Hello, Loyal Readers,
Today I’m providing the link to my feature story in Yahoosport.com’s Postgame page, where many of my longer stories have appeared.
This one is about Michigan athletics. To wit:
This week, the Michigan football program suffered a national embarrassment when a Michigan Daily reporter tweeted Coca-Cola’s offer of two free tickets to this weekend’s game to anyone who bought two bottles of pop.
How did this once-proud program sink so low, so fast?
Amazingly, almost all Michigan’s wounds have been self-inflicted.
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201409/michigan-wolverines-football-dave-brandon-tickets-problems-corporate
Hope you like it.
See you next week!
-John
* * * * *
Please join the conversation, but remember: I run only those letters from those who are not profane or insane, and who include their FULL name.
Radio stuff: On Friday mornings, these commentaries run at 8:50 on Michigan Radio (91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit and Flint, and 104.1 Grand Rapids), and a few minutes later, I join Sam Webb and Ira Weintraub LIVE from 9:05 to 9:25 on WTKA.com, 1050 AM.
After 12 years, I’m handing over my “Off the Field” hour on WTKA to my good friend Jamie Morris, who is launching his new two-hour show, “A View From the Backfield.” I’ll be appearing two last times on Sundays, the day after the Michigan-Michigan State game, and mid-December.
This gives me the time I need to join Michigan Radio’s great Cynthia Canty on her afternoon Stateside show every Thursday for a few minutes. Check it out!
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Last Saturday I had the ULTIMATE “WOW EXPERIENCE.”
First some quick background=I attended the Air Force Game in 2012, the Notre Dame game in 2013, and then last week’s Utah game with a ticket in hand for the Minnesota game as my dad and I celebrated his 75th in Ann Arbor for a week.
Last Saturday I noticed that the piped in rock music was more frequent and much more annoying than it was the previous two years, as if Brandon is “doubling down” on it just to stick it to traditionalists. Michigan football is bad and inept enough and yet I would have stayed for the Minnesota game had the game presentation not resembled a minor league hockey game with blaring noise blasting the millisecond action stops. I would try to talk to dad between plays and it was impossible because of the rock music. Michigan football is now presented in a cheap, crass, and classless manner with the “MAKE NOISE” signs on the scoreboard, the music, etc. The air plane flyover came off as contrived and when the jet blasted into full speed I made a sarcastic comment of “WOW” to my dad.
As the day went on it was obvious that everything that makes college football so special was under assault and everything I despise about pro sports is taking over the Big House. I gladly would have stayed to watch Michigan’s weak team play Minnesota if Brandon would let the game breathe and the band play. But I left the Stadium disgusted and decided it was not worth the 12 hour commitment and all the hassle that comes with attending a game. Instead of using my Minnesota ticket, I told dad to sell it for a couple of cokes. And I headed back home. “WOW” Dave Brandon has ruined what should be the greatest game day experience in all of college football if not sports itself.
All of this leads to the ultimate questions….Who said that there cannot be a moment of silence during the game? Who decided that there must be an assault of the senses at every play stoppage and what is that based on? If piped in rock music and fly overs are so necessary, why was the Big House more empty than it has been in decades? Could it be that such crassness is NOT a draw but instead a deterrent?
Finally, as dad and I left the stadium we were walking with the students back to towards the union. The students were care free, laughing, and having fun as if nothing was wrong. The only people with long faces of concern about the poor football were older fans like dad and me. Brandon’s future customer base is beyond apathetic. The days of half a house at the Big House are coming faster than you can imagine.
“WOW” college football is so much better at home. Thanks, Dave!
Thank you Rock for expressing my feelings so well. I have been a season ticket holder since 1985 and until the “noise” would never have considered giving them up. Now each spring I debate when renewal comes around. And would someone please tell pizza boy that the stupid flyovers are not unique when ya do ’em every frickin’ week…
Thanks Rock,
you captured my family’s recent experience as well. The noise is a detergent!
I was at a game with my teenage son, and he felt the music was just noise filler. The music that is played are just blaring snippets of noise.Perhaps Brandon thinks, maybe if I fill every second with noise the fans will not have a chance to discuss just how bad things have gotten. Leadership not marketing is needed now. Brady may not the coach we need, but Brandon is single handed in destroying much of the culture of the game day stadium experience, he absolutely must go. Norm
Excellent article—Until we get a new athletic director, like many others, I will not go to any games.
