When Heroes Aren’t Heroes Anymore…
If you don’t read www.mgoblog.com, you need to start. Here’s two great links
to the Crisis at MSU and a self-reflection of Michigan’s issues and history and
how Michigan might be “at risk” to a Nassar type crisis:
Michigan’s Main Blog is doing an INCREDIBLY BETTER JOB (than The Only Colors)
of following this crisis, the TOTAL accounts of everything that’s happened,
and putting together a timeline to follow.
Yeah, there’s some bias, but not much.
I got some feedback in
an e-mail stating that I must really be loving the Sparty Crisis due to the
fact that I hate Sparty. I think you
guys are missing the point and how I feel about other universities:
I’ll admit this: I’m glad it’s NOT the University of Michigan
going through this as I would have incredibly mixed feelings about
everything that I believe to be true and hold near and dear to my heart when it
comes to Michigan.
And I believe that there’s a lot of Sparty
Grads and supporters out there thinking the same thing. And, believe it or not, I actually empathize
with you much in the same way I empathized with the Grads, Fans, Players and
Students at Penn State. That was very
cruel and unusual punishment that was dished out by the NCAA in what should
have been handled completely by the legal system.
And I believe I’ve stated that the NCAA needs to perform
their own investigation to determine if there was a lack of institutional
control at MSU. With appropriate (FINANCIAL)
punishment to follow. I’m
not talking Death Penalty here. Sports
Programs and current and future student athletes should NOT be impacted, but
rather, a total enema should be administered into the organization that cleans
out anyone and everyone that had anything to do with the cover up of any issue
related to any program or investigation. The
Michigan Legal Process SHOULD help cut some of that Cancer out of the Sparty
regime as well. (Assuming it’s not
cronyism as usual, which, maybe).
But in the meantime, all the Sparty faithful is asking
itself:
How should I be feeling about my alma mater? How should I be feeling about the coaches
that are still there, but stand accused in the court of public opinion of
hiding and covering up sexual assault and rape in their programs? Not to mention a plethora of other legal
issues in general (Sparty football).
That’s the most troubling part. You believe the program(s) are being led by
someone that’s “Doing it the Right Way”, even though we are very aware
that both Izzo and, more so, Dantonio, have had repeated issues with players
and the law.
Sexual assault
Battery
Destruction of property
Countless DUI’s
And the list goes on
So how should you be feeling right now? Is it time to “Do the right thing” as a
fan? Is it time to own up to the fact
that the “Hero Coaches”at MSU are maybe not the heroes we think they are and
need to be told “Thanks for everything you’ve done” and shown the door? In an effort to truly save the image of MSU?
Penn State tried to hang on to “Hero Coach” Joe Pa much
longer than they should have. The
fans are still rationalizing what Joe Pa may have done or not done in the
Sandusky case and saying “Look, what he did in the case was bad.
But can’t you see all the good he stood for?”
And I say – Absolutely!
But, if you had to do it all over again and you KNEW in 2000 that
Sandusky was screwing little boys and you KNEW THEN that Joe Pa KNEW in 2000 and didn’t do
anything…Would you still want him around?
That, of course, is the question. Izzo, by all accounts, is God around East Lansing. Dantonio isn’t quite at that level, but he’s
had his share of the spotlight.
And they’ve both had their share of making
things go away.
It’s the nature of the system.
Protect the players.
Protect the Franchise.
Protect the Business.
Win Games.
But At All Costs???
Of Course Not.
Any sane Coach would draw a line somewhere.
(Of course there is Rick Pitino….)
So The Question Is:
What are acceptable costs?
Knowing everything that’s collectively known
about Sparty Athletics at this point??? Knowing
that women and other student athletes have been subjected to assault or physical
abuse? And the results of those
activities that they are living with to this day?
Because of a sports program that wanted to maintain the
status quo and more importantly, win.
Can you live with that as a supporter and a fan?
I know for a fact that I wouldn’t want to ask myself
that question when it came to my alma mater.
But I think MSU fans and alums need to consider
asking it of themselves.
Heroes often fail.
