Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Harbaugh, Harbaugh, And More Harbaugh

Harbaugh Update
I re-tweeted and forwarded the mgoblog.com link that Brian had posted on Saturday that more or less gave me a long reason to pause.  If you don’t read mgoblog.com on a regular basis, you don’t understand how Brian’s brain works.  He is probably the most conservative “reporter” out there and even after he was “pretty sure” that the BranDictator emails all originated from the same source, he was still reluctant to report it as fact without first getting the FOIA emails he had requested from the University.  But then Olbermann went ahead and “reported” them as fact and, well, the rest is history.
For Brian to come out and state that “It’s almost a done deal with the exception of the i’s dotting and the t’s crossing”… well, that’s interesting.  I checked with another source who more or less confirmed the EXACT SAME THING:  Harbaugh wants to come, it’s all down to logistics and when it can all come together, at this point in time.  Contact has been made and there’s more than just “casual interest”.  If Michigan is asking and is serious about what they are offering, Jim’s probably coming.  The Rumor is 8 years for $49M….with an “M”.  Yes, Bo is rolling over in his grave….
Add to Brian’s speculation the following Tweets and posts from Gregg Henson and The Detroit Sports Rag…..The Rag reported a tweet was sent to Mallory from Harbaugh stating that Harbaugh “Wants to get the band back together in Ann Arbor.”  Henson had a similar post stating that his sources are saying it’s a done deal with an announcement potentially TODAY (9:00 AM)
detroitsportsrag.net/jim-harbaugh-is-ready-to-get-the-band-back-together 
gregghenson.com/harbaugh-poised-to-become-next-michigan-head-coach 
Well, 9:00 AM has come and gone and nothing out of Michigan’s AD….But Les Miles has vehemently stated (again) that he’s not going to Michigan….
So, that’s out there…..
I’m about 60-40 on this now.  I waited so long to post today (Monday) and now I’m into Tuesday because I figured that the 49er’s would have done… SOMETHING…by now.  I mean, the team is out of it.  The front office and the owner dislike Harbaugh.  And you’re going to try to convince us that maybe you change the front office and keep Jim?  Not buying it.  I’m not even sure San Fran is buying it.  Harbaugh fatigue seems to have everyone a little loopy around the Bay Area.  And Michigan kind of looks like the bigger idiots that want to take that slightly used clunker off your hands for you because we see the value in the deal.  And Jim’s our kind of asshole…There, I said it.
At the end of the day, I don’t see the 49er’s making this easy for anyone involved and are probably going to sit and twiddle their thumbs because: 
A.  Why not?  They have nothing to gain by letting Jimmy go and owe him money if they do. 
B.  They know that hiring someone is going to be extremely difficult due to the fact that they just fired a guy that made the NFC play-offs in 3 out of the last 4 years.  And, more importantly, who are they going to get?  And finally,
C.  They also know that Jimmy probably wants out and therefore, just to make his life miserable, they’re going to deny him the opportunity to get on with his life for as long as possible.
Stay tuned….
Andersen Leaves The Badgers Holding The Cheese
Surprise!!!! 
Yep – that was a shocker.  But, really, Brett B. leaving was, IMHO, a BIGGER Shocker, considering the fact that Brett, I had thought at the time, had emerged from under the large shadow of Barry Alvarez and was standing on his own.  But BB stated that there were assistant issues in Madison and that to truly compete and have a chance to win it all he needed to go somewhere that gave him the opportunity to do that.  Meaning:  Somewhere where an assistant coach can make a competitive wage.  Wiscy is currently 9th in combined assistant compensation behind the Gophers….
I’ve read all the articles and it seems pretty funny to me that several writers have taken an entire column to write what I can sum up in a single sentence:
Barry Alvarez is a jackass to work for.
But Paul Chryst doesn’t think so and it was reported all over that he answered Barry’s call and is heading back to Madison.  Today there’s some “Wait a minute” type tweets and information out there, but I think it’s all noise and Pitt trying to hang on to a coach one more time just so they don’t have to go through this again. 
Think about that:  Pitt’s been through the ringer 5 times in the last 7 years.  5 times they’ve replaced their head coach.  I guess that’s what happens when you fire a former grad and one of the better coaches that went through Pitt – Wannstadt.
The Hot Seat Mascot Votes Are In!
And the Final 8 is set!  See below and remember to vote this week as it’s a short week and most of you will only have until Friday to get the vote in.  Once I get the Final 4 Set, I’m going to leave that voting open over the holiday….in case you want to vote multiple times or whatever.
Britanny Palmer and Nicky Whelan were third seed upset winners and  Anastasia Ashley easily won her 2 see matchup against Zoe Saldana.  However, in the FIRST EVER TIE of a first round matchup, I simply have to go with the higher seed who received more votes in the week she was a Hot Seat Mascot nominee and go with Samantha Hoopes over Joanna Krupa, but I could see either Mascot in the Elite 8.  It will be interesting to see how much further Samantha can go!!!
In the meantime, get out the vote!!!

The Bowl Picks are coming!  

2 comments:

Unknown said...

If Stephen Ross is donating $100M to michigan athletics, $49M isn't a bad deal if it has his backing. I am sure there's more money from Ross in the future as well, based on past history of donations.

MMQ said...

Matt - You're absolutely correct. And I'm guessing that Mr. Ross would be willing to pony up a little more if necessary, also.