Posted on Thu, Feb 23, 2012 : 10:21 a.m.
Former Michigan QB Jim Harbaugh works for a good seat at Indiana basketball game
By AnnArbor.com Staff
Jim Harbaugh plays student manager at the Indiana game.
Associated Press
Harbaugh, a brother-in-law to Indiana coach Tom Crean, sat on the bench as Indiana beat North Carolina Central, 75-56.
And, yes, that was Harbaugh carrying chairs in timeouts and hanging around the press conference afterward.
From Yahoo Sports:
When Crean was asked if he was concerned Harbaugh was a Michigan spy, the ex-Wolverines quarterback shouted, "Hell no."
Comments
Scott
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 3:49 p.m.
Harbaugh is just an honest guy who wanted to be an NFL head coach in the bay area. He likes his brother in law and is humble enough to move some chairs around. A lot of "Michigan men" wouldn't humble themselves to do any manual labor- such as pick up a chair. I'm surprised Hoke is so well accepted. He talks funny and is hands on. Like Denard there is no pretense. Alas my alma mater is not a font of humility. Go Blue
RudeJude
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 1:38 p.m.
I love seeing Harbaugh, an NFL coach, humble himself and play "student manager" for the day. Yes, he can be a loose cannon from time to time, but the man has a work ethic of ten men. He is honest to a fault, but he is honest. "College football needs Stanford. We're looking not for student athletes but scholar-athletes. No other school can carry this banner. The Ivy League schools don't have enough weight [because of their low athletic level]. Other schools which have good academic reputations have ways to get borderline athletes in and keep them in." He continues, "Michigan is a good school and I got a good education there," he said, "but the athletic department has ways to get borderline guys in and, when they're in, they steer them to courses in sports communications. They're adulated when they're playing, but when they get out, the people who adulated them won't hire them." What did that article a few days back say about majors at Michigan, someting like 24% General Studies majors? Here's some tweets from our new recruiting class: <a href="http://www.chatsports.com/michigan-wolverines/a/Michigans-2012-football-recruiting-class-exposed-on-Twitter-10-2-1947" rel='nofollow'>http://www.chatsports.com/michigan-wolverines/a/Michigans-2012-football-recruiting-class-exposed-on-Twitter-10-2-1947</a> Sounds like a bunch of scholars to me, right? Harbaugh didn't say every athlete at Michigan was "borderline," did he? Only that borderline guys do make it in. My initial reaction to hearing his comments was anger, but the more I mull over them, the more I see the truth in his words.
azwolverine
Sat, Feb 25, 2012 : 7:20 p.m.
For once I agree with 250. If these stats are indeed the case, then UM needs to get this cleaned up right away. Michigan has no excuse to be at the bottom of ANY academic ranking.
rightmind250
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 4:50 p.m.
Jude, I am very surprised by you. All I hear is how great an academic institution UM is. Rightfully so, take football out of the picture and I am very happy the UM is so highly rated and it reflects well on the rest of the B10. Fact is though, they have let the APR embarass the B10. Out of 40 football bowl teams in 2012 only Louisville had a lower APR. I don't want to hear how UM recruits great student athletes. Either UM is failing the student athletes or the student athletes are failing UM. More people than you should be embarrassed by this mess. Brandon and Hoke need to address this imediately.
RudeJude
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 1:48 p.m.
MgoBlog article from 12/6/11: <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-would-be-ineligible-bowl-mbb-tourny-updated" rel='nofollow'>http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/michigan-would-be-ineligible-bowl-mbb-tourny-updated</a> According to a report by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, Michigan would not be eligible for a Bowl Game or the NCAA Basketball Tournament ... due to graduation rates (If new rule change was in effect for this year). • "If the new 930 APR standard had been in place for in March, 12 schools would not have qualified for the men's NCAA basketball tournament and seven teams, including Michigan and Louisville, would not have been eligible to play in this season's bowls." •"Michigan has the second-lowest APR score (928) out of all 70 bowl teams. Louisville is the only team below the multi-year penalty line with a score of 908." *update* The new rule is 930, and Michigan is at 928, but this won't be in effect until next year (to my understanding). Maybe this has been updated, from May 2011, but check out this graph of Big Ten APR scores...look who is at the bottom of the Big Ten? <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/football-apr-conference-comparison" rel='nofollow'>http://mgoblog.com/diaries/football-apr-conference-comparison</a> Harbaugh made his comments sometime in 2007, I believe, when Michigan had a score of around 950. Since then, it has only dropped. We took Harbaugh's comments as an insulting slap to the face. I'm starting to think it was a slap to the face to wake the university up to the problems it has allowed to fester.
