The Michigan sign-stealing scandal sucked a lot of oxygen out of a pivotal Top 10 matchup at Happy Valley. The Odyssey is unclear as to how guilty Michigan (seems pretty guilty of a relatively innocuous offense). However, the manner in which the Big 10 and Tony Pettiti handled this matter was a problem. How could Jim Harbaugh and Company get on the plane Friday to Penn State without knowing the fate of their head coach? The cynic in us strongly suspects that the 12th-hour timing was deliberate. Michigan had made it clear to the Big 10 office that their would be an attempted legal response to any potential punishment. So, the Big 10 waits until the very last day before a huge game, knowing that the courts would be closed in honor of Veterans’ Day. Slimy! Also, if there is any doubt as to guilt of Connor Stalions & Company, Michigan’s request for a hearing is quite reasonable. Instead, Pettiti attempted to tilt the axis of the Big 10 title away from Michigan by removing a terrific coach at the very 12th hour.
The Big 10 should already on the sh*t list for any fan of college football. The Big 10’s role in destroying the Pac 12 is obvious. Clearly, the welfare of the student athletes was not on their mind due to the increased travel. If there is any justice, maybe the Big 10 can arrange for the athletes to get oodles of frequent flyer miles. The least they can do!
Want more Big 10 hypocrisy? Michigan State Athletic Director, Alan Haller, decried Michigan’s use of sign stealing, claiming that additional knowledge made the Spartan players more vulnerable to injury. Really?? Ah, Michigan State, that beacon of integrity. Sparty is currently trying to rid itself of an $80 million dollar obligation to Masturbating Mel because they did not like MSU’s 2022 record or the fact that Tucker could not keep Sparty’s starting QB and star wide receiver from transferring.
Not all of our angst is targeted at the movers and shakers in college football. The selfishness of some athletes is nauseous. Two cases in point. After the first month, M.J. Morris inherited the starting QB job at North Carolina State as Brennan Armstrong continued his regression from an outstanding 2021. This week, he basically quit, indicating that he did not want to play in more than 4 games so he could preserve his redshirt. Morris’ dad sent out a tweet that the assumption that his son would enter the transfer portal is premature. Get real, daddy! Why would a proud program like NC State want a QB who bailed on his team??
The decision by Boise State’s leading receiver, Sophomore Eric McAlister, to shut it down this week was equally perplexing. If McAlister was going to head into the transfer portal, that portal does not open until December. Why not play the season out with his teammates? Or did McAlister want to have some weeks of pre-portal marketing for the biggest payday? All very depressing.
The Odyssey deeply appreciates the exciting games but the collateral crap really gives us a headache. We believe that most fans want to believe that the players wearing their colors have some love of their school and their teammates. Too often, that belief is being trashed in 2023.