Posse Incitatus

Sympathy for the Fraud Five

The advent of warm weather has kept me far away from the computer – there is simply too much to do at the ranch.

However, I cannot let an article as perfect as this go by without comment:

Jalen Rose not 'bitter' over Michigan president's stance toward basketball era

What makes this article so beautiful is Rose’s utter lack of self-awareness.  He seems blissfully ignorant of the shame his actions and those of his teammates brought upon the University of Michigan, or why the university president may not want to celebrate his dubious “achievements.”

Rose was of course part of the “Fab Five,” a group of corrupt freshman basketball players who made it to the NCAA finals before losing at the last second to Duke.

Thus they failed to win either a conference or national title, but are still venerated in Ann Arbor because they wore baggy shorts.

The comments on the article are full of the usual sturm und drang, but once again I note that no one has fully addressed the real problem of the Fraud Five – that we do not know how far their corruption extended.

U-M “booster” and criminal mastermind Ed Martin died before the investigation was complete and many of his secrets died with him.  Martin was able to lavish money on the athletes thanks to the profits from his gambling operation and it is this element that Skunk Bear faithful never want to address.

You see, since Martin depended on profits from his gambling to pay the players, it would be a simple thing for one of them to shave a point here or there, or even offer a tip that a “sure thing” was not as sure as it looked.  One could even make money on the over-under or fail to make the spread on a blowout.  In short, there are lots of ways to “fix” a game short of throwing it.

I have no specific information, but it seems inconceivable to me that at some point one or more of these players did not try to compensate their benefactor by shaving a few points or otherwise boosting his haul from a bet.

Needless to say, none of the athletes would ever admit to this even now, as the damage to their reputation would be catastrophic.  Pete Rose remains banned from baseball for gambling and were it to emerge that any of the games of that era were even slightly influenced, a similar ban would likely be put in place, barring the Fraud Five not only from their alma mater, but also professional basketball as well.

The problem is that once one bears the taint of wrongdoing, no one is sure where it ends.

Jalen Rose has little credibility – and his teammates wisely are leaving the issue dormant.

Still, there is a case to be made for U-M restoring its squalid banners to the rafters of Crisler Arena.  After all, the Skunk Bears continue to tout themselves as the “winningest football program ever,” despite the fact that several of their early teams consisted entirely of non-student hirelings.

 A win is a win, and one could argue that the Wolverines would at least be consistent.

The Carrier Classic was brought to you by the Obama re-election campaign

Well, tough break for the Spartans.  They looked good for a while there, but the kids in the Powder Blue Argyll jerseys were too much.  After watching North Carolina take control I ceded control of the television and busied myself with gun cleaning.

Overall, it was a cool event and the pause for evening colors was great.

I was, however, a bit put-off by Presidet Obama showing up and basically taking things over.  What is it with this guy?

I'm trying to think of a recent president that would have walked down to center court and done a mini-election plug like that.  Even Bill Clinton would have been content to wave from the stands and acknowledge the crowd.

You see, it wasn't about him.

Yet our Narcissist-in-Chief acts like everything is better once he touches it.  When he started on the "that's why I've signed into law..." I couldn't believe it.  Absolutely no class.

As for the rest of the presentation, it was great.  And of course because he was the president, no one could tell him not to talk on a Navy ship.  Pure, unadulterated abuse of power to hijack an unrelated event - an event that had nothing at all to do with him.

To some folks, this is nitpicking, which is fine.  But it would be nice for those of us who are getting burned out on politics to be able to watch a freaking college basketball game without the president popping into tell us how great he is.

Enough already.

Veterans Day 2011

As always, the Posse offers deep thanks to our military veterans for their service.  Perhaps I was just inattentive, but it seems to me that more businesses are offering discounts and promotions for veterans than ever before.  This is a good thing.

Our nation is not only divided between the producers and consumers (or "makers" and "takers" but also between those who serve and those who do not - and will not.

I never liked all the flowery rhetoric about the World War II generation being the "Greatest Generation."  First off, every generation faces is challenges.  To say that this one or that one had more strikes me as the height of arrogant self-importance. That this label came from the Baby Boomer made it even more obnoxious.

When I think about important generations, I think about the parents of the "Greatest," the people born between 1890 and 1910.  They weathered slumps, two wars and ignited the greatest period of technological advancement in human history.  The leaps forward in medicine, communication, transportation - and even warfare - far exeeded anything before or since.

When war came, they went.  When the economy collapsed, they muddled through.  The World War II generation provided the footsoldiers for victory, but the architects came from this age group.