Brandon is an egomaniac who is out of touch with the fan base. As AD he has managed to upset alumni,students, fans and former players in just three plus yrs as AD!!
Until Brandon is gone things will continue to spiral downward. I urge fans to contact the Regents and Presidents office to let them know you will not buy tickets or donate until Dave is gone.
We need those students back in the stadium – give them those student tickets for free for the rest of the year. We need less rock music, more band, more cheerleaders, the Wave … and please remove all in-game promotional advertising. We need to support the players and not show their every mistake on replays via those damn giant screen TVs. We need a pep rally on the Diag with the athletes and the band. The future of Michigan football is today … the students and student athletes matter the most. Get them both re-connected to game-day and let’s beat Minnesota ! The rest of us – alums and general college football fans – will enjoy the ride like always.
Mongo’80,
I have been a fan of Michigan football since I was 12 and I’ll be 64 next month. Growing up in Indiana with 3 older brothers who were true blue Hoosiers was not easy, but I stood my ground.
Mongo, you wrapped up my feelings succinctly. My son completed his PhD at Michigan in July and is now working for Microsoft out in Washington state.
Win or lose, the Wolverines are still my team, however, I do not want a repeat of the Rich Rodriguez years in Ann Arbor.
Go Blue!
Carol Barbier Rutherford
As a lifelong fan, this has been hard to watch. Not only is the team sub-par, the nature of the experience has changed much for the worse. Fans can get bombarded with ads and piped in heavy metal anywhere. You can’t get the pageantry of college football and what made Michigan Unique. Things like our gymnast cheerleaders doing flips off the wall and “posting” the enemy mascots. Whiskey dog chasing the ball down the field at halftime. Where are the Slippery Rock scores? Michigan is a special place, and Michigan football is a special event. That has been lost. If Michigan wants to recover its former glory, it should start with the experience. A new AD and coach are needed also, but you can give us the experience back immediately, if the current administration has a mind to.
Oh Yeah, and bring back the “bleep” band. Da-da-dada-da “bleep!” That one has particular relevence these days with our offensive performance being what it is.
You are helping me better understand my emotions and thoughts. We need a change but perhaps that change goes well beyond the job description of an Athletic Director. I am longing for a paradigm shift in college football. A league of universities committed to the true purpose of the university’s existence. Perhaps the recent court decisions regarding payment to college football players will change the game.
I have heard that the President of Stanford has said that he would drop out of NCAA and attempt to form a league of universities that do not consider football players as “workers,” i.e., employees of the university. This league would play each other and give up the money from TV, etc. In other words, back to the student athlete. What would such a league look like? Would Michigan want in? Would Ohio State understand the issue?
It could be a two division Ivy League. Imagine the traditional Ivy League in one division and the Public Ivy in the other. Michigan would fit in that model. I would like to see it. Of course, there is one health risk. Symptoms of withdrawal are likely in Michigan and Ohio every November.
John –
Did I hear your phone go off on WTKA this morning? Can you please bring it to the front of the lecture hall and pull out a metal hammer?
Seems to me you owe a YouTube video for all of your class alums!
Baked Potato!
For me, the best “fan experience” is winning. Just Win. Un-retiring numbers (brandon) and giving them to players who by all rights are good but not great perpetuates the “every one gets a trophy..” problem with today’s sports programs. We’re Michigan for Gods sakes doesn’t mean you can go through the motions, walk through the tunnel, essentially show up and win. there has to be a winning product on the field. When DB proposed a fireworks night, I about lost it. Just win. Just win….
John,
I cannot imagine empty seats on a Saturday in Ann Arbor unless it’s an away game. The ’68 season at Ohio State
put an end to empty seats and the beginning of ‘show me the money” time for The Ohio State University. Dave Brandon needs a visit from the ghosts of Woody and Bo, and he is not the only one. I believe that Michigan is the only university with the courage and the prestige to reverse the show time trend and return to football as a sport.
