Some positive and not so positive news out of Ann Arbor this morning.

On the good side, Steven Threet will practice today after a week away with symptoms stemming from a concussion toward the end of the Purdue game. Mark Snyder of the Free Press is reporting Threet's as good a candidate to start on Saturday as anyone.

Also in the plus category, Michigan Basketball won its first game of the regular season by routing Michigan Tech 77-55 behind 30 points from Manny Harris. (Photo gallery here). As a reward, Michigan faces Northeastern in the 8 p.m. quarterfinals final today for the right to go to New York for a likely 2K Sports Classic Semi-Final with UCLA. Good luck guys. Headline stating the obvious about Michigan basketball but also requiring a BRAINS! refernce? Check. One last add on, Michigan will get the formal commitment of sharp shooter Matt Vogrich out of Lake Forrest, IL,  on Wednesday when the early signing period begins. Vogrich is a four star guard according to Scout and a three star recruit according to Rivals. Over the last year his stock has skyrocketed, picking up offers from UCLA, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oregon State and a dozen other college programs. He's supposedly a lights out three point guy, so a GREAT pick up for Beilein.

In Football recruiting news, a pile of Michigan recruits have a little unexpected time on their hands as their senior football seasons ended early. Josh Helmholdt of the Free Press has your creepy recruiting news. And speaking of which, in speaking with some of the high school football centric people in the Chicago area recently, all eyes next season should be on  Michael Schofield, a 6'7" 272 Tackle recruit out of Orland Park (Ill.) Sandburg High Shcool. Schofield's speed is said to be very underrated, and possesses outstanding footwork for Rodriguez system. Also of note, he's a gym rat. Barwis is going to love this guy.

On the bad side, Brandon Minor is still nicked up with more injuries than an Emergency room. As a result, Minor is still being held out of practice and remains questionable for Saturdays Michigan Northwestern game in Ann Arbor. (same link above). Shaw and McGuffie will start in his place in the event he can't play.

Also on the bad side, Grand Rapids Free Press writer David Mayo is quickly climbing up my list of least favorite people who call writing a profession and actually get paid for it. Apparently the basketball media day served pasta with chicken to the press. As someone who is guilty of an aside or two in the interest of building a story, I can forgive a little of this, but I can't forgive half of your story being about what kind of food the University served as some kind of parallel to rebuilding a program. I also can't forgive getting in a pointless shot at the football team when it's not even relevant.

Now, the basketball program is trying to emerge from the tank, the football program has fallen into it, football is concerned its new press box might soon be as empty as Crisler's, and neither has any firm idea how long the athletic beast's slump will last and just how much free food is necessary to keep everyone interested long enough to restore it.

Emphasis mine.

God. Where to go with this? First, how is a swipe at the football team relevant in a basketball story? Second, and perhaps most importantly, there are no other words to describe what is highlighted other than "gag inducing stupidity." Ask the Alabama fans whether all of a sudden they stopped going to games because the won loss record wasn't great. Even Notre Dame went through hard times and I haven't seen an empty seat there on TV or in person. If you don't like the program, fine, then don't write about it.But passive agressive crap like this is why newspaper industry is dying a quick, well deserved death.

Mr. Mayo, you have access. You are paid to do this. Give us something to read that we can't write ourselves. Don't pander. Don't take meaningless swipes at people and programs that couldn't care less about you. Provide information that we can't garner ourselves after 20 seconds of internet surfing. Provide insight into the program you are paid to cover rather than insight into the lunch menu it was kind enought to provide to media vultures like yourself.

Otherwise you're worse than Drew Sharp. How? Why? It's because you're someone who's trying to be Drew Sharp.