Former Michigan center Josh Moore is still playing ball and recently has come into the national media spotlight. If you need a quick recap of the Josh Moore story this ESPN.com article is a good place to start. If that picture of Moore and Queen doesn’t bring back nightmares I don’t know what else would.
Moore was recently featured on an NPR segment as well as in the Wall Street Journal. Moore played some professional ball in Iran and now is back with the Clippers’ D-League squad. Over the course of his long strange journey he of course has started a blog. The Wall Street Journal article has lots to say about the culture in Iran as well as international basketball. However Moore also has plenty to say about the Michigan athletic department in his blog. Of course Moore was ready to weigh in on the Tommy Amaker cheating allegations from the New York Times (along with an OSU football YouTube video).
While we are on the subject of college basketball…….Michigan’s men’s basketball program is honestly somewhat of an enigma, even since the days of Glenn Rice, my former teammate, they have been accused of flagrant NCAA violations, with the most popular being the money in the cake story that every Michigan athlete has heard. Like many other recruits I was duped and off balance from my first day in Ann Arbor. I was sold a history that was paid for or fairytale and that wasn’t fair. Sometimes I wish I was better prepared to take the previous year of basketball off before attending Michigan, but then again I thought I would get an opportunity to catch up. Oblivious to me, we had a coach that was on the hot seat and desperate to win, and my opportunity to catch up consisted of six games.
Moore clearly feels that he did not get a clear shot at Michigan, which I suppose is fair. Even though the academic issues surrounding Moore’s career are plentiful he never really did get a shot on the court. Then again he was brought in with an era of Ellerbee that can be described as nothing short of a nightmare. Whether it was Avery Queen sneaking out in the Virgin Islands getting wasted before a game or Kevin Gaines drunken wrestling in the middle of Telegraph. It is safe to say a house cleaning was necessary. Moore goes on:
The biggest mistake I ever made in my life was attending the scandal filled, divided, cesspool known as the University of Michigan and I have no problem with publicly saying that.
Moore has plenty of thoughts and brings up some interesting points. While they have flaws of their own Moore’s blog is worth a read for any Michigan fan that wants to reminisce about the glory gloomy days of the Ellerbee era or even just get Moore’s opinions on the Rich Rodriguez hire. Maybe it will make you feel a little better about this years painful season.
Poll question/Predictions: What ex-Michigan-Beilein-refugee player will be talking about getting a raw deal at Michigan 5 years down the road?
