Category Archives: NCAA

Kevin Stallings Has Some Nerve Talking About Sportsmanship

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By Ellen Chlumecky

March 2, 2015

There have been some great coaches in the history of sports. Coaches like Mike Ditka, Herb Brooks, Pat Riley, Pat Summit, and Vince Lombardi, made history by being dedicated, courageous, and obviously very tough. I’m sure that one of them has given their share of screaming matches with their players; however they probably weren’t broadcasted on television. I don’t think Kevin Stallings will be making the top 10 coaches of all-time list in the near future. This incident might be the reason why:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12390679&ex_cid=sportscenterTW

As you can very clearly hear in the video, Stallings says to Wade Baldwin, “I’ll kill you.” The reasoning behind his screaming was because he heard that Baldwin was clapping in Tennessee players’ faces after the final buzzer sounded. After Stallings heard of this poor sportsmanship, Stallings confronted Baldwin during postgame handshakes and demanded that he apologize. Baldwin appeared to ignore the Vanderbilt coach. This resulted in Stallings’ outburst.

While Stallings apologized for his comments in a release by the university, does it really make it acceptable? While he did mention that it was his haste to resolve the situation the spurred the inappropriate reaction, it doesn’t exactly make it acceptable. While everyone has their flaws, a statement of that nature should never be uttered by a coach to one of their athletes or one of their students.

Stallings said that Baldwin has “got some things to learn, some growing up to do if he’s going to play in this program.” Isn’t that a little ironic? It seems as if Stallings might want to join Baldwin in that little “growing up” process he’s supposed to be participating in. While he’s apologized to the student, you never know what Baldwin is thinking either. While he tweeted that he wasn’t offended or took not offense, do we know for sure if he’s nervous or scared about what Stallings said to him?

At the end of the day, the coach is someone who is supposed to be a role model and someone the athletes are not supposed to be scared of to come to with problems or concerns. Most of the time, they’re their first line of contact whenever something is happening in their life. Would you feel safe reporting to a coach that has once threatened to harm you? It’s hard to understand why someone would feel so comfortable screaming such obscenities on the court in front of fans, families, other fellow athletes, and students. There is a fine line between being tough and being cruel. While I understand what Baldwin did was immature and selfish, hold in your anger till you can calm down and rationally talk to your players.

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King James isn’t happy…but why?

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By Kaleb Page

March 2, 2015

Arguably the best basketball player in the world, LeBron James, is not happy.

You might ask yourself how is such a man unhappy? Especially when you are the proclaimed savior of Northeast Ohio, making millions of dollars just to play a game and happen to be on a team that is rising force in the league; winning 17 of the last 19 games.

The reason James is mad involved something a bit more personal. His 10-year-old son, LeBron James Jr. (aka ‘Bronny’), has recently become a target for college basketball recruiters.

Yes you read that correctly, Lebron James Jr. a 10-year-old is already getting offers by colleges to play basketball. Something that made his dad take a step back.

“Yeah, he’s already got some offers from colleges. It’s pretty crazy. It should be a violation. You shouldn’t be recruiting 10-year-old kids.” -LeBron James (from Mike Sullivan of CBS Detroit)

Even though none of the schools were mentioned, it does drive home a point that I think we should be more critical of in the media. This being the over-hyping of child athletes before they have fully matured or even went through all the levels they still have to go through in their amateur play.

Sometimes the hype is for real but it has to beg the question what type of pressure are you already putting on kids at such a young age? Especially those who are children of well established professional athletes.

Now I guess it is easier said than done in today’s sports society. Where results are based on getting to the creme of the crop first, getting them to commit to you and then produce at your school. It probably makes it even harder on recruiters to not go after James Jr. when his dad makes comparisons between himself and his son.

“He plays just like I did. He has great awareness, and he’d rather pass first and set guys up. Most kids nowadays just want to score.” -LeBron James (from Mike Sullivan of CBS Detroit)

Since James never went to college because there was no rule about going to college for one year, you better believe that the race for the next wave of talent donning the last name James will be a race to sit back and watch.

