Friday, August 24, 2018

MeyerGate Mailbag and Friday Round Up


MeyerGate Mailbag and Friday Round Up

There has been so much hubris regarding the entire MeyerGate scandal that it’s almost sickening to even get on social media where half the bucknuts (or more) are insanely outraged that their head football coach was suspended for 3 games and believe that the whole thing is a travesty.  The travesty being that Meyer and Smith have been unjustly accused and punished for not “following through” on a domestic issue where no charges were filed…

Yet, I’ll be these were the EXACT SAME PEOPLE that were expressing OUTRAGE that PSU didn’t do more or fire Sandusky and Paterno sooner once the facts of the case came out. 

Hypocrisy is an evil, twisted thing.  There’s right and wrong in this case, and I’m not entirely sure that the folks in Columbus got it right.  But they now have to live with their decision and we’re ALL going to get to see how that works out for them. 

Don’t fret, Football Fans!  I always believe things have a way of working themselves out…

How Bad, EXACTLY, Were Sex Toy University’s (NEW NAME! STU – see the Mailbag) Actions, In Comparison to Other Scandals?

So, in the aftermath of the 3-Game Suspension non-punishment (Forgot to mention that Meyer can actually coach in practice during the week but can’t be on the sidelines for the games), how does what STU did stand up to other, similar punishments doled out by other universities or the NCAA?  Does the punishment fit the crime?
Let’s list a few (starting with two from the school down south):
Punch Gate:  Legendary coach Woodrow Wilson Hayes punches defensive player Bauman from Clemson after he intercepted STU in the 4th quarter of the 1978 Gator Bowl.  It was all captured on film:
STU didn’t hesitate on this one and immediately fired Woody the following day. 
Coach Status:  Gone and will be forever remembered as the coach that punched a player on the sidelines…
AD Status:  Did the firing, like an AD should do.
President Status:  Probably uninvolved, as he should be.
Everyone Else:  Expressed sorrow for Woody, hired Earl Bruce, and the world somehow kept spinning on its axis.
COMPARISON:  There is no comparison to be made here.  While it was probably the most DIFFICULT DECISION EVER MADE BY AN AD ANYWHERE, the right decision was made.  End of story…
Tattoo Gate:  For the few of you that have been reading me for awhile, you may want to go back and read the entry I wrote when Tressel was facing the music. 
The Trouble With Tressels (lies) is that you can never tell just one and they just seem to keep turning up.  Tressel lied in an effort to keep a lid on something that had already blown open.  And the NCAA was going to investigate and open up the entire can of worms.  I questioned Smith’s ability at THAT time regarding whether or not he would keep his job…
School Status:  Probation
Coach Status:  Fired
AD Status:  Retained
COMPARISON:  If STU was still STU, they would have manned up and done the right thing and punished Meyer according to the standard set with Tressel.   Granted, the III (Idiots In Indy) we’re forcing STU’s hand in all of this, but never the less, they ended up doing the right thing.   But it is funny that Smith has overseen two of these scandals.  If I was the Prez at STU, I’d be going after his job.
PSU and Sandusky:  Another one that the MMQ had some really deep opinions on regarding how the NCAA COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY over-stepped their bounds and should have let the legal system handle what were ultimately legal issues.  Some of my takes:
The NCAA doled out $60M in monetary penalties, 10 scholarship reductions per year over 4 years, bowl ban, B1G Post Season Ban (B1G enforced). 
School Status:  Damn near the Death Penalty – for non-football related issues
Coach Status:  Fired
AD Status:  Fired
EVERYONE ELSE STATUS:  Fired or facing jail time…
COMPARISON:  PSU was already taking matters into its own hands and handling the situation internally.  The President and AD were already under scrutiny and on administrative leave.  Emmert, prez of the Idiots In Indy, decided, unilaterally, that wasn’t enough.  Later cut the probation and bowl ban down to 2 years.  The III has done NOTHING in the STU MeyerGate case, even though a demonstrable loss of institutional control has been shown in the investigation report itself. 
LNU Various Sexual Assaults, Allegations of Rape and of course, Larry Nassar:  This one is so convoluted and morally corrupt that it makes me wonder if there’s anyone in charge at LNU?  Dantoninnia should not have survived bringing the players on campus that he did and subsequently, when they got into trouble and he had no choice but to kick them off the team, he suffered no consequences.  Because he was beating Michigan.  Izzo pulled the same stunts with different players that were accused of rape, assault and sexual assault. 
School Status:  Hopefully the name “Larry Nassar University” will live on for quite some time…
Coach Status:  No penalties or reprimands.  They’re winners, fergodsakes!
AD Status:  Hollis finally fired after LN Debacle, but should have been scrutinized by LKS a lot sooner over Izzo and Dantoiinia debacles.
President Status:  Fired, but if that’s firing, fire me today so I can go drink mimosas on the beach!
COMPARISON:  Each of Michigan’s arch rivals, STU and LNU, seem to take the position that “As long as you’re beating Michigan, you still have a job.”  They are both loathesome and disgusting institutions as to how they approach these types of issues.  So, they’re basically the same. 
unc EducationGate:  For over 20 years unc offered a 3 credit one 2 page paper course that was considered and “advanced” course that was attended by a majority of unc athletes.  Often times, the players didn’t even write their own papers and turned in previously written or TA written papers.   . 
School Status:  We didn’t cheat!  This was NOT ACADEMIC FRAUD!!!
Coach Status:  Still Coaching…
AD Status:  Still ADing
Everyone Else at unc:  suffers the ridicule of knowingly and fraudulently getting “paper grades” for non-classes.
COMPARISON:  Again, tough to figure this one as no one was hurt, other than the complete reputation of a university.  So, more of less the same as STU, but in the STU case, there is a victim.  However, the III pursued this for nearly 7 YEARS before concluding that they could NOT charge unc with Academic Fraud resulting in no punishment.  MeyerGate and EducationGate are equally embarrassing episodes in the collegiate world.  Both should have had more punitive damages
Reggie Bush Gate:  Reggie’s family and Reggie accepted reported amounts of up to $200K in the form of beach house rental and payments to his parents, but not directly to Reggie about 6 months prior to Reggie being drafted by the New Orleans Saints. 
Player Status:  Forfeited his Heisman Trophy
Coach Status:  Split before the shit could hit the fan for him…
AD Status:  Gone…
Everyone Else:  Team forced to forfeit National Championship in 2004 and all the wins in 2005.
COMPARISON:  Doesn’t even come CLOSE to comparing.  USC suffered greatly at the hands of the NCAA for the actions of one individual, even though it’s very easy to see (now) that Carrol was also a target of the NCAA.  Still, giving up national titles and scholarships is WAY MORE than STU will ever suffer.
Here’s an Interesting Fact:

