It appears we also have been involved in catfish games....
https://twitter.com/KyleRowland/status/297349699294330880
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It appears we also have been involved in catfish games....
https://twitter.com/KyleRowland/status/297349699294330880
I really want to know who got catfished and who in the AD did the catfishing.
On the UM catfishing: They had an attractive female contact athletes on social media. Some athlete responses were wholly inappropriate.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) February 1, 2013
Brandon had meeting with players, and the girl walked in. Athletes were shocked, but it was valuable lesson in dangers of social media.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) February 1, 2013
if they had an ACTUAL attractive lady contact them, the it wouldn't be catfishing then would it?
does not understand the definition of catfish. Chick on the other end should be ugly or a dude.
Naked Fat Internet Guy needs love too.
To be fair, all buckeyes are either ugly chicks or dudes.
So basically they just lied....right?
with the date and time on that? Will it happen this afternoon, or was it in China?
By inappropriate I assume they mean "attempted to have sex with a person they found attractive as soon as possible". Also know as what 70% of this campus is doing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
Kyle Rowland is a schmuck
going all Hot Lips on our athletes. Nothing against anyone's chosen forms of sexuality, everything against Brandon as make-believe partner in same. He couldn't just TELL them about it?
maybe Brandon thinks he can turn this into a TV show and make $$$$$$
EDIT: Just picture Dave Brandon doing it on the other side of the computer. Just do it. Ya know what? Don't. I did it, it's bad.
Story has cracked deadspin too. But it just has a link to Rowland's twitter page....http://deadspin.com/5980824/
women's gymnastics team to wear skates and wrestle catfish during stoppage of play at Michigan hockey games. Brandon claims, "it adds to the WOW factor".
Should have them learn how to rollerblade too. Then they can do the same thing for football.
in regards to that picture
I'm going to say: Scandinavia
I
Is his pimp hand the one that works the mouse?
This is quite interesting...
I am very curious how the catfishing occured...
I suppose it is a good idea to do whatever it takes to ensure following policies and avoiding embarassment though....
Bits and pieces rolling in...
It sounds like they had a picture of a female athlete and contacted the players. Some players responded with inappropriate comments. Brandon had a sitdown with them and had the female athlete walk in, which surprised the players. Overall, not a bad way of doing things.
How am I supposed to believe anything out of Dave Brandon's mouth anymore? What if Crisler and Yost weren't actually renovated? What if we're all living a sham!??!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!??!
All of the athletic facility renovations are just holographic projections. The power source and projection mechanism are located deep in the basement of Schembechler Hall.
This is probably not a bad idea. Many young kids today have an "it can't possibly happen to me" attitude. Telling kids about how this can happen and actually showing that it can happen TO THEM are two different things. I kind of like the athletic department being proactive and thinking outside of the box on this.
It's a little bit like the old-fashioned dad who finds his son smoking and then makes him smoke a whole pack of cigarettes at once. A lot of people, especially young people, have to be burned before they learn a lesson (and sometimes so do I, for that matter).
Athletics discipline Dave Brandon Style.
It is not hard to envision them feeling that way.
I don't know where DB comes up with his idea of a D1 athletes behavior, of course.
Love the George Bluth reference on the Twitter snapshot in the OP. Absolutely.
That's why you always leave a note. - J. Walter Weatherman
edsbs (@edsbs) tweeted at 8:44am - 1 Feb 13:
If Michigan is catfishing, Alabama will be setting up full "The Game" scenarios that end with recruits crashing through glass ceilings. (https://twitter.com/edsbs/status/297354630554337280)
Per MLive Beat Reporter Kyle Meinke, the AD had a real girl contact them, so even Michigan's fake encounters with girls online are better than ND's.
MT @KyleRowland DB had meeting w/ players, the girl walked in. Athletes were shocked, but it was valuable lesson in dangers of social media
This shit is creepy as fuck. All of it.
The world we live in is creepy as fuck. All of it.
Is it...Truiasasopo?
I vote yes.
The part I don't understand is why are people using social media to MEET other people. I get that people use social media like maniacs to communicate with people they already know - it's not for me but I get it, and I love twitter for news and humor - but people try to meet chicks on social media?
