hawkeyecub

More stuff on Moss/Childress from the Star Tribune:

No way. He would not come back if Childress is still there. If his effort wasn't bad enough last week...

Mortensen was saying that it's possible Childress completely did this on his own without approval from management or owners and that's why they haven't actually waived him yet. I have a really hard time buying that. That's one thing that could get him fired soon. What a circus. Now tomorrow you'll see Childress fired and Moss back. This Shanahan/McNabb thing is completely weird also.

Can't believe Harrison is 1st team AA.

The NCAA accepted Iowa's investigation/response and cleared them of wrongdoing.

FWIW the spin on it from the team is that sources are claiming this is the most positive thing to happen this year. Supposedly his effort in practice was awful and was starting to rub off on or they were worried about it affecting younger guys. On film they've been seeing that they're playing 10 on 11 consistently when he's there. The play on the PI where he gave up on what could have been a TD was also alarming. Also last week he stood up in a meeting and told the other players to stop saying anything about him or what he was saying and doing to the media. He was distant, grumpy and just wanted to be back in New England. They thought they had to do it to salvage the season. Some of the backlash now and I agree with it, is that Childress had his presser at 12:30, then met with the team at 1:00 and told them about it. Either move up the team meeting or push back the press conference but don't answer a question about him and then force Ben Leber to break the news.

Right. For no real reason. He wasn't going to get hit. Randy has always dogged it, but that's when the ball isn't coming or he's afraid of being blown up. He was standing by himself for what would have been a TD and he watched it fall.

I do wonder about what he has left when Brady and Favre can't/choose not to even target him much this year and he's had weapons around him. He's been doubled his whole career but always found a way to get open or into jump ball range. This year he just shuts it down if he's not in 1-1 coverage. Still think he was underutilized since that Jets game though and unless he was a total cancer, would rather him than Hank Baskett. Sid better be back soon.

I think you expect some of the weird behavior and you expect him to not be a 100% guy all the time and alligator arm it every once in a while. Letting a possible TD drop without even extending his arms or accelerating with no one near him is out of the norm even for him. I agree with you though. I guess maybe if he was saying some of that stuff in the press conference who knows what may have happened behind the scenes. I think the idea was you get him a fresh start, show him some love and since he's playing for his last contract, you get a motivated Moss.

Unreal. His lack of effort pissed me off more than the postgame stuff. If anyone saw the play where he drew the PI call and then watched as the ball landed 2 feet from him in the end zone without even putting his arms out. He alligator armed one of the other few balls thrown to him. The press conference was bad but he's always been a weirdo about stuff like that. Saying he won't talk to the media the rest of the year is whatever. Still, he basically professed his love for New England and wished he were still there. I guess Childress/Spielman are trying to send a message but wow. I don't even know what to think. What a meltdown. For the first time I'm wondering if Childress will survive the year. If he's not back next year, Leslie Frazier should be the guy.

I had absolutely no idea the Cap One and Outback switched networks and both changed times. Why? Now you have the two best non-BCS bowls on at the same time and the one that gets lesser teams is on ABC. I hate the new Big Ten bowl schedule. I know they want to dominate New Year's Day but having everyone play at the same team is bad. The whole bowl schedule this year seems odd now that I'm looking at it. Can anyone explain why the championship isn't until 1/10? Thursday the 6th seems like it would be perfect. For the first time in weeks there's no NFL on that night and it's within the season. Instead you wait until the 10th when you're even further from NYD and the NFL playoffs have already started. The Cotton Bowl on Friday night the 7th is weird too.

Just saw that Rich Rod is 4-16 in the Big Ten and three of thsoe wins came against IU and Minnesota. He's 1-16 against everyone else.

Either the Gator or Insight. Almost no chance they jump any of the top 4 teams. If the Big Ten gets two in the BCS that would move them up to the Gator. If PSU loses only one and finishes 8-4, 5-3 they could jump them also. If Illinois loses again the Texas Bowl would seem most likely.

Ashton went to Iowa didn't he? I know there's something about not being able to have alums recruiting for you. He got kicked out before he graduated, iirc. I think he just dropped out but I don't really know. How's that any different than Harrison Barnes meeting Michael Jordan though? Maybe because Jordan played. Or maybe the NCAA doesn't really care that much and Iowa just wanted to avoid trouble? I don't know. MJ just *happened* to be there at that time (oddly enough, UNC's biggest 2010 recruit's official visit came on the day MJ and other famous alumni were on campus...what a coincidence). If Jordan had just contacted Barnes, it would have been a violation. I'm still not sure what the big difference is. Are they saying at UNC they just kind of bumped into them and didn't know they would be there but Fran knew Ashton and Demi were at Kinnick and then arranged for them to meet? I've also read that the violations are because they watched some of the game in the press box/suites when you're only allowed to visit that area in the pre-game and halftime.

I just saw the MSU team headed to the bus and overheard dantonio ask rucker to make the decision on where to eat tonight.

Rape cover up? Everyone was kicked off the team quickly. Under Dantonio they would have been named captains.

Did dantonio leave the decision to punt up to rucker also?

Cousins throws 2 stupid passes off his back foot=2 touchdowns for Iowa Stanzi throws 1 stupid pass off his back foot=1 touchdown for Iowa Then your d backs should make a play. Seriously though, maybe you guys should see if winston can come back for this half. Anyone else in the michigan state pen you can add?

