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John Beilein: A Series of Surprising Successes, Starting in the Sewer
[To listen to the audio version, click here: Bacon Final Beilein 3.7.14] On Tuesday night, the Michigan men’s basketball team beat Illinois to earn its first outright Big Ten title in almost three decades. What’s more impressive is how they’ve done it. Michigan’s...
The Winter Olympics: Crass, commercial, and occasionally classic
To listen to the audio version, click here: Olympics 2014 Why in the world are the Winter Olympics in Sochi, one of Russia’s warmest places? Chalk it up to corruption – both the Russians’, which we’ve come to expect, and the International Olympic Committee’s – which…...
The Brendan Gibbons case, and the athletic department’s response
To listen to the audio version, click here: Brendan Gibbons 2.14.2014 The University of Michigan named a new president last month, and the football team landed another great class of recruits last week. But there’s another story that keeps eclipsing those two. I’ve...
Penn State loses the coach the players love, and keeps the athletic director they don’t
Hello Loyal Readers, and welcome to "A Lot of Clips Thursday"! Today we have this link for my in-depth look at the continued dysfunction that is Penn State's leadership, from the athletic director to the interim president to the Board of Trustees, which is designed to...
A Complete Preview of Every Sport Ever Invented, 2014
[To listen to the audio version, click here: Bacon_-_final_2014_predictions_with_open_for_web-1-17-2014,wav] Because my last 700-word commentary completely covered every subject in the sports world that occurred in 2013, my editor thought, “Hey, why not preview the...
Q&A on The Wolverine/The Fort today, 12-1 ET + Open Letter to Readers
Hello Loyal Readers, Hope you all survived the break, especially those of you in the Frozen Tundra of the Great Lake States. I'll be back this Friday with a new Bacon Blog (and really should send out one EVERY Friday, so you know I'm not dead.) And I'll be posting...
2013: The Year in Sports
The year in sports, 2013, started out with the Detroit Lions missing the playoffs, and hockey fans missing the entire National Hockey League season. The NHL hadn’t played a game since the Stanley Cup Finals that spring. The lockout started the way these things...
How John Hannah used football to transform Moo U into a world class university
[To listen to the short audio version, click here: Bacon_final_for_web_MSU-Hannah_with_open-12-13-13] On Saturday night, the Michigan State Spartans upset of second-ranked Ohio State, gave the Spartans a 12-1 record, a number four national ranking, and their first...
Follow the Money: Where does the Michigan Athletic Department Get It, and Where Do They Spend It?
To listen to the audio version, click here: Bacon_final-_budget_issues_2013_for_web_with_open-_12-6-2013 I’ve often joked that some Michigan football fans aren’t happy unless they’re not happy. But after eleven games this season, even they could be excused for having...
The most important game of the decade – because they didn’t play it
A month ago, Grambling State was scheduled to play Jackson State in a largely meaningless football game. The date has been little noted, nor long remembered. But years from now, we might look back on it as the most important game of the decade – because they didn’t...