The Fab Five documentary

By now, everyone who cares knows about the Fab Five documentary on ESPN, produced by Jalen Rose. This was one of the most starkly honest documentaries I have seen in the sports world. With honesty, of course, comes controversy.

Jalen Rose said in the documentary that, at the time, he hated Duke because Duke didn't recruit "his" people. He felt that they recruited Uncle Toms, and cited Grant Hill's family as an example. Predictably, the MSM and most of the blogosphere has gone bonkers. Columnists with superficial knowledege and questionable attitudes about race treated the statements as though he still felt that way.

Many columnists wrote variattions of "let it go, Jalen." But they are missing one huge point:

Jalen didn't say he feels that way now. He said he felt that way then. The Fab Five were freshmen. They were 18 years old. I don't know about you, but I have changed a lot since I was that age. I still have the same social consciousness in a lot of ways, but the judgementalism and anger have certainly been diminished.

I am pretty sure that anyone who slammed Jalen for being honest about how he felt when he was 18 would be utterly embarassed if he were held responsible for his opinions and actions at that age.

There are a lot of people who need to "let it go," but Jalen Rose isn't one of them.

It's NCAA Time...

It's NCAA time, and Michigan got one of the worst seeds a decent team can get in the tournament: an eight. This means that if they beat Tennessee, they have to face number one seed Duke in their second game. I like what Michigan did this year, and I am as big of a fan as anyone. But they are not beating Duke.

Sure, it's possible. Duke could play their very worst and Michigan could play their very best. And I could win powerball tonight, too. That doesn't mean it is going to happen. I would rate Michigan's chances of beating Duke as only slightly better than mine of winning Powerball.

As expected, Michigan State got their "courtesy bid," but at least the committee didn't do them any favors. They did get to go to Florida, but if they win their first game against UCLA, they will have to play a de facto road game against Florida in Tampa. This is probably even more of a disadvantage than playing it at the O' Connell Center, because many of the Gator fans with tickets don't get to see a lot of Florida games, so they will be especially loud for a special occasion.

As for the tournament itself, I amost don't care who wins, as long as it isn't MSU or OSU. Michigan has no chance. Eighteen out of the last twenty years, a one or two-seed has won. I'll take the Gators. They have had no hype this year, but Billy Donovan remembers how to take a team to victory. The fact that I live in Florida, of course, has nothing to do with it.

A World of Hurt

As Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers said in a song,
It's gonna be a world of hurt..."

Is the axe finally going to fall in Columbus? Will it dismantle the Scarlet Wall of Silence that has enabled Ohio State to successfully cover up the cesspool of violations that has been a hallmark of their program for the entire Tressel era, if not before?

Make no mistake about it: Jim Tressel is a dirty coach. He can write books about God all he wants, but Jim Tressel has never met an NCAA rule he likes. His current denial of any wrongdoing is so ludicrous that I am half expecting him to use the defense that God told him to break all of those rules because they weren't "fair."

Sorry, folks, but Jim Tressel writing a book about God is like Charlie Sheen writing a book about moderation.

If Jim Tressel wants to prove that his book wasn't written by a hypocrite, and that he actually lives by the spirituality he espouses, then he should resign immediately. He should apologize to everyone at OSU, everyone in the Big Ten, and everyone in the NCAA for chronic cheating.

Tressel had to stop a tour for his newest book, "Life Promises for Success: Promises from God on Achieving Your Best," to address allegations of not only cheating, but lying to cover it up. As a Michigan fan, I would be laughing at this if it wasn't so sad. Jim Tressel has not only cheated the NCAA, but he has cheated everyone who has ever bought one of his Christian books and looked to him as a role model.

While Tressel is apologizing, he owes one to everyone who ever bought one of his books, too. If Tressel is truly the Christian he says he is, he will come clean and ask for forgiveness. One of the main tenets of the Christian faith is forgiveness. Let's see if Jim Tressel can put his money where his mouth is.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to mention here that I am not known as a "bible-thumper," nor do I believe that constant public declarations of faith are neccessary in one's relationship with God. I don't really espouse any faith in particular, but I respect all of them in general. I see religions as cookie cutters, and really don't think God cares what his cookies look like, as long as they taste like faith.

In any faith, though, from Christian to Muslim to Buddhist to Hindu to Agnosticism, there cannot be forgiveness unless there is a mea culpa first. The problem I have with Tressel is not his faith, but the fact that he is making money off of a faith whose rules he tramples behind the scenes. This is not an issue of religion; it is an issue of hypocrisy.

