Maize n Brew gives you your daily (or semi-daily) rundown of all the Michigan Football, Michigan Basketball, College Football, and College Basketball news you need to get through the tedium of your boring desk job. For good measure we'll throw in a little irreverent information, comedy and commentary to help you salt away the time until the clock strikes 5pm. We're on a Facebook and Twitter drive, so be our friend or follow us! If you don't know what that means, you're old. If you want Maize n Brew in 140 characters or less, follow us on Twitter! Or you can friend us on Facebook and become a fan of Maize n Brew on Facebook for more links. Here's What's ON TAP:
Stuff You Need To Read Right Now
TheWolverine.com - Free Press Allegations Debunked - As Markus pointed out earlier yesterday, Jon Chait of The Wolverine is da bomb son. He's hung like a elephant and sleeps on a bed made of fused Cadilac parts and firearms. When he looks at you he can see your soul. And when he writes, he writes Bible verses. Chait absolutely takes apart the Detroit Free Press. This is a must, must read.
Through it all, Wolverines still back Rich Rodriguez - Wojo gets it right. Thank god someone does.
Michigan football investigation could lead to more changes by NCAA - Dave Birkett takes a look at how the Michigan NCAA Investigation will eventually impact the NCAA's rules for "quality control" staff and other administratice football related positions. The crux: you're going to see some limitations in the near future. In a sense I don't think this is a bad idea. While the game has grown in terms of responsibilities, money, and training, I'm not sure that the NCAA's rules have kept up with these changes. So some clear definitions on this will help everyone in the long term. On the other hand, I don't see it as a bad thing that student athletes have some supervision while they're working out in the summer. It benefits them and their team. You just don't want it abused, and that's where the NCAA is going to have to be clear in whatever ruling they come down with.
Experts say Michigan faces uphill battle in fighting NCAA charge against Rich Rodriguez - Dave Jesse puts together an excellent article on how the NCAA's Committee on Infractions will view Michigan's self-imposed penalties. Jesse cites a couple of attorneys and administrators who have dealt with these types of cases and the concensus seems to be that Michigan will get an extra year of probation out of it. What really stands out is the way Rodriguez and the University have flat out opposed the NCAA on the issue of "promoting an atmospher of compliance." That's a heavy charge and one that doesn't seem to stand up under the weight of documents submitted by Michigan and Rodriguez. After reading MGoBlog's posting on this from yesterday, it's pretty clear that the "atmosphere of compliance" had turned into something resembling Jupiter (atmospheric joke, get it?) long before Rodriguez ever arrived on campus. With the pile of documents supplied in support of UM and Rodriguez' position, we'll have to wait to see what exactly the NCAA is holding back to support this charge.
Michigan AD David Brandon: Everyone deserves some blame - Based on what was submitted in Michigan's responses, certain people not named Rodriguez deserve a larger proportion of blame than others.
Michigan Football
It's all about wins and losses for Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez - Nice to see Rothstein and I are in agreement.
Michigan Wolverines, Rich Rodriguez hit with embarrassing misdemeanor - A largely correct summation of what happened, but unfortunately Schlabach (like all of his ESPN colleagues) paints the Michigan fan base a slobbering, out-for-blood crazies demanding human sacrifice. Frankly, I'm sick of it. Schlabach hasn't been the worst offender, but he's a better writer than this.
Whose seat is hot (or not) in the Big Ten? - Rittenberg disagrees with Feldman on the Hot seat issues. We like Rittenberg.
David Brandon supports Rich Rodriguez, focuses on U-M's future - David Brandon is the man:
"There's nothing good about the word 'investigations,' there's nothing good about the word 'violations,' there's nothing good about the word 'probations,'" Brandon said. "This is an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in. "Having said that, our history, and our tradition and our value system is out there for the world to see. We operate 25 sports here, we've got hundreds of student-athletes, we've been in the business of football for 130 years. We'll let our brand, and our integrity, and our merits stand on our history and our beliefs. Yes, we made mistakes. We are being transparent about it. We're accountable. We're doing something about it. We're going to be sure they don't happen again."
Devin Gardner: Michigan QB is a Freshman to Watch - You can watch him carry a clip board, get water in 2010.
Sizing up the Wolverines' recruiting prospects - Sam Webb looks at Michigan's wide receiver options and targets for the 2011 class.
From the Hot Seat: Rich Rodriguez at the crossroads - We talk hot seats with Dr. Saturday.
Besmirched reputation in tow, where does Rich Rodriguez go now? - The Rivalry, Esq. on Rich Rodriguez.
Lots more after the jump....
