Apparently it's been so long since I've posted here, I can't access Brainsplotch on my PC, so I guess I have to do it from my phone. I don't know what the heck is going on, but I have to figure it out.

The dark cloud hanging over Dantonio and Izzo

I have tried to write this post a few times, but events at Michigan State seem to change on a daily basis, rendering my thoughts and impressions immediately dated.

 

Let me get right down to it: I am depressed. I am sad. I am infuriated. Infuriated with MSU's leadership void and incompetence, but also infuriated with unfair and vindictive shots MSU is taking from outsiders (and I don't necessarily mean ESPN, but mainly people on social media).

 

I don't know what to make of the dark cloud over the basketball and football program. How much of this is really malfeasance by Izzo and/or Dantonio, and how much is it an opportunistic ESPN with an axe to grind? How much of my reaction is knee-jerk defensiveness that my alma mater is under the microscope? Is it just that I can't handle the ugly reality and am taking out my anger on a media outlet that is simply trying to report a story?

 

I have never met Mark Dantonio, so I have no idea who he is as a human being. Perhaps he is capable of covering up sexual misconduct/abuse. I really have no idea. Certainly, Dantonio's program has been checkered by bad behavior by his players, so I regret to admit this is not a far-fetched notion.

 

On the other hand, I have met Tom Izzo twice, both times in everyday situations in which he could have easily "big-timed" me or ignored me. Instead, he was gracious and friendly. He struck me as, deep down, a hard-working blue collar guy from Iron Mountain. I felt like I got the measure of the man and insight into his character. It's hard for me to imagine Izzo ever knowingly covering up bad behavior by one of his players.

 

But what do I know? Clearly the culture at Michigan State is not what I thought it was just one or two years ago. It's an institution that enabled a predator like Larry Nassar, so who knows what else it has allowed?

 

All I really know is that if It's true that Izzo is guilty of a cover up, it will be one of the saddest days of my life. I will no longer feel like I can trust any public figure.

Thoughts about the Larry Nassar scandal

I'd be remiss if I didn't spend some time writing about the Larry Nassar scandal.

It has been a time of embarrassment and shame for the entire MSU community. The scope of Larry Nassar's abuse of his patients certainly stupefied and horrified me, and probably everybody else who has been paying attention to the trial. What is even worse is that Nassar was able to engage in this activity for decades without being stopped by anyone.

All of the women who came forward to testify in court deserve a tremendous amount of credit for their bravery, and Judge Rosemarie Aquilina also deserves praise for allowing anyone who wished to speak the opportunity to come forward.

I called for Lou Ann Simon to step down as president, and I am satisfied that she did so yesterday. Though I do not think she should be vilified (at least not yet. Who knows what will be discovered in the independent investigation of the scandal) her leadership has been lacking throughout this ordeal.

It has been terrible to see Michigan State University, a place I hold dearly, raked through the mud in the national news throughout the last several weeks. But I can't say it wasn't deserved. I hope that the university can learn from all the mistakes that were made and begin the healing process.