Michigan's Satellite Camp Upset the Wrong Group of Crybabies

The look the NCAA gave to Jim Harbaugh

As was expected, last Friday the stupid NCAA, and their equally stupid president, Mark Emmert, deemed the satellite camps that Jim Harbaugh was running illegal. They didn't really give a quality reason, but at this point, why would we expect a good answer from the corrupt NCAA. All they and Emmert had to was get some big named SEC, ACC and other Big Ten, high profile coaches, to complain that this was "unfair". They didn't think of it, so it had to be unfair, right? The NCAA's rule book is so thick and filled with some of the dumbest, most inexplicable rules, these satellite camps had to be illegal? Wrong to both of those questions.

There was no rule saying that coaches couldn't hold camps like this over spring break. If the players wanted to give up their free time and the coaches wanted to give up their free time, they were allowed to do that. It lasted for two years. After this second one was completed, these big name coaches came out and started to complain. Guys like Will Muschamp thought it was unfair. Gus Malzahn chimed in with his two cents. Even Big Ten colleagues, like the two biggest douchebags in the conference, Urban Meyer and Mark Dantonio, first complained, then decided that they wanted to bring their players to a camp like this. So, they didn't like it at first, but when they found that they could recruit in the South, in the offseason, they wanted to come aboard. What a bunch of lemmings.

None of these coaches voices mattered. It wasn't until early last week when Satan himself, Nick Saban, came out and said he thought that theses camps were illegal and unfair. As soon as I read that Saban was upset with what Harbaugh was doing, I knew these satellite camps had little to no time left. That was all the NCAA and Mark Emmert needed to hear. The NCAA and Emmert do not want to upset the "mighty" SEC and the "mighty" Nick Saban and their partner in crime, ESPN. These three were the loudest, biggest whiners and dissenters when talking about these camps. Mike Wilbon would openly berate Jim Harbaugh on "PTI" for, "taking these kids away from their families to work on Spring Break". I would always think to myself, had Pat Fitzgerald come up with this idea, he would never be this clever or innovative because he is an idiot, Wilbon would love this idea. But, since it came from a coach at Michigan, he was opposed. Speaking to Nick Saban complaining about this, he is just jealous that he didn't think of it first. He would have abused this to no end, had he set up satellite camps in the Midwest and the North, to recruit and make his team even better. And, the NCAA would have praised him for doing it. He would have done it year round as well. Harbaugh only did it for one week of the spring. Saban would be doing right now, had he thought of it first.

Yes, I'm a Michigan fan, we all know this by now, but I truly believe that what Harbaugh has done, in less than 2 years, has the "mighty" Nick Saban worried. Saban is a great college coach, but he has never really been challenged by anyone at the college level. People usually cower in fear of him. He is a bully to his players, his staff and sports writers, but they never challenge him. But, Harbaugh is openly going after him now, specifically setting these camps up in his territory and I think that has scared him. That's why he came out and condemned the camps. This is the first time since he rejoined the college ranks that he has been challenged by another coach and he is scared. He knew that if he ran to the NCAA and Emmert and complained, they would bow to his request. That is the move of a coward. The SEC is filled with cowards that are terrified of being challenged by an outsider. That is why guys like Muschamp and Malzone complained too. They are scared, especially Muschamp after what the Wolverines did to his "vaunted" defense in the Citrus Bowl this year. Then, to have coaches in your own conference complain, I mean, what a dick move.

I expected this from Urban Meyer because he only knows how to cheat the system. He illegally recruits and passes players with poor grades and lets players with multiple arrests continue to play with no repercussions. He is a world class cheater, so naturally he'd be upset that Harbaugh found a perfectly legal way to recruit in the South, in the offseason. But Dantonio complaining, that is straight up sour grapes. He is as bad a curmudgeon as Saban, but not nearly as good a coach and doesn't hold the levity that Saban has with the NCAA. He is a whiner and complainer and thinks he is way better than he truly is. He has gotten very lucky the past couple of seasons, and looked what happened when his team got in the playoff last year. I believe they got beat 1,000-0. He is not an upper echelon coach, no matter what he thinks and may say. He missed his best, and probably only chance, to win a title last year.

What it all boils down to, the NCAA and Mark Emmert are spineless and they couldn't care less about what these student athletes, whom they make millions upon millions of dollars on, choose to do with their free time. The NCAA wants to now control how these kids spend their free time. This is one of the biggest crocks in the decision making history of the corrupt NCAA. Why would they care about these kids all of the sudden? That was the reasoning, that these kids needed to have some free time away from their sport, but when do they ever really have free time? I've known people that play college sports, and no matter what level of competition, be it division 1 or division 3, they all let me know that it was a full time, year round job. They were either in the weight room, the film room, study hall or had a meeting with their coaches all school year and during the summer. I knew people that lived in the town where they played collegiately in the summer because that's what the coaches wanted them to do. So, no this has nothing to do with the NCAA suddenly worrying about these kids free time or their spring break, they weren't making any money off of the camps and the "almighty" Nick Saban was unhappy with the camps.

The NCAA, the SEC, Urban Meyer, Mark Dantonio and, most importantly, Mark Emmert are so gutless and so jealous and just out right ridiculous in deeming these camps illegal. Decisions like this are why people HATE the NCAA and why we all think the NCAA is corrupt. If they can't make money off of something, they will deem illegal and that is the biggest problem. Yes, I'm pissed that Harbaugh found a legal loophole to recruit the best players to come and play at Michigan, but I'm more pissed at the NCAA for giving in to some whiny, bratty coaches that were jealous that they didn't think of it first.

What a crock.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is angry that he has to be angry about college football in the spring. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

LeBron Keeps Himself from Being One of the Greatest Players of All Time

How can LeBron be unhappy in Cleveland?

