Time for Izzo to talk

Tom isn't the best public speaker (IMO), but all of what I am reading and hearing second hand is that MSU is pretty clean, and both coaches and players walked away from shady deals.

If, in his heart if hearts, he feels like he's done right, I think he should come out and say so. He can say, "I only know what I know, and to my knowledge, nobody involved in my program (including players and staff) have participated in any wrong doing despite plenty of opportunity..."

yada, yada talk about doing things with integrity, cooperating with any/all investigations.

"...if these investigations lead to improvements in our process, I welcome them. If they lead to illegal or illicit activity coming to light, I will be ashamed, but work to reconcile as best as I can."

I get the feeling that he (and maybe by direction) is waiting to gather all the facts that he simply doesn't know. Why not just say publicly "as far as I know..."

Izzo only needs to repeat Otter's Famous speech, drop the mic, and walk away from the podium.

Code_Warrior wrote:Izzo only needs to repeat Otter's Famous speech, drop the mic, and walk away from the podium.

...ok, who plays the Dean in this scenario?

SawGreen wrote:

Code_Warrior wrote:Izzo only needs to repeat Otter's Famous speech, drop the mic, and walk away from the podium.

...ok, who plays the Dean in this scenario?

A duly appointed representative from the assemblage of reporters at the press conference.

SawGreen wrote:Tom isn't the best public speaker (IMO), but all of what I am reading and hearing second hand is that MSU is pretty clean, and both coaches and players walked away from shady deals.

If, in his heart if hearts, he feels like he's done right, I think he should come out and say so. He can say, "I only know what I know, and to my knowledge, nobody involved in my program (including players and staff) have participated in any wrong doing despite plenty of opportunity..."

yada, yada talk about doing things with integrity, cooperating with any/all investigations.

"...if these investigations lead to improvements in our process, I welcome them. If they lead to illegal or illicit activity coming to light, I will be ashamed, but work to reconcile as best as I can."

I get the feeling that he (and maybe by direction) is waiting to gather all the facts that he simply doesn't know. Why not just say publicly "as far as I know..."

I think a statement was released that said that yesterday.

SawGreen wrote:

Code_Warrior wrote:Izzo only needs to repeat Otter's Famous speech, drop the mic, and walk away from the podium.

...ok, who plays the Dean in this scenario?

Brandstatter.

NigelUno wrote:

SawGreen wrote:Tom isn't the best public speaker (IMO), but all of what I am reading and hearing second hand is that MSU is pretty clean, and both coaches and players walked away from shady deals.

If, in his heart if hearts, he feels like he's done right, I think he should come out and say so. He can say, "I only know what I know, and to my knowledge, nobody involved in my program (including players and staff) have participated in any wrong doing despite plenty of opportunity..."

yada, yada talk about doing things with integrity, cooperating with any/all investigations.

"...if these investigations lead to improvements in our process, I welcome them. If they lead to illegal or illicit activity coming to light, I will be ashamed, but work to reconcile as best as I can."

I get the feeling that he (and maybe by direction) is waiting to gather all the facts that he simply doesn't know. Why not just say publicly "as far as I know..."

I think a statement was released that said that yesterday.

Without a face. The next post game is going to be a sideshow. I think he should preempt it the best he can.

I hope he just talks about it honestly (if we didn’t really cheat)... it’s not like the Nassar/sexual assault shit where he can slip up and piss a bunch of people off.

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:I hope he just talks about it honestly (if we didn’t really cheat)... it’s not like the Nassar/sexual assault shit where he can slip up and piss a bunch of people off.

Great post! Your thoughts are great!

NigelUno wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:I hope he just talks about it honestly (if we didn’t really cheat)... it’s not like the Nassar/sexual assault shit where he can slip up and piss a bunch of people off.

Great post! Your thoughts are great!

Thank you, Nigel. Your thoughts on my thoughts are appreciated.

Tom Izzo in my opinion owes nobody anything. He’s done nothing wrong and that’s all he needs to say. And as he does that, he has to have this t-shirt on at the presser.

k

Tom Izzo: Michigan State basketball has 'emphatically cooperated'

I love Izzo

Fuck the haters, Iz

Suck a dick Vitale.