I agree with LeBron in how ridiculous it is to even recruit kids that young. There is still an 8 year window where a lot can happen. That kid could have a change of heart and not even like the sport, lose that ‘it’ quality that had you as a recruiter drooling, an unforeseen injury could happen or even worse that young prodigy doesn’t pick your school at all since you pressured him since he was 10.

It will be interesting to see if there is any action by the NCAA to maybe produce a ban on recruiting at such a young age. It will also be interesting to see how Lebron James Jr. handles his success and ultimately what he does in the future.

For now enjoy a video of the young man ballin’ it up below.

Que the scouts drooling.

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What a Difference a Year Makes: The Story of BGSU Men’s Basketball

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By Kaleb Page

February 16, 2015

The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team has seen something of a metamorphosis from just a year ago. At this point a year ago the Falcons were sitting at an overall record of just 11-14 with a 5-7 record in the Mid-American Conference. That season went down as a rather unsuccessful one that could be added on to the list of ones before it (2012-13 season: 13-19, 2011-12 season: 16-16, 2010-11 season: 14-19).

Where was the hope? Where was the possibility of even seeing men’s basketball have any amount of success moving forward? Those questions could be answered by a change of direction.

Upon finishing the season on a four game losing streak along with a record of 12-20 (6-12 MAC), the time for change was now. On March 25, 2014 a new leader entered and the direction for the Falcons changed. That leader was none other than former Wichita State assistant coach Chris Jans. From the start of his press conference announcing his hiring, he had that feeling of someone who was going to turn things around.

What that turnaround might be nobody could know. Would it be a two or three game improvement, development that was hard to see but diagnosed by Jans as being there in practice or something different altogether? In the eyes of the media it seemed as though this new hire would help the Falcons reach fifth place at best in the eastern side of the MAC.

But what if I told you none of those things have happened thus far? You would probably think it went south fast and the bottom is where this Falcon’s team went if none of the above things happened. However, that would be far from the reality of this season thus far.

At this point in the season the men’s basketball team sits at an impressive 17-6 record (9-3 MAC East) and in sole possession of first place on the eastern side of the conference. This team has grown leaps and bounds from what it was a year ago at this time. The team has already surpassed its win total from all of last season and there are still six games remaining on the schedule.

If you told someone this would be what the team of a year ago looked like today, they probably would laugh and think you were crazy. Even more so would it be crazy to even imagine this team in talks to be an NCAA tournament team. Which this week has seen the Falcon’s mentioned as a 12 seed, and if they would reach the tournament it would be the first time since 1968 a team from BGSU made the big dance.

Even though coach Jans and his staff deserve a lot of credit with taking basically the same team and building them up to what they are today; an equal amount of credit needs to be shown the way of the players. You can start with the star player Richuan Holmes being a force inside on defense and offense showing his array of high-flying dunks and blocks. Even though he can be looked to as the ‘star,’ he would probably be the first to say the season would be nothing without guys like: Zack Denny who leads the MAC in steals with two a game, junior college transfers (Delvin Dickerson, David Joseph and Jovan Austin) making huge contributions, Spencer Parker becoming a dynamic threat off the bench and senior guards Anthony Henderson and Jehvon Clarke providing pop in the back-court. With young guys like Garrett Mayleben, JD Tisdale, Rasheed Worrell and Matt Fox waiting their turn, it looks like the team has a good balance of youth, size and athleticism to power this bright future forward.

I’ve had the privilege of broadcasting two BGSU games as a member of the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) this season, and it has been something special to witness. This team just looks like a team you want to be on. They actually hustle and go for it on both ends of the floor each and every night. While I know at times they do have their lapses of judgement like any other team, it still must be said that this team is something special considering what it has done in a relatively short time.

With little expectations for this squad, they have proven the doubters wrong in every way thus far. This is why it is time for this team to capitalize on what it has done so far and push all the way to something bigger than anyone could have imagined: a MAC title. If that goal is accomplished then the sights should be set on getting to the NCAA tournament, and not only getting there but being competitive.

Even if the big prizes don’t end up in Bowling Green this year, this team has nothing to be ashamed of. Coming out of the seller to being a team to look out for is quite the accomplishment in itself.

