They dropped in MLB app today if interested

It keeps getting worse.
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Starting at left Gaurd......#77 already moving people around

For the hazers, there won’t be any consequences.

No criminal charges, no names in lawsuits, no public shaming.

But I hope this whole mess causes them to feel a bit of guilt.

I doubt many people — even those doing the running — enjoyed doing it. What kind of twisted person enjoys putting on a freaky mask and humiliating someone weaker than them? But, f*ck, culture is powerful, and a handful loved it.

“Hey! Dudes! I don’t want to touch your d*ck on the way to the shower.”
“Shut up, freshman. That’s how we roll. Touch my d*ck.”

Anyway, I hope the perpetrators, and whoever’s idea it was to bring the masks into it, aren’t bullies anymore. Nobody likes a bully.

For all the back and forth over the last month — “why didn’t they tell?”; “why are the players pissed if it was so bad”; “who has denied it?”; “HE DIDN’T KNOW”; “life is tough, you think this is bad?” — ultimately, the program was undone by a culture that forgave, or allowed, or encouraged, or turned a blind eye to bullying.

It’s pretty sad. It sucks. And it is a failure of leadership.

All that said, I’ve been a Cats fan for 25 years — my first game was also Gavin Hoffman’s, a 41-7 victory over UNLV, and I didn’t have to look the score up. (I was local, so I parked on Sheridan, decamped to the student section, and stood in a row by myself because New Student Week was still days away.)

Most seasons, I’ve enjoyed being a fan. And, because life is about moments, the moments of greatness are what stick with you. (How nice it was to watch Pinstripe Bowl highlights this week, to relive peak JJTBC.)

In recent years, as life gets in the way, I’ve watched a little less, especially when they’ve been boring or terrible to watch. I probably only saw half of snaps last season.

(My worst Cats memory is attending a rainy outdoor Cats wedding, as we incredulously watched the Illinois State loss on the ESPN ticker. Never schedule a wedding on a college football Saturday, unless it’s against an FCS opponent, except when you’re a Cats fan.)

I don’t think this season will be much more fun than Gavin Hoffman’s. But I’ll still fly the flag on Saturdays, and I’ll still start every morning Expecting Victory. And, geez, I like Braun and I liked the new hires and I sure hope this team surprises me. (Chances: less than 5%.)

There is no thesis here. Mostly it sucks that being a fan has been so miserable these last few years, and it especially sucks that some people might look at that purple flag more negatively than they used to. (In the South, I usually got ‘what’s that flag anyway?’ Back in the Midwest, it’s been a nice point of conversation with my Hawkeye flag-flying neighbor.)

And it really, really sucks that this is what brought Fitz down. He deserved a statue. He’s a great Cat, with a flaw. And, while I think he was aware things happened in the locker room, I think he was probably unaware how bad it had gotten for some. And I know that nobody was willing to tell him.

(Maybe Yates or Long or Carnifax thought, one time, at their year-end Fitz meeting, that this would be the year they finally told him to do something about it.

“Thanks for talking to me, [player]. Anything else?”
“Well, Coach, it’s just that, it’s just that, naaah, nothing else.”
“Okay, hit the books, work in the weight room.” )


It’s a beautiful day outside and I’ve got a lawn to mow.

Aw f*cksh*t. Aw sh*tf*ck. Go Cats.




Also, f*ck Gragg with a broomstick.

Pat Chun

Wow, an AD that actually communicates.

Anyone catch The Athletic article by Mandel and Dochterman on the addition of Rutgers to the B1G? The article has elicited quite a bit of umbrage from the RU faithful. Many of the comments mention NU, unfavorably, due to Mandel’s connection as an alumnus.
I did my undergraduate work at NU, my medical school at RU, and my residency at NU. RU is something I could never figure out. There is so much potential there. However, people seem to have a had an enormous chip on their shoulder about the school, about NJ, about their place in the universe. Having lived through it, I found the comments to the article to live up to this chip on shoulder mentality.
I hope we can give RU a competitive game on September 3.
Go Cats!!!

In their haste to maximize future broadcast revenue by adding four West Coast teams, the conference has wreaked chaos on all the sports the member universities play that are not named football. Non-revenue and lower revenue teams face an uncertain future of airplane rides, hotel stays during the school week and jet lag.

