Wild game

My alma mater (Eastern Michigan) isn't quite what you would call a football power. Usually they have been one of the bottom teams in the Mid-American Conference, while state rivals Western and Central have flourished and gone to bowl games in recent years. Both seem likely to head to bowls this season.

The lack of success resulted in Jeff Genyk being fired a few days before the season finale. Genyk was named the coach during December of my junior year and I covered the team during his first season at helm. That season (2004) turned out to be the best season he would have as coach as EMU finished 4-7.

The only thing my school has been able to really hang their hat on in recent years is success against Central. Entering Friday's game, Eastern had beaten Central in three of the last four years. And CMU has won MAC West titles in two of those years.

This year Eastern was able to knock off Central 56-52 in a wild game that featured EMU quarterback Andy Schmitt setting a record for completions in a game (50) and receiver Tyler Jones tying the NCAA Division I mark for receptions in a game (23). With it being the last game of the Genyk era it was a good way for him to go out.

But the game also was heated between the teams with penalties and a little drama with comments CMU coach Butch Jones said to an EMU assistant prior to the start of the game. The drama carried throughout the game and even to the post-game hand shake when Jones accused Genyk of acting with a lack of class. A few papers have reports on this and the links are below, but a column by a writer at the Morning Sun stood out to me. I usually don't like to comment on stories in other newspapers, but I felt compelled to comment on this story because I thought the writer was making an unjustified slam on EMU. The column is located here: Morning Sun column

Here is a blurb from the column

What happened Friday was not winning with class.

Jeff Genyk, you should have acted like you have been there before.

Instead, you acted foolish, embarassed yourself, your players, and the university that gave you a chance to make a name for yourself.

You acted like you just won the national championship, when in reality, you completed a 3-9 season and a 16-42 career at Eastern Michigan.

I can understand the emotion that goes into beating a rival. But, there is a line that was crossed.

It is easy to blame Butch Jones for telling your assistants he wouldn't help them get a job, but honestly, I wouldn't either as your staff allowed your team to challenge the CMU football team while it was stretching.

This columnist views seemed completely one-sided to the reports posted in other publications. Here are those stories.

Ann Arbor News
Detroit Free Press
Detroit News

Despite the extra curriculars though, this was a good win for Eastern and hopefully they are able to find a coach to help the team make progress toward becoming an upper tier team in the MAC. Buffalo used to be horrible at football and were worst than Eastern a few years ago but this year they are playing in the MAC title game. And CMU and WMU have shown they can do it so there is no reason why Eastern can't be successful in football despite being in the shadows of the University of Michigan.

Associated Press photo