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thewolverines24
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https://johnubacon.com/2022/11/justice-delayed-for-all-involved/
In the past two weeks I?ve found out more than I wanted to without trying. A number of witnesses have reached out, unsolicited, including two sideline workers who have sent letters to the Big Ten describing what they heard from the MSU players, staffers, and coaches during the game. Frustrated with the Big Ten?s lack of a response, they sent copies to me this week.
In the first, the witness writes, ?While working?on the Michigan State sideline I heard many of their coaches, players, and staff yelling and encouraging [their] players to aim to tackle [Michigan running back] Blake Corum ?at the knees and end his career.?? While I can?t identify specifically who was saying it, I know from turning around a few times after it was yelled that I saw it was a mix of players on the bench, staff in MSU clothing, and Coaches on the sideline yelling ?aim/go for his knees,? ?tackle him at the knees and end his career,? throughout the game. It was very clear the message they were trying to get across to the players: they were encouraging them to try and injure Blake?s knees.?
Although he put his name on the letter, and others have confirmed he is a credible source, there are few things I?m less excited to do than to dive back into this swamp, so I sat on his letter. But then another witness sent me a copy of his letter that he?d sent to the Big Ten, which corroborated much of what the first witness described.
This witness, who attended another Big Ten university, starts by saying he?s been working on the Michigan Stadium sideline crew for a specific number of years, but suffice it to say that it?s been decades, all of them spent on the visiting team sideline.
?The MSU players and staff were by far the most hostile and undisciplined team I have ever been around. Below is a list of things I heard.?
I?ve reduced it here to a few points:
?Constant complaining to the officials. During the second quarter the line judge comments to me that ?this is not what I signed up for.?
?There was an unprecedented amount of trash talk. JJ McCarthy was running the ball and I heard a MSU staff member yell ?break his fucking arm.? The MSU sideline was still using over the top vulgarity even when there was only one minute left in the game.
?Usually after the clock hits 0.00 the referee?s sprint off the field. This game they stayed to break players up on the field. While leaving the field the head referee was confronted by a MSU staff member. The staff member then calls the referee ?a bitch ass mother fucker.? I have never seen anything like that.
?Mel Tucker spent the entire game arguing with the officials. He looked very agitated and never accepted the official?s explanation.?
The witness concludes by saying, ?I will say it was the most toxic and hate filled sideline I have ever been a part of and it starts with the head coach. The staff and players follow his lead.?
I can add that I?ve been on the sidelines a few feet from the Michigan coaches, staffers, and players, for 25 games, and another 4 behind the Penn State bench, and never heard anything like that. What the witnesses are reporting is not common. As one of them told me in our conversation, ?When Ohio State comes to town there?s almost no trash talking. They are focused on trying to win a football game.?
It?s not clear what the Big Ten is doing with this information, if anything. Obviously, these and other eye-witness accounts should be including in the report. Likewise, if the investigators found Michigan players had taunted the Spartans, and if they engaged in any physical altercations, that should be included too. In other words, the investigators should do an honest job of pursuing the truth wherever it leads, without fear or favor ? but they should do it sooner than later.
In the past two weeks I?ve found out more than I wanted to without trying. A number of witnesses have reached out, unsolicited, including two sideline workers who have sent letters to the Big Ten describing what they heard from the MSU players, staffers, and coaches during the game. Frustrated with the Big Ten?s lack of a response, they sent copies to me this week.
In the first, the witness writes, ?While working?on the Michigan State sideline I heard many of their coaches, players, and staff yelling and encouraging [their] players to aim to tackle [Michigan running back] Blake Corum ?at the knees and end his career.?? While I can?t identify specifically who was saying it, I know from turning around a few times after it was yelled that I saw it was a mix of players on the bench, staff in MSU clothing, and Coaches on the sideline yelling ?aim/go for his knees,? ?tackle him at the knees and end his career,? throughout the game. It was very clear the message they were trying to get across to the players: they were encouraging them to try and injure Blake?s knees.?
Although he put his name on the letter, and others have confirmed he is a credible source, there are few things I?m less excited to do than to dive back into this swamp, so I sat on his letter. But then another witness sent me a copy of his letter that he?d sent to the Big Ten, which corroborated much of what the first witness described.
This witness, who attended another Big Ten university, starts by saying he?s been working on the Michigan Stadium sideline crew for a specific number of years, but suffice it to say that it?s been decades, all of them spent on the visiting team sideline.
?The MSU players and staff were by far the most hostile and undisciplined team I have ever been around. Below is a list of things I heard.?
I?ve reduced it here to a few points:
?Constant complaining to the officials. During the second quarter the line judge comments to me that ?this is not what I signed up for.?
?There was an unprecedented amount of trash talk. JJ McCarthy was running the ball and I heard a MSU staff member yell ?break his fucking arm.? The MSU sideline was still using over the top vulgarity even when there was only one minute left in the game.
?Usually after the clock hits 0.00 the referee?s sprint off the field. This game they stayed to break players up on the field. While leaving the field the head referee was confronted by a MSU staff member. The staff member then calls the referee ?a bitch ass mother fucker.? I have never seen anything like that.
?Mel Tucker spent the entire game arguing with the officials. He looked very agitated and never accepted the official?s explanation.?
The witness concludes by saying, ?I will say it was the most toxic and hate filled sideline I have ever been a part of and it starts with the head coach. The staff and players follow his lead.?
I can add that I?ve been on the sidelines a few feet from the Michigan coaches, staffers, and players, for 25 games, and another 4 behind the Penn State bench, and never heard anything like that. What the witnesses are reporting is not common. As one of them told me in our conversation, ?When Ohio State comes to town there?s almost no trash talking. They are focused on trying to win a football game.?
It?s not clear what the Big Ten is doing with this information, if anything. Obviously, these and other eye-witness accounts should be including in the report. Likewise, if the investigators found Michigan players had taunted the Spartans, and if they engaged in any physical altercations, that should be included too. In other words, the investigators should do an honest job of pursuing the truth wherever it leads, without fear or favor ? but they should do it sooner than later.
