Oller's Second Thoughts: Michigan sign-stealing scandal not unlike baseball steroid era
Barry Bonds, meet Jim Harbaugh.
Normally, I would not associate Michigan football with Major League Baseball, but it strikes me the alleged sign-stealing scheme involving the Wolverines is not entirely different from the MLB steroid era.
Baseball’s PED scandal of the late 1990s and early 2000s broke fans into two camps: those who shrugged off the rules violations by pointing out “Who cares? The ball still went over the fence,” and those who wanted Bonds, Mark McGwire and other home run hitters banned from the game.
In the same way that “the ball went over the fence,” meaning a human being still had to accomplish the difficult feat whether on steroids or not, one could argue Michigan still won football games, whether stealing signs or not. No argument there. The Wolverines still had to block, tackle, run, throw and catch.
Yeah, but …
We can agree on the inarguable: PEDs help athletes train harder while allowing the body to recover faster, and stealing sideline signals provides in-game advantage. If you already know a play-action pass is coming, there is no reason to bite on the run fake. And so on.
But for purposes of this discussion, let’s set those truths aside and instead focus on intent and legacy. Bonds likely already was a future Hall of Famer, but not a homer-hitting legend, when he cozied to the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO).
Michigan already was a top-20 program, but not a national championship contender, when Harbaugh officially added former U.S. Marine Connor Stalions to his staff in 2022.
Bonds could not stand operating in the shadow of McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Plus, if everyone else was juicing, why shouldn’t he? He eventually got his prize by knocking 73 home runs in 2001 to break McGwire’s single-season record of 70.
But what of his tarnished legacy? You cannot think of Bonds today without thinking of his cheating. Ditto McGwire and pitcher Roger Clemens, whose Hall of Fame credentials are under suspicion.
Harbaugh was 0-5 against Ohio State and coming off an ugly 2-4 record during the 2020 COVID-19 season. Something needed to change. Enter Stalions. The Wolverines have won two straight against the Buckeyes and are 34-3 since 2020.
But what of Michigan’s tarnished legacy? There is no escaping it. And not just as a football program. Due process matters, but it feels like the entire university is suffering from willful denial, as if nothing shady went on, or at least nothing no other school wasn’t also guilty of doing. As Michigan reportedly considers legal action against the Big Ten, there is a “My daddy is a lawyer who will sue your pants off” odor coming from Ann Arbor, not to mention a weak “whataboutism” that justifies misdeeds because “look what Ohio State did.”
Here’s what Ohio State did. Maybe. According to ESPN, the Buckeyes shared Michigan signal information with Purdue last season. If true, it is not a great look for OSU, given current events. It could bring the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy into play, though anything more than a stern talking to seems unlikely.
The big difference is that sharing game strategy information across schools does not violate NCAA rules. What Michigan is accused of – advance in-person scouting and filming of opponents’ signals – would be breaking the rules. In other words, cheating.
Connor Stalions linked to vacuum cleaner fix-it work
The more we hear about Connor Stalions, the more it sounds like the former Michigan staffer enjoys pushing rules to the limit.
A Wall Street Journal profile on Stalions reported he bought a house for $485,000 near UM’s campus in March 2022, then was sued by the homeowners association for having dozens of old vacuum cleaners on the front porch. The association alleged he was running an appliance refurbishing operation out of his home in violation of its bylaws.
It gets more bizarre. Stallions represented himself in the case, claiming “whoever has chosen to sue me either 1. doesn’t like the fact that I am a veteran; or 2. is a Michigan State fan and knows I am a Michigan football coach and wants to draw my attention away.”
At least he didn’t argue it was an Ohio State fan.
Listening in
“When you’re playing for something bigger than winning some silly trophy, it puts it into perspective, and at the end of the day, whether I won here or lost here really did not matter.” – PGA Tour player Erik Van Rooyen, after winning the Worldwide Technology Championship, referencing the health struggles of his best friend, Jon Trasamar, who is dying of cancer.
Off-topic
Airports are great for people watching. I just hope no one was watching me as my frustration boiled over while trying to order food at Newark Liberty National Airport on Sunday after covering Ohio State vs. Rutgers. Awful customer service. Awful instructions. Awful everything. My plea for the future expansion of John Glenn Columbus International is to never install food court self-order machines like the ones at Newark. If that happens, I might have to fly out of Dayton.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Michigan's Jim Harbaugh shares traits with baseball PED outcasts
