The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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4 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2022 FROM OUR READERS RECRUITING AND NIL Will never understand the doom and gloom of Michigan fans. We have and always will operate at a different level of integrity. Am I for that? No, I'd rather see us enter the gray areas of NIL, portals, dropping "bags" … but I am not one to sit here and ***** when I have zero skin in the game. I will support the squad no matter what … and gladly run through Columbus with all of our high-ranked 3-stars. ThisIsRecruiting ABOUT OUR RECRUITING OR LOSING PLAYERS TO THE PORTAL … Recruiting — It seems we are way be- hind the eight ball here. Pay for play? The highest bidders seem to be win- ning out. On the bright side of this it seems that Alabama is suffering from the NIL. How, you may ask? Schools like Miami, Texas and other schools are in bidding wars for players that would normally choose 'Bama. Portal — I think we will lose some play- ers as we always do. However, I think that we won't lose too many starters since many seem to be getting good income from their NIL deals. I hope this continues. As it stands, I believe we are hurting more now in the recruiting aspect of things but will be OK in keeping our starters here. That being said, many chal- lenges lie ahead, and we must adapt. Mmaize Why wouldn't we do "pay for play?" It is not illegal, period. And we have more re- sources and prestige than the vast major- ity of football programs. Plus, a decline in football success will adversely affect not only the athletic department's revenues, but also the greater Ann Arbor economy and alumni engagement in general — it is shortsighted not to recognize that. Our recruiting class is horrific, and it would be even worse had we not won the Big Ten championship. Step off the arrogance bandwagon and start thinking practically. This is not about education. This is about athletic success in football, which is a source of great pride to millions of Wol- verines around the world. CensorshipisBad Be Heard! Send your letters to: Wolverine Letters • P.O. Box 2331 Durham, NC 27702 Or email: mark.panus@on3.com Letters may be edited for clarity or length. From Our Website AUGUST 2022 • Vol. 34, No. 2 ISSN 1048-9940 Editor John Borton TheWolverine.com Editor Chris Balas Football Recruiting Editor EJ Holland Staff Writers Clayton Sayfie, Anthony Broome Drew Hallett Managing Editor Mark Panus Contributing Editors Matt Herb Steve Downey Chris Riffer Layout And Design Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller Contributing Photographers Lon Horwedel Per Kjeldsen Cover Photo Lon Horwedel Publisher Stu Coman Business Manager Linda Autry Circulation Manager Sarah Boone Advertising Sales Michelle DeLee-Hamilton 877-630-8768 Customer Service Cathy Jones, Laura Thornton 800-421-7751 The Wolverine is published monthly. A one- year (12 issues) subscription is $66.99. The Wolverine is printed at The Papers in Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Wolverine, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702. Periodical postage paid at Durham, NC 27702 and additional offices. For advertising or subscription information, call 1-800-421-7751 or write The Wolverine, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702. The Wolverine is a publication of Coman Publishing Company, 905 W. Main St, Suite 24F, Durham, NC 27701. E-Mail Address: thewolverine@comanpub.com Subscription questions: cjones@comanpub.com Website: www.thewolverine.com NEW CONFERENCE Dear The Wolverine: Now with USC and UCLA in the fold, let's add Pitt, Iowa State, Baylor and Utah. Here are my pro- posed divisions for what this new 20-team Big Ten Conference could look like: East Division: Rutgers, Maryland, Penn State, Pitt, Ohio State East-Midwest Division Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern West-Midwest Division Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State West Division Ne bra ska , Utah, Baylo r, USC, UCLA Key points: • Play each team in your division. • Rotate yearly matching one divi- sion against another. • There's your nine-game sched- ule! • Each team plays two out-of-con- ference games. • The 12th game is a match-up of Division winners to see who goes to the 13th game championship. Division winners would be deter- mined by division record, head- to-head tiebreaker and league record. • Second-place teams in each di- vision would play each other for their 12th game. Third-, fourth- and fifth-place teams would play each other as well. • First-place winners will be by seeding — avoiding a second sea- son meeting in the first round. • Second- to fifth-place games will be decided by: 1) rivalry, 2) seed- ing, 3) avoiding a second game with the same team, 4) draw. Michael Yanuskiewicz via email JOIN THE CONVERSATION AT THEWOLVERINE.COM