Big Ten Football Morning Coffee: Montee Ball Cited

Rise and shine, friends. Here's what's going down in the Big Ten today.

- Star Wisconsin tailback Montee Ball got in a small bit of trouble over the weekend after being cited for trespassing. Ball was on the porch of a house with a "no trespassing" sign during a block party, and that's pretty much all it takes.

Ball was cooperative and alcohol "was not a factor," so it would be astonishing if he's got anything but in-house punishment coming to him. Oh, and a wallet that's $429 lighter. That's the price tag on his trespassing ticket. 

- Michigan's recruits shined at a Nike Football Training Camp in Columbus this weekend, as two players—offensive lineman David Dawson and linebacker Michael McCray—were named MVPs at their position. Also, do event reps do finger quotes every time they refer to that as a "training camp"? Because come on. It's a talent showcase. Call it one and be honest about it. 

- Nebraska assistant coach Ron Brown is walking back his anti-gay statements that caused a fervor last week... sort of. Brown sent a letter to the Lincoln Journal-Star indicating that he does not discriminate against his athletes that sin in all sorts of ways, and that he wouldn't do so to a gay athlete either. His opposition to the Omaha anti-discrimination law remains, but he won't actively protest it anymore either.

The point about how Brown coaches his players is an important one, and he deserves some credit for that. Still, though, we're talking about local anti-discrimination laws. Surely there's room for those to exist alongside Brown's strident religious views, no?

- Adam Taliaferro was named one of three new members of the Penn State board of trustees over the weekend. Taliaferro, you might recall, was the defensive back who suffered a broken neck in a game at Ohio State just 12 years ago, and there was significant doubt that he would ever walk again.

Not only has Taliaferro returned to his feet, walking without aids of any kind within a year of the injury, he also ended up graduating from law school at Rutgers and forming a foundation to help other victims of spinal injuries. It's great to see the young man (seriously, he's younger than I am) keep ascending upward in life.