JOHN BEILEIN LOVES SPIKE ALBRECHT......LIKE A THIRD COUSIN!

That John Beilein is quite a guy, right? He can coach basketball and grow apples with one hand tied behind his back. Awesome, dude! And the Michigan Faithful like to talk about how much he loves his players, what a "family atmosphere" he engenders in the Crisler Center. And my, how they like to TALK!

But why, then, is Beilein running his major college basketball program like a minor league baseball club? We've noted how he treats college students like free-agents, signing them all for a year or two at a time - - - THREE MAXIMUM.

Let's take Michael Joseph Albrecht for example, also known as "Spike". Here's a kid who came to UM as a walk-on, then forged his way into folk-hero status by hitting four three-pointers in the first half of the 2013 National Championship game. His game-day luster earned him a full scholarship, just as soon as enough guys dropped out of school to make room for his full-ride.

After deciding to offer Albrecht, Beilein told Carroll: "I love this kid. I'm either in a lot of trouble or I'm going to be a genius."

-USA Today, 4-4-14 

Beilein carried on about him like he was an adopted son, electing him as a Captain, and even defending the poor boy for trouble getting to class the morning after a late-night game in New York City. What a Proud Papa Beilein was to Albrecht!

“The leadership right now of Caris and Spike has really been tremendous,” John Beilein said. “On the court those two have shown as good of leadership as we’ve had to this point. We’ve got a long season (ahead), but there is no question that they are in charge of this team right now.”

“He has had as good a fall as anybody that we’ve had,” John Beilein said. “I’d encourage him to shoot more. If anyone saw him at Crown Pointe, he was a scorer who could play point, not a point guard who could score.”

-John Beilein, before the Junior season of Spike Albrecht

Then Spike started to show signs of wear and tear, eventually needing major hip surgery that threw his athletic future up for grabs. But that didn't stop Papa John from pushing for Spike's return. Beilein wanted Albrecht back on the court LAST YEAR so bad we could almost taste it when we heard him speak. The former walk-on seemed like the #1 recruit in America for the Wolverines.

But something behind the scenes wasn't "quite right". Albrecht consistently raised doubts about his impending return, while at the same time Beilein seemed to be counting on it. The situation came to a bizarre turn when Spike preemptively announced his "retirement" from college basketball after the season had already started. We all felt bad for the scrappy little point-guard, and we - - - right here on this web site - - - hailed his efforts and what he stood for and wished him the best.

But before the season ended, rumors began circulating about his return to the hardwood. It appeared that he was coming "out of retirement" at age 22. It looked like Beilein would have his Greatest Love back on the court in yellow shorts again.

Until it didn't look that way. The hemming and hawing from Beilein reached record-levels of ambiguity and ambivalence as nobody could predict whether the Prodigal Son would be allowed to make his return. There was no scholarship available for the Captain of the team. And the inside word from Ann Arbor was that Spike was no longer needed since the next new guy was already on the way.

"We missed them in every moment," said Michigan coach John Beilein after Saturday's game. "We missed them in the beginning of games, the end of games, in the locker rooms, in practice, we missed a lot of it."

-Beilein, talking about Albrecht (and Caris Lavert) on "Senior Day" 

So it goes with John Beilein. He granted Albrecht his release, initially trying to prevent him from landing at another school in the B1G Conference. After Jim Harbaugh's Assistant, Warde Manuel, told Beilein to change his orders, he did so, and Spike was allowed to choose from all 350 Division One schools for a final season as a so-called "Grad Transfer".

Now we learn that Spike Albrecht his headed to Purdue, virtually his hometown-school, taking extensive knowledge of the Michigan System with him. It's at least the THIRD TIME that a player has left Beilein's program with eligibility remaining and joined another conference school to compete against Michigan. Max Bielfeldt did so last year (Indiana), and Evan Smotrycz a few years ago (Maryland).

So how can any reasonable observer sustain the claims that Beilein actually cares about his players beyond what they can do for him on the court "right now"? Many UM fans actually like the business-like nature of his system, but is it the "right way" to run a college program? Why are so many players and coaches walking away from Crisler and leaving Ann Arbor?

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

BEILEIN DIPS INTO THE "FREE-AGENT MARKET"

Can you believe what's become of Michigan Basketball? The Wolverines USED TO BE a "College Program" - - - okay, a dirty college program - - - but a COLLEGE program nevertheless.

Despite its prominent role as the perpetrator of the worst financial scandal in the history of intercollegiate sports, UM used to operate in approximately the same manner as all of the other schools. They would recruit players, sign them, and then let them play out their careers wearing yellow shorts. They even used to have "Senior Night" on an annual basis, just like everybody else.

Now they are deep into the John Beilein Era and Michigan Basketball appears to be auditioning for lead roles on "As The World Turns" and "The Guiding Light". What a SOAP OPERA!

• Beilein whines when a game starts too late, claiming it will cramp the habits of his student-athletes. Forget about the other teams who have to do the same thing.

• Beilein brings in an over-aged academic virtual non-qualifier in Mitch McGary, sits him on the bench the entire season before letting him start a handful of games in the tournament, only to see him play only a handful more games before self-disqualifying due to an ill-timed doobie.

• Beilein drives off one player after another before their Senior season, only to see them come back to Crisler wearing a different uniform on the visiting team's bench and going home victorious over UM.

• Beilein creates a "folk hero" in walk-on Spike Albrecht, cultivating his legendary status over the next season by heralding his exploits at every opportunity, acting like the boy was his favorite son, and then pressuring him to keep playing through double-hip surgery as if he was the greatest non-scholarship "scholar" ever to wear blue shoes. Then Beilein writes the final chapter of "The Spike Albrecht Story" by pitching the useless gimp to the junk-pile after the confused youngster publicly "retired", then "came back from retirement". Albrecht may yet re-enter Crisler wearing red or purple or black or silver. By all means, STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!

Now Beilein seems to be playing the free-agent market to put together his next team. Forget about a four-year career, Ricky Doyle. Go on back to your daddy, Aubrey Dawkins. Hold on, Spike, wait right here in the hallway while we conduct interviews with your likely replacement...we'll get right back to you...if we don't find somebody better.

For awhile there, players were dropping out of the Ann Arbor college so frequently it seemed like they misunderstood the phrase "try to act professional". Fans celebrated every early departure as if it was the mark of a champion. It was if nobody remembered what the letter "U" stood for in the letters "UM".

Seems like Johnny Apple Farmer is right in sync with his new boss, James Harbaugh. Both coaches appear to be approaching their jobs like they run a "Fantasy Team", dropping and adding players rampantly in order to try to win the pool next season.

I'm no fan of the University of Michigan,

but I grew up believing they were a college program.

That no longer seems to be the case.

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.