The Ivy league can’t sell tickets as they did in days gone by, but it is still football. Harvard beats Yale 29 to 29 in 1968 was a football game played by student athletes, and Princeton 17 Penn 14 in 1946, played before a full house in Franklin Field, was better than the top rivalries today. The reason, these guys were students, there for an education and to honor their universities on Saturday afternoon.
bomberjohn5
Does anyone remember when they filled the stadium with high school bands on “Band Day” just to hide what might have been empty seats. Be prepared!
Looking forward to your take on what’s currently going on at UofM, regarding Shane Morris’ concussion.
In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a more complete disaster in the Michigan football program–and I certainly never thought I’d seem anything as remotely dysfunctional.
WOW…Live in Canada, had season tickets for 16 years…would not go now, honestly, if it was free. Once Brandon and Hoke are gone, we may thank them for being the catalyst that stopped the bleeding.
The #1 issue in all this … the legacy of Mary Sue Coleman, in one word – AWFUL. Thank God we have a new President. Mark, if you are reading JUB’s blog – please know that there are 500k faithful alumni and 24k+ current students who see you as the potential Messiah. Michigan athletics is a simple proposition … it is all about the Team, the Team, the Team. Students and student-athletes united in a common cause to make Michigan proud. Return us to that tradition.
As usual, John Bacon is ahead of the curve. Having re-read Four and Long this past weekend, and the blog post above, it is amazing to see the number of themes and story lines in that book and this blog that have played out and boiled over on the national stage this week.
As an alumnus, I have never been so embarrassed by the incompetence of our Athletic leadership. I’m sure Dave Brandon is a great dad and husband, but in my humble view he shouldn’t be anywhere near a position with the responsibility of Athletic Director. My own take is that he is a marketing guy who was duped by a marketing guy in Brady Hoke. Brady says all the right things (“this is Michigan”, “I would have walked to Ann Arbor”) – – which are great marketing tag lines that make him so likable and a great recruiter – – but at the end of the day as Bill Parcels says “you are what your record says you are” – – and we stink and keep getting worse in year 4. These are all his recruits and all his coaching staff, so where does the argument come from “give more time” – – Year 4 is a tell-all in college football. And every time Brady says “we’re doing it the right way” is an insult to Bo’s loving memory. Was Bo doing it “the wrong way” when he won all those Big Ten Championships?
It’s interesting to see that Domino’s stock price has increased 10x says Dave left them, with the pizza tasting so much better. Potentially supporting of this marketer story line – – he marketed like crazy but failed to focus on the product, so couldn’t see the difference between a good marketer vs. a substance/product-oriented coach when he met one. You could say this was his “Sara Palin” moment – – a heat of the moment pick with rushed judgement to fulfill a perceived need to rally up the crowd (“Michigan Man”, even though Bo was not one himself) – – and in the process he married himself to a pick that he probably realized in Year 2 was a huge mistake but has needed to dig in and stick with to save face on questions about his own judgement and leadership.
It’s all coming crashing down and being exposed this week and the knives are coming out from all those he rubbed the wrong way in the last 4 years. I feel so sorry for our student-athletes and all of us as fans.
John,
As I read your article and then the comments that followed, I had a number of flashbacks to experiences of Michigan football games I attended over the past 52 years. Yes, I was about 8 years old when I attended my first Michigan game.
Many have stated that Dave Brandon is out of touch with what Michigan football is all about. I have said myself that there are a number of decisions made to bring a “mini Super Bowl” experience to the Big House, that has turned off the fans.
As a kid, I was in awe of the team and the players on the field. I dreamed of one day, when I would be old enough to play on that field and be like many of my idols growing up. The excitement of the game and all the energy in the air on football Saturday gave me an adrenaline rush, as I absorbed all the energy put out by the players, fans, the band and announcers. Listening to games on the radio with Bob Ufer, there was no Michigan man past or present that brought so much energy to the games on Saturday. There were times I thought hearing his voice that he was going to jump out the window in the press box and run onto the field.
As I got older, and my days of dreaming about being a Michigan football player had passed, I still got caught up in the energy of the game and everything that was part of “game day”. The talk through out the week was about who was coming to town next, and how we would do against them. This energy built up throughout the week, just waiting to explode on Saturday, when the team came running out of the tunnel.
