More trouble for RichRod? Michigan's last wolverine dead

The only known wolverine in the wilds of Michigan has been found dead in the Thumb area, near where it was first spotted in 2004...

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The female wolverine was found by hikers at the Minden Bog in the Minden City State Game Area Saturday.

Todd Rann of Marysville and Morgan Graham of New Baltimore spotted what they thought was a dead beaver, partially submerged in the water near a beaver dam. Rann pulled it from the water and realized it was a wolverine. The pair called the Report All Poaching hot line. Department of Natural Resources and Environment Conservation Officers Seth Rhodea and Bob Hobkirk responded immediately and retrieved the animal.

[Clips comment: We're pretty sure this was the conversation before the hikers pulled the dead wolverine from the water: "Hold my beer and watch this!"]

The officers reported no visible signs of trauma.

DNRE wildlife biologist Arnie Karr, who originally verified the animal was a wolverine after it was treed by coyote hunters in 2004, said the carcass will be sent to the DNRE veterinary lab for necropsy. The department plans to have the specimen mounted and displayed, probably at the visitor center at nearby Bay City State Recreation Area., Karr said.

The animal was the first wolverine ever actually verified in Michigan. Biologists say that if wolverines were ever native to Michigan, they were extirpated about 200 years ago.

Michigan's last (and only) wild wolverine, photographed in 2004

[Hats off to ImPoster for alerting us to this story!]

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Penn State rejects CBS request to move Alabama game, will play in prime time

We are less-than optimistic about Penn State's chances against Alabama on September 11th, but at least the entire nation will get a chance to watch the beatdown in prime time...

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Bama is the defending national champions and loaded.

We don't even know which inexperienced quarterback will start for us.

Oh well, it's on the schedule, so we might as well play...

CBS cannot show a game Sept. 11 because of its U.S. Open tennis coverage, so ESPN will have the luxury of televising Alabama-Penn State, Tennessee-Oregon, and Georgia-South Carolina on its family of networks.

CBS executive vice president Mike Aresco expects ESPN to televise Alabama-Penn State in prime time and realizes that's a good one that got away.

"The U.S. Open pretty much goes all day with the women's final that night," he said, "so even if we tried to compress everything to do Alabama-Penn State, you would have to severely compress the tennis. What if you have rain delays? So we never even went to the tennis people.

"We explored moving that game a week earlier, but Penn State didn't want to, which we understood. It's going be tough enough with a new quarterback going in to play the defending national champion."

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Super Soph Linebacker eying Penn State, others in Big Ten

The recruitment of James "Biggs" Ross Jr. will likely be an epic, multi-year battle among The Usual Suspects of the Big Ten...

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In his first year of high school football after starring for the Detroit Police Athletic League's Westside Cubs, Ross emerged as a standout performer for Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary's. The 6-foot, 210-pounder had 103 tackles, five sacks, five forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, and an interception while keying the defense for a team that went all the way to the state title game.

How does Ross view himself?

"I emulate a Ray Lewis on the field. I like how he plays, and I try to imitate everything that he does. It really fits me how he plays."

Ross, who already has an offer from Michigan State, visited Michigan for a recent Junior Day...

"The visit was real good. The coaches were talking and then they came over. I knew something was up. I was supposed to call them earlier that week, but didn't.

"When Coach (Rich) Rodriguez came and talked to me for a while, he told us why they wanted to talk to me earlier in the week. He said I had an offer. It was just lots of love.

"Basically just the facilities they had, everything - it all really surprised me. I did not know it was like that up there."

Ross's dad is a Michigan fan, so he's a lock to be a future Wolverine, right? Not so fast, my friend!

"I was always an Ohio State guy. I kept it to myself. It really wasn't that big of a deal. My family always gets mad when I bring up Ohio State. They just say that I do not understand the success that Michigan has had."

And what about Linebacker U?

"There is another school, Penn State, that we're looking at. They recruited Rob Bolden from our school and he committed to them as a quarterback. So Coach Vanderlinden has been talking to me. I actually sent him my highlight tape and he said he really liked it."

The bottom line? Stay tuned!
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ESPN2 to air 2010 Blue-White Game at Penn State!

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--One of the nation's premier spring football events, Penn State's Blue-White Game presented by AAA, will be televised live by ESPN2 on Saturday, April 24. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. in Beaver Stadium.

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The Blue-White Game will be the first Big Ten Conference spring football game broadcast by ESPN. Previous ESPN spring football telecasts include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma. In addition to the Blue-White Game, ESPN will cover the spring games at LSU and North Carolina in the coming months.

The Blue-White Game is one of the nation's most popular spring football contests. The attendance record has fallen each of the past three years, with an estimated crowd of 76,500 flocking to the 2009 contest. An estimated 73,000 fans attended in 2008 and 71,000 in 2007. More than 40,000 fans have attended the game in 11 of the past 14 years, with rainy conditions during the other three contests.
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Update: M Go Cheat? Massive scandal brewing at Michigan

We first heard the allegations in August.

Now the NCAA has sent a letter to Michigan alleging five major rules violations by the football program...

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According to the NCAA...

• Michigan had five too many coaches supervising on- and off-field activities.
• The Michigan staff improperly supervised off-season workouts and exceeded the NCAA's weekly time limits.
• Grad assistant Alex Herron lied to the NCAA during the investigation.
• Head coach Rich Rodriguez failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance, failed to monitor his staff, and failed to monitor time limits.
• The UM athletic department failed to monitor the football program.

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Happy Birthday, Penn State!

Happy Birthday, Penn State!

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What is now the Pennsylvania State University was founded as a degree-granting institution on February 22, 1855 by act P.L. 46, No. 50 of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania.

Happy 155th Birthday, Penn State!



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Big Ten Hires Expansion Search Firm; Texas Not On Short List

We weren't surprised to learn that Big Ten officials have hired a firm to research potential expansion candidates.

We WERE surprised by one school that was apparently missing from the initial scan...

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According to Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez...

"They basically broke down what they would bring to the table. They talked about academics. They talked about size. They talked about size of their arenas. They talked about attendance. They talked about the populace in that specific area."

So who was missing?

"In our initial study, there wasn't anything on Texas."

Nor does the former Notre Dame assistant think it will be the Fighting Irish...

"My read is that Notre Dame wants to be a national school, and they want to play a national schedule.

"And unless you've been there and seen the magnitude of their fan base and the interest nationally, it is hard to understand. I understand."

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