What do Michigan and Michigan State football, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Detroit Lions have in common this fall?
Their seasons are not off to great starts.
For more on those stories and other sports news, Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined host Doug Tribou on Morning Edition on Friday.
Football this weekend:
Illinois at Michigan State – Sat., 3:30 p.m.
Michigan – Bye week
Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals – Sun., 4:25 p.m.
Doug Tribou: Let's start with the Red Wings. The team's best player, who was stripped of his captaincy in the off season, Dylan Larkin, was booed in his first game this week. He still wants to be traded. That's a demand he made months ago.
Now, 23-year-old defenseman Simon Edvinsson has returned to his home country, Sweden, to train while he sits out over a contract dispute. And the team is still operating with an interim general manager. Other than that, John, everything seems fine…
John U. Bacon: [Laughs] Yeah, perfect. The rink is not on fire. You left that out. On the plus side, you also left out that in the first two games, the fans' favorite chant is to Chris Ilitch, the owner of the team. "Sell the team. Sell the team." I can't recall any Red Wings season, maybe any NHL season, starting off so miserably as this one. So what else you got, Doug?
DT: [Laughs] Well, new Michigan State Athletic Director Dan Bartholomae published an open letter to Spartan Nation this week. In it, he vowed to provide transparency about the ventures set up to fund the athletic department. He also promised to provide the Spartans football program with the funding it needs to compete with the nation's elite programs.
The Green and White have lost three straight in football and been blown out in all of those losses. What got your attention in Bartholomae's letter?
JUB: Well, really the simple fact that he had to write it, which tells us a few things. One, that we are in an era where an AD has got to pledge fundraising expertise in this manner. All these things add up to this letter, of course. We're going to raise money, it's going to be up front, etc. But that's the new world we're in.
DT: And in the letter, he did pledge some transparency, but sort of said it would be coming later. So there wasn't a lot of clarity within it about either of these ventures.
JUB: [Laughs] The letter on transparency lacked transparency. There's your problem.
DT: John, things are looking good for the Wolverines this weekend… They're off.
JUB: [Laughs] Yeah. Best news in Ann Arbor in a while.
DT: Michigan probably needs some time to regroup. They have lost two straight. And in each of those games, the Wolverines have failed to score 20 points. What are you seeing from this team so far this season, John?
JUB: Well, you're seeing a truly great defense, one of the best in the country, and a truly miserable offense, one of the very worst in the country. And the shocking fact about that is you have probably the most expensive quarterback in college football in Bryce Underwood, who's making $3 million a year. And one of the very expensive offensive coordinators, Jason Beck, who's also making $3 million a year. That's about half a million dollars a point, Doug. That's not very good.
DT: The Lions are 2-2 on the season. Up next, they'll play the Arizona Cardinals. Detroit has had a lot of trouble stopping teams from scoring, but the Cardinals haven't scored much. It's a little tough to say which team that combination favors more this weekend…
JUB: Yes, the very weak offense or the very weak defense. This is going to be a true battle. Stay tuned on this one.
The Lions have got a great offense with Jared Goff at quarterback. They've got a good defensive line. They've got a miserable defensive secondary. And that's why they're losing games. Man, Doug, you don't have a whole lot of good news today… The weather's been lovely, that's the good news.
DT: [Laughs] That's right. Justin Verlander officially retired from baseball at the end of the Tigers' regular season. That retirement lasted approximately six minutes before he started a new job. He's now on television on the Fox MLB pregame. You know the old adage, John, if you can't make the playoffs, analyze them.
JUB: [Laughs] Yeah, I think that's from Aesop, I believe? I'll tell you what though, Justin Verlander is very good on Fox, and perhaps because he had 3 or 4 months to get ready while he was injured. But man, hats off. That is the first happy news we've had in today's show. JV, go get 'em.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of the interview near the top of this page.
The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
