Wolverine fanatics have been propping up the recent success of their team by pointing out how many games they have had to play without their "starter", Mitch McGary, who stepped away from basketball in December for back surgery. They use his absence to counter-point comments by Tom Izzo about his players being so injured so much of the time. They want you to think that Izzo is a "crybaby", on the grounds that Beilein has not been talking much about McGary.
One reason is that Michigan has done much better without McGary in uniform. They had four losses in ten games with him, and only two without him over 13 contests. Why would Beilein complain about that?
Another reason to not lament the loss of McGary is that he is not actually a starter for his team. In nearly 50 career games played, McGary has only actually started 12 games, meaning that 75% of the time he comes off the bench. John Beilein has lost only two "starter-games" to injury this year.
But in any case, the Spartans have lost more player-games to injuries to their starting five than UM has lost with McGary out of action. McGary has missed 15 games, while the five MSU starters have missed 20 games. And counting.
Every loss by Michigan State this season has come with at least one starter on the bench with at least one injury. The Spartans are literally UNDEFEATED when all five starters are fully available to play without injury.
Of course, injuries happen, they're part of the game. Just pointing out that injuries have been more of a negative factor for the Spartans than they have been for the Wolverines.
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Sunday, February 9, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
THE CASE AGAINST DAVID BRANDON
We have written extensively about University of Michigan Athletic Director David Brandon, noting the extreme problems he brings to the table as he represents U-of-M to the world.
We named him "chUMp-of-the-Month" for his skywriting stunt back in September. Then we named him "chUMp-of-the-Year" mainly for his negligence in stopping any of the other bad stuff from going down around UM Athletics.
And in January, he was once again "chUMp-of-the-Month", for all of the reasons we listed since New Year's Day.
But some would discount our commentaries and observations on the grounds that we have "an agenda", and "axe to grind", and so on and so forth. In other words, the old AD HOMINEM fallacy of logical reasoning, the same thinking-mistake that results in the "blame the messenger" syndrome. (Sometimes this even extends to the "blame the victim" syndrome.)
But now we have found an excellent third-party article to make the point, perhaps better than we have tried to do it ourselves. This article was not written by an adversary, but by somebody that is more or less on the University of Michigan side of the fence.
You can find the same sentiments as those expressed in this article on comment threads, but they are few and far between. Most UM fans writing comments on articles are ignorant, in denial, or spinning the story so hard that it hardly resembles itself when they're done with it.
With that, we bring to you, the best article ever written on the current state of the University of Michigan (or at least the best from last week):
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We named him "chUMp-of-the-Month" for his skywriting stunt back in September. Then we named him "chUMp-of-the-Year" mainly for his negligence in stopping any of the other bad stuff from going down around UM Athletics.
And in January, he was once again "chUMp-of-the-Month", for all of the reasons we listed since New Year's Day.
But some would discount our commentaries and observations on the grounds that we have "an agenda", and "axe to grind", and so on and so forth. In other words, the old AD HOMINEM fallacy of logical reasoning, the same thinking-mistake that results in the "blame the messenger" syndrome. (Sometimes this even extends to the "blame the victim" syndrome.)
But now we have found an excellent third-party article to make the point, perhaps better than we have tried to do it ourselves. This article was not written by an adversary, but by somebody that is more or less on the University of Michigan side of the fence.
You can find the same sentiments as those expressed in this article on comment threads, but they are few and far between. Most UM fans writing comments on articles are ignorant, in denial, or spinning the story so hard that it hardly resembles itself when they're done with it.
With that, we bring to you, the best article ever written on the current state of the University of Michigan (or at least the best from last week):
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SPARTAN BASKETBALL ALL ALONE IN FIRST PLACE
We've all heard so much about Michigan Basketball since they stole a five-point win at the Breslin Center last month that it's hard to believe the B1G Men's Basketball race ISN'T OVER YET. UM fans would have us believe the Wolverines are on top of the basketball world, or at least, the B1G conference.
As Mark Twain might say, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!"
A quick look at the standings shows that Michigan State is all alone in First Place. So la-de-da to the chUMps. The Spartans will defend their league lead at Wisconsin, while the rest of the teams study the video of what Iowa did to Michigan in Iowa City. (Even with a loss to Bucky, MSU will still control its own destiny for the league title.)
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As Mark Twain might say, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!"
A quick look at the standings shows that Michigan State is all alone in First Place. So la-de-da to the chUMps. The Spartans will defend their league lead at Wisconsin, while the rest of the teams study the video of what Iowa did to Michigan in Iowa City. (Even with a loss to Bucky, MSU will still control its own destiny for the league title.)
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Friday, February 7, 2014
TOM IZZO HUGS DENZEL VALENTINE, MEDIA TOTALLY IGNORES IT
Tom Izzo sure took a lot of crap from people after his infamous "jersey-tug" on Denzel Valentine during the late stages of a tough game last month. Sure, Valentine had just passed the ball behind his back and out of bounds. True, the Spartan Head Coach had known the sophomore player since he was born. And yes, Izzo actually recruited and coached Denzel's father, Carlton Valentine, who is taking time out of his own coaching career to stay close to the Spartan program while his son is playing.