Maybe I'm just too much of a visceral dude (or an shallow a-hole), but what good is a girlfriend you can't have sex with or touch her bewbs?
I think they hope that the social media will lead to the bewbs part.
Well then, I suggest you search #freecrunkbear if you're looking for a fun time.
Here's a NSFW collage one of her students put together....Yes, she is their teacher. Wow.
Whose teacher is this? Where do I sign up for her classes?
Your not meeting people, you just want to see boobies (and I guess dicks?)
**snapchat
**KIK Messenger
Go look at the app store "reviews" on these apps, people posting A/S/L but "no pervs please".
I feel the same way, so drop me a line . . . .
Can't expect Ohio to act intelligently about anything.
I know #1000SS is a reference to Brandon, but what does it mean?
It's the address to the athletic department, 1000 South State Street
I like it. I think it's a smart way to get the point across, in a more or less controlled way.
But jeez:
On the UM catfishing: They had an attractive female contact athletes on social media. Some athlete responses were wholly inappropriate.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) February 1, 2013
How can you be that dumb, especially with all of the Teo stuff that's gone down recently?
It's like Dateline but with Dave Brandon instead.
Dave Brandon: "So star athlete, our online chat record shows here that you said you'd like to put your **** in her **** and then **** and **** until **** and with her mom **** **** **** jello ****....what do you have to say for yourself?"
Why don't you take a seat? Here, have a seat.
what is the point?
Intern Just Happens to Be Beautiful 22-Year-Old Woman...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/intern-just-happens-to-be-beautiful-22y...
define "inappropriate response". If a hot girl comes onto you, what else are you going to do? Its probably not like the atheletes offered to whip out credit cards and pay for her meals sight unseen.
Yeah and also they used a real girl, who I assume used her real social media profiles. That makes it a lot more believable as opposed to Te'o, who fell for like 3 facebook pictures, a twitter account, and a malfunctioning webcam.
Sorry sir, you are assuming incorrectly.
Why would the girl use her real account to hit on/contact athletes if she's not a starfucker? Especially since they assumed it would illicit some non PC responses, and grandma is probably her Facebook friend. She probably made a second account named "Babycakes McGee" and only uploaded a picture or two. I'm also only assuming, but assumedly I am assuming better.
I think they mean that the guys got to explicit chat/intimate details before they ever had even discussed meeting.
You would think that members of a MICH football or basketball team would be able to pick up some ladies without using facebook. I am dissapoint
You're looking at the wrong way...FB is a great tool for getting to know girls on campus at a faster pace. My next door neighbor back at UM was a player on the team and he had lots of new friend requests from girls across campus all the time.
Do I need a new hat, or some new kicks?
But seriously, I understand what its all about, but I'm still dissapointed that MGoAthletes hook up with girls the same way I would. ***
*** If I wasn't a virgin.
Why would Brandon make this public knowledge? I can understand doing it, but keep it in house.
Is that Dave Brandon wants to make a Catfish our mascot. What better way to break the news.
The new Arby's Catfish Griller, yours with a side of curly fries and a drink for only 5.99. Buy one today and get free admission to an upcoming University of Michigan women's basketball game!
Uh, I'm sure he didn't just put it out there unprovoked. He was speaking publicly this morning and I'm assuming he was asked about the Te'o scandal and social media and how he manages it.
Why not say, "We're engaged in ongoing education campaigns about social media with our scholar-athletes." Keep the details private. There's no reason to further embarass the guys who got suckered.
They didn't release any names, I don't see any harm in this at all.
Except undermining whatever trust may have existed between the athletes and their ruling bureaucrats
A bunch of athletes getting Te'oed is going to find its way to the news sooner or later. Better to break it yourself (glaring at you ND).
if my boss pulled some crap like this, spying on employees and using the information to shame us (albeit anonymously) into doing "what's good for us" I would be pissed. I would not trust the people behind it. I would not want to work there.
I'd agree, with one caveat.
I wouldn't expect my company to take it upon themselves to teach me life lessons. I would expect my university to do just that.