I was blessed to see a lot of great games over the years, and also some super football players. Today, I cherish those memories. It’s those memories that keep me attracted to Michigan football, especially after giving up my season tickets of 30 some years.
I’m very troubled about the talk that has been going around over the last couple of years, that continues to get louder and louder. Especially the talk of firing Brady Hoke. People talk about “Bo” rolling over in his grave about the state of Michigan football today. I agree, Bo is probably rolling over in his grave, not because the current state of Michigan football, but because of all the talk about firing Brady Hoke. If Bo was alive today, he would be yelling from the press box that all you so called “Michigan fans” are crazy. Do any of your remember Bo’s reaction when Illinois fired Gary Moeller after his fourth year of a five year contract. He was hot. He believed they gave him a five year contract and the University of Illinois should honor that contract so that Moeller could fulfill what he had started. I believe every coach in America would say it takes at least five years to get your program fully established. Yet, many people believe that Brady’s time is up. Leave town immediately, otherwise we will tar and feather you and run you out of town.
Is that the proud Michigan tradition that everyone keeps talking about? I think not!
Go check Mark Dantonio’s record for his first four years at Michigan State, and then come tell me you still want to fire Brady Hoke. Why do you think Dantonio empathizes with Brady? He knows what he’s going through, as he has been there and done that already.
The Michigan football is faced with some adversity, and instead of sticking behind the TEAM, the fans want to jump ship. What was it again the Bo said? The TEAM. The TEAM. The TEAM. Nothing comes before the TEAM, not one player, nor one coach, comes before the TEAM. I’d like to modify his saying slightly, as today I believe Bo would like to if he was alive, by adding the line, “not one fan” comes before the TEAM. I’m sure Brady is circling the wagons now and telling his players, it’s us against the world. Who want’s to stand with me and prove all the nay sayer’s wrong?
“When things get tough, the tough get going.”
Go Blue!
FINAL. Arizona 31 Oregon 24
Tell me again why Michigan fans ran Rich Rod out of town?
Let’s go ahead and fire Brady Hoke, so we can look more ridiculous than we already do to the whole Nation. Too many Michigan fans act like spoiled brats when things don’t go like they think they should with Michigan football.
I’ve got to words for you folks who want to fire Hoke. Grow up!
Paul LaRoe
@Paul
RR only got three years but should have gotten four, blame Brandon for that. Hoke is in year four now and we are getting worse. On top of the Shane Morris fiasco, we got shut out for the first time in 30 years, 3 losses in September for the first time in school history and 4-9 in the last 13 games. That should be enough to get a guy fired. Of course all the blame should go on Brandon, he was the one who hired the guy and no he’s throwing him under the bus. I would give Hoke until the end of the year, but Dave Brandon must be fired!
Hoke is likely a pawn in this “game”. I have met him – good man and a players coach. We should give him his due, but let’s get the AD leadership to change the game-day experience for both students and student-athletes.
The students voted with their feet this year after a few years of frustration … not once did Bo face a student section that was half full. How can this team or any other team win a Big Ten championship with a student section which is half full? People say all we have to do is win games and the students “will come back” … I say how arrogant is that attitude? Pathetic and totally void of the emotion of why many of our freshman attend our great university versus their many alternatives.
When I arrived in Ann Arbor in 1976 as an innocent freshman, on my desk in West Quad was an envelope. It was maize with a blue block M on it. Contained therein were season tickets to Michigan football and a letter from Don Canham welcoming me to the tradition of Michigan athletics. It said, “thank you for attending the University of Michigan, one of the greatest higher education institutions in America. An important part of your undergraduate experience at Michigan is football Saturday and we are very pleased to provide you with season tickets. We hope you will enjoy the experience and cheer our men on to a Big Ten championship.” Those tickets were “free” but gold and I attended every game, every quarter, every minute of Michigan football during my 4 years at Michigan. And I will be a Wolverine forever and that I am not concerned about. However, we have totally dis-enfranchised this generation of Michigan students. That is our gravest mistake. For it is each freshman class that must carry on the tradition. Each of us alumni will ultimately die, but Michigan lives on only in the next generation … student and student-athlete. We must re-connect them to each other and return them to the tradition which is Michigan. Grass root change is needed. It is so simple. Time is of the essence. To delay is a crime.