RudeJude
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 1:21 p.m.
Crean is Harbaugh's brother-in-law and Harbaugh is in Indiana for the NFL Combine. Let's make this into a big deal, everybody.
azwolverine
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 2:01 a.m.
I don't know...it's easy to call him a 'turncoat' and say he 'hates' Michigan now that he isn't our coach. It was just over a year ago that all of us Michigan fans, myself included, couldn't wait for Harbaugh to come home and take over as coach of our program. It even appeared, at least on the outside looking in (to me), that Harbaugh and Brandon had some quality conversations and that Harbaugh had a tough decision to make with the UM job, ultimately opting for his dream of the NFL. At that time, Harbaugh had nothing but good things to say about UM and the program. Based on what he said yesterday, perhaps there is more to his feelings of animosity towards UM (not sure why...Carr seems to be who his anger was pointed at and he's gone), and perhaps we as fans are reading more into what he said than what he actually meant. Either way, after what he did for UM as our QB and the things he had to say about UM just last year, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he publicly comes out and states exactly what problems he might currently have with UM.
townie54
Thu, Feb 23, 2012 : 10:05 p.m.
He goes out of his way to diss michigan or the lions.
ted
Thu, Feb 23, 2012 : 8:46 p.m.
It is now pretty obvious that there is animosity between Harbaugh and the University of Michigan. His hate for Michigan is abundantly clear. He is no Michigan Man, that is for sure !
ted
Sun, Feb 26, 2012 : 2:04 a.m.
Ahh,,Larry, maybe I should give you a refresher course on what it is to BE a Michigan man since you seem to have forgotton being out in Cal if or nia . It's definately not someone who reportedly has complained about the new breed of Michigan men. Men who prefer men. Thats right WE are the backbone of the program now and guys like you and Harbaugh have a problem with that. Maybe you guys can get away with that out there in California, but here i9n Michigan we embrace our differences !
Larry Weisenthal
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 8:04 a.m.
That must be your all time worst comment. Harbaugh gave a great pep rally speech before the last M-USC Rose Bowl game, right after he'd taken the Stanford job. I predicted on this blog early on that Harbaugh would never take the job in Ann Arbor, because of his strong family ties to the Bay area. As a player, he was one of the greatest pure competitors in M history. He guaranteed a championship and delivered. After watching this year's M-Notre Dame game, he pronounced it the greatest game he'd ever seen, if my memory serves. he was also near the top of Bleacher Report's "greatest Michigan Men" list. True Michigan Men would never publicly disrespect the likes of Jim Harbaugh. The man sets the standard for the term "competitor." Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
JustfortheRecord
Fri, Feb 24, 2012 : 3:04 a.m.
He spoke highly of Michigan when he did his first press conference with the 49rs last year. If Lloyd Carr didn't hire you and you were Jim Harbaugh.. I mean, who is the better coach. Harbaugh or Loefler? Pretty obvious now. Loefler's Qbs in the NFL are doing nothing now. Harbaugh took a has-been and got them 2 games from the superbowl!
garrisondyer
Thu, Feb 23, 2012 : 4:48 p.m.
"When Crean was asked if he was concerned Harbaugh was a Michigan spy, the ex-Wolverines quarterback shouted, 'Hell no.'" This doesn't make much sense to me.... Harbaugh must have been right next to Crean as he was asked this? Or, alternatively, Crean is an ex-Michigan QB. Yahoo is pretty much only good at Fantasy Football. I use my e-mail account with them any time I think I'm submitting my e-mail address to someplace that will end up selling it to spammers for a profit.
treetowncartel
Thu, Feb 23, 2012 : 3:59 p.m.
Spy? Wasn't it more like "turncoat" a few years back?