Last week Michigan lost a quiet giant when athletic department advisor Greg Harden passed away. Who was Greg, and why are so many mourning his loss? This comes from a long interview I had with Greg in 2015, for Endzone, and other conversations I didn’t publish until today. (1/20) Greg Harden was a track star who made some mistakes early in life, but how he overcame them help explain why he was so helpful to others. In 1986 Harden was a clinical therapist at Beyer Memorial Hospital when the Michigan football team called to see if Harden could help. (2/20)

Curious why Detroit always hosts a Thanksgiving Day game? Here's the story from yours truly, updated for this season:
"If it seems like the Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving since it became a national holiday, it’s because they actually started seven years earlier. (1/13) True, the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in October of 1621, but the custom faded, resurfacing only when George Washington, Abe Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt promoted the idea as a national tonic in troubled times. (2/13)

Four weeks ago I tweeted that “The only thing more annoying than a week of juvenile taunting between Michigan and Michigan State fans? 2 weeks of it.” But I was wrong: the 2 weeks that followed the game have been even more annoying.(1/X)
On the Bacon Blog johnubacon.com/2022/11/justic… Michigan won the game, 29-7, for the first time in three years. But that was eclipsed by the scene in the tunnel afterward, when some Spartan players attacked two Michigan players with their helmets, and punched and kicked them when they were on the ground. (2/X)

I have received the investigative report into the University of Michigan hockey program. Here are the basic findings, and my initial conclusions.
johnubacon.com/2022/08/the-in… Regarding the University of Michigan hockey program: I now have the report produced by the DC law firm Wilmer Hale, and commissioned by U-M. I understand other reporters now have it too, and you can expect to hear from them soon. (1/X)

A few thoughts on USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten.
The immediate stuff: USC and UCLA reached out to the Big Ten, so if the Big Ten didn't accept them, the SEC surely would have - the kind of pressured decision all conferences have to make these days. (1/9) Short run: this will be great for both USC-UCLA and the Big Ten, especially with the Big Ten's new TV deal being negotiated. It will soon shatter all records.
So that's more money and power for everyone involved, which is what they want. Really, it's all they want. (2/9)

In OVERTIME (2019), I broke down Nick Saban's coaching record to reveal a simple truth: he has only been successful at LSU and Alabama. Why? (1/X) As I wrote in Chp 32, Hard to Beat the Cheaters, "You can make a good case that Nick Saban’s success has depended more on recruiting than coaching. When he coached at Michigan State from 1995 to 1999, his recruiting classes were never in the top 10 of Tom Lemmings’s lists...(2/x)

My take on what Michigan men's head basketball coach Juwan Howard did, and what Michigan - not the Big Ten - should do about it, with some important leadership lessons. On the Bacon Blog - and now on this long thread: (1/19)
johnubacon.com/wp-admin/post.… On Sunday a back-and-forth between Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard and Wisconsin’s Greg Gard spilled over to both teams after the game ended. But it didn’t become national news until Howard recached out to slap the head of a Wisconsin assistant coach, (2/19)

Anyone saying the Harbaugh interview with Minnesota is a done deal is not considering the people involved, nor their histories. Today's interview is far more important many seem to understand.
Here's a thread laying it out. (1/13) Harbaugh not only has to convince the Wilf family his approach is sufficiently modern in the midst of a youth movement (which shouldn’t be too hard), more importantly he has to quell the rumors that he’s too difficult to deal with. (2/13)

Yes, I stand by Nobody Knows Anything.
Unless you're Jim Harbaugh, his wife or parents, you're guessing. Big difference between guessing, predicting, and reporting something as fact. When someone guesses, they want you to remember it if it comes true, and forget it if it doesn't As it stands, those who know Harbaugh best are saying the least, and are also the least certain which way this is going to go. Harbaugh himself hasn't made up his mind yet, or he would have announced it. He doesn't play games with this stuff. He's not leveraging.