Whipped Cream Difficulties

I say “not a firing”. Yet. But the winds are blowing in a direction that makes me think a whole bunch of people are going to get fired.

Connor Stalions, a “football analyst” with the University of Michigan, has been suspended indefinitely with pay.

There’s an ongoing investigation into Michigan by the NCAA. The university is accused of using “an ‘elaborate’ scouting system to steal signals from future opponents since at least 2021“.

Athletic director Warde Manuel announced Stalions’ suspension with pay on Friday, one day after the analyst was identified as a person of interest in the investigation into whether No. 2-ranked Michigan violated an NCAA rule by scouting future opponents in person at games, sources told ESPN. The NCAA prohibited such scouting in 1994.

I can understand the issue with “stealing signs”, though I really don’t know what that means in college football. But the NCAA has a rule against attending your opponents games in person? Seriously? I guess, maybe, they are afraid larger schools with more resources will have an advantage over smaller schools that can’t afford to travel as much? Or is this just more of “we’re the NCAA. Nothing we do has to make sense”?

Harbaugh served a three-game suspension to start this season related to NCAA charges of failure to cooperate and head-coach responsibility over alleged recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period. A violation by a member of his coaching staff could trigger another charge of head-coach responsibility, potentially a Level I violation.
Sources said the NCAA enforcement staff’s level of interest in Stalions was so significant that it sought access to his computer as part of its investigation.

So they were already looking at Harbaugh for recruiting violations, and he basically pled guilty to that. This would be the second rules violation in less than a year. What would be the implications in terms of NCAA penalties if this is substantiated?

Could we see…dare I say it…the “death penalty“?

I doubt it myself. But it’d be fun to see. Realistically, if this is substantiated, I suspect major loss of scholarships, a ban on post-season play, and possibly for Harbaugh to get a “show-cause penalty“.

Running a little behind here, but: the Red Sox fired Dave Bush (pitching coach) and Carlos Febles (third-base coach) on Monday.

This is an…interesting…story. John Roth, “chief operating officer” of both the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres, has been fired. Also fired: Kathryn D’Angelo, “general counsel and senior vice president of business administration” for the Bills.

The alleged reason? Roth and D’Angelo were allegedly involved in a “romantic relationship”. Which, once again, consenting adults, etc.

But: D’Angelo apparently was one of Roth’s direct reports. It seems like dating one of your subordinates is generally frowned upon in this establishment. As a matter of fact, I think it’s generally frowned upon in most ethical workplaces.

Things between Roth and D’Angelo “got too brazen” in London, where the Bills suffered a 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, and it “became an issue that had to be addressed.”

(I apologize for not linking to “The Athletic”. While I apparently have “limited” access to the site as a NYT subscriber, it wants me to “customize my feed” before I do anything. To heck with that.)

Phil Nevin out as manager of the Los Angeles Angels.

ESPN calls this a firing, while other sources say they “declined the option on his contract”. That to me is functionally indistinguishable from a firing, but maybe it makes some sort of difference to someone.

The Angels finished 73-89 and fourth in the AL West. Nevin’s first managerial position concluded with a 119-149 career record.

Another one down, another one down, another one rides the bus bites the dust…

Buck Showalter out as manager of the Mets.

I was initially a little confused by this: was it a firing, or a retirement, but later articles make it clear it was a “forced resignation”.

ESPN:

Showalter took over in December 2021 and led the Mets to a 101-61 record last season, when he was voted NL Manager of the Year. New York lost to San Diego in their wild-card series, then added three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to its pitching staff during the offseason. The Mets boosted their payroll to a record $355 million on Opening Day but wound up dealing Verlander, Max Scherzer and several other veterans ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Also ESPN:

New York is 74-87 and 29½ games behind National League East champion Atlanta.

The baseball season’s ending, and we all know what’s coming: the ceremonial throwing out of managers.

The San Francisco Giants started today: Gabe Kapler out. SF Chronicle.

In nearly four seasons with the Giants, Kapler went 295-248, and overall, between the Giants and Phillies, he put up a 456-411 record.

