There have been many responses to both the ongoing discussion of alleged sign-stealing at Michigan and to media personalities’ commentary on that saga (and claims of sign-stealing from other schools). One of the wildest comes from David Shuster, though.
Shuster (seen above in a 2020 Pell Center interview) is a Michigan alum who was a prominent MSNBC correspondent and anchor from 2002-10. He’s also worked for CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera America, i24 News America, CurrentTV (where he was the primary substitute anchor for Keith Olbermann), and more, and currently works for The Young Turks’ Rebel HQ.
On Wednesday, Shuster got particularly upset about ESPN personality Paul Finebaum’s comments on the Wolverines (when Finebaum was finally able to get those in). He threatened a variety of boycotts against ESPN parent Disney, from taking his family to a different theme park to deleting the ESPN app to using businesses other than College GameDay sponsors The Home Depot and DoorDash for home renovation projects and food delivery. Here are some of those tweets:
"If Jim Harbaugh is not suspended indefinitely…everything that happens from here on with the University of Michigan is going to be tainted." – @finebaum did not say U of M football, or U of M athletics, he said "The University of Michigan." And that's the give away. 1/ https://t.co/Br3ZmsZLDx
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 8, 2023
This morning @finebaum accidentally spoke his truth and made things clear. This is not a fight over football or the reputation of a coach/team. Finebaum is out to damage the reputation of the entire University of Michigan, one of the finest academic institutions int he world 3/ https://t.co/YB2C88UVHd
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 8, 2023
I know others in the @UMich community will join me in the following: Dear @espn, either fire @finebaum or your channel will suffer more consequences than you can ever imagine. Enough is enough. https://t.co/DrFYvuebkH
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 8, 2023
.@ESPN @CollegeGameDay top advertisers: @HomeDepot @Aflac @ATT @DoorDash and @GEICO. Alternatives where you can buy similar products: @Lowes @Statefarm @TMobile @GrubHub, and @Carprogressive. #BoycottESPN #FireFinebaum #Corrupt #bigten #Michigan #GoBlue
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 8, 2023
https://twitter.com/DavidShuster/status/1722364936771248324
https://twitter.com/DavidShuster/status/1722365567431004667
https://twitter.com/DavidShuster/status/1722366727743226216
There is a long history of Finebaum feuding with Michigan fans and with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, but this is one of the most dramatic responses to Finebaum comments in a while. And Shuster didn’t stop there, also musing about getting local hotels to “lose” GameDay reservations and discussed the idea of disrupting GameDay personalities’ sleep and the show itself:
.@CollegeGameDay hosts and crew really stay at the Ypsi Marriott when in town to cover @UMichFootball ? Interesting. Anybody know what the local noise ordinances are for the streets and public sidewalk in front of the hotel at 2am? Asking for 100,000 friends. #GoBlue https://t.co/nqxXPW9k6P
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 8, 2023
Anybody in A2 know the local laws/restrictions on campus or off regarding the use of bullhorns? Specifically looking for guidance about areas near possible TV production broadcasts like @espn @CollegeGameDay. Asking for 100,000+ friends.
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 8, 2023
Disney, which saw its stock rise 4.1 percent premarket Thursday after posting better-than-expected earnings ($0.82 per share) numbers, plus revenues of $21.24 billion and a net income of $264 million for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023 (plus a 13 percent year-over-year boost for its parks segment), is surely quaking in its boots over Shuster saying he’ll take his family to Six Flags instead. But they’re not the only target of Shuster’s wrath. On Thursday, he also went off on Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who hasn’t even announced discipline for Michigan yet:
Pettiti grew up in Queens, NY, went to Haverford for college and Harvard for law school. So, no big ten connections in his upbringing or education. And it appears the first time he ever lived in the Midwest was to take Big10 job. That’s crazy. https://t.co/3qJJQlXxjp
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 9, 2023
Any alum of a Bigten university likely attended more Bigten college sporting events in 4 years than Pettiti has in his life. https://t.co/4sPSsJXayE
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 9, 2023
If this is the best @bigten commissioner can do, he is even more pathetic and in over his head than previously known. He would flunk evidence 101 in any law school. And if he pushes forward, the court response/injunction against @bigten is going to be fast and humiliating. https://t.co/w4wZINuaHo
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 9, 2023
The only thing the @bigten evidence proves is that UM conference rivals are pathetic, hate UM’s success, and are beyond desperate to excuse the beat downs that UM keeps inflicting on everybody, including OSU. That’s the bottom line – conference member envy + jealousy of @UMich https://t.co/jPGYZ0e9TV
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) November 9, 2023
There’s no word yet on if Shuster is going to boycott Big Ten sponsors as well if he doesn’t like the outcome of the conference investigation. Velveeta and Vita Coco might have to watch out.
[David Shuster on Twitter]