I was reading stories on Bleacher Report and ESPN and SI.com yesterday, to make myself angry I'm sure, and I came across one where LeBron James said that he hopes one day in the future, he gets to play on a team with Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. He said he wants to play with his friends and he feels that this ultra super team could be created with him taking a significant pay cut. He also seems to believe that they could play together for one or two years and win a ring or two. Then, I was watching "PTI", as I do everyday, and Kornheiser and Wilbon brought up this same topic and they had very differing ideas. Wilbon seems to think that this is totally okay and had no problem with it. Kornheiser was the total opposite. He said that LeBron is always looking for a better situation than he is currently in. He said that LeBron is never happy with his current team and he is always looking to pair with a super star or two.

I couldn't agree with Kornheiser more.

I know that Wilbon can't fully tell the whole story because he is, for the most part, a basketball writer and he has built relationships with these guys, but he is also, notoriously, very biased towards teams and players he likes personally. He won't say a bad word about Derrick Rose, Jahlil Okafor, anyone from Chicago really, and he won't talk bad about the Cubs, Blackhawks or Bulls, no matter how good or bad they are. He is a very, very biased journalist, and that shouldn't be how he carries himself in his profession. Kornheiser is also biased for any team from Washington, but at least he has the guts to call out super star players.

I totally agree with Tony Kornheider about LeBron and this current story. Why would he say something like this right before the playoffs? Each team has about 12 regular season games left and while he should be preparing to lead his team to the finals again, he is opining to play basketball with his friends. Also, since he returned to Cleveland two years ago, they have let him do whatever he wants to do. He wanted them to trade Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins so he could play with Kevin Love. The front office obliged. He "wrote" some phony coming home letter, trying to win back the fans that burned his jersey when he first left. The front office and Sports Illustrated obliged. When he complained about Kyrie Irving not passing enough last year, he went out and passed up every shot to "prove" that he was the teams true point guard and then bad mouthed Kyrie Irving on Twitter the next day. The front office didn't say a word. When they made the finals last year, he couldn't say anything that wasn't glowing about Tristan Thompson, basically spitting in Kevin Love's face. The front office did nothing about this. This season, they started out 30-11, but LeBron was upset with David Blatt and he wanted his buddy, Tyronn Lue, to be the head coach. Within a week of LeBron openly complaining to the media, Blatt was fired. Once again, the front office obliged their star player. I remind you, Blatt helped lead this team to the finals last year and had a 30-11 record when he was let go. Lue hasn't really set the coaching world on fire, going something like 14-8 or 15-7. Those aren't Red Auerbach numbers by any standard. LeBron still goes out and openly complains to the media about Love and Irving daily. He claims it's hard to play with Love "clogging" the lane. Bull shit. Love just sits at the three point line while LeBron dribbles for 20 seconds and shoots. He complains that Irving isn't a true point guard. Sure, he doesn't pass all that much, but he is a phenomenal ball handler and a great scorer. Also, LeBron, you wanted these two guys. You told the front office to keep Irving and to go out and trade for Love. It was your idea. He then had the front office get rid of Anderson Varejo, sign Tristan Thompson to a max contract, trade for Channing Frye, re up Matthew Dellavedova and not worry about the draft. But, none of that was good enough for him because they didn't sign Joe Johnson after the Nets bought him out. He really wanted Joe Johnson, and he let the media know it.

So, in less than two years, he has gotten his way, like a spoiled rotten little brat, but he still isn't happy with what he has created. I'm not the first, and I won't be the last to say it, but he is the star player, coach and GM of the Cavs. When they do all this, at his beck and call, it makes him the guy pulling all the strings. Don't get me wrong, I think LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time. He is a champion, multiple MVP winner and will go down as one of the best of all time. But, since his return to Cleveland, I'm beginning to believe that he is a whiner, a prima donna and possibly, the most uncoachable player of all time. Then, this story comes out. Sure, it sounds nice, but I guarantee, within two months, he would be unhappy with his role on this super team. He would clash with Chris Paul because they are both ball dominant players. They both need the ball in their hands at crucial moments. Paul is also very hard headed and would definitely fight with LeBron. He is very old, in basketball terms, right now too. Carmelo Anthony is a ball hog and has proven that he can't come up in clutch moments. This would drive James nuts. I also think the amount of iso ball and threes that Anthony takes would take it's toll on James very, very quick. He has already played with Wade, and they won two championships, but he was old during their last trip to the finals as teammates, and he would be extremely old if they team up again. Wade is also only good for about 50 quality games nowadays, so just imagine how few games he would be able to give his all in a couple of years. This all sounds good and well to James now, but I know he would get frustrated and fed up quicker than he has in his return to Cleveland.

What it all sums up to, I'm sick of James complaining and blaming everyone else for the faults of the team he has personally created. Quit opining for stars and deal with the hand you picked. Sorry that the Warriors and Spurs are historically good and one thousand times better than your Cavs team, but these are the guys you wanted. And stop saying this stuff to the media because it opens you up for criticism, which you don't handle well. Stop bitching and moaning like a baby and be happy that you get to play a game for a living and you make millions upon millions of dollars doing it. You also already have two rings. Charles Barkley would trade his whole career away for one of those rings. Also, Michael Jordan never openly complained about his teammates and he also won with guys like Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington and Luc Longley. Jordan would never want to make a super team just to win a title, he would will lower level pros up to his level and win with them. This complaining and whining is why you will never be as good as Jordan. This current story also proves why you will never be at Jordan's level. You are a great, great player, but you are also a world class whiner and you always think the grass is greener elsewhere. It's very off putting.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His basketball knowledge was acquired through years of rec league trash talk. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.