So what do we think about the Michigan sign-stealing debacle?

RonJohn

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This is a result of going to a cashless society. It forced the guy to use a credit card. I mean, you think the Bear or Bowden didn't have someone scouting or teams in person you're fooling yourself.
If you want to hide your tracks from credit card transactions, it is easy to purchase pre-paid debit cards with cash.

If the rules against in person scouting are outdated or unnecessary, Michigan is a member of the NCAA and they can lobby to have the rules changed. I am usually a pretty strict rule/law & order type of guy. Not because I think breaking rules/laws is evil, but because the rules/laws should be made with intention to do what colleges/society wants them to do. Rules in general are meaningless if you have to kinda sorta understand which rules are "actual" rules, and which rules are just in the rule book. If there are current rules that the NCAA does not want to enforce, then they should be removed from the rule books. Rules should be very clear. Not from a totalitarian standpoint, just from a common understanding standpoint.
 

Wrecked

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If you send in you plays CPJ style or actually have qbs call their own plays this is a moot point offensively
 

FredJacket

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If the rule is no in person advanced scouting... then your mitigation to keep opponents from stealing signs wouldn't factor that in (nor should it).

You can watch games & see all the dudes dressed like teletubbies signaling plays. It's not like they aren't clearly trying to prevent sign stealing in game. What Michigan is accused of is definitely violating the rules re advanced scouting.

The fact there are not A LOT of programs publicly outraged... tells me there isn't much of an appetite for the NCAA to begin poking around too much.
 

RonJohn

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Well, Harbough has been suspended for the three remaining regular season games. Kind of surprised that they waited until Friday night to announce it. One report said that the team had already arrived at Penn State. But I saw one report that said the reason they waited is because Michigan was late getting their response to the conference, so the timing was Michigan's fault.
 

TooTall

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🤯https://www.outkick.com/michigan-regents-have-discussed-leaving-the-big-ten/🤯
Hate to say that I called it.


Won't happen, but fun to think about...
 

CEB

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As far as I'm concerned...Michigan should lawyer-up. Worked for North Carolina. Threaten to sue and watch them fold like a house of cards. Michigan is no UTSA!
Interesting sidebar is that they've filed an injunction to overturn the suspension of Harbaugh… too bad for Michigan… noon kick.
If they take it to PSU today with all the other crap swirling, I’ll be mighty impressed.
 

CEB

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Was the injunction permitted?
Last I heard was no ruling yet… at this point, he’s got to be out for today.
A late kick might have helped their cause.

ETA… legal minds, I heard a Mich court has the injunction… is that correct? So an entity in Indiana makes a ruling over an entity in Michigan and the the Michigan entity engages a Michigan court to allow something to happen in Pennsylvania? :unsure:
Wonder if Harbaugh was allowed to travel?
 
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FredJacket

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Last I heard was no ruling yet… at this point, he’s got to be out for today.
A late kick might have helped their cause.

ETA… legal minds, I heard a Mich court has the injunction… is that correct? So an entity in Indiana makes a ruling over an entity in Michigan and the the Michigan entity engages a Michigan court to allow something to happen in Pennsylvania? :unsure:
Wonder if Harbaugh was allowed to travel?
Confused Orlando Airport GIF by Orlando International Airport (MCO)
 

slugboy

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This story has been the story that keeps on giving.

Yep, LB coach fired for destroying evidence, booster named “Uncle T” (Mr T’s uncle? Nah), a legal brief copied and pasted from MGoBlog (literally, a dumb post from a fan site was the backbone of a legal filing), this is full of story lines
 

JacketOff

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This whole investigation just seems odd to me. It’s really out of place considering what has been allowed to fly under the radar as far as NCAA scandals go. Michigan obviously broke rules, and probably went a little further than what most places are willing to go. But I don’t believe for a second that the rest of the big time SEC & B1G programs don’t have some sort of in-person scouting system set up. They have damn near 100 staff members and you’re telling me nobody has gone to, or had somebody else go to one of their opponents’ games. Now there’s news about this “Uncle T” character funding it all, it just seems like this is a really weird bait-and-switch scenario. Especially when you consider something that happened at Georgia in February that resulted in a football player’s death was completely out of the news cycle after a couple of days. AJC attempted to press into it further, but it seems like even they have let it go.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but this entire scandal seems extremely targeted for some reason. Like somebody at Michigan did something out of protocol and the people in charge are trying to make them pay. And some of the stories that have come out are almost comical, like Stallions allegedly being in coaches gear on the CMU sideline, disguised with sunglasses and all. Him writing the “Michigan Manifesto,” what the hell is that? That’s not something normal people do. UM’s interim coach was crying in his post-game interview. The entire thing just smells fishy to me.
 

CEB

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This whole investigation just seems odd to me. It’s really out of place considering what has been allowed to fly under the radar as far as NCAA scandals go. Michigan obviously broke rules, and probably went a little further than what most places are willing to go. But I don’t believe for a second that the rest of the big time SEC & B1G programs don’t have some sort of in-person scouting system set up. They have damn near 100 staff members and you’re telling me nobody has gone to, or had somebody else go to one of their opponents’ games. Now there’s news about this “Uncle T” character funding it all, it just seems like this is a really weird bait-and-switch scenario. Especially when you consider something that happened at Georgia in February that resulted in a football player’s death was completely out of the news cycle after a couple of days. AJC attempted to press into it further, but it seems like even they have let it go.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but this entire scandal seems extremely targeted for some reason. Like somebody at Michigan did something out of protocol and the people in charge are trying to make them pay. And some of the stories that have come out are almost comical, like Stallions allegedly being in coaches gear on the CMU sideline, disguised with sunglasses and all. Him writing the “Michigan Manifesto,” what the hell is that? That’s not something normal people do. UM’s interim coach was crying in his post-game interview. The entire thing just smells fishy to me.
I think you’re on to something.
The severity of the indiscretion is a distant secondary consideration. The real issue is if someone wants a shake up in the staff / leadership. The issue can be amplified, or even manufactured, to that end.
When these big athletic departments are collectively happy, they can sweep just about anything under the rug. This doesn’t seem like the type of thing to still be hanging around unless someone is really invested in making it a controversy…
 

Northeast Stinger

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To repeat what others have said, I fully expected this story to die a quick death since that is what normally happens at a factory school. Lingering and hanging around indicates we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Or, as Hitchcock might say, we’ve been distracted by the MacGuffin while forgetting about the main plot line.
 
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