Keep it up BGSU men’s basketball and ROLL ALONG!

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“It Felt Like the Team We Wanted to Be”

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By Ellen Chlumecky

February 9, 2015

This weekend past weekend the Bowling Green State University Falcons swept the Ferris State Bulldogs under the rug. While their first win on Friday night, February 6th, was not the win they were looking for there seemed to be a burst of energy instilled in the team on Saturday night.

The air was heavy with frustration on Friday night when the Falcons beat the Bulldogs 2-1. While coach Chris Bergeron said, “There is no such thing as a bad win” you could tell he was much more satisfied with the win on Saturday.

While the Falcons were trailing the Bulldogs 2-1 heading into the third period, junior Ben Murphy and sophomore Pierre-Luc Mercier scored within two minutes of each other to clinch the W on Saturday. While junior goalie Tommy Burke stepped up and blocked 21 of 23 shots to move his record to 8-3-3 on the season.

On Friday night there seemed to be no energy behind the players. There were only 19 shots on goal for each team. While the end result was obviously a victory, there seemed to be a struggle. CJ Motte’s, goalie for Ferris State, who has an overall save percentage of .918, was playing hard. He played hard to make sure it was very difficult for the Falcons to score. He left very few opportunities to score on goal.

While Motte’s efforts were unsuccessful, Bergeron and the Falcons went into Saturday’s game with a different game plan. Bergeron’s opinion on Friday’s game from Saturday’s was a remarkable improvement. He stated that he saw the work ethic he’s instilled in his players. He saw a calm focus in the team and there wasn’t panic among the team when they were down in the third. They continue to push and push until they saw the results they wanted.

Dan DeSalvo, Ben Murphy, Adam Berkle, Brent Tate, and Pierre-Luc Mercier played huge contributions in the rise of energy during Saturday’s game. You could see their commitment to win and their continuous support they gave to their team members. These are the type of players you look to for leadership in the game and they brought it.

The Falcons’ record is now 17-6-5 and 13-4-3 in the WCHA. The Bulldogs are now at 11-17-1 and 8-12-0 in the WCHA. The Falcons will play Ferris State again next weekend. Hopefully they will be able to bring home wins on Ferris’ home ice. We all know that if the Falcons keep applying that pressure, they will be victorious.

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BGSU’s Double Threat: Erica Fullenkamp

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By Ellen Chlumecky

The Bowling Green State University women’s basketball game has hit quite a few speed bumps this 2014-2015 basketball season. Their team will lose three of some of their best players to season-ending injuries, including their leading scorer. Abby Siefker and Jasmine Matthews, who are not out completely, are currently sidelined by an injury. The BGSU Falcons will be losing red shirt junior Erica Donovan, freshman Lauren Webb, red shirt freshman Leah Bolton and Abby Siefker.

Erica Donovan has averaged 15.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She suffered an ACL injury in a game at Illinois State. This injury ended her season completely. Lauren Webb has averaged 0.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in eight games off the bench for BGSU. She also endured a serious torn ACL in the Illinois State contest. She will also not be returning this season. Leah Bolton had applied for a “medical retirement” with the NCAA because of her reoccurring leg injuries. These injuries have conclusively ended her college career for Bowling Green. Abby Siefker is averaging 5.4 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding. She is currently suffering from a shoulder injury. Jasmine Matthews is averaging 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She is currently suffering from a lower body injury. These injuries leave the Falcons with just nine players on their active roster.

Thankfully for BGSU, they had a disguised basketball player in their midst the past four years. Senior volleyball star Erica Fullenkamp not only has a background in volleyball, but basketball as well. As a senior in high school, she helped her alma mater Minster high school make it to the 2011 state final. While she hasn’t played basketball in more than four years, Fullenkamp is a highly talented athlete. She is tough, has the drive, and loves BGSU and wants to win for them.

