Fair and Balanced Coverage of the UM Coaching Search… Yeah Right! Hondo and the Governor don't think so!

Fair and Balanced Coverage of the UM Coaching Search… Yeah Right!

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Now I readily admit I am a diehard MSU fan. After all our publication is called SpartanNation.com.  I also do my best to be fair when covering our archrival the Michigan Wolverines (It almost hurts my fingers to type those two words together). I have to admit that I am celebrating each Spartan victory every time a potential UM hire shoots them down. Pride does come before the fall. Karma is just evening the score for years of uninterrupted Wolverine arrogance. It started with App St and it will continue with your 7th or 8th potential candidate. Mr. Martin, the money is going to be steep. It is going to cost more than a Fab Five payroll. What bothers me are the members of my profession who favor a particular school and aren’t honest about their blatant favoritism and where their loyalties lie.

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Rich Rodriguez was UM’s sixth choice for their next head coach. This is probably being generous. Who knows how many other candidates were spoken too and refused to interview.

1. Ferentz
2. Miles
3. Payton
4. Cameron
5. Schiano
6. Rodriguez

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If this were MSU, the Detroit media would be descending upon the Spartan carcass like a flock of vultures on a rural road pizza. They’d be telling the whole state and world how incompetent and ignorant MSU is in their search. They’d be working hard to steer every recruit away from East Lansing and celebrate as they defected to other schools. The national media has been fair, but what about everyone else? 

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Martin didn’t hire a search firm… why? They don’t need too, they are MICHIGAN… you know, the leaders and best at completely flopping during the most vital transition in Wolverine football history. Trying to do it “their way,” has given their fans nothing but heartache, embarrassment and a huge dose of reality. Don’t look now Wolvies, but you are the meat sitting between the Spartan and Buckeye sandwich. With every misstep in this process the ingredients get more and more bland and predictable with everyday. Where are the pundits to remind them? Oh… you can’t write anything bad about the Wolverines, after all they are Meeeechigan. Oh if Fitz Crisler could see you now. I’d love to hear old Bob Ufer comment on this one. He’d have been more entertaining than any three Wolverine message boards. In all fairness, Mike Rosenberg and Drew Sharp have done a very credible job while the majority gives Michigan and its arrogance a free pass.

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The reality is that the UM job is among the most prestigious jobs in college football.  Sadly the Michigan media aren’t trumpeting that this search has been made into a joke. Even Lloyd’s loss to App State pales in comparison to this debacle. Instead, they fail to point out how badly Michigan has embarrassed and humiliated its program, former coaches, fans and alumni. The media blanket that Michigan sleeps under is quickly finding its way to the foot of the bed. It is going to become harder and harder to spin this disaster. With everyday that goes by, the ones who provide the blanket will become less credible. How long will it take those Detroit area Michigan commitments to see through the malarkey they have been sold?

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They were first told Lloyd wasn’t going anywhere. I bet the Wolverine faithful wish he wasn’t at this point. The recruits are waiting to be told that Ron English is safe, but we all know that his chances of remaining at Michigan are somewhere between 0-50%. Meanwhile schools fill their scholarship quotas and the uncertainty grows.

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They are plagued by major leaks and are in a power struggle with their fans and former football players. They couldn’t close the deal with their Wolverine lock (Les Miles). They destroyed their only fallback opportunity when they squared off with Jim Harbaugh earlier this year in a pissing match. They were too arrogant (and cheap) to hire a search firm to help. Their Detroit media blanket has been quick to spin their dirty laundry. They’ll throw the Spartan Nation under the bus at will, but the Meeechugan Wolverines can’t possibly do anything wrong. They are Michigan.

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I don’t mind any reporter who admits his personal bias and admiration for a particular school. I just don’t respect them when they aren’t fair and balanced. This Wolverine coaching search borders on tragedy if you’re a UM fan and many in the Detroit media are not willing to pull the cloak off the smelly corpse known as the Michigan football search. Just be honest. Tell it like it is. That is the standard you hold Spartans too. Where is your standard now that the “big brother” has fallen from the top of the tree house?

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I never thought I would use this quote from Lloyd Carr in a good way, but I can truthfully say that the Wolverine fans “deserve better.” At least this Christmas, the Spartans will have the laughs around the punch bowl. I wonder if you’ll have a coach by then?

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Is there any truth that Bill Martin is adding a sailing team? 

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Maybe they’ll give the job to Ron English. He’d certainly be a recruiting power. DeBord or English would be a Christmas present to the Spartan Nation, but Wolverine fans don’t deserve that. 

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Hey Spartans, you have to admit watching UM battle the infighting, leaks and embarrassment is a nice Holiday present. I just wish more people where told about it in a fair and ballanced manner. When MSU bungled this process in the past the truth was told. Shouldn't UM be held to the same standard?

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P.S.: Hey Wolverines!!

We have Izzo, we have Hollis and we have a Football Coach! How’s that working out for you?