Well it has finally happened. It was a great eleven year break, but you always knew in the back of your mind that one day Michigan basketball would emerge from its NCAA sanction hangover and become at least locally relevant again. It seems that time has come and we are now at the starting line of a new era of Michigan basketball. An era that promises to be less comical than Amaker NIT dynasty and far less satisfying than the days of Brian Ellerbe leading the scUM to record setting blow out losses. No this new era is going to be very annoying, sometimes frustrating, and always infuriating. It has given the Wal Mart Wolverine an excuse to take his yellow and blue pleather jacket out on the town again, and to offer his wit and wisdom to the talk radio universe.
It was today on the Ann Arbor sports talk radio station WTKA that I heard them out in full force. These legions of scummy homers, completely oblivious to the fact that the sweet 16 begins tomorrow and that real teams are looking to punch their tickets to the Final Four in Detroit. The talk during the drive time hour was all about how the refs jobbed Michigan out of the game by giving all kinds of calls to Blake Griffen ( I never heard anyone mention that he is the National Player of the Year) and slapping St. Beilien with a technical when he stood up for his teams virtue. It was the typical pathetic display of detachment that you come to expect from this crowd on a Monday after a football loss. That is when it truly hit me that Michigan basketball is now back to a level where it has to be dealt with.
The 11 year’s Michigan spent in the college basketball wilderness outside of the bright lights of the NCAA tournament was partly a punishment, and partly a self imposed exile of shame resulting from the Ed Martin scandal and the Fraudulent Five. The scum bag bravado that made Michigan basketball a brand name in the early 90′s became to much for the old blues that run SUNY at Ann Arbor to deal with. Instead of coming to grips with the total lack of institutional control and general corruption that lead to the largest dollar payouts in the history of collegiate sports, the university chose to portray college basketball as an inherently dirty game that was beneath the dignity of their pious institution. The emphasis would be on running a clean program with quality citizens, not on competing at the sports highest level. That would all come later since Michigan was Michigan after all and inherently better than the lesser institutions it was forced to compete against. Michigan didn’t need Rick Pitino it had Tommy Amaker. Michigan didn’t need to recruit against Michigan State in state they could recruit nationally (just like for the student body). Michigan didn’t need the spotlight on it at all it was happy to reemerge nationally on its own terms with a program that was beyond reproach. A pipe dream that kept them from suffering the embarassment of trying and failing. They could fail and act like they weren’t trying or at least not putting in the same amount of resources. Any success was a bonus. That is until the NCAA became too elusive for Tommy Amaker and co., and deep NIT runs became the programs only point of pride. Even the image of a clean program took a hit when Daniel Horton decided to punch out his lady friend.
Enter John Belein fresh from trailer park U in Morgantown. His plan is to build a team of chuckers around a gimmick zone defense. Fine whatever seems harmless enough right? Unfortunately he has had just enough success in year 2 of his system to wake the dragon in Ann Arbor. Having no success in something allows the institution to ignore it. Having modest success in something makes them want to take it to the next level to protect their reputation (which is very big in their own minds). This is very dangerous to the sport. Last time they went head to head with Tom Izzo they had to break the bank with a numbers runner giving kids birthday cakes full of cash, and Varsity Ford hooking the guys up with fully loaded Ford Explorers. Now that the bar is even higher in East Lansing what will scUM do to reach that level. Who will they kill? How much will they spend? Will it involve Jalen Rose? Its impossible to tell. Whenever that institution starts to believe their own legend they can’t be told otherwise.
Whatever happens next at scUM I promise you this: It is going to be a terrible time for basketball fans in Southeast Michigan. I now have a delusional, uninformed, and detached fan base right in my own backyard awakened to a new sense of purpose. We have a university far enough removed from the disgrace of its past and so arrogant that it won’t have the discipline or morality not to cheat. And we have a coach who can win at just a high enough level to wet the appetite of both. Get ready for it.