At this point in the BGSU women’s basketball season they are in desperate need of players. Whether or not their first sport is basketball seems to be unimportant as long as the new players they take on it are incredible athletes, such as Fullenkamp. It doesn’t hurt that Fullenkamp holds a 4.0 GPA and is a role model both on and off the court. She is a great addition to the women’s basketball team with a great physical and mental athletic ability. Even though she has ended her college volleyball career, she seems excited to begin a new chapter of athletics before she graduates from BGSU.

http://www.bgsufalcons.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5324&path=wbball

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Why Does Mark May hate Ohio State.

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By Paul Duncan

ESPN personality, Mark May has a bitter relationship with Ohio State and it has spiraled out of control. No school’s fans have a bigger rivalry with an analyst than Ohio State and Mark May. First let’s start with why Ohio State fans hate Mark May.

Throughout his tenure as an ESPN personality he has bashed Ohio State at every turn saying they’re not fast, saying they’re overrated, criticizing the NCAA for not punishing Ohio State more, and even saying he’d want to “whack” members of Buckeye fans. Yes he said on his Facebook that he wanted to physically harm “haters from Buckeye Nation.”

These comments have led Ohio State to retaliate by making funny signs, or reminding him on Twitter that he has 2 DUI’s, or that he got arrested for starting a riot, but more often they point to the 72-0 thrashing Ohio State gave May’s Alma Mater Pittsburgh in 1996.

But why does Mark May hate Ohio State? This is a question to which no one has a definitive answer. Some believe it has to do with the aforementioned drubbing Pitt received by Ohio State in 1996. Some people think it might have to do with him not being recruited by Ohio State out of high school, but for whatever reason Mark May can’t stand Ohio State and it’s starting to get out of hand.

Throughout the year Mark May never had the Buckeyes in the playoffs and even couldn’t get himself to say that the Buckeyes deserved to be the playoffs. This kind of analysis borders on trolling which should not be acceptable in this high up in television journalism. Sports show hosts have all kind of prejudices toward their favorite teams like Skip Bayless and his Cowboys, Lou Holtz and Notre Dame, and Dick Vitale and Duke but no personality has a personal vendetta against a team like May and OSU. Each time Ohio State wins new Mark May memes flood Twitter. Mark May trends in Ohio and people continue to make fun of him and frankly he deserves it. Now that Ohio State has won May is nowhere to be seen. May has shown that hating another team to the point where it interferes with his analysis is very harmful even if it gets a reaction.

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Would you take 75 to 1 odds?

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By Kaleb Page

Let’s hop back in time for just a moment.

Let me take you back to a marquee game under the lights in Columbus, OH on September 6, 2014.

The game was between The Ohio State Buckeyes and Virginia Tech Hokies. A night game in the Horseshoe is a tall task for any team let alone Virginia Tech. However when the Hokies came to town they went all out on an Ohio State team that was still in the infancy stage in their season development.

The buckeyes just prior to the start of the season lost their center piece, the one everyone thought the entire season hinged on: Braxton Miller. When Miller went down, in stepped someone who everyone was scrambling to figure where he even came from. J.T. Barett took the reins and in only his second start faced off with the talented defensive mind of Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Foster also took advantage of an offensive line that was replacing four starters, three of which went on to be starters in the NFL.

All night Ohio State could just never seem to get it going. Whether it was dropped passes, poor blocking or even missed assignments on defense; there was a multitude of deficiencies to point out.

Upon losing the game 35-21 in a stunning home defeat, many looked to this team as a lost cause. A team that had no chance to even get anywhere near the college football playoff. The teams’ odds after the first game were 12 to 1. After the defeat, ESPN’s Darren Rovell found a ticket in Las Vegas that had the buckeyes at 75 to 1 odds to win the national championship.

Now I am no betting man but whoever had that ticket has to be doing a happy dance at this very moment.

Even though there were countless naysayers, tough road games, a loss of another quarterback and even the death of a teammate; this team became the ultimate definition of a team. Each and every week players on both sides of the ball stepped up to make plays and show how the team was growing. Even if I was not a fan of Ohio State I would have to be blown away with the resiliency and manner with which this team handled itself after so much adversity.

The college football playoff berth by the Buckeyes was set up after a 59-0 demolition with a third string quarterback (Cardale Jones) making his first ever start. It didn’t get any easier when the seeding gave the Buckeyes a match-up with the king of the SEC: Alabama. A game essential in Alabama’s back-yard, was just the second start for Jones but at the same time a coming out party for the talent, speed and physicality that this team developed from that loss early in September.