The big problem seems to be that the Giants pretty much fell apart:

The Giants were still in the hunt for a playoff spot entering the month but are 8-17 in September going into their final series and have been outscored by 47 runs. They’ve been horrendous on the road in the second half, losing 28 of their final 34 games away from Oracle Park, and the offense peaked in June and tailed off dramatically — San Francisco is second to last in the league in scoring, with 668 runs, has the third-worst on-base percentage (.314) and the worst OPS (.699).

Sort of on the margin for sports firings (and from ESPN, who I have a high barrier for), but I’ll allow it: an oral history of Lane Kiffin’s legendary “tarmac firing” (which really wasn’t) from USC.

I’m allowing this because there’s a couple of quotes that struck me:

Kiffin
It’s 5 a.m. The sun’s getting ready to come up. I’m sitting in the backyard, and I said to my wife, “When I go to bed, I don’t want to wake up.” She’s got a little more perspective, and she said, “You have three children upstairs. Don’t ever say that again.”

Men: marry that kind of woman.

Kiffin
I saw a podcast the other day on the rapper Macklemore, and he’s talking about, he’s winning the Grammy. He’s on stage. He’s got everything. And he’s not fulfilled. And later, he’s in rehab. He’s making coffee in the morning for people. He’s serving others. And he says, “I felt more fulfilled doing that than when I was on stage.”

Mel Tucker officially out at Michigan State University “for cause”. (Previously.)

This is only sort of a firings watch because Mel Tucker isn’t out as head coach of Michigan State yet.

But the school has notified him they intend to fire him “for cause”. Which means no contract payout.

This is a weird story that I’ve been following from a distance, but have had trouble finding a way into that treats everyone involved with respect. Mr. Tucker is accused of sexual harassment. I’m just going to quote from the ESPN story:

Prominent sexual assault awareness speaker Brenda Tracy filed a sexual misconduct complaint against Tucker in December 2022. She claims that Tucker made unwelcome advances after she was hired to speak to the Spartans football team about sexual misconduct and her experience as a rape survivor. She said Tucker also masturbated without her consent during a phone call in April 2022. Tucker admitted to masturbating, but said in a statement last week that it was part of a consensual intimate relationship.
Tracy told USA Today that after she raised concerns about Tucker’s conduct, he postponed and eventually canceled a speaking engagement at the university. Because she had an ongoing professional relationship with the athletic department, she was able to file a claim under the school’s sexual misconduct policy.

Mr. Tucker has seven days from yesterday to respond to the termination letter.

I guess the baseball season is winding down. I’ll probably do a loser update, either as an individual post or as part of the regular post, when the season ends.

In the meantime: Chaim Bloom out as “chief baseball officer” of the Boston Red Sox.

Bloom was hired in 2019, bringing with him a plan for sustainable success from his time with the Tampa Bay Rays. He instead angered much of the fanbase by methodically stripping the team of its stars and replacing them with an ever-changing cast of veterans on short-term contracts, role players and prospects.
The Sox are 73-72 this season, tied with the Yankees at the bottom of the American League East and 267-262 under Bloom over four seasons. His tenure was marked by the franchise losing its status among Major League Baseball’s powers.

…

Under Bloom, the Sox traded Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers in 2020 in what was essentially a salary dump. The return was Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong, and Jeter Downs.
Verdugo has been a solid player in right field. Wong, 27, has shown promise as a good defensive catcher and Downs was released in 2022.
Betts helped lead the Dodgers to a World Series title in 2020 and remains one of the premier players in the game.

Jim Foster out as baseball coach at Northwestern.

Foster had been investigated by the university’s human resources department before the season. The probe found evidence that Foster “engaged in bullying and abusive behavior,” according to a document obtained by the Chicago Tribune, and made an inappropriate comment about a female staff member.

…

Northwestern had several coaches depart the program in February, and the team struggled to a 10-40 record. After the season, 16 players reportedly entered the transfer portal.
Radio station 670 The Score in Chicago reported that Foster discouraged players from seeking medical attention for injuries and that players hid their injuries from him. The station also reported that Northwestern coaches and other staff members attempted to meet with Gragg but were denied an opportunity.

This seems like fallout from a story I missed covering earlier this week: football coach Pat Fitzgerald got canned on Monday, for pretty much the same reason.

