Join us for a group chat with The Weekender for the biggest stories in college sports, great coverage of the Eleven Warriors, and what’s next.
Yet Another Michigan Athletics Scandal
in the meantime Rich Eisen and ‘Valiant Victor’ continue to call themselves It’s been another ugly week for the University of Michigan track and field team after the school won Ohio State football for the first time in a decade.
On Friday, the Wolverines chose to sever ties with men’s hockey coach Mel Pearson after various instances of cheating came to light surrounding an investigation that began last October.
BREAKING: Mel Pearson Resigns as Michigan Hockey Coach
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) August 5, 2022
A letter detailing misconduct written by the general counsel of a law firm conducting an internal Michigan investigation has been publicly available since late January. -19 suggests they retaliated against a player who told them to lie on their tracking form and tried to address cultural concerns within the team.
And former hockey operations director Rick Bancroft, who retired in June after more than 30 years with Ann Arbor, claimed he discriminated against female support staff in Michigan. Additionally, the letter declared that Bancroft knew about the sexual abuse of the late university doctor Robert Anderson, which led to the university’s $490 million victim settlement earlier this year.
A subsequent investigative report from Katie Strang of The Athletic, released this week, provided further details about many of Pearson’s misconduct. He was accused of knowingly cheating about the amount of money and engaging in anti-Semitic behavior. Michigan ultimately ruled him out of the 2021 NCAA Tournament due to COVID-19 protocols after the Frozen Four lost the previous season.
The player in question who faced Pearson’s retaliation is former team captain Straussmann, now the San Jose Sharks goaltender. Mann left the program early in favor of joining the Swedish Hockey League, despite serving as the first Wolverine goalkeeper to have captain honors in almost 80 years.
Michigan Athletic director Ward Manuals announced the decision on Friday, saying it “has been weighing on us for some time”. It was later considered than used to evaluate holding Juwan Howard in February.
NBC has primetime B1G plans
all right, saturday nightWhere are you?
As conference media rights negotiations continue to heat up, NBC plans to leverage Sunday Night Football-style coverage from NFL telecasts to provide prime-time service for Big Ten schools.
As NBC gets closer to securing the TV rights to the Big Ten, the network’s strategy becomes clear.
Treat the Big Ten like the NFL.
The Big Ten will be exposed on every TV house.@McCarthyREV When @achristovichh explanation
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 3, 2022
Not only would this allow NBC to effectively monopolize the most valuable weekend slots for football ratings, but it could also undermine Notre Dame’s ability to air night games by its official broadcast partners. There is a nature. That could create additional incentives for the Fighting Irish to finally join the Big Ten.
Mel Tucker now sells his own NFTs
The former UM hockey coach wasn’t the only Mel to bring himself to concern in Michigan this week.
#NFTuck It is here!
Launched #NFTucka series of NFTs that give fans the chance to purchase digital and physical collectibles from my personal vault of items.
income of #NFTuck going to @BGCA_Clubs Southeastern Michigan. pic.twitter.com/pN9R58TVSU
— Mel Tucker (@Coach_mtucker) August 4, 2022
NFTuck owners will get in-season private chat features with Michigan State head coaches as well as on-field access to in-season practices. All donated to charity.
But kicking off an irreplaceable token project — amid the ongoing cryptocurrency crash — has begun negotiations for a nearly nine-figure contract extension less than two weeks after losing to Purdue University. Revolving around a coach is… certainly one of the options.
Start shorting #SpartyCoin now!
Ichimi
First-hand observations from the soccer season’s first training camp
Ohio will be back on the ballpark in less than a month. Now that preseason has officially kicked off, the 11W Beat provides first-hand insight into the team’s depth, health, surprises, and other notes early in August.
Chris Holtman gives first press conference since April
Are you anticipating the return of basketball season as much as soccer? provide the light.
Kevin Harrish Final Skull Session
Friday was Kevin Harrish’s last day with the 11 Warriors for the first time in seven years. Arby’s world’s most staunch defender thanked his colleagues and his 11W community in a goodbye post, so feel free to pay your respects in the comments.
what’s next
- Men’s basketball: vs Puerto Rico today at 5pm ET @ Bahamas
- Women’s soccer: @ NC, Monday 7pm ET
- Men’s soccer: vs. Ohio Dominican, Friday at 7pm ET
- Football season opener: versus. Notre Dame, September 3 at 7:30 PM ET