This past Monday night saw the improbable tale culminate the way it was meant to with Ohio State beating another stout team in Oregon. The first ever undisputed champion in college football history. Most teams that would have experienced the things this team did would have crumbled and maybe would have even struggled to go .500.

This team took that notion that they should feel sorry for themselves and threw it out the window. From “the slobs” (nickname of Ohio State’s offensive line) upfront developing into an unmatched force, Ezekiel Elliot fulfilling his potential to be a potent threat, a defense that found its mojo (the silver bullet defense is brewing up) and arguably the best coach in college football Urban Meyer; this team is complete. Their mantra of “The Power of The Unit” grew and grew as they needed everyone to make this dream a reality.

So do you want to take those 75-1 odds now…I sure wish I had way back when.

The Buckeyes mission is complete.

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Jameis Winston and FSU Need a Timeout

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By Ellen Chlumecky

Jameis Winston has not been doing himself any favors these past couple years at Florida State University. He has stolen, behaved inappropriately in public at the Florida State University student union, and he was accused of sexually assaulting of a woman in December 2012. I understand college students acting in a childish manner at certain points in their career but he clearly exceeded his strikes and now is being punished for it.

On Wednesday, January 7th, attorneys for the women who accused Winston, filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against FSU. The woman is suing them alleging that the university did not properly protect her Title IX rights. The woman’s attorneys demand a trial by jury and damages from FSU for fostering a “hostile educational environment.” Her attorneys stated that FSU’s athletic department deliberately concealed the rape from the university and did not investigate the allegations as required by federal Title IX laws.

The woman alleged that Winston sexually assaulted her in his apartment on Dec. 7, 2012. Winston and his attorneys contented that the sexual encounter was consensual. Winston was also never charged by either the Tallahassee police or the state attorney’s office.

Last month alone, Winston was cleared of four violations of FSU’s student conduct code hearing after a two-day student judiciary hearing. Why any university would want a student that continue to causes this many problems, no matter how good he may be at football and baseball, is beyond me. While the main violations have been accusations and have not been clearly confirmed or denied, he still has committed several inappropriate acts that are not respectable for any college student.

As any avid sports fan hopes to have is for the best players around for their selective team. However, I would hope most people would not want players who do not have correct moral compasses, especially an athlete who continually disrespects women as often as people have been reporting he does. In Jameis Winston’s actions, he is showing that he clearly does not know wrong from right or just chooses to ignore the rules. His attorneys can only defend Winston for so long until he does something that he cannot take back.

Jameis Winston announced that he intends to enter the NFL Draft inside of returning to Florida State University for his junior season. Since he is three years removed from his high school graduation, he is eligible to enter the NFL Draft as a sophomore. The day he is drafted, the day he becomes the NFL’s problem instead of FSU’s.

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Who Spiked the Kool-Aid?!: SEC shocked, the miracle ride continues and more

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By Kaleb Page

As the final days left in the college football season start to dwindle down, this bowl season gave us all some great moments, players and story lines. Whether it was the Camellia Bowl or the Rose Bowl this season of bowls and the inaugural college football playoff brought a great end to what was (at least for me) a season where almost every Saturday was a great slate of college football games.

As this cap played out over the weeks the theme of how dominant the SEC is took a huge hit. Even though the SEC did go 7-5 overall as a conference, the mystique of the conference left many in the sports world wondering what happened since the conference only went 2-4 against ranked opponents. Even though the piece was full of satire the title of Clay Travis’s piece on Fox Sports was something of interest. The title read “The SEC is Dead, Long live the SEC,” yes it is over the top and it is supposed to be, but there needs to be a discussion on this topic; discussion on is everyone else finally starting to catch-up?

With the introduction of the playoff and new varying bowl match making, is the SEC starting to come back down a bit? I would agree with some analysts who say that the conferences are starting to show parody but to say the SEC is completely terrible now is something I won’t go forth in saying quite yet. It is better in the end to see that more teams are coming into the fold and we aren’t being completely hammered with how the SEC is better than everyone else. Parody no matter what the sport is makes it that much more enjoyable because it makes things more interesting and competitive, instead of seeing the same old same old year after year.

