The Big Ten commissioner has suspended Jim Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season effective immediately. Obviously I have some thoughts on this. Here we go.

First off, I firmly believe Michigan is going to take this to court. They have stated as much prior to today and I would be astounded if they just sat there and accepted this.

Second, to levy the punishment while the team is flying to their game in State College tomorrow, that is some cowardly shit right there. I'm sure the plane has wifi and I'm sure the staff heard the news when it came across, but to wait until they have left, that is spineless. That is also very petty. The Big 10 commissioner has had more than enough time to hand out a punishment. I read that it was going to happen yesterday. But then they waffled and said it may take another week. And then news sprouted that it was going to happen in the early afternoon today. But to wait until 4pm local time to Ann Arbor, that is akin to challenging to fight someone when you are a kid, and never showing up. This is cowardly, and this whole thing has been cowardly.

To say that Michigan gained any type of competitive advantage for the “crime” is absurd. I hate to burst every other fan's bubble out there, but your team does this too. They just are better at keeping it discreet. And any fan that comes at me and tells me I'm wrong, I have a bridge I'd love to sell you. This is how the game is played in this era. And if your signs are that easy to figure out, change your goddamn signs. It shouldn't be put on the commissioner of your league and the lying ass NCAA to levy punishment.

This also sets a dangerous precedent. Michigan found that the university of Ohio State and Rutgers helped Purdue figure out their signs last year leading up to the Big 10 title game. They provided evidence. They showed everything that reporters and other schools showed during their investigation. So does this mean Ryan Day and Greg Schiano and Ryan Walters are going to be punished too? It should. That is what this ruling from the Big 10 is going to start. We've already seen other coaches ever since this blew up saying that they know other teams are stealing signs. Lincoln Riley made mention of it after Utah beat USC for a third straight time. Matt Rhule, who first said it was no big deal I remind you, has come out and said that his team is 5-4, and they own that, but one team had an advantage. I think we all know who he is speaking about. Greg Schiano made a reference to all this during halftime of Rutgers' game against Michigan. This is going to become a common thing now for coaches at major jobs. No one wants to get let go from being a head coach, and with the Big 10 suspending Jim Harbaugh, they can go to their commissioner and say that the team that has beaten them a few years in a row knows their signs and they want that coach suspended. This is a slippery slope.

The problem is that no one can admit when a team is better than them now. I coach my son, who is 11, in basketball. He will never admit a team is better than us when we get beat. I can say things until I'm blue in the face, he always has an excuse. The same thing happened during his recent football season. The only reason he says that the team that won the 6th grade title this year was because they had 7th graders. It is not true, they had all 6th graders, it was confirmed by his coaches, but he had to find a reason why his team got beat that didn't involve some other team just being better.

What irks me the most about this, besides the fact that Michigan was guilty before anything was proven, and the NCAA has said they aren't including Harbaugh in their investigation anymore because they found no evidence that he knew this was going on, is the language of "competitive advantage" that the spineless commissioner used in his wording today. To say that, while handing out a suspension while Michigan is in flight, is asinine. How does saying that not instantly give Penn State an advantage tomorrow afternoon? I've been nervous for this game all season. This was my tentpole game going into the year. Penn State is a very good football team, and they get this game in State College, which is a very tough place to play. And now Michigan doesn't know if their coach will be able to coach tomorrow, they've been called "cheaters" by major reputable organizations, the players have had to field questions for weeks now, and now they have to play their toughest game of the year with this news coming down at 4pm. That is a whole lot for a group of 18-23 year olds to deal with over a game.

But hey, whatever happens tomorrow, I will always love and root for this team. I will go to bat for them no matter what. I think the way this unfolded, and how ruthlessly adults on major networks have talked about these kids is some of the wildest reporting I have ever witnessed in my life. We are talking about "sign stealing" here. This is not covering up sexual and physical abuse. This is not overworking players to the brink, or in some awful cases the actuality of death. This is not covering for players accused of having weapons. This is not fixing tests. This is the dumbest "scandal" I have witnessed in my 40 plus years being a rabid college football fan. Now we have to see how this all plays out.

Forever, Go Blue. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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