• Power Index, Week 7: Michigan joins the “little 2”

    The huge gap that Ohio State held in the preseason poll was gradually slipping away all season, and finally this week the pollsters had enough. The tight win over Wisconsin wasn’t good enough and Penn State takes over the top spot. Perhaps Penn State’s handling of Juice Williams and Illinois means a little more know after the beat down the Illini put on the Wolverines last week.

  • Shand Uncensored: Part IV, The Rodriguez hire

    The final segment of my four-part interview with former WTKA morning show host Dave Shand. In Part I, we discussed what Shand is up to these days, his lawsuit with Bill Martin, and his thoughts on the current morning crew at WTKA. In Part II, we looked at Jim Carty and the Ann Arbors News series on academics and athletics. Part III discussed Red Berenson, the future of the hockey program, and we got some of Shand’s candid feelings on how the University handled the Ed Martin mess. Wrapping things up, we turn to the Rodriguez hire. We talk about the hiring process, the deal that was allegedly struck in Toledo, the ensuing lawsuit, and finally, we get Shand’s thoughts on what Rodriguez’s system will bring on the field. Achtung! Shand uses some spicy language in this one (again). FWIW.   MVictors: Michigan landed a big-name football coach in Rich Rodriguez. You’ve got a lawsuit with Bill Martin right now and of course, it was Martin who spearheaded the coaching search. What were your thoughts as you watched the coaching search unfold?: Shand: [laughing]It was a complete clusterfuck. It was an absolute disaster. And Bill Martin’s excuses, ‘I was at sea’ or whatever, I have no idea, he couldn’t contact Les Miles because he didn’t get permission from the athletic…

  • The Braylon, Penn State Shirt Controversy [Resolved]

    I’ve had a couple emails asking me to look into why Braylon Edwards was wearing a shirt with a Penn State logo last night during an interview on Monday Night Football: Whew – after a little research I solved the problem. Turns out the camera only showed a small glimpse of the shirt, here’s the full thing: Follow MVictors on Twitter 

  • Wojo, Stoney on the Toledo mess (WDFN audio)

    I spirited discussion on the state of the program, along with some second guessing already. [display_podcast] Take: I’m a little weary of the ‘If Carr were coach they’d be 4-2 or 5-1’ or whatever. I’m a big fan of Carr, but the silly ‘what if..’ game is ridiculous. Take 2: I love that everyone’s forgot how to pronounce Appalachian.

  • Shand Uncensored: Part II, Jim Carty and the News Series

    Continuing the interview with former WTKA morning show host Dave Shand. In Part I, we discussed what Shand is up to these days, his lawsuit with Bill Martin and his thoughts on the current morning crew at WTKA. In this installment, I serve up a few discussion topics--this time on Jim Carty and on the News athletics and academics scandal, and Shand does what he does best.

  • Shand Uncensored: Part I

    Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with former WTKA morning show host and former NHL and Michigan hockey player Dave Shand. The 90-minute interview was held at Mac’s in downtown Saline a couple of days after Michigan’s stunning loss to Illinois. Shand is in the middle of a lawsuit with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, who Shand claims directly caused his dismissal from the Ann Arbor radio station. The interview is broken into a few parts, first, we’ll start with the basics: What he’s up to, the status of the lawsuit, and his thoughts on his old show and the new hosts at WTKA: MVictors: It’s been a year and a half since you were fired from WTKA, what have you been up to?Shand: Right after I was fired it took me a while to absorb it because we had just received the highest ratings that any show had ever gotten in the history of the radio station. I had just received a 50% raise in pay. Literally within a month, and we were right in the middle of the spring rating period, I was fired in April 23rd. No one ever gets fired in the middle of the rating period because you want to wait until the Arbitron ratings come out to make personnel decisions. If…