That being said, if my boss publicly shamed me for posting on this site when I should be working, I would lose some trust there, yes.
They didn't release the names, but certainly everyone who was in that meeting knows who got fooled, and now that deadspin knows it occurred, there will certainly be some attempts to ferret out who it was.
And there should be a quid pro quo to the idea that student-athletes shouldn't embarass the university.
THis is not something that could be FOIAed or whatever. The only way the people involved gets out to the public is if a player involved says so, and then the other players can simply deny. At any rate, if one player outed any others, something tells me he wouldn't be a popular guy around campus anymore.
It can't be foia'd, but that doesn't stop people from sniffing around, even students who can then try to sell the story to media sources willing to print it. And if nothing else, it puts the idea out there in the public that Michigan athletes are a bunch of easy marks. If Brandon doesn't say anything, none of that is out there.
EDIT: on further consideration, what makes you so confident that this couldn't be FOIA'ed. I wouldn't think Brandon's correspondence with student-athletes would be protected under FERPA (it's not part of their educational record and Brandon is not involved in a formal educational manner). That's not to say that someone will FOIA this (PITA, little payoff for the effort), but I'm not sure they couldn't.
There's nothing to FOIA. You think that the university created some sort of file of athletes that responded inapproriately?Highly doubtful. Whoever was running the program just kept tabs on the raio of appropriate to inappropriate responses. This isn't a drug sting. They didn't sit the individual kids down and shake their fingers in their faces.
By making it public, perhaps he won't have to repeat it as often.
was when they had the "reveal" in DB's office, did the girl walk in wearing a foam rubber "Arbys curly fries" suit?
I speak for all men when I say, such a revelation would be positively titillating
You are a University of Michigan scholarship athlete. Why the heck would you bother getting girls on Twitter/Facebook? Choose a girl on campus. Tell her you are on the football/basketball/hockey team. The rest will be easy. Trust me.
I know from experience dude, if you know what I mean.
No you don't
I met a woman via Facebook, who lived in Philly, that I would never ever have met otherwise. She flew in to see me. It was awesome. We are still friends to this day. Yes I dated plenty of women on campus but sometimes the out of town girl makes a real (see what I did there) connection with you, and isn't your teammates ex GF/roommate's crush/FWB w the swim team/girl who gives # to every athlete etc.
Wouldn't it have been an even bigger shock to them if it hadn't been an attractive girl? Like in walks Ron Jeremy instead?
He had emergency surgery the other day for a heart anaeurysm and is "fighting for his life".
What a world we live in, where even Ron Jeremy jokes have become outre'.
I am just glad, that we could roll into one single comprehensive thread; Dave Brandon, fake internet girlfriends, Twitter, recruiting violations, real live female athletes, FOIA's, Gene Smith and Ron Jeremy.
This thread could really be something, if we could figure out how to include Rich Rodriguez and the Free Press but I am totally stumped. My apologies to the Board.
the Freep would have found a way to spin it into a negative.
Screw Ron Jeremy, it would have been really interesting if Rich Rod walked in holding a copy of the article about the catfishing that had just run in the FP.
This thread works Arby's curly fries into the discussion, which is totally brilliant, and I just wanted to mention that. It is a total, complete meal. With a medium beverage of your choice. How can there be any need for any more dicsussion topics after this one?
This story taken at face value is positively Kakuaesque in its absurdity.
I agree though that it is a really good idea for U-Mich to provide its athletes (who are very visible representatives of the university and its brand(on)) first hand lessons on not shaming yourself via social media. That said, the 'no shame' motif kinda gets undercut when you blab about it to the public after the fact.
You really believe this is something that could be kept secret? No chance. Too funny, involves too many people. The basic tentents of good PR say come out with it yourself. Then you can have better control over the public perception. You try to keep it secret, and this is what you ned up with:
University of Michigan employing call girls for student athletes
Michigan Athletes encouraged to 'chat dirty' with university employees
Michigan football players 'catfished' by university staff: Plot to free up scholarships by forcing transfers/entrapment?
Yeah, you don't want that.
