There’s been a lot of attention on my post of James Militzer’s article in the Ann Arbor Observer, revealing that U-M agreed cover up to $2.5M of the West Virginia buy-out. Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg sharply criticized Rodriguez for his handling of the buy-out. He wrote to correct me on his position regarding the University’s involvement in the lawsuit and to reconfirm where all this puts Rodriguez in his opinion: Just to clarify: I never suggested that Rodriguez fought the buyout without the consent of U-M officials. In fact, I wrote that Bill Martin never had the guts to stand up and end this — he absolutely consented. So did Coleman. That was part of the problem. But I have zero doubts that a) Rodriguez and his lawyers were determined to lower the buyout, as they and Bill have said on multiple occasions, and b) Coleman stepped in when it was going to personally embarrass her. That last bit is based on well-placed sources within the university. I’m reading your last two sentences now: “Maybe that means Rich Rod was foolish and stubborn as a few writers have suggested. Given that Rodriguez’s exposure was limited, doesn’t this lend credence to RR’s side of the story – that he truly felt he was wronged by WVU and wanted to…
-
-
Carty, Adelson call in (audio)
Audio from around the local sports radio dial. Below you’ve got Jim Carty of the Ann Arbor News with his weekly Monday call into WTKA 1050AM (audio quality subpar, kind of slow), then there’s ESPN’s Eric Adelson this morning: [display_podcast] Carty’s takes: * Michigan State is a decent team, heavily reliant on Ringer, Penn State’s still a mystery. Conference in general is down. * Spartan coach Mark Dantonio’s kind of filled Lloyd Carr’s role in the league (as the guy that is going run at you, play hard D, go right at you). * Carty was asked about Schiano’s slow start at Rutgers, said “Schiano’s wishing he took the Michigan job right now.” * On this week, the Bye week couldn’t have come at a better time, team will be better particularly the passing game. We’ll see more Mathews and McGuffie in the passing game. * Carty’s curious to see what will happen with the veteran running backs (Grady, Minor, Brown). Me too. * On Carty’s take on the state of the Michigan football fandom – “it’s all over the map.” Adelson’s takes: * Talks a little Lions, thinks they could be at a turning point here and he’s speculating that Millen could be gone soon. * EA loves Les Miles, he was very, very, very impressed with his performance…
-
Power Index, Week Four – The Conference Schedule awaits
Ohio State and Michigan continue to dip in the Power Index with respect to their rivals. Notre Dame took a big relative drop this week after their performance in East Lansing and boosted Michigan State’s place in the conference. The Golden Gophers jumped out of the cellar and judging from the pollster comments people are clearly keeping an eye on last year’s conference laughingstock. The Big Ten season is upon us so we’ll certainly see some shake-ups and shake-outs in the next few weeks. Here’s the current index: The comments from the pollsters: Gilliam the Badger: “Did Michigan State prove something, or just confirm that the Irish suck? And did that nick the Wolverines self-esteem in Ann Arbor? We’ll see next week, when the Badgers roll into town. Apparently Iowa and Indiana are pretenders…or is Ball State just that good? Did CMU deserve to win? Should the Big Ten and MAC combine to form a super-conference? Do I only have questions this week?” Biggie the Spartan: “Looking forward to opening the Big 10 season next week. We will see if Minnesota is legit when they play OSU. Wisconsin and Michigan is a a intriguing match-up and the marquee game will be Illinois @ PSU. We should find out a lot more about how these clubs will stack up with one…
-
At the wrong game
Don’t miss mgoblog’s post on the trip to the LSU/Auburn game this weekend. I think those guys were at the wrong game!
-
WPAG Wall Clock (1940s)
This week on eBay this beauty popped up on eBay--it's a 1940s-era WPAG wall clock (above).
-
Blue Books: Badgers Bungle Bo hiring
A couple weeks ago I looked back at Lou Holtz’s attempts to woo Michigan coach Lloyd Carr to South Bend and join his Irish staff. In late 1989 Carr had interviewed for the Wisconsin head coaching job which was eventually given to Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez. It was Alvarez’s departure that prompted Holtz to seek out Carr. Did you know that legendary General Bo considered an offer to take the reins at Madison back in the 60s? Indeed. Here’s an excerpt from John U. Bacon’s wonderful Bo’s Lasting Lessons, where Bo recounts what happened in Chapter Three titled ‘Wait for the Right Opportunity’: After we won our conference title in my third and fourth seasons at Miami–1965 & 1966–Wisconsin called. From the outside, it seemed like a pretty good job. Wisconsin’s a good school in a great league. It was about ten o’clock on a Sunday when I walk into this meeting room to face twenty guys sitting around–and some board member falls asleep, right there in front of me! Now what does that tell you? They also had a student on the committee, and this kid asks me how I would handle Clem Turner, a Cincinnati kid, who was always in trouble. Well, how the heck do I know how I would handle Clem Turner? I’ve never…
-
Bye Week Takes from East Lansing
A few semi delicious takes for you this Sunday morning following the bye week for Michigan: * I went to the Michigan State vs. Notre Dame in East Lansing this week, more validation of why college football is great if for nothing else, the atmosphere on campus and the excitement of the game. State and Ringer looked very sound, a few question marks with the defensive backfield and with QB Hoyer. News flash: Michigan’s got to make Hoyer beat them in Ann Arbor. * Jimmy the C and Notre Dame are just not very good. Clausen just isn’t ready to play at this level and I wonder if Irish fans are wondering what other options they’ve got there. * Has anyone noticed the disturbing proliferation of guys wearing their collars up, 80s style? I have, here’s one of many I saw out there today: * MSU added a ring of honor in the stadium this year, on the West side of the stadium they’ve displayed State’s national championship teams, on the east, the retired jerseys of former players (George Webster, Bubba Smith, etc.). * The Stanley Cup was on display outside Spartan Stadium thanks to current Red Wing and former Spartan Justin Abdelkader. I snuck behind it for a shot: Turd Ferguson, err, Burt Reynolds doesn’t like to wait in…
-
WTKA to broadcast Ufer, 1979 Indiana game today
Keeping with tradition during bye weeks, from noon to 3WTKA 1050AM will broadcast a historic game featuring the legendary Bob Ufer. This time, it’s the game that includes Ufer’s most famous call-Johnny Wangler to Anthony Carter as Bo and the Wolverines took down Lee Corso’s Indiana Hoosiers. For those out of coverage area, check out wtka.com and try their listen live feature, they’ll probably stream the game as well. Don’t forget to pick up your limited edition MEEEEEECHigan t-shirts (click here): Support Ufer: Want to get involved? Buy some CDs, ringtones and other cool items from the official Bob Ufer site at ufer.org, proceeds benefit the Bob Ufer Foundation Scholarship Fund.
