By now, the story of Rich Rodriguez sneaking into WVU’s athletic offices to shred every file known to man has become well circulated. However, its veracity has yet to be proven. Aside from the fact that West Virginia apparently allowed Michigan’s head coach access to all its files (of which there were no backup copies), this story seems to be sketchy.

What motivations are in play here?
Why is Rich Rodriguez motivated to destroy scholarship and community service information of West Virginia’s football team? There is no readily apparent reason he would do this.
Why would someone from West Virginia’s athletic department leak the story on condition of anonymity if it were true? Speaking anonymously appears to be a smokescreen to drag Rodriguez’s name through the mud without repercussion.
The West Virginia motivation to do anything negative to Rodriguez has been established by this point (down to new Michigan WR coach Tony Dews having to tell the PRINCIPAL(!) of his son’s school in West Virginia to stop mistreating the son).

Posted under Coaching

You may remember this spring, when various reports indicated that Mario Manningham and Johnny Sears, Jr. were involved in a traffic stop that resulted in their being arrested for possession.

With Johnny Sears dismissed from the team, his status is no longer relevant to the Wolverines, but Mario Manningham will not be charged in the incident.

Now that the legal situation is cleared up, more details are available. Manningham was essentially arrested in a situation that he should not have, according to legal experts familiar with the case, and Manningham’s family.

Posted under Personnel

http://mgoblue.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=25563

Not really a surprising result, but a relief nonetheless. The Big Ten title is still in reach for Michigan.

The Northwestern roadtrip photo gallery will maybe be coming tonight, though there weren’t that many great pictures.

Posted under Recruiting

The Freep reports that Mario Manningham has been suspended by the team for one game for a violation of team rules.

The suspension means that freshman receivers Junior Hemingway and Toney Clemons will have a chance to gain some stats as the third or fourth option.

Posted under Personnel

On the ride back from Northwestern, one of my compatriots received an e-mail from TheWolverine.com with the cryptic message that Artis Chambers had played in games this year while he was ineligible. Knowing that this could mean very bad things, we tried for the remainder of the trip to find out what the deal was, to no avail.

Upon returning, I did some research (yes, I spent my Saturday night looking for football information) and found the following:

Artis Chambers played this year while he was deemed academically ineligible. Somehow, Michigan violated the rules by letting him enroll early even though he wasn’t cleared to do so. Chambers played on special teams in the Penn State, Notre Dame, Oregon, and App State games, and played defense in mop-up time in the Notre Dame blowout.

Apparently, however, the only game that was threatened (in terms of forfeiture) was the Penn State game. GBW is reporting that it is unlikely UM will be forced to forfeit the game.

More information, as well as postgame analysis of the Northwestern victory, will be coming later.

Posted under Personnel

If you thought Brandon Graham’s performance on Saturday (3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, FF, FR) had Anthony Morelli ready to file an assault charge, you’d only be taking into account what a hardened criminal the Michigan defensive end is.

No, Graham is a cold, hard, …court date non-attendee? A warrant has been issued for Graham’s arrest, though the article linked states that he will likely not be arrested unless pulled over on another traffic charge. It is likely that this issue will be resolved soon, and will be no big deal to the football team.

Posted under Personnel

Johnny Sears removed from the eligibility chart, as he has been removed from the team, per Lloyd’s Monday press conference. In all honesty, Sears was a pretty bad corner anyway, so if this affects the team, it will be in a positive way, by giving Donovan Warren more playing time. Sears had all the physical tools, but couldn’t put the game together mentally, likely because he killed half of his brain cells doing drugs. This video was made in honor of his shitty performance in the App. State game, but now I think it applies in even more contexts.

The number of scholarships for the 2008 recruiting class grows larger once more in this, the year of infinite attrition.

Posted under Personnel

Hate to spread rumors if they’re unfounded, but the word on the street is that Johnny Sears has been removed from the Michigan football team.

Sears, a (really bad) redshirt sophomore corner, did not play against Notre Dame.

Posted under Personnel

…and the Offseason of Infinite Pain continues.

I heard about this at the time, but didn’t post about it because my only tip was one of my friends (who was there) saying “Quentin Patilla and another football player beat the hell out of some guy at Touchdown’s.” She didn’t know who the other guy was, and I didn’t find any confirmation anywhere, so I held off on it.

Neither player was listed on the fall roster. Thornbladh was a walkon, and his removal from the team means next to nothing. Patilla famously switched positions about 300 times this offseason (eventually finding himself buried at the FB position), before being (maybe) removed from the team, so losing him wouldn’t hurt the team much at all, except in terms of reputation. Michigan is uncharacteristically kicking ass in the Fulmer Cup this year.

Posted under Personnel

If you thought off-field incidents for Carson Butler, Chris Richards, Eugene Germany, Adrian Arrington, and rumored incidents for Mario Manningham and Johnny Sears weren’t enough for the Wolverines, you’re in luck! The Ann Arbor News reports that two Michigan players have been spending their time doing something other than bowling.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Obi Ezeh has been charged (and pleaded not guilty) to a charge of driving under the influence. This is the first ever trouble for Ezeh that has gotten to the public in his time as a Wolverine, and he will likely be suspended. Ezeh is the backup to Shawn Crable at the Sam position, as well as a player in the mix to gain some playing time in the middle. If suspended, his loss will be noticed, but (barring injury) not severe.

Redshirt sophomore wideout LaTerryal Savoy has been charged with indecent exposure, also (to my knowledge) his first strike. Depending on circumstances, that charge can be grounds for removal from the team, as it can imply some mental instability with the player. Regardless, Savoy was buried on the depth chart, no higher than the fourth wide receiver, and likely to be passed up by some freshmen as well. If he is suspended, it will probably not be noticed unless there is a slew of injuries.

Posted under Personnel