Yeah, but that missing bike.....

ESPN can shove it up their ass!

steveschneider wrote:ESPN can shove it up their ass!

Yeah!!

Former Swill write Soloppy chimes in....

Tom Izzo delivers fiery defense of himself, Michigan State basketball

LooseGoose wrote:Former Swill write Soloppy chimes in....

Tom Izzo delivers fiery defense of himself, Michigan State basketball

I guess at the end of the film clip, in front of the ESPN writer, Hondo yells out a question which you can hear, "Despite all the TMZ bullshit Tom.........." then it's cut off.  

Go Hondo

What are the questions that the media "needs" to have answered that aren't already in the public record?

Space Lord wrote:What are the questions that the media "needs" to have answered that aren't already in the public record?

The only question I have is when will Tom tell ESPN to fuck off?

steveschneider wrote:

Space Lord wrote:What are the questions that the media "needs" to have answered that aren't already in the public record?

The only question I have is when will Tom tell ESPN to fuck off?

As he hoists the NC Trophy.

LooseGoose wrote:

steveschneider wrote:

The only question I have is when will Tom tell ESPN to fuck off?

As he hoists the NC Trophy.

I don't have a subscription, but I am hearing that this piece is solid and adds a bit of perspective from Izzo's point of view (for once). If you subscribe, I'd like to know what the piece says because I would like to thank the writer.

https://theathletic.com/checkout/?plan=nt&pc=hh30t7hybfull&hh_start_time=14:00&source=paywallButton&ref_page=/257847/2018/03/01/entering-tournament-msus-tom-izzo-wants-just-basketball-as-focus-for-team/&article_id=257847

I'll post it

SawGreen wrote:I don't have a subscription, but I am hearing that this piece is solid and adds a bit of perspective from Izzo's point of view (for once). If you subscribe, I'd like to know what the piece says because I would like to thank the writer.

https://theathletic.com/checkout/?plan=nt&pc=hh30t7hybfull&hh_start_time=14:00&source=paywallButton&ref_page=/257847/2018/03/01/entering-tournament-msus-tom-izzo-wants-just-basketball-as-focus-for-team/&article_id=257847

Katie Strang authored that piece.

She's the one that's been stirring the shit there RE:MSU.

She previously worked at ESPN and Paula LaVigne was her "mentor"

That article is damned interesting though. She's nearly flipped 180.

Might be the no politics, no pounding on MSU message is getting through.

I've seen cancellations all over the comments and I cancelled earlier this week
after a 2-3 email back and forth.

With Strang, Vaninni, Davis and Mandel all after MSU I was tired of that shit.

LooseGoose wrote:That article is damned interesting though. She's nearly flipped 180.

Might be the no politics, no pounding on MSU message is getting through.

I've seen cancellations all over the comments and I cancelled earlier this week
after a 2-3 email back and forth.

With Strang, Vaninni, Davis and Mandel all after MSU I was tired of that shit.

I canceled over the way they were handling it.

