CSG President Says Boycott of PSU Kickoff = Not Supporting Players
This morning the University of Michigan student body President sent out an email stating that a boycott of the kickoff for Penn State means we are not supporting the players:
My Fellow Students,
Recently, we have heard a lot of frustration and dissatisfaction with Michigan Athletics and Michigan Football. To address this, CSG has created a survey to gain your feedback on your own Michigan football experiences and how we can make it better. The survey results will be shared with the Athletic Director, Athletic Department, President, Regents, and other administrators to work to create positive change. Please help us by taking this short survey [link to survey redacted per the request of someone close to the CSG - LSA]
Earlier this week a call was made for us to boycott the opening of the Penn State game by waiting outside the gates until after kickoff to create the illusion that the stadium is empty. By not showing up to the opening of the game, all we are doing is hurting the players on the field. Our university has a long standing history of positive activism, a desire to create change that will benefit students, not harm our peers. To disregard the work of the athletes would be detrimental not only for the players themselves, but for the image of the university as a whole. Now, more than ever, we need to stand by blue. Share your support for the team by using #StandByBlue.
Go Blue!
Bobby Dishell
Student Body President
Central Student Government
https://csg.umich.edu
As usual, Support the Troops is not an argument. We all support the players. We don't support the administration and the coaching staff. It's not a difficult concept to grasp. Everyone should do what they like. If you boycott, fine. If not, fine.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
Dave Brandon's human shields. Because I'm sure the student athlete send-off was totally random and not influenced at all by the donation peddler extraordinaire. More deflecting away from the horrid adminstration and onto the fans. It's the fans' fault for not being strong enough Michigan fans, not the adminstration, coaches, and yes, to an extent, the players who have let Michigan football shrivel and rot from the inside out.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
Fickle and Amateur hour.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
You think it can't get worse? Have you learned nothing the last 3 football seasons?
October 10th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
Plus this is a small class. Any damage to this class will be minimized.
October 10th, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
At the current trajectory we will win -1 games next season.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
Dissent is as American as football and pumpkin pie. Your attempt at squashing it is very Tory of you.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
That's a bit too far.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
wouldn't want to have to admit any of this political
October 10th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^
Was the Tory line. I think it's safe to assume we could all cite examples of Tories, Labour, Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Republicans, Democrats doing the same. The reason we don't, is because we would like this to be a site for Michigan fans talking about Michigan things.
October 10th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
of American history. I'm a history geek. I reference history a lot. That's my schtick.
If there is a ban on references to 18th century political groups than I apologize.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
Yes, because recruits are not going to come to Michigan for the grand reason that the fans are so impassioned they organized a tiny demonstration and showed up late, to a single game. That will surely dissuade them from committing more than Michigan's overall record, treatment of injured players, treatment of the fans, shift away from a historic culture to DB's RAWK culture, etc. This is an utterly false and disingenious reason to support the team that is being heralded by the same adminstration that caused this disaster. Exactly whose side are you on? The establishment or the fans? And don't think for a second that this "Student Body President" (who gives a single shit about University student government? Go spend another five hours issuing a meaningless statement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue like usual and stop being Dave Brandon's lapdog).
October 10th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
a boycott is so far down on the list of things that will hurt recruiting. Recruiting has already been hurt because of little things like the won-loss record, the downward trajectory of the program, the uncertainty of the coaching staff remaining in place, and the fact that we are being held up to ridicule in the national media. [I don't think recruits care much about the Brandon issues].
Sorry, based on his specious arguments, the student gov pres sounds like someone who has been asked to do this or is just a resume-building establishment-defending type. He certainly doesn't seem like someone who "gets" the issue or understands football.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
Actually, somebody already tried to organize "Fire Brandon" skywriting. It was deleted by the mods:
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/moderator-action-sticky-2014#comment-2687471
The entire discussion was deleted along with the OP, but one of the proposed justifications was that such a stunt would hurt recruiting. Making the players feel bad may have also been proposed.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
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October 10th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
The boycott does hurt the players. Diminishes their most important / marquee home game of the year (think of the seniors). How lame is it going to be for them to run out and touch the banner to an empty student section. At this point, everyone ( i mean everyone) understands that the students dont care for the AD
October 10th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
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October 10th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^
I now know why we are so bad at away games, no student section :(
October 10th, 2014 at 11:46 AM ^
And at this point, everyone (and I mean everyone) strongly suspects that the administration isn't very concerned with what the students think. The administration's actions betray a belief that attendance is inelastic and that they can expect people to show up and spend money regardless of prices and quality of performance.
This boycott seems to me to be about making a statement that fans and strudents are not a captive audience and their opinion does actually matter.
October 10th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
it seems Dr. Schlissel is keenly aware of the problem. Besides, I think the students have already made a strong statement with the protest at his quarters. For now, I'll trust his decision-making ability.
I'm not so sure little Bobby represents the student body on this issue, and he probably didn't need to make a public statement in reference to a potential kickoff boycott.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
I see what you did there... you have
little trust
October 10th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
I agree it'll suck, but they should be better at football if they expect 110,000 people to show up and watch them every week
October 10th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
Time to stand in solidarity with those Purdue and Miami (FL) fans behind the picket lines.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
How about aligning all students in yellow t-shirts to spell "FIRE BRANDON"?