As everyone should know, today marks the anniversary of the culiminating moment of that earlier generation - the end of the World War I.  Back then they called it the Great War, the World War, the War to End All Wars.  It gets little attention here in the United States, but it lies like a chasm across human history, a break with what went before every bit as significant as the fall of the Roman Empire or the Norman Conquest of England.

That calamity saw the collapse of the old ways - religion, tradition, family - and the rise of new beliefs, like Communism, National Socialism, moral relativism.  We are now, almost a century later, still trying to pick up the pieces of that conflict.  The constant crisis in the Middle East, the uncertain rise of China, Russia's turmoil, Africa's uneasy borders and the strife in the Balkans are all the legacy of that perfect storm and imperfect peace.

Where do veterans come into this?

In 1917, for the first time since the Civil War, the United States implemented conscription.  The fear was that were would be draft riots, as their had been in 1863.  It did not happen.  Instead, millions of young men registered and, when called, reported for duty.  Almost from scratch this country went from a miniscule peacetime army to millions of Doughboys ready to go "Over There" and fight in France.

It took time to call up, train, equip and ship them there.  More than a year after the declaration of war, the US Army was still pulling itself together.  In the meantime, the desperate Germans launched the Kaiserschlacht - one last desperate gamble to win the war before our troops arrived in force.  It failed,

The Allied counterstroke was terrible, and starting in July 1918, it proceeded without stop.  Unlike previous offensives, this was no localized affair, but a series of hammer-blows all across the Western Front.  There was no pause, not respite, and as American divisions became ready they were marched to the front and hurled into the inferno.

The American portion of the offensive has gone down in history as the Meuse-Argonne campaign.

To call it a bloodbath is to cheapen the term.  In the space of six weeks, roughly 120,000 American troops were hit with 25,000 of them killed.  In six weeks.

The American commander, "Black Jack" Pershing, used tactics as subtle as a tire iron to the head, but it worked. By early November, the German army was reeling. The Armistice took effect 93 years ago today, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Since then, World War I has faded from memory.  Its veterans are all dead, and those who remember them are mostly gone.  Yellowed pictures, dusty uniforms, spiked helmets - these are all we recall.  Even the Red Baron has been distorted and commercialized.

The point here is that a generation was called and went.  In 1941, 1950 they also went.  Some disagreed in the 1960s, but enough went to give us a victory - that we pissed away.  After that, it fell to the volunteers, and they have performed admirably.  The prestige of American arms has never been greater -and the reputation of American politicians has never been lower.

Looking at the "Occupy" protesters, one cannot help but contrast their self-indulgent tantrums with the quiet sacrifices of the veterans.  Let there be no mistake, military people are no saints (f they were, the JAGs would be unemployed).  They expect to be paid and complain about everything (a time-honored tradition).

But they do their duty.  They join to be part of something bigger than themselves and they yearn for the opportunity to prove that they are just as tough as those who went before.

The Occupiers want none of that.  They want free wi-fi, guaranteed income and a life of unearned leisure.  A half-hour of PT would leave them begging for death.

This Veterans Day, think about that contrast and what it says about those who choose to serve despite every reason not to.  MSU's basketball game today on the USS Carl Vinson is a great example.  I admire coach Tom Izzo, but his remarks about how sports pale in comparison to the military life are heartful and utterly appropriate.

Enjoy the game, and thank a veteran.

 

RichRod meets his doom

Today seemed like as good a day as any to resume blogging anyway, but the canning of U-M head coach and epic failure RichRod makes it even more auspicious.

First, the obligatory Spartan recap:  Yes, I am aware that people wearing our jerseys wandered around Orlando and got hammered into the turf by Nick $aban’s minions.  No, I did not watch the whole thing.  In fact, I have yet to watch a single bowl game in its entirety.  Call it a hangover from the regular season, which (as readers here know) I followed obsessively.

And speaking of Spartans, the basketball team is (as always) a work in progress.  I’ll start paying serious attention later in the month, when we get deep into conference play.  Yes, I know, we were supposed to walk on water and losing four games sucks rocks, but let us also recall that two years ago we suffered the double indignities of losing to both Northwestern and Penn State at the Breslin – the first loss to either team ever in that venue.  We went on to dominate the conference and play in the NCAA finals.  Who knew?

Ah, but enough about us, let’s sate our grief over the Big Ten’s humiliating bowl season by desecrating the corpse of Michigan’s football program.

Some may dispute my description of RichRod’s tenure as an epic failure, but there really is no other way to describe it.  Indeed, to those few Skunk Bear fans that still stand by him (or hold his hand, singing Kumbaya or whatever), I ask this:  How much worse would he have to be to get fired?

