Here's the article, in case you missed it.
Some quick reactions, handily numbered for your reference. This isn't a full on reactionary post, just some thoughts I had, and upon reading them, they don't flow too well. That's how it goes on a Sunday morning. I'll have a more coherent post about this later.
1) If Rosenberg says it, it's likely true. There is nothing to suggest that the man has a real axe to grind against Rodriguez and co. He is a Michigan fan, or at least, as much a Michigan fan as he can be given his profession. There is no sense screaming from the rooftops that the alleged incidents haven't happened.
2) This doesn't mean that the severity of the incidents haven't been exaggerated. For my entire life, I've been involved in sports. As soon as that involvement went away from pee-wee mentality and in to legitimate competition, the "voluntary" workout has been involved. These are workouts that probably don't include the coach, but uh, you'd better be there if you want to play. There is nothing wrong with this; I would wager that every BCS team does this to some extent. So would Rittenberg.
3) Ok, so clearly something has been going on that isn't quite within the realm of NCAA legality. The problem with the article is that in hinges on one quote, and that quote actually provides indemnity rather than damnation:
"It was mandatory," one player said. "They'd tell you it wasn't, but it really was."
This from an anonymous player. If it wasn't a mandatory workout, then I doubt the NCAA will find much to penalize.
4) My question, much like Rittenberg, is why the hell does Michigan have so many former and current players willing to throw the program to the wolves? What is it about Rodriguez that has proved to be such a lightning rod for these kind of things?
5) Nothing will likely come of this piece, other than it being a huge distraction leading into the season.
6) for those of you screaming about the timing of the article, many of the quotes came from media day which was last week. I would rather it come out now than before ND, or MSU, or OSU. There really isn't a "good" time for these types of things to publish.
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.
Right now, we're going to have to be in wait and see mode. We'll take our lumps from Ohio State fans looking for the fresh kill, but it wasn't so long ago that they had their own issues to deal with. Just wait until we start playing football. This will likely pass from memory for all but the most zealous message board posters.
If there is something that needs to be dealt with, it will come out in the ensuing investigation, whether that be from the NCAA or internally. Once we have something that we can latch on to, I'll deal with it. These quick reactions aren't a get out of jail list for Rodriguez. Rather, it's just a list of questions and observations that I feel we need more time to deal with before we start a lynch mob.