Jim Tressel has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. How he reacts to it should be his own business, but it is more than that. Tressel makes a very good living portraying an image as a role model. He owes it to anyone who ever believed him to come clean, ask for forgiveness, and actually be the role model he has pretended to be for all of these years.

This post opened with the Drive By Truckers, and it will close with Bob Marley:

"Some say it's just a part of it, we've got to fulfill the book..."

It's time for Jim Tressel to either stop writing books or start fulfilling them. And fulfillment starts with either resignation or termination for Jim Tressel and NCAA probation for the Ohio State University.

Then, maybe someday Jim Tressel and OSU's world of hurt will become a redemption song.

Sudden Change. Has the torch been passed?

In the wake of another win for the University of Michigan over Michigan State, thus giving Michigan their first "sweep" since 1997, a lot of questions have been raised in both A2 and EL. The games may be over, but the debate has just begun.

The main thing on everyone's mind seems to be whether or not the torch has indeed been passed, or of Michigan's sweep was an aberration, a product of luck, or a one-year wonder. The answers aren't quite that easy, nor are they etched in stone, but some pretty strong conclusions can be drawn.

1. It's going to get worse for MSU before it gets better.

They lose Lucas and Summers. They may very well lose Tom Izzo. Even if they don't, Izzo has lost the locker room, and will have to work extremely hard to get it back.

2. It's only going to get better for Michigan.

Unless a player makes an ill-advised decision to try the NBA draft, Michigan will return all of their players. Michigan is an extremely young team that overachieved this year, but it wasn't the kind of overachievement that can't be revisited. Michigan simply grew and matured faster than anyone expected them to. And they have a lot more growth in their future.

3. Sudden change.

It's funny that the same Spartan fanbase that declared MSU to have a superior football program because they caught Michigan in a rebuilding cycle are using the same arguments they refuted when Michigan beats them twice in basketball.

At first glance, I am guilty of that myself on my side of the fence, but I have always used tradition and regression to the mean as my main arguments. Michigan is 93-71 against MSU in their basketball series. Even though they had to vacate the Ed Martin years, and even though Tom Izzo has had a great run against them, Michigan has still defeated MSU twenty-two more times than MSU has defeated Michigan.

Consequently, I see the Izzo era as a statistical aberration. As we know, statistical aberrations usually correct themselves over a longer period of time. In football, the same argument holds true. Michigan is 67-30-5 against MSU. So, once again, I see Dantonio's dominance as an aberration that will soon correct itself.

What does this have to do with sudden change? Everything. MSU fans refuse to believe that the programs can go in opposite directions so quickly, but I see it as a simple return to the norm. Michigan's product is now superior to MSU's on the court, and should be even more superior in relation to MSU's product next season. The only things lagging will be public perception and recruiting. Which takes me to the next point:

4. MSU is in severe crisis mode.

In one of the eastern languages, I believe Chinese, it is often quoted that the character which denotes crisis contains both danger and opportunity. There is plenty of both in EL right now, and it all centers around Tom Izzo. There are some possible scenarios here: let's see how it could go.

Scenario A: Tom Izzo stays and rebuilds, and his kids listen to him again.

I see this as the least likely of all possible scenarios, but if it does happen, MSU is still looking two years down the road before they return to being an elite program again. Izzo has a lot of bridges to rebuild. It's one thing to say "Spartan for life," but it's another altogether to demonstrate it with his actions. As of now, all Izzo has demonstrated is the willingness to listen to offers from the NBA.

If, however, he gets Nix, Roe, and Green back and fully "bought in," he has a decent nucleus around which to build a team. But it probably won't be enough to beat Michigan next year, and both Green and Roe will have exhausted their eligibility by the following season. This could mean that, even in a best-case secnario, it will take MSU three years to rebuild to Final Four level.

Scenario B: Izzo stays but his players don't buy in.

What happens if Nix, Roe, and Green all leave early? Izzo is going to have to rebuild with players who will play the way he wants them to. It will take the same three years, and he may lose a few of the younger players from this team if he feels the older players have "contaminated" them.

Also, one has to ask how this will affect recruiting. It certainly can't be a positive.

Scenario C: Tom Gores buys the Pistons, offers Izzo the HC job, and he takes it.

I see this as the most likely option. If he doesn't end up in Detroit, someone else will make him a good offer. Izzo has to know that the next two or three years will require a lot of hard work, and they won't help his market value any. Izzo's peak market value was last year. If he gets lucky, Gores will ignore this year and offer him $6 million a year, figuring he'll make it back just from the publicity Izzo will generate. Any NBA offer, though, will be for more than MSU can pay him or even wants to pay him after last summer and this season.

