Over the weekend, the English Premier League began its 2025/26 season with ten matches. At least one of the sides promoted from the Championship won its first game of this season; Sunderland beat West Ham by a score of 3-0. Sunderland may not remain in this company, but for the moment they are lumped in with Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal; that is heady space for the Sunderland Black Cats.
The folks in the UK take their futbol more seriously than Americans take NFL football or college football. A former manager of the Manchester United squad – – Alex Ferguson – – became Sir Alex Ferguson when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in1999. I wondered if that ceremony was solely for his futbol achievements or perhaps if there was some other societal contribution that he had made to his country. Please do not consider my “research” into that question as extensive or authoritative, but the best I can come up with is that he was knighted for a “treble-winning season” in futbol. His Manchester United team:
- Won the EPL title – – and – –
- Won the FA Cup – – and – –
- Won the UEFA Champions League – – all in one season.
Ferguson’s time at Manchester United started in 1986 and lasted until 2013. In that time his teams won the EPL 13 times, and they won the UEFA crown twice. People said he was a “visionary” in the world of futbol and that he would be a hard act to follow. I have no idea about his credentials as a “visionary” but since Sir Alex retired in 2013, Manchester United has had 10 managers – – counting those identified as “interims” or “caretakers”. The longest tenured manager since Ferguson lasted 35 months in the job. Maybe knighthood was more than well deserved …
Moving on … The NCAA concluded its investigation into the “Michigan sign-stealing matter” and chose to penalize the school and some coaches for the infractions. The NCAA rolled in some recruiting violations as well and handed down a series of penalties for the school and individuals:
- Michigan football will be on probation for four years
- Michigan athletics pay a series of fines and cannot earn post-season revenue for two years. This agglomeration of financial penalties is estimated to come to $20M.
- There will be some limitations on football recruitment for the next year.
- Jim Harbaugh has an ongoing 4-year “show cause order” which means it would be very difficult for him to get a major college coaching job in that time. For his lack of cooperation in this investigation, he got another 10 years tacked onto that existing ban meaning he would not be easily hired in college football until 2039.
- Sherone Moore (current Michigan coach) will be suspended for 3 games in this upcoming season.
- Connor Stalions – – the architect of the sign-stealing enterprise – – has an “8-year show cause order” attached to him.
I think the NCAA got this one “more right than wrong” – – and that is not usually what I think about NCAA penalties for rule-breakers. Please note, there are no “vacated wins” or “any pretense that specific games never happened”. There is plenty of evidence as to what happened when Michigan took the field and won the CFP under Jim Harbaugh. Pretending that some other team actually won those games would have been an explicit admission by the NCAA that it was not in a position to hand out any punishment(s).
The NCAA may now realize – – even if they would choose not to admit it publicly – – that college football is simply professional football played by teams that represent colleges or universities instead of cities. The NCAA hit Michigan where it will hurt for a while – – in the pocketbook. Forfeiting $20M in revenue over a couple of years is not nearly a “death penalty”, but it will not be something the Michigan Athletic Department can just laugh at behind closed doors. These penalties are not symbolic; these penalties are real.
Switching gears … The flurry of lime-green dildos arriving on the courts during WNBA games seems to have petered out – – sorry, could not resist. However, I think that if another one should make an appearance in a WNBA venue, we should give the offending member a taxonomic name. Let me suggest:
- Phallus Felonious.
Finally, it seems proper to close today with this from Sir Alex Ferguson:
“Sometimes you’re not sure about a player. Sometimes you doubt. Sometimes you have to guess. Sometimes… you just know.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
This is historic. I believe it is the first time the Curmudgeon has had anything good to say about NCAA rules or enforcement in the 25 years or so that I have followed his rants. I shall mark this day on my calendar and look skyward t see if any pigs are flying.