Lake The Posts on the Michigan "Bruise" - Not too far off. Win and you're in:
Michigan has self-imposed sanctions that include a two-year probation period that includes reducing practice time by 130 hours over two years, reducing two coaches and sending a nasty letter to the staff. All of this is done in we-got-caught-but-let's-turn-it-into-a-mea culpa strategy in hopes of gaining favor from the NCAA compliance staff that will meet on this issue in August and dole out punishment (or not) sometime during the regular season. The timing is actually Rich Rod's worst nightmare - potentially. If he starts out 5-0, any NCAA ruling will have little impact on Wolverine Nation. If, however, RichRod's squad stumbles early and is en route to mediocrity, the NCAA ruling could spell the final nail in the coffin on his tenure in Ann Arbor.
U-M could be seen as repeat offender - They can, but I'd be shocked if they are. Chengelis looks at the complicating factors of the Ed Martin scandal.
Attorney: NCAA might add one year to U-M probation - Chengelis talks with Michael Buckner, a Florida-based attorney who has represented universities during NCAA investigations, and gets his opinion on Michigan's self-imposed sanctions.
Other Scandals in College Sports
Win or lose, NCAA verdict won't cost Trojans '04 AP vote - Sorry Aurburn, you're still No. 3 in 2004:
[A]ccording to an AP source who assured the Orlando Sentinel that there will be no re-vote on the final 2004 poll, no matter what comes of the NCAA's investigation or the BCS' own machinations. Barring a nuclear revelation beyond anything we've learned so far, USC will apparently remain the 2004 champion in at least one venue.
The Wiz of Odds: Perkins Had Front-Row Seat and Missed Ticket Scandal- Meet Lew Perkins, the athletics director at the University of Kansas. He was paid an astounding $85,000 a week in 2009, and was completely asleep at the wheel as his ticket office allowed over a $1,000,000 in tickets to walk out the door to shady boosters and ticket wholesellers. This is what a scandal looks like.
Michigan Women's Sports
Women’s tennis ends season with Sweet 16 exit
- The best season in the history of the Lady Wolverines' tennis program closes with a loss to No. 14 Tennessee in the NCAA sweet 16. Congratulations to coach Bernstein and the team on a tremendous year. We're all very proud of what you accomplished.
Michigan goes 3-0 in regional, advances to NCAA Super Regional
Coach Hutchins and the Wolverines softball team are two wins away from the WCWS. They're bringing the pain, and they intend to inflict it on Tennessee when the Lady Vols come to Ann Arbor for a best-of-three series, starting Sunday.
Michigan Baseball
Big Ten Baseball Tournament Preview: No. 2 seed Michigan vying for NCAA berth - Win the touranment as the No.2 seed and the Wolverines are in the NCAA baseball championships. Lose, well, they're longshots for an at-large bid.
College Football
Big East ponders options on network - Paul Tagliabue is making a lot of money off a dead man.
How economic downturn has affected Rust Belt states and college football recruiting - ESPN
Even in the football-crazed Rust Belt states, the economic downturn has affected recruiting. Fewer schools and fewer coaches have led to a power shift, and the numbers indicate that the trend will continue.
Defending The East: This Is What Recruiting Looks Like - BSD goes in-depth on East Coast recruiting and shows just how much talent there is in the East. While there may be a movement away from the rust belt, it doesn't mean that there's no talent left.
College Football - Ron Zook, Dan Hawkins, Rich Rodriguez and the hottest seats of 2010
Zook 1. Hawkins 2. Rodriguez somewhere after that.
Top 10 Overrated Coaches for 2010 - Really? Three Big Ten Coaches? Tressel, Paterno and Rodriguez? First, you're flat out wrong about Paterno. Whether he's calling every play or not, that's his team and I guarantee you he makes the big decisions at game time. Second, Tressel may be boring, he may be Lloyd Carr's evil twin, but he IS a good coach. You might remember his recent Rose Bowl win. Finally, can you really judge Rodriguez' success at Michigan after TWO YEARS? Come on. Judge him after he's had a chance to recruit.
Super Fail
Michigan's athletic woes similar to MSU's of earlier era - Lynn Henning has officially lost it. This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard on the subject of the NCAA investigation:
Michigan State is now the regional example for how a Big Ten athletic program should be run. There was a bad mess with November's dormitory fracas. But between Mark Dantonio's reconstructed football program and Tom Izzo's spotless work in making MSU basketball an elite and ongoing force, MSU has become the Michigan of 20 and 30 years ago.
"There was a bad mess with November's dormitory fracas." Are you serious!? Brian fisks this with extreme prejudice:
The number of kids kicked off the team reached double digits! It was the second consecutive year a large group of Michigan State football players descended upon a group of innocent bystanders and heard the lamentation of the women! Just the most recent incident has outstripped the entire Rodriguez era when it comes to player arrests… by a factor of five! Dantonio was directly responsible for the second incident because he let Glenn Winston walk out of jail and directly on to a practice field! This is brushed off in a single sentence!
Henning is starting to reach Drew Sharp territory in terms of failing to string logical thought and sentences together. When 16 members of a football team basically form a gang and beat the hell out of other students, you have a tremendous problem that vastly exceeds faulty record keeping. Until you write something that excuses this incredible and inexcusible oversight, your name is Lynn Sharp.