February 5th, 2014 at 2:26 PM ^
You must be watching the presser via The Michigan Daily's video software.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
I'm able to see it. The only issue has been the typical 'not being able to hear everyone's question' depending on where they're sitting in the room.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
That was wierd. Hoke was asked question about Gibbons, feed cuts out.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
I sure as hell hope that is not the case. If they actually pulled the video feed because a question about Gibbons was raised they have taken stupid to whole new level.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
I was working/listening so I didn't see what exactly happened. It seemed to get a bit argumentative and the reporter wasn't satisfied with Hoke's answers. Ugh.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
This is why they should have invited the Daily and everybody else to the earlier discussion.
1. Give everybody an opportunity to ask whatever they're going to ask,
2. Answer however you want
3. Tell everyone this is your chance to discuss Gibbons issues, NSD will be about NSD
4. On NSD you start your conference by stating you are only talking about signees
5. Respond to any non-NSD question by asking if there is a question about signees
6. When there are no more questions about signees end the conference.
February 6th, 2014 at 10:37 AM ^
Michigan is colossally stupid when it comes to PR. They honestly need to fire everyone associated with public relations in that athletic department and hire people that know how to operate in the 21st century.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
Was listening but not watching and it sounded sudden.
But I loved the exchange.
Reporter: "Do you have an opinion on what people deserve to know?"
Hoke: "Did I issue a statement?"
Reporter: ".. so that was your opinion?"
Hoke: ".." <death stare implied>
-feed cuts out-
February 5th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
Can we get Kate Upton to post the signee names on the wall as they come in? I like the girl we have but come on DB let's have the wow factor!
February 5th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
It seemed like that was the end of the press conference. A bit of an abrupt conclusion once the topic turned to Gibbons.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
at least.
I don't know why Hoke didn't just say, "I'm here to talk about the great kids we have coming in not other stuff."
February 5th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
He said at least 2 twice that he gave a statement on Monday. That should have been the end of it from the reporters but they kept pressing.And not I dont think the feed was cut by Michigan on purpose.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
Somebody please tell me that our coaches and AD dont think that if they end press conferences because questions are raised they dont like the questions will go away.
Please tell me they dont think that. If so I dont think I want to see their Wonderlic scores.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^
They got asked the same question 3 times prior to that. It sucks for the new kids to have their signing day ruined by reporters trying to get a scoop on another story. Yeah, the AD hasn't been exactly forthcoming about the Gibbons incident and I'm not happy about it either, but there's a time and place.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^
they did, but if you don't provide the media with an opportunity to ask the tough questions, they are not going to follow your timetable. They are going to ask when they can. Today was the only opportunity to ask, and they did. What did they expect to happen?
February 5th, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^
The time and place was today, since this was the first free press conference since the story broke, I agree the kids are being denied a better welcome, but this is the department's fault, not the reporters. Hoke is being placed under the bus by Dave Brandon and MSC. He is not equipped to handle this. It showed. Ugh.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^
I thought the written statement was pretty good. Perhaps it would have been more effective if Brady had taken the time just to read his statement and then ask that they direct further questions to the 2014 recruiting class. As it was, he came across as being evasive. But I thought his written statement was not really evasive and was a fair answer to the questions that have been raised.
February 6th, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
Written statements are worthless. Its a cop out way of dealing with something. For grown up issues, and grown up responses, you need to ask people questions in person. Only cowards release statements and then try and hide behind them.
February 5th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
As noted, this wasn't the first time they were asked about it, nor was it the first time they answered it. At some point, you either tell the reporters that they are idiots and stop asking unrelated questions or you ignore them. It looked lik the press conference was done and Hoke was leaving anyway, so some guy tried to slip a question in there. The fact the video cut out probably was based more on the expected ending.
February 5th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
I am downvoting you because I don't expect you know anything about whether "attacker" is a fair or even reasonable characterization.
I also suspect that you don't know much about any "enduring" on the part of the alleged victim. I should think that rather than "endure" anything, the alleged victim ought to proceed with full cooperation with police, and the pursuit of any legal remedies available. In the criminal justice system, in the civil justice system, by way of a personal protection order, or by way of University disciplinary proceedings.
You went out of your way to speak of the alleged victim "enduring" for years; and that is just the question I have. Why was the recent University Student Conflict Resolution proceeding undertaken so long after the fact? The principle reason seems to be (I'd like to hear about any alternative explanation) that the alleged victim did nothing to obtain any remedy, if one was owed. I'm not even certain that the recent administrative proceeding leading to Gibbons' expulsion was initiated by the alleged victim. Are you?
So; -1. Now you know who negged you, and why.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
If I'm Hoke I'd be more frustrated with my boss for not getting out in front of this sooner and perhaps prevent this derailment.
I mean they had to know people were going to ask about Gibbons right? I can't believe the AD would be that naive enough to believe that reporters/journalists are going to follow along with the script and stick to strictly NSD questions.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
Sharp and Fithian were a disgrace. Signing day presser and they just kept on negging with the Gibbons questions (which Hoke clearly stated that he was not gonna answer). Once again it feels like the Michigan/Detroit media just love to be negative no matter what. You really don't see stuff like this in places like Columbus, Austin, Tallahassee etc...