To me, it makes sense to view football as a primarily full continent league, and all the other sports as regional.

The straightforward way to do this would be to add 3 West Coast teams and structure divisions as follows:
For football, have 3 national divisions that get reshuffled periodically (every four years or so) for parity. The top 3 teams over the prior 4 years would be placed in different divisions, next 3 the same down the line so each division is basically balanced. Within division, play the six other teams and structure the remaining conference games to preserve rivalries as needed.

For all other sports make 3 regional divisions, reducing travel time and costs.

I would suggest adding Stanford Cal and SDSU, which would have the added benefit of reaching 2 of the largest media markets, satisfying the network revenue requirements.

The stress expansion is going to put on non-football sports is considerable. I hope the conference is up to the challenge.

FYI, I'm going to write another Takeaways kinda story, too.

This is new writer Austin Siegel's first story for WildcatReport. He talked to David Braun's former coach at Winona State to find out who he is and how he got here.

Godwin is in camp with the Falcons, and would seem to have a good chance to make the team as a returner/backup RB/special teamer.

ATL drafted Bijan Robinson to join Cordarrelle Patterson and Tyler Allgeier, so Godwin comes in as a clear #4.

That said, he went 13-70 with an 11-yard TD run, took his only return for 24 yards, and added a special teams tackle.

ATL is terrrrrrrrible, but 1-0 in the preseason. (For some reason, ATL sat Desmond Ridder, who is bad and inexperienced and the uncontested starting QB.)

Hull makes his Colts debut tomorrow afternoon.

Justin Jackson announces his retirement.

Here's @KennyKChoo's story on Colin White's official visit to Northwestern. Has a few visits ahead of him, but the Wildcats are in the lead for now.

This is about the baseball team so normally it wouldn't be posted here. But it is really much more about Gragg and what a completly incomptent AD he is. So perhaps it can be left here where more people will see it.

Gragg has thoroughly alienated the baseball team by not promoting Brain Anderson to be the head coach. Instead he is going to go outside and find someone else. I have my suspicions on what he is doing, but will keep that to myself for now.

And the way he handled the whole situation shows that this man has absolutely no business being in any kind of managment position. He is a disaster.

Here is the article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...1&cvid=97ba213c03a748ce9804570e7f0237bc&ei=11

Some terrific names mentioned here including Girardi. Loretta would be another promising hire. Not familiar with Getz and/or Greenspan.

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Check out @KennyKChoo's story on Angelo Ciaravino's commitment to Northwestern.

This is new writer Austin Siegel's first story for WildcatReport. He talked to David Braun's former coach at Winona State to find out who he is and how he got here.

We’re two weeks out from the “toxic culture” allegations against Fleck and it looks like he successfully dismissed those allegations by simply denying them. And the university and media accepted that denial and moved on. It’s quite a contrast from what happened with Fitz.

Check out @lou v's takeaways from Wednesday's practice and press conferences.

Dear President Schill and Athletic Director Gragg,

We the Alumni, Fans, Donors, Players, and Coaches are Northwestern, you are not. You are both new to our University and athletic programs and do not understand our priorities. All of your comments and actions regarding the athletic teams and coaches confirm you are not the right leaders for Northwestern University. Please resign now before you do more irreparable harm to our fine university and sports programs. Our student athletes need real leadership which you cannot or will not provide. The Athletic Directors responsibility is to stand up and protect OUR student athletes and OUR coaches, not those outside the program. Your treatment of our coaches and players has been nothing short of astonishing. No good coaches will ever come to Northwestern as long as you are in charge. The two of you have done more damage to the university and the football program in your short tenure than those before you did in past 100 years combined.

By doing the right thing now and resigning you can avoid the humiliation of your inevitable termination. The will of the alumni, donors, players, coaches and fans will prevail, and you will be gone one way or the other.

Signed, Wildcat Nation

Here are @lou v's takeaways from Wednesday's practice and press conferences.

Not sure this is the best idea.

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They are kicking us out of here soon, so here are some notes about what Braun had to say:

Team leadership is stepping up, and the players are rallying around each other.

