SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Huge fine for Michigan football, Milwaukee wins what we'll call a brewer's dozen in a row and Venus Williams returns to the U.S. Open. Sports reporter Michele Steele joins us from Chicago. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Yeah, sure. Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: Morning. The NCAA handed out its punishment for the sign-stealing controversy at Michigan Football - the head coach, Sherrone Moore, suspended for three games this season. The school will also forfeit postseason money - a lot of it - for the next two seasons, but they can still participate in the playoffs. What do you make of this?
STEELE: Yeah.
SIMON: Yeah. Please.
STEELE: Yeah. The big question is - right? - is this going to be the kind of punishment that is going to keep other big-time schools from doing the same thing that Michigan did?
SIMON: Right.
STEELE: And the short answer is, probably not, you know? For those who might need their memory jogged on what went down, what happened was Michigan Football was caught a couple years ago sending team representatives to future opponents' games. Now, those reps would use their cellphones to film the opposing teams'...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Sidelines and record their signals for play calls. You can imagine what they did with that film, right? They're decoding the signals. The NCAA explicitly prohibits teams from scouting opponents in person. In other words, you can't cheat. Michigan went 15 and 0 in 2023. They won a national championship...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...In 2024. The NCAA also found recruiting violations and an overall failure to cooperate. But you know what, Scott? A lot of people round college football were shocked by this punishment not because of how severe it was, but how lightly Michigan got off.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: You know, like I said, the championship is intact - no postseason ban. Fines could reach $30 million. Jim Harbaugh can't coach in college football for 10 years, but who cares? He's in the NFL now. He's coaching the Chargers.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: You know, $30 million sounds like a lot, but that's what you're paying anyway to assemble a roster. So a lot of people calling this, Scott, an expensive slap on the wrist.
SIMON: Let's move to baseball. I've been rehearsing something. Ready?
STEELE: OK.
SIMON: (Singing) I'm not from Milwaukee. But still, I do know, the Brewers have won 13 in a row.
STEELE: (Laughter).
How was that?
STEELE: Yeah, you know, let's call "American Idol." Let's get them on line 2.
SIMON: The Brew Crew beat the Cincinnati Reds 10 to 8 last night. They have the best record in the majors. But a lot of people wonder - where did they come out of, these guys?
STEELE: (Laughter) Well, Scott, as a fellow Chicagoan who's going to be watching this Brewers-Cubs series...
SIMON: Oh, boy.
STEELE: ...This week, hopefully...
SIMON: Five-game series, yeah.
STEELE: ...I know - hopefully going to one of those games, I kind of regret to inform you that the Brewers are the best team in baseball.
SIMON: Yeah, I know.
STEELE: Yeah. I was in Milwaukee couple days ago...
SIMON: Oh, statistics. Damn lies and statistics.
STEELE: Yeah.
SIMON: But go ahead, yeah.
STEELE: Yeah (laughter). I was in - well, right. Right. The film doesn't lie. I was in Milwaukee. I really wanted to watch, of course, Pirates ace Paul Skenes - haven't seen him yet in person. Went up there. The guy got rocked - gave up a home run to their leadoff hitter. It was just downhill from there. It ended up being, Scott, a 14-to-nothing rout. Now, I want to be crystal clear when I say this. The Pirates stink. But this coming from the Brewers is not an aberration. They're on a 13-game win streak. They didn't make any big moves in the offseason. In fact, it's their rookie hitters, Isaac Collins and Lake Forest, Illinois' own, Caleb Durbin...
SIMON: Right.
STEELE: ...They're stepping up big. The stadium, as you can imagine, was absolutely electric when I got up there. And I found out later, win streaks mean something a little different in Milwaukee. Did you hear about this?
SIMON: Hmm.
STEELE: If the team wins 12 games in a row, everyone in town gets free burgers.
SIMON: Oh, my word.
STEELE: And players said that that motivated them to get that 12th win. Apparently, it's from a restaurant, George Webb, that started the promotion in the '40s, when the Brewers were just a Minor League team. It's only the third time this has happened. Bob Uecker's looking down and...
SIMON: Oh.
STEELE: ...Smiling, for sure.
SIMON: Well, I think they prefer brats in Milwaukee anyway.
STEELE: We'll take a free burger, though.
SIMON: Listen, Venus Williams is going to be at the U.S. Open - isn't she? - at the age of 45? She - a legend with nothing to prove, but it's nice to know she'll be playing, isn't it?
STEELE: Yeah. You know, I would love to see her make a run. And you're right. She's got nothing to prove. She won the U.S. Open twice before. She's probably going to lose in either the first or second round, but I bet you she's going to have the best-attended opening rounds probably ever in U.S. Open history. But I love seeing this. You know, she's part of a bigger trend in sports where elite athletes are not really taking on their opponents as much as they're taking on history. I'm going to be rooting for her. As someone who watched Venus in her prime, Scott, her being 45 makes my head hurt. I'm going to sit right - I'm going to sit down right now and try to take this all in. But I love that she's doing it, and why not? Let's try to make history.
SIMON: Michele Steele, thanks so much, and thanks for being with us.
STEELE: See you next time. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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