The firing of Fitzgerald, 48, comes after the school announced Friday that he’d be suspended without pay for two weeks this summer following the conclusion of a university-commissioned investigation into allegations made by a former Northwestern football player. The school said the investigation, which was initiated in January and conducted by an outside law firm, did not find “sufficient” evidence that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing — though there were “significant opportunities” to find out about it.
The school then reversed course Saturday night after The Daily Northwestern published a story detailing allegations from the former player, who described specific instances of hazing and sexual abuse. That led Schill to write an open letter to the university community in which he said that he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction” for Fitzgerald and acknowledged focusing “too much on what the report concluded (Fitzgerald) didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known.”

This is somewhat unusual. It isn’t common to fire a whole team from a league.

The only example I am aware of before the past few days is NK Veres Rivne, an “association football” team, which got thrown out of the Ukrainian Second League in 2011 for not paying dues.

On Thursday, the Albany Empire (“Albany?”) was thrown out of the National Arena League…for not paying dues.

“After exhausting all avenues, the NAL board of owners have decided unanimously to terminate the membership agreement of the Albany Empire,” the league said in a release. “The decision was reached after an emergency conference call of the members in good standing to discuss the Empire’s failure to pay their league mandated and overdue assessments.”

The Albany Empire was recently aquired (maybe: it is complicated) by Antonio Brown, former NFL player.

Since Brown bought the Empire — becoming a part-owner in March and taking over a 94% stake in the franchise in May — the team has been through multiple coaches, and both quarterbacks on the roster were released after last weekend’s loss to the Orlando Predators that dropped Albany to 1-6. The Empire had entered the season as two-time defending champions.
Brown, a four-time NFL All-Pro wide receiver, had vowed to play for the Empire but had yet to do so. He practiced Wednesday and caught passes from quarterback Dalton Cole — who played at Division III Brevard College and played for the Sharks for a short time — before giving an interview in which he questioned whether “AB” was going to pay him; Brown has stated in the past that AB the owner and Antonio Brown the player are different people.

…

Thursday’s decision was the latest drama during Brown’s tenure in Albany. Players and suppliers complained about not getting paid, and eight players were suspended after one player filed an aggravated harassment report with police over a dispute that occurred on the team bus, The Albany Times-Union reported last month.

Doc Rivers, who as far as I can tell is neither a doctor or a river (discuss) out as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

He went 154-82 in three regular seasons with the organization but, like predecessor Brett Brown, failed to get the team past the playoffs’ second round.

…

Rivers has been one of the NBA’s most recognizable and successful coaches for more than two decades, being honored as one of the top 15 coaches in league history during its 75th anniversary celebration. He won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, before guiding a once-embarrassing Los Angeles Clippers franchise to six playoff appearances in seven seasons. The former All-Star point guard began his coaching career with the Orlando Magic in 1999-2000, where he was named coach of the year in his first season and took that team to three playoff berths in five seasons.
Yet Rivers has also become known for playoff failures, particularly in close-out games. He is now 17-33 in such situations, and 6-10 in Game 7s, after the Sixers surrendered their 3-2 series lead to Boston.

Monty Williams out as head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

In four seasons, Williams posted a 194-115 record in the regular season, 27-19 mark in the playoffs, but had disappointing playoff exits last year and this year.

They lost to the Nuggets in six games this year. They made the finals in 2021, and lost in seven games to Dallas in the semi-finals last year.

Mike Budenholzer out as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee went 271-120 (.693) during the regular season with Budenholzer at the helm, the best record in the league across that span. The Bucks finished with the best record in the NBA during three separate seasons (2018-19, 2019-20 and 2022-23), but never made it to the Finals in any of those years. They dropped two playoff series against the Heat — this season and in the Orlando bubble in 2020, both in five games — when they were overwhelming favorites.

They lost to Miami in this year’s playoffs. I get the impression that they consistently did well in the regular season, and were a consistent disappointment in the playoffs. But as you know, Bob, I don’t follow basketball closely, so I could be wrong about this.

Rob Murphy out as assistant GM of the Detroit Pistons for being a sexual harasser.