The Big Ten has stepped in to, it hopes, put an end to the war of words between Michigan and Michigan State last Saturday by announcing a series of public reprimands and fines for players, coaches and schools involved.
“We are fortunate the series of events that occurred prior to the Michigan-Michigan State game did not escalate into a much more serious matter,” said Commissioner Jim Delany in a statement. “While traditions hold great importance on our campuses, traditions do not supersede the values of good sportsmanship or the requirement for player safety. We expect more from our coaches, students and administrators and will continue to work with our institutions to prioritize good sportsmanship moving forward.”
For those not aware of the genesis of this entire episode, you have to go back to pre-game warmups at Spartan Stadium. That’s when Wolverines linebacker Devin Bush was caught by several cameras marking up the midfield logo at the stadium. That was in at least partial response to the Spartans marching out with locked arms and running over several opposing players who were warming up at the time.
Following Michigan’s victory over their in-state rivals was when things really got heated however. Jim Harbaugh claimed the entire MSU march was “bush league,” to which Mark Dantonio retorted by calling the claims “B.S.” in response. The two programs continued to snipe at each other in the ensuing days.
Until, it seems, the league office stepped in on Wednesday.
The Big Ten officially announced public reprimands for Harbaugh (comments made about the incident), Dantonio (for not mitigating a conflict from occurring) and for Bush (in marking up the field). The conference also determined Michigan State violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy “when its football team walked across the field with linked arms and initiated contact with multiple members of Michigan’s team who were legitimately on the field during pregame warmups.” The Spartans were also reprimanded as a team and MSU has been fined $10,000 for the violation.
While the reprimands and fines were nothing but a wrist slap in the grand scheme of things, it sure makes for an interesting discussion around the Great Lakes this week and should fuel even more interest into next year’s meeting at the Big House.