[Webmaster’s note: Again for 2009, re-examining the standard stadium gear for the upcoming season, with some tweaks to the ‘07 and ‘08 versions]. Moving on… Ah, it’s that time of year. Many of you out there are no doubt running through your tailgating gear, grills, food, wares, etc., for the early start on Saturday.  It’s going to be a long day and that’s just before you get to the stadium. Any fan knows there’s some thought that goes into your in-stadium gear as well—a completely separate exercise.  Once again, here’s a few suggestions for 2009: 1. AM/FM Radio. Forget the latest incarnation of the radio that sticks in your ear, they are unreliable.  Bring in a radio you trust to listen to the play-by-play from Brandy and Beckmann. You’ll get injury reports, sideline observations, statistics and analysis of key plays that are under review (although Brandstatter always seems to think the replay will goes Michigan’s way). Probably most critical: you’ll have a chance to block out the blabber from an idiot nearby that is giving his own play-by-play or screaming at the coaches. 2. M Lid. While not an absolute requirement, it certainly helps to keep that sun from beating down on you.  For those in the North end zone or east side of the field, could be critical. 3.…

So Michael Rosenberg is getting it from all over the U-M blogosphere (and some beyond) and even is the target of a Twitterembargo.  I suppose I’m one of the few that actually knows Rosenberg a little bit having interviewed him this time last year for his excellent book, War As They Knew It.  No, we’re not pals, we don’t bowl together nor do we ride a tandem bike around town.  I just know him from sitting down for an hour or so for the interview at Sweetwaters, stopping by the book signing and seeing him at a few media events. He’s a nice guy (and has a top notch dry sense of humor).  And that has nothing to do with anything you feel about the piece, beyond those of you who think he wrote this just to be a prick. I noticed there’s a few folks reading the interview from last year, especially part two where he discusses his article from the time that was highly critical of Rodriguez.  Suggest you a) read the whole interview, and; b) remember that these items were said a year ago and obviously not related to the current story.   That said, he hit on a few topics that I think many would like to ask him today, right down to criticism from mgoblog and…

In the whirlwind of perspectives out there on the Free Press allegations, I thought I’d toss in another.  I reached out to former Michigan hockey player, assistant coach, WTKA morning show co-host and lawyer Dave Shand.   As always, given his resume Shand has something interesting to add, never seems to fit snuggly within any particular profile of Michigan fan and he’s not afraid to talk about it. We spoke about the Free Press report which he read in detail this weekend: His initial reaction to Free Press piece: Shand: “There are certain things that really astonished me in the report; things that I don’t think stunned anybody else. I was shocked that Judy Van Horn was doing spot checks.  Judy is very good and very tough.  But when I was there as an assistant coach, it was a given that coaches were not going to go over the NCAA maximum (of supervised hours).  There were no spot checks.  Spots checks mean you don’t trust your own coach!  And that bothers me because I really like what Rich Rodriguez is doing and I really like the direction of the program.” On how the hockey program monitored practice time when he coached: Shand: “I can tell you exactly the way it worked. We had our practices which were mandatory and supervised and…

(HT: UMGoBlog) Related: MVictors interviews with Michael Rosenberg: * Part I: Discussing War as They Knew it * Part II: Rodriguez, the blogosphere and more

Via the U-M Media Relations department, Statement from Athletic Director Bill Martin We are committed to following both the letter and the intent of the NCAA rules and we take any allegations of violations seriously. We believe we have been compliant with NCAA rules but nonetheless we have launched a full investigation of the allegations in today’s newspaper. We have already reached out to both the Big Ten and the NCAA and we will have more to say on this as soon as we have completed our assessment. Related: An Involuntary Round-up on the Free Press report Free Press investigates off-season work-outs

My colleagues in the blogosphere do a much better job of the periodic link-out posts.  Today’s posts and articles reacting to Rosenberg’s piece are really solid.   My initial reaction was more of a stream of consciousness starting from 1am last night and finishing up this morning.  Good to see a range of reaction across the nerdosphere and elsewhere: * mgoblog: props to TomVH for getting a few quotes from parents, here’s the father of Michael Schofield: The worst part of all of this is that the reporters targeted the freshman, with misleading questions they can get them to say anything. I’m a fire chief, and I deal with the media. I don’t let my men deal with the media, because they can get them to say anything. They could make us sound like the worst station out there if they wanted to. Without names, this article means nothing to me. * Maize ‘n’ Brew: Dave presents his own smattering of thoughts, here’s one: 7)  I would like some answers from the coaching staff.  It’s not just that UM passed the rules a little bit – if the article is 100% true – they obliterated them.  That’s the kind of thing that strikes me (a casual fan and observer, nothing more) as being a bit reckless. * The Wolverine Blog: Ace…

More from WTKA today as Le’Ron Stokes (father of Je’Ron) and Alvin Warren (Donovan) dialed in.  Here are links to the podcasts on WTKA: Stokes audio Warren audio

Here’s the piece.  Abstract: Michigan football consistently has violated NCAA rules governing off-season workouts, in-season demands on players and mandatory summer activities under coach Rich Rodriguez, numerous players told the Free Press. We learned that many, probably most, of Michigan fans can tolerate a little losing.  If the allegations are true, I’m sure they won’t be as tolerant toward rules violations.  The issue I see with the report is that the alleged ‘voluntary’ participation may be tough to define and interpret and therefore these allegations will probably be viewed by most fans as a another attempt by the Freep to discredit Rodriguez.  The Freep stresses that the players interviewed said they faced punishment if they didn’t come to workouts; maybe that’s where the NCAA will have grounds to take a look. One other item – the names of all the players interviewed weren’t released but if the NCAA takes a look, I assume they’ll come out.   There are clearly guys who have left the program with agendas, so I think it’s important to sort out who said what.  More later but would love to get your initial reaction in the comments. Ed. 8/30:  A couple more thoughts this morning.  Looking it over, the NCAA might narrow down on the post-game Sunday workouts that the Freep (and ESPN) alleges far exceeded…