Gene Smith says thanks, he's writing ALL of this down.
OK so the options are:
-Inevitable yet unintended media discovery brings shame and suspicion upon program from outsiders' perspectives
Or
-Deliberate use of "educational" shaming of players as publicity stunt brings shame and suspicion between players and administration
... third option
-Do something else
It may seem small but these sorts of antics can severely corrode the integrity of an organization.
Unless people from within the program who were privy to the whole thing; which is probably Brandon, an attractive and professional private contractor who was paid a massive silence fee, the team head coaches and the players themselves; come out and say who were the parties that sent inappropriate messages, it's not embarassing for anyone but the university itself just a little.
Then you flip that around, and suddenly you've got the folowing points:
1 - A university that cares enough about their athletes to come up with unconventional tactics like this.
2 - Players that are better educated through the school of hard-knocks than another form could ever educate them.
3 - Parents of recruits that see how hard the university will work to educate and protect their kids from something more disasterous than "a little embarassment".
I'll take that any day.
Given your initial assumptions, how does it even come out without Brandon publicly mentioning it?
I agree with all your numbered points, as long as it stays in house. The minute the AD, unprovoked, tells an audience of reporters about it, it appears far less caring.
What I meant is that the thing happening would come out. It would come out that the university was showing the players the dangers of social media in this manner. What should NOT come out is which players responded inappropriately.
But if we take these assumptions (which are essentially your initial assumptions in the prior post)
1. Brandon and his staff aren't going to talk about it publicly
2. The "contractor" isn't going to talk about it publicly
3. The coaches aren't going to talk about it publicly
4. The players aren't going to talk about it publicly
Then it's unclear to me how the story gets out beyond the level of vague campus rumor, a level which rarely makes it into print.
Maybe it does get out, but there's at least a non-zero chance that it doesn't. And if it's discovered later by a reporter in a rumor -> inquiry -> official statement, rather than an off the cuff public announcement of basically "oh yeah, we catfished our athletes," how does that make the story any more damaging? if anything, it makes it seem less so.
This reeks of a publicty stunt -- a spectacle. Whatever value is gained from this exercise, the integrity and credibility of those who orchestrated it is undermined when they seize the opportunity for self-congratulation: "Look what we did! Aren't we clever! And oh-so concerned with the well-being of our players!"
Keeping it in-house would have proven that the intent behind the exercise is genuinely for the players' benefit. Even then, there is still a damaging effect on trust. If they'll spy on you for this, what else will they do?
whats the deal with these catfish? We got em all over down here in Low eeasy anna. We don't need none of them new fangled twitter baits to cacth 'em neither
That's a fact Jack!
You've just been catfished.
That was a good prank that worked for a day. Three years is a far cry from one day and NEVER had ever met her in person in which she is the love of his life. Give me a break.
http://toledoblade.typepad.com/inthehouse/2013/02/catfishing.html
I was at the KeyBank Global Leaders forumn today and Dave Brandon was outstanding! I took a couple pages of notes...I'll try to update this board with some relevant topics he brought up later today.
I just want to know how a woman gets that sort of job with a consulting agency
Ugh. This is worse that I thought. I thought it was an off the cuff mention to reporters. Instead, it was part of his formal presentation about leadership.
To carry out this campaign is one thing, it serves a defensible pedagogical purpose that can benefit athletes unfamiliar with being in the public eye. But to carry out this campaign, and then to go out at a leadership conference and tell the audience of the naivete or moral failures (depending on how you want to interpret "wholly inappropriate") of the student-athletes under his purview frankly sucks.
One to monitor the students, and the other to put together a Powerpoint presentation suitable for use at a leadership conference . . .
Yep. I agree with this 1000%.
Which leadership lesson is it, Dave, that taught you to set a trap for your student athletes, then publicly throw them under the bus?
Fail.
Would have been more fun if the person walking in was a 400lb bro named Carl.
the players were corresponding with an actual hot woman-- she just wasn't sincere.
i guess it is a lesson that human beings sometimes do not tell the truth.
That Rachel lenzi shouldn't put her picture up anywhere. Gross.