If this happens, all hell breaks loose in EL. They can do a "Michigan Football" and hire Izzo disciple Stan Heath, even though his coaching record at USF is abysmal, but even an "inside hire" won't be able to save the next recruiting class. Then, MSU is looking at four years before they are good again.

5. Michigan stands to gain immensely in recruiting.

This is the biggest battleground of all. Michigan is already starting to get decent players. Izzo no longer gets everyone he offers by simply telling recruits and their parents that Michigan is a "dirty program." The uncertainty at MSU and the feeling that JB is building a program the right way at Michigan may be enough to sway recruits to sign with the maize and blue.

Ever since Izzo was handed the ultimate recruiting tool by the Ed Martin Fiasco, he has been able to get whoever he wants in the state of Michigan. Not only could he cite the Fiasco, but he could also cite Michigan's shoddy practice facilities and the aging Crisler Arena. That is no longer the case. Michigan is rebuilding its facilities and image, and both jobs are moving along quite nicely.

Soon, a five star player will choose the maize and blue. Once that happens, elite recruits will once again see Michigan as a "destination school." And Michigan's gain will be MSU's loss.

6. You meet the same people on the way down that you do on the way up.

Sparty has been extremely arrogant when they have been on top. Soon, though, recruits, fans, and MSM alike will wonder what they have to be arrogant about now. Izzo has gotten by with the "assumed close" with HS players and coaches for a long time. Now, they are going to demand more. Can Tom Izzo subjugate his ego enough to realize that the dynamic has changed, or will he continue to recruit as though MSU still has carte blanche in Michigan? Will a new coach have to pay the price for Sparty Arrogance while creating his own dynamic?

Tom Izzo built his empire on negativity. He took advantage of the Ed Martin Fiasco and has been using it as his main instate recruiting tool for ten years now. It's like the recent TMac debate. TMac is presently seen as having been so talented that that he failed to put in the neccessary "10,000 hours of repitition" to improve his game.

Did Tom Izzo make the same mistake in recruiting? Did he fail to develop the neccessary fundamentals because he had talent-rich Michigan inadvertently handed to him by Ed Martin? Is this now a systemic problem at MSU?

I guess we'll find out in a few years.

My perception, though, is that Michigan is already the best program in the state, and that it will become obvious to many more by the end of next season. I fully believe that it will get much better for Michigan, and much worse for MSU.

Now that the dust has almost settled...

It's time for a few random thoughts here.

1. When will it stop?

The MSM is once again writing positive stories about the University of Michigan football program. However, for some reason, they still can't manage to stop putting subtle but gratuitous digs at RR into their stories.

I know they love their new opportunity to write twenty year-old "Michigan Man" memes on autopilot instead of having to work hard; I really have no problem with that. But I really wish they would stop finding new and creative ways to mention RR in most of their articles. They are writing about RR almost as much now as they did when he worked at the University of Michigan.

Why in the fuck can't they just give it a rest?

2. It's almost tournament time

While I'm sticking to my guns and still think Michigan is an NIT team this year, it is quite refreshing that they are even being mentioned as a bubble team this late in the year. As someone who thought they would win around 14 and possibly as few as 12, I see this season as a very pleasant surprise.

Morris, Hardaway, and Morgan have turned into very solid players with the potential to be national stars next year. The team has lost a lot of very close and disappointing games this year against elite competition, but next year those losses could turn into victories because of age, experience, and a little more bulk. This team doesn't quite know how to win against elite competition yet, but it is getting very, very close.

An NCAA bid would be nice, but I am looking forward to a nice run to the final four: in the NIT.

3. Is the tide finally turning for state supremacy?

Football is a game where recruiting can't be done solely in the state of Michigan; it's no accident that Michigan's last two Heisman Trophy winners have been from Ohio. Basketball, though, is a different story.

While you can't really build a National Champion in football with mostly Michigan players, you can build one that way in basketball. Ever since Tom Izzo encouraged Mateen Cleaves to turn Michigan in to the NCAA and started the ball rolling, eventually culminating in the Ed Martin scandal, MSU has had a virtual lock on instate recruiting. Their National Championships were won mostly with instate players, especially the "Flintstones."

All Tom Izzo had to do for his first ten years was say "dirty program" to the parents of recruits being pursued by both schools, and he pretty much got anyone he wanted in Michigan. Also, MSU has great facilities, while Michigan had allowed theirs to rot. Now, though, the stigma of the Martin scandal is finally pretty much worn off. Michigan's head coach was actually the head of the ethics committee. And the facilities are finally getting a much-needed upgrade.

