We've been shaking our heads for two years now at the manner OM has handled this thing.
Now that there is no doubt that Freeze is a fundamentally dishonest charlatan, it all makes more sense.
Freeze is a liar, a notoriously thin-skinned one at that. His reflex is to lie. Just get a lie out there and steer clear of the truth at all cost.
Great post and very well written. Can you be the sports editor for the CL?
He immediately lied about Lindsey Miller abusing Tunsil's mother and got himself sued.
He lied about Houston Nutt being the focus of the NOA and got OM sued.
He lied about misdialing a prostitute. (What are the chances of dialling a Detroit number for an escort service linked to the Florida town you happen to be in at the time? Zero. None. Nada. Also, most misdials are followed by another attempt to get it right...there was none on Freeze's phone record.)
Think about this: Houston Nutt originally only asked for an apology for Freeze's lies about him. Freeze and OM refused, even though they had already secured their signing class and had nothing to gain by blaming Nutt. They still preferred the lie.
The two figures who you would hope could right the ship, Vitter and Bjork, got pulled into the lie parade too. They didn't have the will or character to do the right thing. They'll pay for it, but probably not as much as the school they work for..
The upshot is that Freeze and Bjork and Vitter have turned a dumpster fire into the Hindenburg about to crash land at Chernobyl. Only a fool would think it isn't all going to get worse. (Memphis reporters are talking to Briarcrest girls from Freeze's era... We'll see where that leads but the gloves are off, people are talking, and protecting Rev Freeze is nobody's priority any longer.)
OM's Network boys brought Freeze in to cheat. He cheated well for awhile.
Short version: UM's bourbon-soaked movers and shakers thought it would be a good idea to bring in a sociopath stooge to regain some 1960's football glory.
Congratulation OM fatcats... you sowed the wind, now reap the whirlwind.