Fitzgerald Toussaint and One Other Thing

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

Two things, one that will inspire debate and one that inspires exactly zero debate (in a good way):

1) The Fitz Toussaint thing. You've already seen it, talked about it, etc. The MGoBlog thread on the matter raised a lot of decent points on the whole thing, especially vis-a-vis the way other schools do things. A few scattered thoughts:

• I'm not sure that Michigan (i.e. Hoke) should be making decisions based on: a) fan pressure or b) the disciplinary history of other Big Ten coaches. 
• On a visceral level, yes, I would be a little disappointed if he played against Alabama. 
• I think that Hoke has accrued enough capital in the form of good will thus far that we, as fans, should be willing to trust his decision, whatever it may be. This will be difficult, especially given the irritating hailstorm of HURR and DURR from fans of other teams if Fitz does end up playing. I know this might seem like a shocking revelation to some people, but if anybody is going to be intimately familiar with the details of Fitz's case, it's Hoke...not you or I. 
• Continuing from the last point: holding your program's disciplinary record over the heads of fans of other programs is generally not a good idea. The fact that things like Fitz's case can happen isn't even the strongest reasoning behind not doing this sort of thing (and really, what Michigan fan, myself included, hasn't taken some shots at other coaches/programs for not being strong disciplinarians?) Bragging that your coach 
• We have no idea what Fitz has had to do in the last month or so. 
• I do think that it is the head coach's job, especially one still very early on in his tenure, to establish the basic notion that "if you mess up, there will be consequences." The problem that I run across, however, is this: can any football-based punishment ever truly be commensurate to the most serious sorts of crimes? I'm not sure that a football punishment is inherently unequal to a crime such as, say, a DUI. But, that's what the legal system is for, I guess. Of course, it doesn't end there, and that's why this is all such a dizzyingly layered quagmire of a thing with which to have to deal. The process must eventually find itself at the intersection of The Law, sports, and culture (the fans, a program's reputation, etc.), a place where there is no yellow light, the lights turn green or red almost instantaneously and without warning, and nobody is directing traffic. Also, it's raining, hard, and nobody can see, but the people continue to drive anyhow. 

Anyway, any more than that and this becomes redundant. We will find it whether he will be playing or not, sans breathless conjecture, very soon.

2) This is a very good thing:

So we're off, then. For future reference, yes, I am a hater out to tear down your favorite team, coach and player, despite their always exemplary performance and behavior. You got me! No, this is not quite "journalism." Apologies in advance for the typos.

Sunday Morning Quarterback is back. As someone who hasn't read Dr. Saturday once since Hinton left Yahoo!, I could not be more excited for this development. SMQ is the closest thing to a one-stop shop for comprehensive college football coverage as there is, and I am for one cannot wait to read Hinton's work, unchained from the restrictions of the MSM.