Lapointe: For a change, the Detroit area deserved a double dose of the football spotlight
Was Jim Harbaugh sending in trick plays by text message from his Ann Arbor home Saturday afternoon to his staff in Michigan Stadium?
Or did the suspended Wolverines’ head football coach actually disguise himself as Brutus Buckeye, the Ohio State mascot, so he could spy on the OSU coaches and steal their signs on the sidelines?
Or, perhaps Harbaugh — from his laptop computer at home — hacked into the video system at his home field with the help of university scientists.
Then they used artificial intelligence to fake the images on those much-reviewed replays. These tampered tapes gave Michigan an early touchdown on what might have been an Ohio State interception in the end zone. On Fox, the neutral TV jury said it should have been the Buckeyes’ ball.
It was one of several pivotal plays in a 30-24 victory for the Wolverines that was exciting, excruciating, and exhilarating. The result sent Michigan (12-0) into Saturday’s Big Ten championship game against Iowa in Indianapolis.
Another triumph there would put Michigan again into college football’s final four for the national championship for the third consecutive year and expose the school to more weeks of scrutiny and suspicion. Back to absorb it will be Harbaugh following his second, three-game suspension this season.
The first was issued by the school, pending NCAA investigation of recruiting violations and lying about them; the second was by the conference, for illegal scouting and stealing signs; a third, by the NCAA, might exile him next season if he doesn’t return to the National Football League.
In the meantime, Harbaugh has earned at least two accolades in 2023: He has one of America’s best college football teams and maybe the most reviled. Not since the “Fab Five” basketball scandal of the 1990s has Michigan’s athletic department suffered such national embarrassment.
And the local football picture is even bigger than Harbaugh. Saturday’s showdown in Ann Arbor was the second half of a doubleheader that by cosmic coincidence saw two of the biggest stories in the sport on display in Southeastern Michigan.
Just 38 miles to the east, at Ford Field in downtown Detroit on Thanksgiving Thursday, the surprising Lions took their unexpectedly successful season to national TV. They promptly fell on their face guards in a turnover-filled, 29-22 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Now 8-3, the Lions remain a serious contender for the Super Bowl playoff tournament. But the loss may have knocked some of the cocky swagger from fans of the Honolulu Blue. Like the Wolverines, the Lions are, literally, a blue-collar team that sometimes over-stokes its blue-collar fan base.
Consider their commercial during this disappointing defeat. It featured images of players and words hurtling across the screen. “All fight,” it said. “All Heart. All Us. All Grit.” It ended with an email address for Lions’ tickets. A pretty good sales pitch not verified by the show wrapped around it.
At least no one accused the Lions of cheating, although there was one “extra man” incident. It came at the end of the first half, when Packers’ coach Matt LaFleur tried to run from the field to his locker room. His path was blocked by a big guy near the end zone.
The man wore a Honolulu Blue shirt with “SECURITY” on the back in white letters and he appeared to touch the visiting coach, who turned and looked irked. After a brief moment of confusion, LaFleur was allowed to pass.
In defense of the employee, the coach did not appear to be wearing a formal credential and he didn’t look all that much like Vince Lombardi. Later, LaFleur explained the confrontation to Fox sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi.
“He said ‘That’s never happened to me ever in my coaching career. I was fully committed and I wasn’t going to be stopped,’” Rinaldi reported.
It could have been worse. The officials could have thrown a penalty flag against the security supervisor for an illegal block or for unnecessary roughness. And when Lions’ coaches see the film, they no doubt will find fault with his blocking and tackling technique.
At least the Lions players looked good in their old-school silver helmets with no logos and their high blue socks. With a little imagination, you could close your eyes and almost see them back on the muddy grass of Briggs Stadium.
No, wait. In that case, the national, black-and-white telecast from Michigan and Trumbull would’ve been blacked out in the local home market, even if the game was sold out. Those were dark days.
Speaking of black-and-white football, a more contemporary televised gaffe came early Thursday when Fox tried to compare and contrast this year’s Lions with the 1962 team, perhaps Detroit’s best team since their last championship in 1957.
Producers of this pre-packaged feature used black-and-white images and a faux newsreel style to show what life was like 61 years ago. It was narrated by play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt. The concept was clever enough.
However, the most prominent words and images in the bit were “1962” and “The Ford Mustang Made its Formal Debut.” According to most records, the Mustang was unveiled at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
As for Burkhardt, he is one of the rising stars in his business. But some of the plays he calls are unbelievable! And various athletes also are unbelievable! And seasons are unbelievable! And some statistics are unbelievable, too! And our crew here is unbelievable! And today’s weather is unbelievable!
Kevin, that word literally tells listeners “Don’t believe this.” Please stop. His network carried both games and it was curious to witness questionable decisions made on the fly in the college telecast Saturday when Michigan’s offensive lineman Zak Zinter — a captain and key player — suffered a severely broken leg with the score tied, 17-17, in the third quarter.
Immediately after the injury, Fox cut away to seven commercials, for insurance, pizza, a nutritional supplement, a car, a credit card, beer, and sporting goods. Fine. We know. “They have to pay their bills.”
But when Fox returned to the Stadium, with Zinter still writhing on the field, announcer Gus Johnson said only that the injury was “a disturbing scene” and “We’re not going to show you” a replay of what happened.
Oh, really? That, in and of itself, was a questionable choice. What happened was news as well as high drama at a pivotal moment and Fox tip-toed around the story as if afraid to report it.
During those three minutes of commercials, could Fox find not even one visual replay angle that was not so gruesome? Fox’s next decision was even worse. “We’re going to step away,” Johnson said.
Why?
They stepped away to show not paid commercials this time but filler promotions for Fox shows, including
When they returned, for the second time, Fox tried to catch up to the story, with Johnson telling the audience that 100,000 fans in Ann Arbor had just chanted “Let’s Go Zak!” as Zinter got carted off the field. (It would have been good to hear and to see that).
Then Johnson narrated over a video of quarterback J.J. McCarthy hugging Zinter’s parents on the sidelines. (Seeing it live would have been even better). And there were plenty of closeups of tear-stained faces of teammates, which would have been more effective in real time.
Speaking of Johnson: Someone should tell him to stop acting like a carnival barker. At the start of the telecast, he was screeching “Do or die! ... This year, the hate is at an all-time high!” Yeesh.
Final thoughts from a weekend TV notebook: You have to wonder how rookie Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti liked Michigan State naming its new head coach, Jonathan Smith, during the biggest conference game of the year on Saturday afternoon... It’s still hard to believe that the odor of Harbaugh’s dual scandals could overtake the stink over MSU’s firing of head coach Mel Tucker after accusations of a sexual nature... MSU-Penn State Friday night at Ford Field was to be a showcase game for the league. How many left the building or turned off the TV at halftime of a 42-0 Spartans’ defeat?... During football telecasts, which is the biggest tearjerker commercial: The elderly ladies sledding down a snow hill for Amazon to the tune of “In My Life” or the “Happy Holidays” for Chevrolet when the elderly woman with memory loss is refreshed by one of her descendants taking her for a car ride through her home-town memories during a family gathering?... And did you see that ad during football for the video game ? It shows gunfire and explosions and soldiers running around in realistic urban combat — just like Gaza and Kyiv! Happy Holidays, everyone. (Rated “M” for “mature)... Speaking of “M,” it is a total coincidence that Michigan came into the Ohio State game with 1,000 victories in its history. The Roman numeral for 1,000 is “M”... An enclosed stadium like Ford Field is great for a home crowd revving up the home team for a third-down stop. But the Lions must remember that booing also reverberates...
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