The SEC has their bad teams just like every other conference. For those still over sipping on the SEC kool-aid and notice that nasty taste in your mouth don’t look at me, instead look at the Big Ten and other conferences that crashed the party.

The perception change that happened over the past few weeks to the SEC could really put in full effect by one team slaying the SEC’s biggest giant.

The Ohio State Buckeyes went into New Orleans, LA and faced the big bully on the block from the SEC: Alabama. As big as a nine-point underdog, it looked like the magical run by the buckeyes was doomed to be ended with such force that it might as well not even be played. Isn’t that why we play the game though? You play the game to prove that sentiment that the underdog has no chance wrong and for the buckeyes they did just that. Even though they got down early in the game, the buckeyes showed that they had the heart to win and continue their magical journey. The journey though still has another huge task in the way.

Monday night puts the end to all the talk on who the best team is in college football. Finally with the playoff we all will know that there is a definitive champion. Oregon off its impressive win versus FSU showed how potent their offense is and that the talk of them being “finesse” is something far from the truth. As mentioned above Ohio State looks to cap off an impressive season full of adversity by winning it all and showing what it means to be a complete team. It will be interesting to see these two teams play since both teams are full of great players and coaches. Making this game a battle more than just a physical one on the field, but one that is a mental chess match as well.

For the way this season will come to an end it pushes the old phrase “don’t drink the kool-aid” to the front. For all that we heard that the majority trend for people was to lean one way or the other (mainly on SEC teams), it truly shows at the end of this season that putting your full confidence towards one frame of mind is almost foolish. It also has shown that to essentially “drink the kool-aid or go only off of the thoughts of the majority,” is a habit we all need to break. To say I’ve been insusceptible to this would be foolish too, but I will say for the majority of this season I stayed away from the punch bowl so many others drank out of.

Hopefully next season we all can stay away from the kool-aid and make our own thoughts. Until then don’t drink the kool-aid too much…you’ve been warned.

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Harbaugh Set to Return to Michigan

By Savannah Malnar

University of Michigan has been a powerhouse in college football for ages, so when they fell to 5-7 this season it was a shock to everyone. The fans were upset. Both the Athletic Director, Dave Brandon, and head coach, Brady Hoke, were fired before the season even concluded. The situation interim AD, Kim Hackett, had to take over was abysmal. But what he reportedly managed to do has brought hope into the hearts of many Michigan fans.

According to reports on Monday, Hackett had successfully hired famed coach Jim Harbaugh to take over the head coaching job. Harbaugh boasts an impressive resume: he earned a record of 29-6 in the three years he spent at University of San Diego, he brought back the Stanford football program and coached Heisman candidates Andrew Luck and Toby Gerhart there, and then went on to take a pro coaching job in San Francisco and brought the 49ers to three NFC title games and one Super Bowl (loss), finishing his time with the team with a record of 44-19-1.

While Harbaugh’s numbers look impressive, he has a habit of almost burning out after a few seasons in whatever job he is occupied with. Most recently he ended the season with the 49ers 8-8. There is speculation as to whether he quit, or if he was fired; San Francisco’s management said it was “mutual.”

Whatever the case may be there, Harbaugh appears ready to return to the college game and hopefully revive the Michigan football program. The media is speculating he chose Michigan over other possible NFL jobs because it is his alma mater; he played quarterback there under the prominent coach Bo Schembechler.

Sport media members and Michigan fans in general are convinced Harbaugh is the key to turning their program into a threat once again. Eric Bakhtiari, who played for Harbaugh at both University of San Diego and the 49ers, said this about his coach: “He takes losers and makes them winners. It’s as simple as that.”

That’s something any fan would want to hear. According to the media and an anonymous source, Harbaugh is going to be introduced to the student body as head coach at the U of M basketball game on Tuesday. That game is now sold out and tickets for it have gone up six times the average price online.

I think Harbaugh will like being a Wolverine again.

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