February 5th, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
While I dislike Sharp A LOT, (and I believe it was Riger not Fithian) the athletic department brought it upon themselves by not getting in front of this quicker and in a more thorough or at least more authoritative manner if they can't speak due to legal reasons.
February 5th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
is an ass clown and there is nothing that anyone can do about that... as for riger or fithian (whichever was there) odds are they were strict orders by 97.1 to ask about it so that 97.1 can talk about it for the next 2 months when sports news is super slow...
February 5th, 2014 at 2:43 PM ^
If you don't address issues like these, they do not go away. They will keep coming up, over and over again until someone does.
February 5th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
To be fair, with Sharp you could tell him three weeks ago and the message would only now be making its way to the hamster drunkenly stumbling around on its wheel in his head.
February 5th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
...a lot more questions. Let Brandon do it; because this was never really a football program issue; it is a University issue. (I'd certainly agree with any suggestion that Hoke's "family matter" comment was inexcusable; his only reasonable position now is to admit that he gave a misleading answer to protect a player's privacy under very complicated legal circumstances, and that he regrets it.)
But regarding Sharp, the way to fix him is for Brandon to do an in-depth sit-down interview with the guys from the Daily, or Angelique, or Beckmann's radio program. Anybody but Sharp, or Snyder.
February 5th, 2014 at 5:22 PM ^
Are you suggesting that the head football coach cannot answer tough questions about football team business?
I mean, if you are, I agree, but I just want to know if you are suggesting that and agreeing with my impression.
February 5th, 2014 at 7:01 PM ^
...matters within the OSCR. Because, as the University has forcefully asserted, the head football coach has no role in those administrative proceedings.
For that matter, neither does Brandon. Whether that disqualifies Brandon as well... I'll leave that to the University.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:43 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 3:41 PM ^
This presser almost felt like RR era part two. The only thing missing was Hoke telling them to be more positive. I hope this staff learned their lesson, no more excuses you either win next season or its over for them. It might also be the end for Brandon... who knows if the new president would be willing to let him pick a new coach.
February 5th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
I didn't hear any excuses or pleading out of Hoke in this presser - in fact, one reporter seemed to want him to pin some lack of development on individual players, and he unwaveringly said that everyone they've recruited is the right kind of player for Michigan (the point being that nothing they've done since coming here has made that any different.)
February 5th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^
Uh huh.
So, when are they going to answer the questions?
February 5th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
Any tough questions will be met with disdain and icy glares.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
The program needs to give some information about there knowledge of the Gibbons situation. I fear for the worse though when schools refuse to answer questions about the situation.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
February 6th, 2014 at 8:56 AM ^
I am in agreement with you (and all others who mentioned it). In an effort to help out the school board that oversees the school my children attend, I have volunteered on many projects as a consultant. The most recent one was a rennovation of an old school.
The project started at the beginning of the school year and the communication was very poor from the start. I was consulted because the community found out that there was asbestos in the school that they were never aware of and were now concerned that their children (and the staff of the school) were exposed during some demolition that took place.
When I met with the CEO and the director of operations they informed me they were aware of the asbestos and the contractor performing the work took all the proper precautions but they thought informing people would just cause undue panic.
After my investigation I was very confident that no one at the school had been exposed to any harmful levels of asbestos and we had a public meeting to talk about the concerns and hopefully, put them to rest. The meeting went well and we faced a lot of questions, but all were answered by the end of the night.
Fast forward a few months and we are still having huge problems with that project and the interference being run by the parents in that community. The reason for all of these problems is the lack of communication at the start.
Had the school board informed staff and parents that there was asbestos in the school and educated them about the risks associated with it, then explained the precautions that would be taken during removal and that these types of projects often occur while buildings are inhabited, I believe the parents would have been fine with it. The worst case scenario would have been that the parents wouldn't give up and the school would have to be closed for a few days while the asbestos was removed.
In the end they didn't do anything. They hoped that no one would find out and because of that they lost all credibility and now everything they do and say is met with skepticism and doubt, and who could blame parents for that.
It similar to what is happening here in that UM should have been transparent from the beginning instead of trying to hide things and hope they go away...It never works and always makes things worse than they would have been otherwise.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^
If you all believe that the AD cut the feed because of questioning, then you are dumber than you believe Brandon and communications department to be.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:54 PM ^
I geniunely want to hear about the incoming kids. I'm sorry if that's boring to 97.1 employees and Brian.
February 5th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
That doesnt matter to the some folks around here.
February 5th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^
Your wrong - that DOES matter - if it was said before the question. But if it wasnt said (and so far only one person claims to have heard it) or if it was said after the question they didnt like was asked then they are beyond stupid and continue to handle this situation almost as badly as humanly possible.
February 5th, 2014 at 3:16 PM ^
Honestly, people have largely picked their sides, and nothing is going to change that. People who want this to be some black mark on the entire university will see the pieces of the Matrix at every turn, and people who think this is just bureaucracy and poor PR will hold tight to that.
The situation sucks, but man this place (and the media) sure want to hump this into even more submission than it already is.
February 5th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
February 5th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^
Great for argument on Sharp's FreeP column (btw he'll get the most hits and comments) and sports talk radio beating this topic to death. It has been the number one topic on 97.1, Valenti now asking if MSU football has officially surpassed Michigan. Later on, Jamie and Wojo will take calls on... who's the better coach Beilein or Dantonio?