CSG President Says Boycott of PSU Kickoff = Not Supporting Players

Our players hurt themselves on the field. Us not showing up wouldn't make a difference.

Should we be expected to boycott Basketball games as well?

To Bobby, I do not appreciate your attitude and getting on the survey bandwagon. Where was your letter (and Go Blue!) when one of the students, Shane Morris, was left on the field and the AD released the statement at 1 AM and threw Brady under the bus. Your selective statements to address certain issues makes me wonder about your motivation. I am outraged at you that you are outraged about a possible boycott of kickoff (I am not in full support of this by the way, as I don' know if it will be effective, but students can do what they want) but you are not outraged about the student ticket price, reduction in seats, water debacle, fireworks, jersey numbers, lack of coaching, bad coach search, money grabbing etc. Please be fair to all students and not just some football players and the administration. You represent all students. Act on all issues and not just the one that is convenient for you and gets you to shore up your resume. Sincerely, UMForLife Student Body President in a parallel universe Go Blue!

As long as the stands have more than 100k, DB can claim that his media appearances "repaired the damage." If that saves his job past January, it means he picks the next coach. That probably means no major candidate comes in.

A university president has a ton on his plate, particularly at the end of a term. I just can't see a new President firing Brandon then. If you want him gone before he fucks up another coaching search, you need to bring maximum pressure to bear right now. Filling the place up on Saturday dies not do that.

Bottom line is this is a losing team with not a lot of upside. Whether you boycott or not, support the players or protest the admins it will not change the fact -- ticket prices and demand for this game (the marquee game of the worst home schedule in decades) continue to plummet.

It's going to get worse before it gets better.

But to his magnitude? Obviously not. Since this season is a dumpster fire you students/fans have been piling on. I mean it's pretty obvious that Brady will be gone at the end of season. What will boycotting games do besides make Michigan football as whole look really stupid. It's common knowledge that you guys don't like Dave Brandons athletic directing style, but has he done enough to be terminated. The answer is a big fat no imo.  I mean ad's and rock music? Come on now.

It's not "Support the Troops" as much as the people in power don't give a crap if half the student section isn't there; they'll make their decisions regardless of some concerted effort to embarass them publicly.  But it is rough on the athletes who are going to be there trying to compete and will notice a definite lack of support, at least visually, in the stands.

What a stupid, close-minded argument.  Disappointing to see this kid buy into the bullshit.  I hope he learns not to be so short-sighted.

Forcing the hand of the administration to make a change at the top IS in the best interest of the program, and furthermore, the players.

should solve everything. 

This dude should go work for the UN when he's done forming committees at the CSG. 

What administrators fail to grasp is the AD should not be in the news at all.  The best ADs do their job successful without massive fails.  To move forward we have to weed out the cancer (figuratively).

Yeah, respectfully, I disagree with this CSG president. I'm boycotting. I am hoping that others do, too. Brandon, Schlissel, and Ross need to get the message, and unfortunately, there isn't another meaningful way to demonstrate dissatisfaction to this administration.

 

Not being a student, I don't want to skew the results by submitting false answers just to see the questions (I know, how noble).  Having administered a few online surveys in my time, I know how annoying this is, to say nothing of receiving incomplete surveys.

Can an MGoStudent taking the survey kindly repost the questions here?  I'm interested to see what's being asked.

But I agree with this. I understand the statement being made by not attending kickoff and I think it would difinitively get the point accross to the administration. However, as stated by several players and former players (perhaps because they've been listening to the Athletic Departments spin team too much) it will be seen by them as students and fans not supporting the team.

It's a difficult situation, with the fans attempting to show their distrust and anger at the athletic department and it's alienating policies, and the athletic department seeming successfully portraying those fans as fickle, whiney, and on a crusade to purge the deparrment of anyone associated withthe football team. As a result it seems clear, at least to me and based on player and former players statements, that the department has successfully passed off the idea that any protest by the students is related to team performance and not horrible policies; as such, actions that involve open criticism (booing) and not showing up are likely to be seen as not supporting the team.

