf spoke to them about it.  "Before you hit that send button, it’s there and it’s there for life."  Won’t ban it.  U-M has someone monitoring the players for RichRod. 
• Any time spent prepping for Seattle?  No, just coaching. 
• Was RichRod aware that Tate wasn’t showing up as much for practice.  RR didn’t really answer beyond saying he’s glad the seniors took that ownership.  "Let’s not make too much [of this]."
• On Brock Mealer: "I’m as proud of him as any player I’ve coached."

Post press conference Dave Ablauf of U-M Media Relations confirmed that practice is closed to the media (indefinitely) audio clip.  

 That’s Mike Rothstein’s (slightly tighter) ‘do at the bottom blocking the podium

The interview starts off a bit slow but Rome gets into the LeBron questions and Izzo’s future near the end.  Izzo normally has a raspy voice but he definitely sounded worn down – no wonder.     Of note:

• It might be a Dumb-and-Dumberesque chance, but when asked, Izzo did leave the door cracked for another look at the NBA.
• Izzo dropped a U.P. reference in there, which has got to leave JR scratching his head, no?
• Izzo revealed a big driver to his looks at the NBA is to challenge the notion that college coaches can’t make it in the NBA.  His pulse picked up a bit during that discussion.
• Rome didn’t go into the media/coverage subplot here and I was a little surprised he missed that.  In 11 minutes he had room to hit that and usually JR is very in tune with what’s being discussed locally.  I was hopeful Izzo would make mention of, “Those nerds on The Red Cedar.”  No go.

Audio:

 Tom Izzo on Jim Rome: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Related:

And talks about you-know-what.

Worth a listen, about 13 minutes of audio:

 Dave Brandon on The Huge Show: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

HT:  mgoblog user UMICH1606

To this day, the most read post on these pages remains the breakdown of the Conboy-Tropp-Kampfer mauling from January’s Michigan-Michigan State game.

Spartan Andrew Conboy was kicked off the team and left school, opting to take his chances within the Canadiens organization.  It looks like he’s currently playing with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Corey Tropp was also kicked off the MSU team but earned his way back onto Rick Comley’s squad, and will return to Yost tonight. Wolverine Steve Kampfer is of course still skating for coach Berenson.

Should be an interesting night tonight.  Here’s a look back, first at Red’s comments from January on the weekly coaches’ show at The Arena just after the incident:

 Red from January 09: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

And here are those stills that I took from Section 22:

Conboy and Tropp zero in on Kampfer

Conboy gives Kampfer the old clothesline from behind

…and takes Kampfer down.

Tropp cocks his stick, but actually pulls back a bit

Then Tropp gets a look…

…and then takes a swing..

…and connects. Michigan immediately dispatches the team doctor

To Conboy’s credit, he appears to shove Corey Tropp with his right arm…

..and then pushes him away with his left

Bill ‘Huge’ Simonson interviewed Coach Rod today on his Huge Show, aired throughout Michigan and on 1050AM WTKA in Ann Arbor. The show host mentioned the interview would be available on their website tonight. What’s the hold up? Here’s the full audio of the interview:

 Coach Rod on Huge show 01-17-08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Simonson has been going off on Ann Arbor News columnist Jim Carty all day for his recent column where Carty suggested that Rodriguez should apologize to WVU and pay the $4M. He’s dedicated the entire show to this topic, repeatedly calling Carty and his columns “garbage”.

UPDATE 1/18: Jim Carty fires back at Huge on WTKA this morning, I’m looking for audio. Also Carty’s latest column reiterates his take that Rodriguez should apologize.

Here were a few of my notes from the Huge/RR interview as it happened:
[The papers were removed] “in the middle of the day.”
“I threw out some old game plans…Notes that I took…Some we ripped up, some we shredded”
“The innuendo was crazy”
“If there was any pertinent information it was left there.”
“Why would I try to hide anything? I would never do that.”
“I never said I would NEVER leave. It was never my intent to leave. I was right in the middle of remodeling my house.”
“I did not call a single Michigan recruit until after I resigned.”
“The facts are the facts. Let’s get it out there and let’s move on.”
Regarding the $4M buy-out. “some of things said by West Virginia are not true”.
“The level of vindictiveness has caught me a little off-guard.”
On whether he owes WVU an apology, as Carty suggested today, “No I don’t owe an apology.”
“I told the staff first [that he was resigning], then told the team.”
On the threats and the property damage “There were some things that happened after the Pitt game…after the resignation, someone ripped off the mailbox, some other threats that my family received…the persistence of it caught me a little surprised…the level it went to caught me off guard.”
Are you hurt, stunned or surprised by what’s going on? “All three..”
“I’m in a great place now.”
“I’m honored to be at Michigan.”
“[the people at the university] are committed to the program. I want to focus on the future.”
“it’s a National Enquirer type (story)”