Entering tournament, Tom Izzo wants 'just basketball' as focus for team

By Katie Strang 10 hours ago 42
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Following his team’s practice on Wednesday, Tom Izzo strode into a semi-circle of reporters gathered on the south end of the hardwood and made it clear he had a few things to say.
First, he addressed Miles Bridges, his star player who was named in a Yahoo! report detailing an FBI investigation that has engulfed NCAA basketball. Bridges’ name surfaced in the story because of allegations that his mother received money that qualified as an “impermissible benefit.” The University disputed this account but released a statement the following day that Bridges, through an internal review with compliance officers, was found to have committed a separate NCAA violation involving Bridges' family members, which was reported to the NCAA. Bridges was deemed ineligible and then, soon after, reinstated. According to Izzo, Bridges was cleared “unequivocally” and the team was not anticipating any further issues with his eligibility.
“We do not have to, in any reason, shape or form think that there will be anything else that he has to go through,” Izzo said on the eve of his team's departure for the Big Ten tournament to be held in New York City's Madison Square Garden. “And I expect him here the rest of the year.”
Next, perhaps in anticipation of descending upon the epicenter of media activity on Thursday and the inevitable line of questioning awaiting his team’s arrival, Izzo addressed the other issue looming large over his program — allegations of “widespread denial, inaction and information suppression” in incidents of sexual misconduct “by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department,” as detailed in a ESPN Outside The Lines report.
Ever since that report, which came on the heels of the Larry Nassar scandal that has ravaged the greater Lansing community and captivated nationwide attention, Izzo has been questioned repeatedly on incidents involving his program; he has consistently maintained that he will address those allegation when the timing is appropriate. On Wednesday, he attempted to conclude this persistent drumbeat of inquiry and instead went on the offensive in a passionate defense of his program and the process by which incidents have been handled in the past.
“As far as all these allegations, I’m just gonna tell you that I feel very comfortable that we’ve emphatically cooperated with everybody on every search,” Izzo said. “And everything we’ve done, I think we’ve appropriately handled it exactly the way we were supposed to handle it at the rules of that time. And that’s where we are there.”
And with that, he was emphatic in stressing that he is no longer willing to entertain these questions any longer. From now on, Izzo said, he will answer basketball questions only. He has given the same directive to his team. He said the constant scrutiny the program has received has been “draining” on his players and, heading into the Big Ten tournament, and presumably the NCAA Tournament later this month, he wants their focus to remain singular.
“We're not answering any questions, my team, anymore, about anything but basketball. That's going to be it,” Izzo said.“I owe it to them – and I mean this strongly – I owe it to them and I owe it to my staff that we’re gonna focus in, because it’s been a lot of distractions. I tried to do it as best as I could for all of you. Never cut off our locker room or anything else. But now, it’s gonna be basketball time. These players, this staff, deserves to focus in on basketball.”
In what amounted to the first time Izzo substantively addressed the allegations beyond polite demurrals, he was asked whether he still plans on addressing the number of allegations involving his program with any degree of specificity in the future:
“Never any specifics,” he said. “There’s an ongoing investigation going on here, No. 1. No. 2, those of you that think I’m the prosecutor, the chief of police, the president of the university and know all these things — like the NCAA investigation — I had nothing to do with that, zero, OK, nothing. And I don’t like the narrative everybody is making of this. And so right now, I don’t plan on addressing any specific things because I’ve already said what I said, and I don’t know anything else.”
His role in handling these allegations has been a topic of contention ever since the ESPN report was published, as the report cited a former sexual assault counselor at the University's claims that “complaints involving athletes were routinely investigated and handled by athletic director Hollis' department, and sometimes even coaches.” In response to these claims of mishandling against himself and his counterpart in football coach Mark Dantonio, Izzo was asked this:
What is the protocol in place in the event of criminal sexual misconduct allegations involving a player in his program? What is his responsibility in that?
“I’m not gonna take you through that right now. But my role on that is so minimum,” he said. “I mean, we are hands-off now. That goes to other people. I mean, we can just do what we can do, but that thing is decided by the police department, the OIE [Office of Institutional Equity], all the different things. So I’m not gonna comment on things I’ve already kind of commented on. It wasn’t good enough for some people. Not a lot of people, either, just a very select few. And you know what? I feel comfortable in my own skin.”
Izzo is not the only one who has taken issue with the reporting surrounding his program. MSU interim president John Engler criticized ESPN’s reporting on this issue as “sensationalized,” and Izzo has agreed with that characterization.
There is little doubt that ESPN’s choice to use a graphic which featured both Izzo and Dantonio in the same green-tinted backdrop as Nassar in the Outside the Lines television special that aired following the bombshell report was one that both infuriated and deeply hurt those in and around the program.
And if Izzo is upset about that, he deserves to be. It was an irresponsible decision to transpose those images and conflate the allegations surrounding the two coaches with the horror inflicted by the now-notorious serial pedophile, and it is a decision that warrants harsh criticism (an email sent to ESPN on Wednesday night with several questions involving the editorial process behind that graphic has not been immediately returned).
But while there has been vociferous backlash against ESPN for its presentation of the material, no one from the University or Athletic Department's administration has publicly disputed any of the specific allegations contained therein. [Editor's note: On Jan. 26, Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio said accusations of mishandling sexual assault allegations are “completely false.”]
Izzo was given that opportunity on Wednesday when he was asked if there were any specific untruths contained in that Outside the Lines report that he cared to dispute. It was a contentious point of his media scrum. Initially, he deflected, instead questioning the reporter’s opinions on the piece.
Pressed again whether he wanted to dispute anything specifically in that report, he replied:
“No.”
It is well within Izzo’s right to decline to address all of these questions, and any future questions lobbed his way. It is also well within the media’s rights to continue to ask them. Michigan State University is a public institution that receives federal funding and is subsidized by taxpayers’ dollars. It is currently under investigation by a number of different governmental bodies, at the federal, state and congressional levels. All of these investigations are looking into systemic issues at the University beyond the scope of Nassar's abuse specifically. As long as those investigations are underway, these questions will persist.
Izzo's team may now be shielded from answering them, but it is very likely he will be not. If he is not subjected to another round of intense questioning at the Big Ten tournament in New York, he can expect that to be directed his way during the NCAA Tournament in a few weeks’ time.
His team will remain under strict instruction to spurn any inquiries beyond basketball, but it’s hard to imagine those questions being something he’ll be able to avoid.
“I’m a big boy and I gotta handle it,” Izzo said. “But for them, that’s gonna be their orders.”