What does this mean for the rivalry? It means the pendulum is starting to swing away from MSU and back to Michigan. Tom Izzo has proven that he can do a great job with great players. But he has is proving this year that he also does a mediocre job with mediocre players. I have written at length about Izzo pissing away his mojo with his Cavalier indulgence, but this year's results, at least so far, are even worse for MSU than anyone, including me, could have reasonably predicted.

If there is one thing to learn from the Martin scandal, it's that a team that has been on top for a decade or even two decades can fall incredibly fast under the "right" circumstances. Also, one obvious but overlooked dynamic is the rivalry is that what is good for Michigan is bad for MSU, and what is bad for Michigan is good for MSU.

What we have now is a Michigan program on the upswing and an MSU program in danger of a severe decline. All it is really going to take now for the swing to really take hold is for one five-star instate recruit to choose Michigan instead of MSU. One big recruit, and the perception will be that Michigan is once again a desirable destination for star players.

Tom Izzo is already having to work a lot harder for recruits. This year's class, while rated highly, hasn't really shown itself to be anywhere near the usual caliber of Izzo's classes. In the past, Izzo has had his pick of anyone in the state. Now, Michigan is back in the game, and he can't just convince parents and recruits to DQ Michigan by saying "Fab Five Scandal" or "Dirty Program."

Also, as I predicted during the summer, Izzo has definitely "lost" a lot of players in the locker room. They no longer give the supreme effort that used to be a hallmark of Spartan basketball. They really don't look like a well-coached team this year. Izzo is coaching the same; the kids just aren't listening anymore. They have decided that "Spartan for life" means "Spartan until I get a better offer than the one I got from the Cavs."

Izzo has accomplished enough already at MSU to be inducted into the Hall of Fame whenever he is eligible. How long will he want to endure what he has endured this year before he finally says "FTS" and signs with the next NBA team to make a decent offer? If things go as planned, an MSU grad will soon be the new owner of the Pistons. What better way to make a "splash" than to hire Tom Izzo? If that happens, I can see a few lean years in EL.

On the other hand, in Ann Arbor, there is a young team that has already overachieved this year, even if they don't win another game. They beat MSU in the Breslin Center, which was, at the time, a major upset. They are a bubble team that doesn't have a senior. They have two first-year players and one second-year player who are rapidly becoming stars. They have two very good recruits, one from instate, coming in next year. I think John Beilen deserves serious consideration for Coach of the Year honors in the Big Ten.

Michigan will have a new practice facility soon, and Crisler is about to be upgraded. Excitement is back in Ann Arbor, and it will only get better. It may even be good enough to get that one great recruit that Michigan needs to reestablish themselves as "the" school in Michigan again.

It could happen a lot faster than even I expected.

DB, Hoke, Corwin Brown, and "sunshine."

In Florida, there is a law informally known as the "Sunshine Act." It mandates "government in the sunshine." Supposedly, any decision or discussion of any pending act is supposed to be conducted in public. While the MSM has been blowing a lot of "Michigan Man" sunshine up the keesters of its readers, listeners, and viewers, I think a lot of "sunshine" would be appropriate in the University of Michigan athletic department.

As most ardent Michigan fans know by now, ex-QB Michael Taylor called into WTKA this week, and lambasted the athletic department for not even giving ex-safety Corwin Brown a courtesy call or interview when he applied for a vacant coaching position. Taylor, for those who don't remember, beat Ohio State while playing with a soft-tissue injury that is best described as "torn everything that touches any part of the scapula."

Brown, for those who don't remember, started for two years as a DB, with two victories over OSU during those two years. His resume includes seven years as an NFL player, six years as a college coach, getting as far up the food chain as DC at Notre Dame, and four years as an NFL coach. I know that Brady Hoke and Greg Mattison were busy recruiting, but a coach with Brown's history at least deserved a courtesy phone call.

At this point, the coaching staff looks like "a bunch of old white guys and one token African-American." If I were one of the African-American ex-player/alums who are upset with Brown not even recieving a phone call, let alone an interview, I would have to conclude that there was some racial bias here.

I can't really accuse Hoke of racial bias, though; it's more a function of the system than any overt racial bias. Coaches, like any managers, CEO's, etc, like to hire "their own people" when they take over. People have a tendency to become friends with those with whom they feel they have the most in common. In the coaching profession, by the numbers, that still seems to mean "mostly white guys."

So, because most of the coaches in the game are still white, whenever a coach takes over and wants to hire "guys he's been in the trenches with," most of those "guys" are white. Coaches tend to be coaches because they focus on one thing and one thing only: football. This is not true for all, but for many. Hoke seems to be a guy who lives and breathes football. Consequently, I can't imagine Hoke even noticing that his staff looks like an audition for a new Casper the Ghost movie. But it does.