It’s why they’re heroes…
The SuperBowl Prop Bets
As a Gamblor, I enjoy looking at
crap like this and it’s fun to think about throwing money down on
something that’s completely random, and getting odds.
Luckily, Forbes has a great article and an
expert to advise you on what prop bets makes sense to wager a little dough with
your friends and which ones to stay away from. So when you’re washing down the Guacamole
and chips with that ice-cold beverage and someone says, “Hey, I’ll bet you….”,
you have some information at hand!!!
There’s a complete Prop Bet List
at the end of the article. Some of the
silliest ones (with the MMQ Bets highlighted in YELLOW):
(Belichick could CLEAN UP if he had
a ghost Bettor in Vegas!!!)
Bill Belichick wears a hoodie during game
Yes
-115
No
-115
Color of Bill Belichick hoodie (must
wear hoodie for action)
Grey
+120
Blue
+140
Red
+500
(I’m taking the YES and I’ll Go with Grey)
Most Valuable Player
Tom
Brady -130
Nick
Foles +350
Rob
Gronkowski +1500
Devin
McCourty +10000
Trey
Flowers +10000
Fletcher
Cox +12500
Brandon Graham +13500
(Brandon Graham is worth a $100 at
those odds!!)
Total number of Donald Trump tweets during game?
Over 5.5 (-115)
Under
5.5 (-115)
(Gotta take the OVER on Trump Tweets -
$15 seems like a lot of juice, however)
Will Al Michaels or Cris Collinsworth say “GOAT”
Yes
+360
No
-500
(This is a YES That seems like a no-brainer. GOAT is simply thrown around too much
today. I’ll throw $100 to win $360….)
Will Justin Timberlake say “Trump” during halftime
show?
Yes
+175
No
-250
(This one is TRICKY. Timberlake hasn’t mentioned him before. I don’t believe he will now. But I hate laying $250 to win $100 on that…)
How many times will word “Dilly” be said during
broadcast?
Over
12.5 (-115)
Under
12.5 (-115)
DEAR GOD! I’m
already sick of the “Dilly-Dilly” meme, but I’d wager on the over.
Winner of 14th Puppy Bowl
Team
Fluff (-115)
Team
Ruff (-115)
Coin Flip!
I’m going with Team Fluff this year….
Games – Dates – Time – Result - Record
Illinois(H) January
6th Noon WON 79-69 14-3
Purdue
(H) January 9th 9:00 PM Lost 70-69 14-4
Sparty (A) January
13th Noon WON 82-72 15-4
Maryland (H) January
15th 6:30 PM WON 68-67 16-4
Nebraska (A) January 18th 8:00 PM LOST 72-52 16-5
Rutgers
(H) January 21st Noon WON
62-47 17-5
Purdue (A) January 25th 7:00 PM LOST 92-88 17-6
Northwestern
(H) January 29th 7:00 PM WON 58-47 18-6
Minnesota
(H) February 3rd 2:30 PM
Northwestern (A) February 6th 6:00PM
Wiscy (A) February 11th Noon
Iowa (H) February
14th 6:30 PM
Suckeyes
(H) February 18th 1:00 PM
PSU (A) February 21st 7:00 PM
Maryland (A) February 24th Noon
Northwestern Was Feisty
Until they weren’t, but Michigan
was back
up to its old tricks of not scoring in the 1st half and there was
some frustration on Wolverines part due to the Purple Kitties
smothering defensive play on the opposite end of the floor. Northwestern is not a terrible team and
beating them in Evanston next week won’t be easy...
Next Up - Minnesota!!!!
Michigan gets the Golden
Gophers in the only meeting this season between the two teams at Crisler
tomorrow (2:30 PM). The Gophers have
been stumbling through this season after the loss of their center to a
checkered sexual past. Pitino’s
Gophers can probably still make some sort of run and the mentality of playing
with House Money has settled in. They’ve
got nothing to lose…
Meanwhile, the next 4 games (including
Minnesota) all look relatively winnable, assuming Michigan just continues
playing the way they are. That
will leave a final 3-game stretch that could put a highlight on the regular
season heading into the B1G Tourney or it could be a stutter step into New
York.
We’ll see....
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