Hello Loyal Readers,

Hope you all survived the break, especially those of you in the Frozen Tundra of the Great Lake States.

I’ll be back this Friday with a new Bacon Blog (and really should send out one EVERY Friday, so you know I’m not dead.) And I’ll be posting recent TV appearances on here, too.

But in the meantime, I’ll be hosting a live Q&A chatroom on TheWolverine.com in The Fort section, about Fourth and Long and everything else.  I think you might need to be a member to join in, but I hope you can.

Here’s an open letter to readers, which I’ll be posting on TheWolverine.com to set up the Q&A.  I hope you find it of interest, and as always, you can reply here on the site.  Remember, if it’s not insane or profane, and you sign your full name, I’ll print it.

Thanks again!

-John

OPEN LETTER TO READERS

In December, I wrote a column about the University of Michigan’s athletic department budget, which got a lot of attention.

(https://johnubacon.com/2013/12/follow-the-money-where-does-the-michigan-athletics-department-get-it-and-where-do-they-spend-it/)

The response to the piece has been overwhelmingly positive, but it also attracted enough attention on this site that I feel compelled to address a few points.

-The Michigan athletic department budget figures cited are on line.  I had my conclusions reviewed by financial professionals, to make sure they were not misleading.

-The discussion of the department’s faculty Advisory Board, and their desire to be heard, came from a December, 2012, annarbor.com article.  (http://www.annarbor.com/news/faculty-want-more-say-on-university-of-michigan-athletics/)

-My access to Michigan football: I told Dave Brandon before the 2010 season that it would be my last inside the program.  I didn’t ask for more, didn’t expect more, and really haven’t needed more.  Besides, no one’s getting much access these days, so I hardly feel picked upon.

-My press pass: I finished Fourth and Long (from which most of my Michigan stories this fall were excerpted), months before the department declined to issue me a press pass.  Regardless, their decision has not affected me personally or professionally.  I haven’t needed a press pass for my work this fall, and I’ve had a great time being a fan again.

If I didn’t let friendships color my reporting in Three and Out, I was not going to let press box seating color my reporting in Fourth and Long.  What pulling my press pass has done, however, is give Brandon’s defenders a quick retort.  Whenever I write anything short of a Hallmark card about the department, the first reply from a few is: “Bacon’s just mad because he lost his press pass.”  Not so, but it has been the source of humor between my writing friends and me.  (You can ask the guys who run The Wolverine.)

This fall I sent Mr. Brandon a sincere invitation to give a guest lecture to my class.  (He politely declined.)  I’ve praised him publicly for his deft handling of the NCAA investigation, his unequaled work ethic, his amazing responsiveness to emails from just about anybody, his candor about striving for more titles and more revenue, and his desire to help all Michigan teams succeed.  I believe he truly does want what’s best for Michigan athletics, even if I disagree with him about how best to achieve that.

My concern is the future of something I have loved all my life: College football in general, and Michigan football in particular.  Many University leaders and football lettermen share my concerns.

I hope this helps clear up a few things, but if you have any questions, you can ask anything you like on this site, or during a live Q&A on TheWolverine.com today.

-John Bacon