On hazing: "I haven’t discussed anything prior to my arrival on Jan 16th this year." He said the focus on moving forward. They will all take hazing prevention training.

On the Cats vs. the World T-shirts: He's supporting these young men and staff. “It’s not my business to censor anyone’s free speech.”

Jack Fitzgerald: He is still on the roster. He is helping with program operations and has been an incredible asset. He is on the roster and eligible to play but is focusing on being a student-coach right now.

General mood: It was Practice 6. He said the team is starting to get worn down, starting to get sore, starting to get chippy. Bryce Gallagher's arms were covered in bruises. He noted that a big part of his job is to keep guys healthy. They can have 120 in camp, and they have 103.

Skip Holtz was unable to be here today. He's been in the facility. "He's a great asset." They will iron out his exact role, but he will be important as Braun continues as DC. DJ Vokolek has been hired and is on the staff, too.

Communication with Fitz: He said he's been talking to Fitz as a dad of one of his players. One nugget: he lived with Fitz and his family for two months while they were looking for houses. "My relationship with him is much deeper than someone I worked for for six months."

Transfers: He said that the number that stayed is more indicative of the program. He talked about the recruiting pitch. More to come on that later.

New baby: Braun's daughter, Blake, was born on July 29.

QB competition: He's seen good things out of both Ben and Sully, but he also has been impressed with Hilinski, who he didn't see in the spring. "Who's that dropping dimes on fade routes?" Ben and Dully are duking it out and he says they have "great depth." He said he'll have great confidence with whomever wins the starting job.


I have to run now, but the players really stuck to their guns on all the hazing questions, deflecting and saying they aren't here to talk about hazing allegations, just the team. Gallagher must've said that three or four times. He's been much more vocal than he's ever been before. You can tell that he's taking it upon himself to be a leader of this team.

More to come later....

Here’s an idea, or is it too much.

Urban Meyer. Now, hear me out.

It’s a story of redemption. Redemption for NU. Redemption for Meyer.

Why would he take the NU job?

Well, like I said, this job could be super attractive if you frame it correctly.
$250M practice facility with a $400M stadium on its way.
No pressure to win like at Florida or Ohio State. He could get us to Bowls and be revered.
$5M a year though I don’t think he needs the money.
A roster that has enough openings that he can turn things around right quick.
He can’t be happy with how things ended at Jacksonville and an opportunity to come in and turn around NU when the expectations are the lowest seems like a no-lose scenario to redeem himself.
And most importantly - he has nothing left to prove at the collegiate level. Except maybe he’s not the best ever, because of that guy down in Tuscaloosa.
But, if he were to take Northwestern to the national Championship game? Run through a slate including any number of Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Oregon, and PSU? And better yet, take a B1G team and beat an SEC team to win the title? Or dare we dream, beat Saban for the title? Not sure you couldn’t say he wasn’t better than Saban. It would cement his legend and arguably catapult him to the top spot.

Why would we consider him?

He is one of the best coaches of all time
He has won, and won quickly at every stop of his career except the pro’s
He will bring back modern spread football back home to where it began
He can help us win a National Championship, and that will be the best way to make us forget about this hazing BS

If Schill and Gragg hire Urban, all can be forgiven.

Given where things are with the program, why would we stick our noses up and

Redemption begets redemption. We need redemption and so does Urban.

I have reread several times President Schill’s Leadership Note announcing his decision to fire Coach Fitzgerald. In it, Schill notes a few new facts, including “new media reporting” and a reappraisal of his thought process to focus more on the “should have known“ standard, undoubtedly brought on by the “new media reporting” and attendant outcry. It occurs to me that Schill knew or “should have known” that, in light of the facts he knew or should have known,” a 2 week suspension would be unsatisfactory to some or many, and he ultimately changed course 180 degrees.

By Schill’s own “should have known“ standard, his actions in this entire affair did not meet the “should have known” standard and should result in his termination. Unfortunately, I have no confidence that this will happen, just as I have no confidence that Schill and Gragg can lead us out of this mess.

I have been excited to attend Homecoming this year, as it will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of my graduation. That excitement is now gone. I’ve always been a proud Wildcat, but not so much right now.