The hallways were empty and the wooden benches lining the walls unoccupied. It was so quiet that one could hear the faint buzz of a ceiling light and the hum of a water fountain. Those sounds were interrupted by an echoing toilet flush from a restroom located somewhere off in the distance.
This was the scene Friday at 9 a.m. on second floor of the Washtenaw County Courthouse, where Jim Harbaugh vs. the Big Ten was set to take place and Michigan football fans expected to see their revenge fantasies come to life. It’s here where they dreamed of Harbaugh getting justice, of a judge revoking the coach’s suspension, of the Big Ten being humiliated, of a defining moment that would change the narrative surrounding the nightmarish cheating scandal that has rocked their beloved Wolverines these past four weeks.
What they got instead was silence and surrender before their favorite team jetted off to Maryland to preserve their undefeated record and their top-five ranking.
As it turned out, there would be no showdown at 101 E. Huron in Ann Arbor after Harbaugh and the university chose to end their fight with the conference on Thursday. It was a dull denouement to a tense struggle that materialized No. 10 after Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti banned Harbaugh from the sideline for the final three games as punishment for the football program violating the league’s sportsmanship policy.
Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh arrives for his first game back after his three game suspension in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 23 2023.
WHAT NOW? Why was Chris Partridge fired? Michigan dismisses linebackers coach amid scandal
Petitti had been inspired to act after the conference found that a football staffer, presumed to be former U-M employee Connor Stalions, engaged in a “years-long” impermissible in-person advanced…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/next-game-michigan-football-absorbed-003322335.html
Author : Detroit Free Press
Publish date : 2023-11-18 00:33:22
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
