Pete Fuitak trying to spin the Herbstreet "scoop"

Typical media. Never wrong, are they? Fiutak is spinning like a Dan Rather on this one. You see, he had inside sources! I like how he is still sticking by the fake (non)story. His man got the inside story, so who are we to believe Miles, Michigan, or LSU?

(Pardon my spelling this morning - coffee is still being brewed)

Where there's Maize and Blue smoke ...

By Pete Fiutak

1. To clean up one of my favorite sayings, don’t whiz on my back and tell me it’s raining.

My man Richie Cirminiello got inside word on the Friday before the SEC Championship that the Tiger players knew that Les Miles was going to take the Michigan job and that Bo Pelini was off to Nebraska. This was a big-time inside tip, but doing our due diligence, we held off on the story (trust me when I say almost any other outlet would’ve gone with the info we had) until we could get absolute, 100% confirmation. By that time, other media outlets had heard the same thing, and from different sources. Then on Saturday morning, ESPN and Kirk Herbstreit went public with it causing LSU to react swiftly with great vengeance and furious anger.

Again, this wasn’t exactly exclusive insider knowledge to Herbstreit. So even after the cat was totally out of the bag that Miles was at least thinking about Michigan, what does Miles do? He has the temerity, the unmitigated gall, to hold a press conference just before the SEC Championship game and feign righteous indignation by basically suggesting that the story was made up. The LSU official web site had in the SEC Championship game story that Miles had “debunked an ESPN rumor,” like the story came from a Tennessee fan on a message board. Just because someone yells and acts all mad, that doesn’t mean what he’s saying is necessarily true.

What possible good would it do ESPN, or any reputable media outlet, to lie about something like this? It’s not like GameDay is at the forefront of investigative journalism, and it’s not like it’s known for being anything more than a very, very good Up With College Football show, so if Herbstreit is going to report on something that big, it’s going to be relatively rock-solid. Remember, ESPN could've gotten it right, and then the story changed because of it.

Again, we didn't have the story cold and didn't go with it, but all indications were that Miles was at least mentally in Ann Arbor and thinking about the opportunity, LSU stepped up to squash the situation before the biggest game of the year, and the marriage in Baton Rouge apparently remains intact … for now.

Now this gets really, really interesting because Miles is stuck. He can't go take his dream job and he has to be Mr. LSU, even though he's a worse actor than Keanu Reeves when it comes to talk about the Michigan gig. Now that his team actually won the SEC title and is playing for the national title, he can't go after the job, Michigan needs to move on, and LSU fans are left wondering if they really have an LSU guy coaching their beloved team.

Here's the deal. If Miles actually signs the long term contract with LSU, then the situation is squashed and life goes on. But if Miles ends up taking the Michigan job, he has to go to each and every LSU player and fan and personally apologize for yanking their chain. Let's wait until Michigan actually hires someone else before closing the book on this.

http://cfn.scout.com/2/707786.html

 

I really dont know what to make of all of this. Herby could have had it in for LSU, who knows. doesnt matter we are in.

 

Bottom line: When a major story is about the reporter there is a problem. Herbie clearly screwed up and he knows it. I'm okay with how he has handled it so far. He called Les and apologized. Everyone just needs to let it die.

 

It's all complete nonsense: Fuitak's and the Detroit Free Press articles. Michigan's AD confirmed everything Les said: http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10508766

Where are the apologies?

 

Even if the story was true, he had no business reporting it when he did. Thats just my opinion.

 

They got it wrong, there is no other way to spin it. They reported Miles is going to Michigan, he is not. It doesn't mean it was done with malice or anything like that. The source(s) were simply wrong, which is not the first time that has happened. My real beef was with the timing of this news. It could have waited till after our game to break this news.

Anyway, the only thing I wish Miles would have done differently was to issue a press release instead of holding a presser before the game. He could have said what he said in a release and avoided the media circus with a presser that lasted about two minutes.

Anyway, it's over.

 

And, I was a little disappointed that ESPN didn't let Herbie ask Miles a question last night on their show. Chicken!:hihi:

 

This is the problem. Not that he reported the story, it's that he broke it when he did.

There is no way in hell they go live with this if there wasn't some seriusly solid info. And there is no way in hell a competing outlet defends another outlet unless they knew the same thing. They just had a little more respect for the game and decided to hold back.

Basically it comes down to this, If the deal was reached late Friday, that's fine, but I think Herby was the straw that broke the camels back, and If you are glad Miles is staying, you can thank him for screwing it up for Michigan.

 

LSU = Jules Winfield



Now where's my wallet?

 

Here is a thought:

Kirk was reporting what Michigan was going to do; not Miles. Kirk reported that Miles would be named football coach this week. In typical Big 10 arrogance, they just forgot to ask the candidate. I think it may have pissed Miles off that people would say things about him that was not true. I just think this is a case of Big 10 arrogance.