Where does David Brandon fit in here? Once again, he is asleep at the wheel. While the football guys were coaching football, Brandon was sitting in a cushy office managing personnel and money for two major corporations. There is no way a person with his resume is not familiar with equal opportunity, nor is there any way he can not be aware of the demographics of the coaching staff.

If David Brandon was the leader he pretends to be, he would step in and mandate that Hoke look at qualified African-American candidates. I'm not saying that race should be the only criterion for hiring, though; I am simply saying that there are plenty of qualifed African-Americans to round out the coaching staff.

The University of Michigan supposedly prides itself on its diversity. Sadly, the current coaching staff is antithetical to that so-called "pride." The majority of players on the team, and the majority of highly-ranked recruits, are African-American. Couldn't the staff at least be close to "50-50?"

Maybe casting a little bit of "sunshine" into the hiring process would be a great start.

NSD and other subjects...

1. NSD not a total disaster, but not a great class, either.

When David Brandon did the dumbest thing someone in his position possibly could, and waited until less than a month before NSD to fire his head coach, especially when state law mandates that the job be held open for at least seven days before it can be filled, he put the school, the team, and the coaching staff in the worst possible position for recruiting.

In the middle of December, Michigan had six 4-stars and eight 3-stars committed, and were "in" on a few more four-stars. So far, out of nineteen commits, there are only four 4-stars, 14 3-stars, and a kicker who should have a third star. In other words: in December, Michigan had a 4-star/3-star and others ratio of .750. Now, that ratio is .210.

I want to be optimistic about this class, but really, if they get four or five players who eventually become senior leaders out of it, the recruiting class of 2011 will have reached its upside. The good news is that the class wasn't totally wiped out.

Basically, every coach talks about how happy he is on NSD. Every recruit is projected to his ceiling, and nobody has failed yet. It's like spring training in baseball. The recurring meme for this class, at least until NSD-mania dies down, will be that these are "tough kids who want to play at Michigan."

The bottom line, though, is that David Brandon turned a "batting average" of .750 into one of .210 when he decided to not only throw his weight around but lie about his intentions for over a month. Let's hope Hoke can get extraordinary results out of a very, very ordinary class.

2. The basketball team is headed in the right direction.

While it won't really make much of a difference in this season, Michigan's victory over MSU was huge. It not only temporarily stopped the bleeding, but it probably helped both Michigan's upward trend and MSU's downward spiral at the same time. I would actually go so far as to say that this may affect MSU a lot more than it does Michigan, at least for the short term.

The loss will have MSU a lot closer to the 5-seed I predicted for them than the 1 or 2-spot they are used to. It will also help to continue the dissent that is gradually building up in EL, from not only the players, but fans who are turning on Izzo, and administrators who remember that he was ready to abandon them at a stroke of LBJ's pen.

Michigan is on the way up and MSU is on the way down. Until Tom Izzo used negative recruiting to take advantage of the Ed Martin scandal, Michigan had been a superior program for most of the previous forty years, with the notable exception of Magic's two years at MSU. It has taken a long time, but the pendulum is finally swinging back toward Michigan.

I will cover this more in a subsequent post.

3. All things considered, Hoke has done well so far.

When Hoke was hired, his most important task was to keep Denard Robinson from transferring. The situation may or may not have been as urgent as it appeared, but the announcement that Denard was staying was probably the most welcome of all the announcements in the program over the last two months. The "bigger picture" is to keep a lot of transfers from happening, but Denard's decision to stay probably affected as many as ten players who may have thought of transferring if Denard had.

Next, Hoke had to assemble a staff. The timing of his hire had, of course, handicapped him, but he did a good job. The best hire was, of course, prying Greg Mattison out of the NFL and getting him back to Ann Arbor.

Finally, it was time to recruit. Hoke had to try and salvage a recruiting class that had signed on for a coach who had just been unjustly fired by an AD who was grossly dishonest about his intentions. The class had lost Florida players Demetrius Hart and Dallas Crawford, who were seen as important recruits. It would eventually lose Traverse City product Jake Fisher, too.

Worse yet, a lot of high-profile players who were considering Michigan suddenly crossed them off their lists. So, Hoke played the "Michigan Man" card. He looked for a bunch of 3-stars who exhibited "toughness," etc. What he really meant was "warm bodies who want to sign with Michigan this year." Hoke was able to fill out the roster with numbers. He brought a few recruits from other schools whose coaches had left, and brought in a kicker who apparently can kick without a tee.

As I wrote above, the class is ordinary, but it could have been a lot worse.

So far, I will give Hoke an A. We'll see how it translates in the fall.