Did I mention that Denzel's older brother Drew is now employed by Izzo and sits behind the team bench during games? Are you getting the idea that the Valentines and the Izzos are practically "family"?
None of these special indicators of an especially close relationship stopped multiple sports media outlets from over-focusing on the "jersey-tug" and exaggerating its importance while distorting its meaning. In short, the Mainstream Media once again took a cheap shot to villify Michigan State by picking on our best coach.
But Izzo gave Valentine a hug last night and nobody noticed. They didn't notice because nobody reported on it. The same Mainstream Media that denigrated Coach Izzo for his "mistreatment" of a player ignored his public display of affection for that same player a few weeks later. It's like it didn't happen.
Or to be clear, in the media world, it's like one thing happened and the other thing didn't. Except that they both actually happened.
When will the Mainstream Media quit picking on Michigan State? Tom Izzo earned the right in many ways over many years to have a relationship with Denzel Valentine without sports reporters distorting it to the public. There is a lot of love between Izzo and his players, and that's a story you could write about every day.
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Did I mention that Denzel's older brother Drew is now employed by Izzo and sits behind the team bench during games? Are you getting the idea that the Valentines and the Izzos are practically "family"?
None of these special indicators of an especially close relationship stopped multiple sports media outlets from over-focusing on the "jersey-tug" and exaggerating its importance while distorting its meaning. In short, the Mainstream Media once again took a cheap shot to villify Michigan State by picking on our best coach.
But Izzo gave Valentine a hug last night and nobody noticed. They didn't notice because nobody reported on it. The same Mainstream Media that denigrated Coach Izzo for his "mistreatment" of a player ignored his public display of affection for that same player a few weeks later. It's like it didn't happen.
Or to be clear, in the media world, it's like one thing happened and the other thing didn't. Except that they both actually happened.
When will the Mainstream Media quit picking on Michigan State? Tom Izzo earned the right in many ways over many years to have a relationship with Denzel Valentine without sports reporters distorting it to the public. There is a lot of love between Izzo and his players, and that's a story you could write about every day.
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SPARTAN WOMEN RETURN TO FIRST PLACE IN B1G CONFERENCE
The Michigan State Women's Basketball team is back in First Place, tied with Penn State at 8-2, after the Nittany Lions fell to Iowa last night. The Spartans defeated Illinois by 16 points on Wednesday night to keep pace in the wins column.
Only Nebraska is closer than two games behind the leaders, and that's right where Suzy Merchant will be with her team Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The Cornhuskers are in Third Place, a game-and-a-half behind. Both teams are ranked, with MSU at #24 and UN at #22. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
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Only Nebraska is closer than two games behind the leaders, and that's right where Suzy Merchant will be with her team Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The Cornhuskers are in Third Place, a game-and-a-half behind. Both teams are ranked, with MSU at #24 and UN at #22. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
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SPARTANS FIRST B1G CONFERENCE TEAM TO REACH 20-WIN MARK
The Michigan State win over Penn State gave the Spartans another 20-win season, as they are the first B1G team to reach that milestone. The Spartans are now 20-3, with eight regular season games remaining. MSU is the tenth team in the country to hit 20 wins this season.
Tom Izzo used his 13th different starting lineup over the 23 games. His five preferred starters have missed 20 player-games this year due to injury. By contrast, the Mitch McGary injury has thus far cost Michigan only 14 player-games.
Michigan State is in First Place in the conference heading to Wisconsin on Sunday.
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Tom Izzo used his 13th different starting lineup over the 23 games. His five preferred starters have missed 20 player-games this year due to injury. By contrast, the Mitch McGary injury has thus far cost Michigan only 14 player-games.
Michigan State is in First Place in the conference heading to Wisconsin on Sunday.
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Thursday, February 6, 2014
UPDATE: BRENDAN GIBBONS COULD BE FORMALLY CHARGED WITH "RAPE" AT ANY TIME IN THE FUTURE
This is to clarify the "statute-of-limitations" for First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in the State of Michigan. I had reported last week that the S-O-L for CSC in the 1st degree was 10 years. In fact, there is no S-O-L for that crime. The original story has been updated and you can find it here.
If you don't want to check back to the original story, here is the key point:
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If you don't want to check back to the original story, here is the key point:
The victim in this case can still press charges against Gibbons, as there is no statute-of-limitations for first-degree criminal sexual assault in the State of Michigan. The S-O-L for other degrees of CSC range from six years to ten years, depending on the severity of the crime. Here is the link, read it for yourself. If the local police recommended charges on first-degree sexual assault, and if the prosecutor wants to bring it forward, the victim has the rest of her life to move forward with prosecution.This information completely debunks the claims that Gibbons has been "cleared" in any way of the charges originally made against him by the local police.
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