I'm not supporting the athletic departments use of the athletes as human shields, I think it's despicable and is itself cause for review by the university and its administration. However that all having been said I think that there are other ways to get the point accross without allowing the department to spin it into the student body and fans not supporting the team. President Schlissel is holding an open forum which, while a less media covered venue, is I think a more appropriate way of voicing these concerns and issues. That along with vigilant emailing of the higher-ups is while less sexy a better way to catalyze change as it doesn't risk the team thinking we dont support them (at least not as much).

So, basically, David Brandon is pushing his personal agenda via the student government and hiding behind the players in hopes of keeping his job.  Brilliant.

that any protest by the students is related to team performance and not horrible policies"

1.  What is the basis for your perception?  Because that is not the impression I get from the student body, alumni, this site and the national media.  It is only the Athletic Department who is pushing that narrative--and in an obvious and self-serving way.

2.  Your argument for not boycotting, even if true, would allow the AD to dictate the narrative.

A bunch of people convincing themselves they know best.

Even if your intent in boycotting is to protest the AD, the administration, whatever, the effect of boycotting is detrimental to the players who are working their asses off to get a W only to see empty benches in the stands.

Can we just call Brandon the Noid going forward? It would be much easier.

"We all support the players. We don't support the administration and the coaching staff. It's not a difficult concept to grasp."

Actually, the kickoff boycott will be quite difficult for the public at large to grasp, given the way that media works. 

All protest movements have to realize that ultimately the media filters and controls the message, so the messaging always has to be free of even the slightest complexity, ambiguity, and/or possibility of misinterpretation. 

The game announcers are unlikley to parse and explain the niceties of  differences between a protest of Brandon and his policies, unhappiness with the coaching staff, unhappiness with the record, and support for the players.

In other words, "we support the players but are against everything else' actually is too subtle to get across in the course of a TV televised game.

The casual viewer will just see a mostly empty student section and think 'wow, things are really screwed up in Ann Arbor.'   The next day images with little and/or innaccurate information will be splattered all over the internet. 

And you can't really count on the TV announcers or click-bait internet sites giving an accurate and detailed seminar explaining all of the subtlties of who the absent students do and do not support. 

There are many more effective and less subect to misinterpretation/misexplanation ways of getting accross to Schlissel and the Regents that the students are unhappy with Dave Brandon.

 

Student council is some lame, high school ass shit.  In seven years at Michigan, I ignored these apple polishing resume stuffers, and suggest current students do the same.  

New kids like this suck. They will never make it with the "winning isn't the only stat" attitude. It is the only stat when you suck. I can't wait until he tells his boss that he tried.

The boycott is happening anyway and there will be a shit ton of empty student section seats Saturday night. More comic relief at Michigan's expense. And the press knows all about this boycott, so announcers are going to call attention and play it up during the fucking broadcast.

So they've already lost the argument before it even started.  The only ones who can help the troops are the generals who have been nestled comfortably in their plush little bunkers since the Minnesota game fiasco. Nobody is questioning the fortitude of the players. They are going to play hard as they do - whether home or away - in front of 110K or 3K fans.

If I were a student I totally would protest and not goto the game or goto the game late.  The way to do it would be for all the students to go, but stay outside the stadium and not take your seats until 5 minutes into the game.  This way the media can't attribute this to fan apathy, it would represent quite the contrary that everyone got there on time but refused to enter the stadium.  Think of the overhead aerial shot.  Quarter empty stadium, all the kids outside!  It would be very easy for the media with a tiny bit of diggiing to report the true narrative of the spectacle that is the students are not necessarily protesting the teams poor performance, but rather protesting the teams poor managment via coaching and athletic department, and the ultimate erosion of the Michigan football experience thanks to our friend Dave Brandon.

Way to not be a tool of the administration.

O Canada!

I had fellow grad and ph.d students asking in class "what's the problem with the football team? I got an email saying something bad was planned" Nice work guys...