YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!!!

Col. Nathan Jessup eats breakfast 300 yards away from snipers trained to kill him, but if he played football at Michigan, he wouldn't have to do long division.

Former Michigan QB/ NFLer/ Current Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh called out his alma mater this spring saying the Michigan 'had ways to get borderline players in' and that they steer them into easier academic paths. He also announced that the sky is blue, water is wet and that the sun rises in the east. These things are pretty much a given in major college football. If you don't believe it, please pull your head out of the sand.

The irony is that Michigan coach and players have taken offense to the statement and are replying. IN AUGUST. While I believe that the University of Michigan is an outstanding school, I do find this comical. First, it took 3 months for Wolverine Tailback Mike Hart to respond. It's like he got word of this via Pony Express or that the internet doesn't reach Ann Arbor or Hart's hometown of Syracuse, NY. Next, here's Lloyd Carr making mention of it, again 3 months later--ok, so maybe Carr's not up to date on technology or current events, but more on him later.

Now, Harbaugh uses his own personal experience as a reference on the matter. Granted, it was a while ago, but he basically blew the whistle on Bo Schembechler's crew around 1983-1987. So let's look at the present:

Of Michigan's preseason award winners/watch list nominees and the starting QB:

• The aforementioned Mike Hart- Big 10 (11) Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
• Sr QB John Navarre- starting QB
• Sr LB Shawn Crable- Nagurski Watch List
• Sr S Jamar Adams- Thorpe Watch List
• Sr OL Jake Long- Outland Trophy Watch List
• Sr OL Adam Kraus- Outland Trophy Watch List

All of the above, except Kraus, are majoring in academically vague "General Studies" major. Mr. Kraus is a sports management/communications major in the Kinesiology Dept......so it doesn't look like much has changed. Perhaps Mr. Hart was sensitive because it was true?

In fact, if you go through the Wolverine Roster, you get 6 players out of 29 Sr/5th year players ARE NOT ENROLLED in either a General Studies degree or a degree tied to the PE Dept. Of those 6, you have 2 players that transferred into Michigan and 1 English major o-lineman that has seen action in 2 games over his career.

So what was Lloyd Carr's response? Harbaugh was 'elitist' 'arrogant' and 'self-serving'. Notice that he doesn't say 'Jim's flat out wrong, we try to guide our players into coursework that will make them better people and be productive pieces of society." He pretty much simply implies that they try to keep his players eligible, which isn't hypocritical to a football coach, but maybe it is a little hypocritical to a highly acclaimed university like Michigan.

Other comments by Harbaugh like Stanford is needed because they are 'scholar athletes' and no other school can carry that banner. I point out that he's somehow forgotten about Big 10 whipping boy Northwestern, SEC doormat Vandy, Big XII stepchild Baylor as well as Wake Forest, Rice, etc. All of those schools are strong academics and in the case of Wake and Northwestern--they hold conference titles far more recently than Stanford.