As a dreadfully dull Big Ten championship game mercifully ended, the real show began in Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night. How were commissioner Tony Petitti and Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh—protagonists in a bitter November drama—going to share the same stage?
After the Wolverines finished a workmanlike 26–0 victory over Iowa, the stage apparatus was wheeled out and put in place on the field. Petitti went up on the dais in advance of the Michigan party, shared some words with Fox analyst Joel Klatt, then waited for the Wolverines.
Harbaugh took the stage, appeared to have a cursory handshake with Petitti, then waved up several of the key players on his undefeated team. If any of the players acknowledged the commissioner who had suspended their coach for the previous three games, it was brief. Petitti then moved to the back of the stage while Klatt presented the trophy to injured Michigan offensive lineman Zak Zinter. After coaching his first game since Nov. 4, Harbaugh said a few words, asking the crowd his trademark rhetorical question: “Who’s got it better than us?”