October 10th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
Its pretty easy to do both.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
A proto-politician behaving like a politician, in other words.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
No doubt he's been in contact with the Athletic Department. Dave Brandon and the adminstratio are circling the wagons and getting as many lackeys and adminstration lap dogs on board as possible.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
http://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/avoid-the-noid6.jpg
Everyone should just hold up Avoid the Noid signs. Passive aggressive gets the point across and shows the players support.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^
Is this discord actually more important than the boycott itself? All this infighting and bickering just keeps making the situation more toxic which only supports the case to get rid of DB.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
Honestly, the boycott was poorly organized and ravaged by dissent anyway. I doubt it will happen.
But I will say this: if you are a current student and you will be attending the game, do NOT allow them to cover up your opposition to Brandon. They will try to drown you out with the band and with the video board. Chant and chant often in between cheers for the players.
Don't leave anyone with any confusion about who you love and who you hate.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
The best thing about the fire Brandon chants (at least during the Minn game) is that it gets the band playing. As long as "Sweet Caroline" isn't cued up, protest chants could actually get the MMB back to a prominent position.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^
Build Me Up Buttercup?
Would you feel differently if that were cued up?
October 10th, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^
What's wrong with Sweet Caroline?
October 10th, 2014 at 9:13 PM ^
What the *******
October 10th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
Oh, yeah, a student government "leader." C'mon. It's another wanna-be-DC-insider with big dreams and no actions beyond a cute, new party name and slogan. He's likely in Dave Brandon's back pocket like the rest of the University bourgeois.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
I don't understand the mindset in which people think that the administration somehow is blind to the fact that people want change in the AD and that the only way to communicate frustration is to boycott the kickoff.
Neither Schlissel nor the Regents are living in a vacuum. There is no way that they don't understand the level of anger and the nature of the complaints. That does not mean, however, there will be firings in the middle of the season (at least in the case of Hoke).
And, if you think they don't get it, there are many other ways to make your feelings known. I suggest sending good old snail mail. Unlike email or online petitions, it piles up physically in their offices.
Boycotting the kickoff or booing during games, however, does affect the players, no matter what they may say.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
But the sheep have already moved on from "this isn't about the players, it's about the AD." Now, the argument is "fuck the players, they are just assholes with a sense of entitlement" so your post is now beside the point.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
Yeah, I get it. They "support the players" in their minds, even though their actions -- booing during the games, boycotting the kickoff -- hurts the morale of the players.
Why is it that the players and student body president sound so much more mature and thoughtful when talking about this issue than us supposedly mature alums with "perspective"?
October 10th, 2014 at 6:00 PM ^
October 10th, 2014 at 8:33 PM ^
As they were going through player intoductions and then the coaches, Lloyd, per usual, got a standing ovation. However, just prior to that as is the norm, the guest are introduced first. When they got to the HC, the fans were already on their seat ready to hear the name. As soon as it was announced about 90,000 - I'm guessing 20K from OH were there the standing turned into an ovation with hoots and hand clapping to the nth degree.
I imagine the same thing happened with Lu-Lloyd in Columbus after about this third or fourth appearance going to Columbus after the Tressel hire just as it did to Cooper in AA. Believe me, they - the principals - are fully aware. I'm not a psychologist but I've long suspected this is why LuLloyd checked out in his last three to five years and largely went through the motions. I don't think he did it to intentionally hurt the next hire, or the one after that, but it's effect became evident when RR thought he'd be walking into an Alabama like environment and wherever he turned he'd see just another clone of the great athlete he had just taken his eyes off of. And we all know what he walked into instead, a roster that had one returning offensive starter and a defense half the size of a typical D1 program and this was Michigan fergodssake. As I said, I don't think he did so intentionally, but some of his actions after the hire would suggest otherwise. But that is not the point. I strongly believe the players should not suffer for the actions of Brandon and that both support and discord can be accomplished at the same time. Show up as normal, rise and applaud as the team is announced, but on a pre arranged signal simultaneously hold up placards stating "BRANDON MUST GO." Ideally, this would be done with the cameras on the student section, but believe me if it were done, it'd take all of two seconds for instructions from the booth to have the cameras redirected to that section. You can do both at the same time. I think that would be more of the "Michigan Way" and don't confuse that with "Michigan Man." Just to suggest we don't ever give players who could have gone to many others schools instead opted to attend Michigan and for what it stands for. But as other poster stated, in the end you will do what you want.October 10th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
When I read this I was reminded of a hostage reading a prepared statement telling me how loving and wonderful his captors really are while a gun is pointed at his head.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
Comparing a University of Michigan Central Student Government representative to a hostage? You have jumped the shark.
How is this so hard for people to understand? Going with the "Support the Troops" analogy, there is a difference between criticizing the government or military leaders and organizing a boycott of a Veteran's Day Parade.
October 10th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
I don't understand what's so hard about this - they AREN'T boycotting the game, they are boycotting all the crap before the game actually starts. I still think chants and gigantic signs calling for Brandon to be fired are better ideas but at this point I'm willing to entertain anything that can push the university towards a change.
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October 10th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
no one's comparing anything by degrees of severity and the "OMG, you're comparing x to y!" argument is one of the dumbest internet crutches out there. Unless you go ad hitlerium. Never compare to Hitler. But this is how analogies work. When someone says, "like a hammer blow to the head," they don't actually mean it is precisely like someone taking out a hammer and smashing someone in the head. Just like the phrase "like a kick in the nuts." Most of us haven't been kicked in the nuts in a while. We just mean that something hurt.
I shouldn't have to explain how analogies work, but, apparently, that's in order here.