Wow – just watched Michigan blow another game. Brady Hoke is the worst game coach in Michigan history. Needs to go ASAP. Sits on the sideline not really into the game. His kids deserve better game day performance. Time to make a change.
My issue was the weak challenge to that last call of a catch ruled incomplete by the refs at the end of the Rutgers game. The replay was one of the most obvious blown calls in my entire TV watch of college football. And at the most critical time in the game and Hoke does virtually nothing to advocate to change it? Again, he has no head-set on which is really killing us. The coaches in the booth would have told him to go “crazy’ and challenge the very wrong call on the field. But nope, instead he is looking clueless on the sideline and like he doesn’t really care. He lost the game for us by not winning that obvious challenge. The players deserve a better coaching performance.
OK, time to eat some crow from last week. I thought Hoke called a great game against Penn State. Frank Clark was on fire and the team defense all game was awesome. Gardner was a warrior on offense and wanted this game bad – hope he is not too hurt for the Spartans.
But the best thing, the atmosphere was back to Michigan stadium. Students were engaged and supportive. The President visited the team to show support for the program this week. Awesome. If we can get everyone back on the same page, we can turn this year around. Never give up. It’s all about the Team, not the win. The wins come when the team is together … and the Team is everyone – the players, the coaches, the AD, the President and the student-body. The alumni and general fans will enjoy the ride when the everyone is on the same page. Its so simple, Michigan football … its the Team. Welcome back.
Check this halftime show … awesome. More band and at its best !
http://youtu.be/RvyKx5OC6Nw
The trajectory of dysfunction and actions in the athletic department suggest the athletic department is on the same path (with a much accelerated schedule) as the old General Motors. Read Bob Lutz’s excellent book “Car Guys vs Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business.” The parallels of a business who believes the customer will always be there no matter how badly the company treats them are striking.
I am so sad about the state of Michigan football today. I attended my first game at the age of 9 in September, 1962. Michigan lost to Nebraska that day. It seems we have a two-headed monster of a problem. Our coach is not really a very good coach, and we may be lucky to win two more games this year. But, if we fire him, the man in charge of finding his replacement will be Dave Brandon. That’s a problem. The best coaches will not work with him, and the rest… . On the other hand, if the President and Regents fire Dave Brandon (something which needs to be done, IMO), an interim A.D. will probably not have the initiative to fire Brady Hoke. Firing both is not realistic, and would open a chasm. I believe the A.D. has to go first. A new A.D. would probably give Brady one more year to “prove it or lose it,” and if the current trend continues, a fifth year would be Brady Hoke’s last. I think, however, that Michigan will have to endure that to really cure its ills. Getting rid of Dave Brandon is probably more important at this juncture than getting rid of Brady Hoke and welcoming a Cam Cameron rather than a Jim Harbaugh or someone else who has the potential of being that good.
John -90
It is time to demonstrate Michigan is about being “The Leaders and Best” in more than handling success, but taking on adversity. If you don’t like the rock music, then right the letters to the University President and Regents. As a body, we need to demonstrate civility and select using personal communication to make the changes we want to preserve the traditions that are important to us all. We also need to recognize the change and uniqueness each generation brings to the table.
As a body, our reactions to some adversity demonstrate the “arrogance” attributed to the Michigan Fan. Plain and simple, we don’t like losing as a University of Michigan family. We are not used to losing. Our memories are also less than perfect, it seems Bo had trouble winning the “Big” game and never had the quarterback throw the ball down the field. Lloyd Carr nerver quite took enough chances, regardless of bringing a National Title to Michigan.
We need to constantly remember the success of our past and recognize our traditions. We also need to focus and support the athletes and coaches in creating a successful environment into our Michigan Family’s future.
This enjoyment of watching a successful football program requires us to remember “The Team, The Team, The Team”. We have this in our football facility, but do we know what it really means?
When I was a Junior, Bo Schembechler demonstrated this in supporting our basketball team to a National Title. Probably the one and only Bo should be remembered for. He inspired, He motivated, He supported! Something we should truly remember, for if you are not with us you are against us.