Joe Rexrode is the best sports reporter in the Detroit market, let's get that out of the way right here at the top. We are not criticizing the work of Rexrode, nor are we saying he is part of a pro-Michigan conspiracy at the Detroit Free Press. But he works in a blue-biased-bubble at the Freep (though that publication is not necessarily the worst offender in yellow-and-blue journalism).
So it wasn't surprising to see a very unflattering picture of Spartan Football Head Coach Mark Dantonio topping an article that claimed he was somehow inadequate because he wanted to talk about the Cotton Bowl at a Cotton Bowl press conference. You may recall only a few short days ago how the sports media was trying to hijack every interview with every sports figure and turn it into a Jim Harbaugh Retrospective. Dantonio was the only one to put a lid on such attempts, closing off the impulse to distort every American sporting event into a showcase for the University of Michigan.
He was right to do so. Dantonio knew that he wasn't a guest on the Jim Rome Show in Dallas, he was coaching a team to play in the Cotton Bowl.
Dantonio wanted questions about his team and/or
his coaches, and maybe a few about Baylor as well.
Not another episode of "All About Michigan".
Shawn Windsor of the Freep attacked Dantonio the next day, claiming he was deficient for not playing along with the sports media bias in favor of UM. Windsor essentially was saying that the MSU Head Coach should have bowed down, bent over, and taken it with a smile. When Dantonio didn't play along, Windsor slapped him around in a nasty article with an even nastier picture of the Spartan leader who was obviously squinting in the sunlight when the photo was taken.
Nobody seems to have a picture of Harbaugh with his player's blood smeared all over his own face, so such a photo would be a rarity. The Freep, however, has hundreds (if not thousands) of photos of Dantonio in which he's not squinting in the direct sunlight. For "SOME REASON", they chose a bad photo of Dantonio to publish the day after Harbaugh's hiring and the day before MSU's bowl game.
So I logged in to the
Rexrode weekly chat to ask about it. We bring you the text exchange for your review.
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JOE REXRODE WEEKLY CHAT - DECEMBER 31, 2014
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Michigan folks have behaved disgracefully on a regular basis towards Michigan State, both formally and informally, officially and non-officially, for decades. Mark Dantonio is repeatedly criticized for standing up LIKE A MAN against such nonsense. In your professional opinion, what is he supposed to do under these circumstances? It was a Cotton Bowl press conference, not an end-of-year summary with all topics on the table.
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First of all, some folks on both sides of this rivalry act disgracefully. And again on Harbaugh questions -- the news was official yesterday, an hour before Dantonio spoke. How in the world would anyone think that doesn't get asked? Urban Meyer got asked. Rich Rod got asked, etc., etc. Come on. It's news.
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You deny the "Blue Wall" at the Freep because YOU'RE NOT PART OF IT. You obviously do a great job and everybody knows it. But how can you ignore the snarky article by Shawn Windsor, and especially the incredibly unflattering picture of Mark Dantonio along with it? That's a bad picture, man, one that should not be used in a professional publication. He is obviously squinting from the sunlight, not a good shot. This was a "smear-article" concocted only to hurt the image of MSU. Was Harbaugh also asked to comment on every other conference team that has played in, or will play in, a bowl game? Of course not, he's treated with kid gloves. NOT YOUR FAULT, JOE, BUT YOU ARE WORKING IN A "BLUE WALL WORLD".
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See, you're wrong there. I was in the top-secret Free Press meeting in which we talked about the best way to put out this "smear article" to help continue aiding Michigan and undercutting MSU. I have now been promoted to Blue Wall Lieutenant from Blue Wall Private.
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THAT'S FINE, WE CAN GO THERE ALL DAY.
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(Sorry, sometimes I think I'm having a mid-life crisis. This Reese's Cup should help).
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If you don't answer questions about Michigan during this chat, why should Mark Dantonio answer questions about Michigan during his COTTON BOWL PRESS CONFERENCE???
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Oh, absolutely. That was a key part of our #BlueWall meeting.
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Thanks for participating in the New Year's Eve chat, everyone. Enjoy the holiday, please -- please -- be safe tonight. And next week I'll bring the minutes from the #BlueWall meeting so you can see what we have planned next! But seriously, thanks and take care.
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Rexrode did a stand-up job defending his colleague while dodging the main point. I made it absolutely clear that I wasn't charging him with complicity, but he just laughed-off the whole idea. That's okay, as we can count on him to continue to produce outstanding work on a regular basis. But it remains quite possible that one reason the Freep (finally) hired/promoted him was to establish an easy and convenient counter-strike to claims of media-bias in favor of their beloved University of Michigan.
Joe Rexrode provides excellent professional coverage of MSU Football and Men's Basketball, and we can all appreciate that very much. His employers, however, have not consistently shaken the habit of bowing down to the Blue Gods in Ann Arbor, almost always at the expense of Michigan State.
Keep up the great work, Joe Rexrode!
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