Meyer – still Coaching
Fickel – Fired after 1 Season as interim
Tressel – Fired
Cooper – Fired
Earl Bruce – Fired
Woody Hayes – Fired

Comparison:  Michigan has fired three (Hoke, Rich Rod, Moeller) of it’s last 6 coaches. 

The Mailbag…

3 Games Suspension – What complete and utter BS out of Columbus.  I watched that presser and it was a joke.  Let’s rename them “Sex Toys University” – Are you good with that?

Done!   Unless I get another really good name from someone else this will do rather nicely!

Are you really happy that Meyer kept his job?  Are you just being sarcastic or what? 

No – I was actually being very sincere.  I think what Urban Legend is going to have to start dealing with this issue in every presser he has at every place he goes.  That is:  The lingering story of MeyerGate and the fact that he didn’t do enough.  On top of that, when the screw finally begins to turn, I WANT TO BEAT MEYER.  Just like I WANT TO BEAT SATAN.  That’s why they’re there, right?  To knock them off!  There will be nothing sweeter when the time comes. 

Is there any chance there’s more to the story out there lurking? 

I will say that I follow Brett McMurphy on both Facebook and Twitter.  I try to hit his page everyday and now that I’ve been following him more, he seems like a very thorough individual.  Which is partly why I think ESPN canned him.  He was getting to the bottom of too much stuff.  So, sit back and wait and see.  But yes, there can always be more to the story!

You know the “Other Coach” mentioned in the 23 Page report was Tom Hermann, right?

I had surmised that and also saw that some other reporters connected the dots on who the other coach was, so yes, it’s confirmed.  Other than what that might mean for Hermann and his status at Texas, it’s just another trivial fact in all of this.  I mean, Hermann wasn’t working for Texas yet when he visited a club to gawk at naked women, so I don’t think you can go after a guy for what he did in his previous life.  I suppose if he doesn’t start winning, the Longhorn Bloggers will begin attacking his character by bringing up his association with Zach Smith and whether or not he’s “fit” to coach young men. 

So, all this bullshit aside, are you having a hot seat mascot this year?  You skipped on Hottest Coach’s Wife of the B1G because the Flecker had it hands (job) down.  Let’s get some skin going…

The Hot Seat Mascot was originally started (Hang on - I’ve got to look) around 2008 when Michigan was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BAD.  It was a welcome distraction for me and the small following that was mostly Michigan Fans at that point in time.  The Hot Seat Mascot grew into a tradition of sorts and then even had a tourney with reader voting in the last couple of seasons (it existed).  The MMQ took a hiatus from that as (ahem) my daughters started to take glimpses at and read my blog.  I can only state that now, after a solid 9-year run, while it was a fun divergent tangent to the overall blog, I thinking about officially retiring the Hot Seat Mascot.  That’s not to say that I won’t post an occasional photo of an attractive female whenever I come across one.  So maybe I’m saying the MMQ has succumbed to the “politically correct” pressure and doing things the right way.


HOWEVA’!  I’m also a guy that likes to give the people what they want.  Perhaps a poll is needed to decide whether or not we have a Hot Seat Mascot Competition this Season?

Why Not??

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