Thanks Matty.

Re: "Pressed again whether he wanted to dispute anything specifically in that report, he replied:
“No.”"

The actual dialog was "Are there any mistruths in any of that reporting that you would like to dispute?" ... and Izzo answered "No".

My take was that at that moment, he didn't want to dispute anything, not that he didn't think there may have been mis-truths (if that's even a word).

The Q&A is in Hondo's video, which is pretty fucking sweet.

- 2:15 - "TMZ Bullshit"
- 8:55 - the Strang dialoge

SawGreen wrote:Thanks Matty.

Re: "Pressed again whether he wanted to dispute anything specifically in that report, he replied:
“No.”"

The actual dialog was "Are there any mistruths in any of that reporting that you would like to dispute?" ... and Izzo answered "No".

My take was that at that moment, he didn't want to dispute anything, not that he didn't think there may have been mis-truths (if that's even a word).

The Q&A is in Hondo's video, which is pretty fucking sweet.

- 2:15 - "TMZ Bullshit"
- 8:55 - the Strang dialoge

That was my takeaway as well regarding Izzo and him not wanting to dispute anything right now.

It's pretty interesting that she is bashing at least the use of the graphic and tying Izzo and Dantonio to Nassar. Not only was Lavigne a mentor to Katie Strang, but in the last month, Katie Strang has called Paula Lavigne "The Queen" in regard to her reporting, that she's the best in the country at what she does, and that she should win a Pulitzer. Ok, maybe Lavigne didn't do the editing, but it's at least tacitly admitting sensationalism in the piece.

Though I suppose she also backs up her hero by saying that Izzo wouldn't dispute anything in the report. But this is where the bullshit is. It's not that Izzo can dispute that accusations were made, people were cleared, pled down to lesser charges, etc. It's that there are omissions, insinuations, and it's all put into the bullshit context of "Spartan Secrets". Imagine Izzo trying to address that. A bunch of reporters looking for a 1-2 sentence soundbite are not going to listen to a point-by-point factual breakdown. Instead, they'll bash him for being argumentative and defensive.

Jon Crispin - Dan Dakich Junior with way better takes. I'm a fan.

http://tikiandtierney.radio.cbssports.com/2018/03/01/big-ten-analyst-its-appalling-that-media-connected-tom-izzo-to-larry-nassar/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:Jon Crispin - Dan Dakich Junior with way better takes. I'm a fan.

http://tikiandtierney.radio.cbssports.com/2018/03/01/big-ten-analyst-its-appalling-that-media-connected-tom-izzo-to-larry-nassar/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Holy shit. Crispin can come off as a tool, but he's fucking spot on here. Good find.

Oh FFS. Remember when Izzo was the poster boy for clean? Thanks BSPN.

The Athletic‏Verified account @TheAthleticDET  31s32 seconds ago
What does it mean to be "clean" in college basketball? @BFQuinn tells why Michigan's John Beilein may set the standard.

ps. I'm reacting to the tweet alone.