Worst single season record in school history?  Check.

Worst bowl loss in school history?  Check.

But let’s not be so negative.  RichRod also accomplished a number of “firsts” in his brief Skunk Bear career:

-          First loss to a MAC team in school history

-          First NCAA violations in football program history

Let us pause and think back to that first disastrous season, when the immortal Wolverine bowl streak was on the line.  RichRod brought it to its timely end.

Yes, he clearly left his mark, and the question us Spartan faithful are asking is:  What more can he do for us?

It is my fervent hope that he gets a job in the Big East and takes Denard Robinson with him.  That would really put the icing on the cake.

But the cake itself is plenty tasty.  All of his apologists whining that Lloyd Carr “left the cupboard bare” are about to find out what an empty cabinet really looks like.  No matter who is hired, RichRod’s successor is going to need years to replace the pint-sized midgets RichRod recruited. 

Somewhere, right now, I imagine Lloyd Carr laughing himself silly.  I would not be surprised if the more militant Skunk Bear faithful are not already forming a lynch mob to hunt down Bill Martin, who brought about this train wreck.

In fairness, he did have some high points.  Beating Ron Zook, for example.  No one ever does that.

Also, he managed to keep at least one of the school rivalries in positive territory, though Notre Dame gave him some help.

If nothing else, RichRod’s tenure exposed the pathetic hype machine that is the metro Detroit media complex.  Despite the example of John L. Smith’s disastrous seasons, the sportswriters spent the last two Septembers arguing that because U-M was able to demolish Division III schools at home the program had turned some kind of corner and would have a winning season.  Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson both got hyped for the Heisman before the team crashed and burned once it hit real opposition.

Whatever else happens, RichRod may rest assured that he has established a legacy that will not soon be forgotten.

UPDATE:  Gotta love the way his firing was leaked, denied, and then confirmed the next day.

Stay classy, Michigan!

 

Everyone hold hands

Acting against one’s self interest is nothing new, and even the most cursory glance through local newspapers will provide examples of people doing stupid things that ultimately harm themselves or their families.

It’s part of human nature.

Still, it is surprising when institutions of higher learning do this.  You would think that “the experts” would be able to make rational decisions about fairly obvious tradeoffs.  Unless there is something we are not being told, the Big Ten did not do this with the Rose Bowl tiebreaker.

Earlier this week MSU Coach Mark Dantonio lamented that the tried and true system of resolving conference tiebreakers – letting the team with the longest Rose Bowl drought go – was discarded in favor of deferring to the BCS rankings.

The vote was 10-1, with MSU being the lone holdout.

Obviously, this hurts the Spartans in their quest to return to Pasadena, but the real question is why the other schools went along.

Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern and Minnesota all had an interest in voting against this.  Since the BCS is still largely poll-driven, and polls are basically popularity contests, none of the schools were likely to get ranked ahead of Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin or Penn State in the event of a tie.  Heck, I’ll throw Michigan into that list as well, since they managed the feat of going up in the polls even though they had a bye.

In the event, none of these teams came close, and perhaps there was a concession to give the dominant powers the inside track.  I certainly hope so.

DID THEY SING KUMBAYA?  U-M held its football banquet last night and the highlight was an impassioned bleary-eyed speech by Coach RichRod, followed by a hand-holding session.

Seriously.

In all of RichRod’s previous exploits, one could count on hyper-loyal Blue Aid drinkers to rally to his defense, but this appears to be too much for the Walmart crowd.  I’m sure Pabst Blue Ribbon is even now being sprayed across newspapers, computer screen and trailer living rooms as word of this debacles spreads.

Just to recap:  Here is a guy who trampled on just about every Skunk Bear tradition he could get his hands on, from the Number One jersey to the defense, and he has driven off more talent that most teams ever get, not to mention using up quarterback like crazy.  And now he’s part of the family?  Michigan Man for life?

I’m honestly amazed the AD hasn’t fired him already.  Whacking him after a bowl loss will only throw the program into even more turmoil and potential recruits are now wondering if they should go somewhere else (I’m not referring to MSU, by the way, because they are too small for us, but those Big East schools really like pint-sized players).

Anyhow, there will be lots of drama to keep us interested into January.

MSU LOSES TO DUKE:  There, I wrote it.  Are you happy?  Our esteemed co-blogger (and resident basketball savant) Childe Roland has gone missing following last night’s game.  Apparently he drop-kicked his television through the window and was last heard screaming “Another turnover?!  Are you kidding me?!”

He may resurface in time to see how the Texas game works out.