I don't know, can that scumbag let anyone else out of prison before the second half? In kinnick and the tears from these msu fans fill me with joy. That's what you get for selling your soul.

I don't know, can that scumbag let anyone else out of prison before the second half? In kinnick and the tears from these msu fans fill me with joy. That's what you get for selling your soul.

The next step after zero tolerance is double secret probation. End up on that list and you have to miss all the games while you're in jail, plus a practice and a quarter in the next game.

You're one of those angry guys in Rittenberg's mailbag on espn.com aren't you? You're counting the game he missed WHILE IN JAIL like it was part of a suspension or some kind of consequences from the program. He was in jail, he was forced to miss the game by the county because he broke his probation and the "zero tolerance" that Coach Hardass set. Look at all the criticism Rich Rod got for the practice rules. There's no precedence for anything like what Dantonio has done but yet he's skating nationally. That's okay. Hopefully MSU fans enjoy it while it lasts. Once he eventually gets caught for something or moves on, you'll go back to being irrelevant like you have every other year when you weren't handing out roids or running a prison work release system.

Not sure how that guy got the contract that he did. He's a bum. Joe D is a nice guy. It was funny to see how quickly he want from the most brilliant GM in the game that could never do wrong, to the bum who ruined the Pistons. The Gordon/Charlie V. signings set the team back 3-4 years. I know it was a situation of use cap space or lose it but man there were surely better fas out there that summer. Not really. They thought Boozer would be but then he came back for one more year. Same with David Lee. Artest wasn't going to come. As I remember it, Ben, Villanueva and Turkey glue where the three most prominent of guys who were unrestricted and willing to sign with Detroit. He was in a tough spot. Things had gotten stagnant and they weren't going to win a championship so he decided to take a step back and re-build. The problem was he traded the wrong guard and then re-signed the other guy (Rip) to an extrension that makes him untradeable. With the '09 free agents I think he was looking ahead and saw that everyone in the league was making big cap space for 2010 and realized he wouldn't be able to land any of the top 6-7. I didn't have a problem with the Gordon deal. I've always liked him and his deal isn't that crazy. Vllanueva had some really nice efficiency/per minute stats but the deal was too much. Then last year they were just never healthy.

Basically the only thing you need to know is that he was in a brawl last year where he was was charged with assault and battery. Dantonio said that he was on a zero tolerance policy and had to stay away from alcohol. Months later he gets a DUI which violated his probation. Probation officer recommended 21 days in jail but he got a plea deal with an 8 day jail sentence. Apparently zero tolerance means lots of tolerance to Dantonio because the morning he got out, he was back on the field. Then Dantonio told Rucker that it's up to him whether he wants to play tomorrow or not. The kicker of it all is that he's again trying to use this move to speak to signify fighting through adversity. He keeps talking about how much harder this will be on Rucker and how this isn't the easy way out. And like NUN, he likes to say that the mistake shouldn't result in a lifetime banishment, ignoring that there's room in the middle. All of this while again trying to make himself the good guy for "being there" for his players. The only years MSU's program has done anything in the modern era are when they have steroid scandals or a coach who runs the dirtiest program in the league.

Okay...let me be the first to say that I am not for Rucker being reinstated, but comparing it to Winston is not a good comparison. Rucker has made a couple of bad decisions without a doubt, but I would have a hard time saying that he is not worth trying to do steps to get his life in order. I think Dantonio is making a mistake here, but I would rather he made a mistake for a kid like Rucker then someone who rapes and kidnaps. So you're not for it but it shouldn't be compared to the other awfu dwecision that he made? Sorry there aren't many other instances in the country of players serving such long jail terms and immediately being reinstated. Rucker tweeting that he landed in Iowa City and can't wait for tomorrow. Shocking that he'll be playing when Dantonio left the decision up to him. What a scummy program. You do know what his involvement is in these 2 incidents? I am not saying he is an angel, but based on these two incidents I also would have a hard time saying he is a non repentant thug who has lost all his chances. Also, he was suspended from the game before he went to jail plus he missed a game while in jail. He was also suspended from last years bowl game. So its not like he faced no consequences for his crimes. There is no doubt that Dantonio made a mistake with Winston and Jenrette. But to Dantonio's defense of the 15 players involved in the dorm brawl only 7 of them returned to the team. Wow, where to begin. Did you really just say "Plus he missed a game while in jail"? Seriously? He was in jail for crying out loud. Of course he missed the game. And doesn't the fact that he had to be suspended last year and this year, and jailed for 8 days mean that he probably doesn't get a free pass the moment he's released? And on top of that you let him decide whether he wants to play or not. Then you say "it's not like he hasn't faced any consequences for his crimes" as if that's something worth acknowledging and anyone in the country could have somehow faced no consequences for these crimes. Secondly, do you really not see that there's a difference between getting no more chances and being back on the field a couple of hours after being released from 8 days in jail? Then having his disciplinary measures left up to him to decide? So half of the guys in that brawl returned including all 3 of the starters. Damn he's a hardass. In fact he came down on those returning guys so hard that after saying they had no tolerance with alcohol, when one of those brawlers got a DUI, well you know the rest...