I tuned into WJR in Detroit Thursday afternoon after news of the Michigan Wolverines football cheating scandal came to light, just to see what narrative was being formed in the hours after the announcement was made.

The hosts were going on and on about how ridiculous this was for Michigan and how the NCAA better have ironclad proof if they're going to accuse Harbaugh of something like this. The idea that "the powers that be" wanted Harbaugh out of college football was brought up. They were all laughing and calling the news ridiculous.

Then I tuned into WVFN in Lansing and the host there was going on about how Michigan State actually considered not playing this game. Can you believe THAT, he asked incredulously? How ridiculous is THAT, he said. It went on and on.

I understand that people on the radio have to fill the air, but what doesn't make sense to me is the gut reaction to:

1. Give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt on WJR.

2. Slam Michigan State for doing the right thing on WVFN.

It was amazing to watch, in real time, certain local media entities not only excuse Harbaugh's behavior -- but to actually put blame on MSU for taking some time to evaluate if they should put their student-athletes in a potentially unsafe situation.

Let's take the Detroit radio hosts first.

What has Harbaugh (and by extension UM Athletics) done to deserve the benefit of the doubt in this scenario?

Was it the gray area that Harbaugh has been relishing living in these last few years? The investigation into his COVID recruiting cheating? The other scandals that Michigan Athletics have found themselves in? The fact that the radio hosts on the largest radio station in Detroit immediately jumped to Harbaugh's defense before any facts even came out - with Harbaugh's past indiscretions not yet gone from the rearview mirror - was telling.

That brings me to the Lansing radio station and the host's immediate knee-jerk reaction to take shots at Michigan State, no matter the topic. A report in The Athletic said that Michigan State considered not playing the game this week after the allegations came out against Michigan.

Seems reasonable to me.

The athletic department's first priority is to keep their student-athletes safe. If the opponent knows what your plays are going to be, the health and safety of the MSU players most definitely would have been in jeopardy. How would you expect MSU to react? It would have been inappropriate for Michigan State not to consider not playing.

Football is a violent game.

It's a violent game when the opponent doesn't know what you're doing in advance.

Imagine what it would be if the opponent DID know what you were going to do before you did it. If Michigan State did not take a night to consider if this was worth putting their players at risk, they would have been negligent. Is this safe for our student-athletes? That's the question MSU mulled over for an evening. MSU didn't pressure the Big Ten to pull the plug or anything like that. They simply took some time to decide it they could make the necessary changes (in approximately 48 hours) to keep their players safe.

Michigan allegedly went about getting information that would give them a significant advantage in a dishonest manner; at least the NCAA says they did. If the NCAA and the Big Ten have "credible evidence" and reach out to tell you that this is happening, the leaders at MSU had to ask themselves the question -- does the game have integrity? Is it safe? Is it fair? After answering those questions, they came to the conclusion that they would move forward.

It was more than fair that they took the time to do so -- it was the right thing to do.

Speaking of narratives, this is not about MSU taking some time to determine if this was a safe move for their athletes. This is about Michigan -- their actions brought this upon themselves.

There is only one school in the country currently under investigation for cheating in recruiting and cheating on the field. That school is coming to Spartan Stadium Saturday night.

How will Michigan State change up its signals?

How will it tweak the way it calls its plays?

This is putting another burden on MSU's already difficult preparation for this game. Obviously the decision was made that MSU could alter things enough in the next 48 hours to keep their players safe.

But it never should have come to this. MSU should not have been put in this position.

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