Juwan Howard bobblehead giveaway at MBB season opener
October 30th, 2019 at 12:00 PM ^
Cool as the other side of the pillow.
October 30th, 2019 at 1:32 PM ^
For those who are too young to know, this was a phrase said by one of the best in the business, back when ESPN and Sportscenter were awesome. Stuart Scott was the man who came up with this phrase, and he was THE MAN on sportscenter.
He passed away in 2015 from cancer, and I still can't believe he's gone.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:03 PM ^
Ok, I am going to come out and say it. I really like Juwan Howard, I really like the energy that he brings and what I have seen of him so far working with the team, recruiting, etc.
But this is weird. Juwan Howard bobbleheads is a weird thing. Having his picture as a player along with .... Jimmy King(?) on the front of the season tickets is weird.
This game is about the players. So far I feel like the program is starting to be a little bit too much about him.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:06 PM ^
Did you have these same concerns when John Beilein had a bobblehead giveaway night in 2017?
What about when he was on one of the tickets last year? Or how about the 11x14 posters that were handed out last year of John Beilein himself early in the season?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:07 PM ^
Honeymoon over already?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:09 PM ^
FIRE HOWARD
October 30th, 2019 at 2:40 PM ^
He has no wins in five months, what do you expect?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:09 PM ^
No bobblehead for you!
October 30th, 2019 at 12:09 PM ^
The exact same thing happened with Beilein not long ago, were you ok with it then? He’s also our new coach, he’s going to be in the spotlight a bit more than normal and that’s fine.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
John Beilein was also a Michigan coaching legend, with multiple BIG titles and multiple national championship game appearances. Juwan hasn't coached a game here yet. I just think there is a little bit of aggrandizement going on, and that bobblehead night could have waited a minute.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^
What are you talking about? Haven't you been reading the board he will be or already is better than Beilein.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
Who's Beilein?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:46 PM ^
The disgraced former Niagara basketball coach.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
Was he an assistant?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
No, he was the head coach.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:13 PM ^
Prepare for neg cannon
October 30th, 2019 at 12:16 PM ^
In college athletics, it's almost always about the coach and former players. Yes, certain players are immensely popular. But when you think about Duke basketball, you think about Coach K. Fab Five is one of the few instances when the players transcended the coach. And now one of those members is the HC. Don't think it's a shock or a bad thing that he's the face of the program.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:22 PM ^
I know, but the Fab Five really shouldn't have anything to do with this. Michigan didn't hire the Fab Five. I was happy when we hired Howard, and I really do like him. But I don't think about the Fab Five when I think of Michigan basketball. I think about the last ten years.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:36 PM ^
Howard is inextricable from the Fab Five. It's like trying to talk about Beilein without mentioning the 3 pointer. Not going to happen. Get used to the Fab Five being mentioned.
Coaches are at the forefront when talking about college sports. It's always been like that. Very rarely to players take the front seat in terms of attention. Zion. Fab Five. Only a couple instances when that happens.
We have also been used to JB's way of running a program. Everything he did was under the radar. Engagement with the media. Recruiting. Development. Alot of how he did things goes against what most major programs do. Now Howard isn't a ham and he actually doesn't enjoy the media attention. But he's a much more engaging person overall. He's going after top 25 recruits like we haven't seen since Steve Fisher. He's going to be in the spotlight alot, like coaches at most other major programs.
October 30th, 2019 at 3:24 PM ^
Eh. CBB definitely is about the coaches, but there are a lot of coaches that were former players and we associate them more with their coaching, not their playing days.
Billy Donovan was a player for Rick Pitino and led them to a Final Four in 1987 - this is a fact that is somewhat well known, but Billy Donovan's name comes more from his own coaching, not his playing.
We'll get to that point with Juwan, but not RIGHT now, as he's never coached.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^
I get what you're saying, ijohnb.
Regarding Beilein, the focus on him (posters, bobbleheads, etc.) came after he had success here as a coach. Howard's being celebrated for his success...as a player.
Look at the bobblehead.
That's what's weird.
When Harbaugh came, the focus was still on him as a coach (not player) because he had success as a coach elsewhere already.
I would prefer playing up Juwan as our coach more than as a former player. That's not saying I want to ignore his time as a player, but I want to get excited about Juwan the coach, not Juwan the power forward.
This will be a non-issue next year once he's actually coached.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:26 PM ^
MDen literally sold out of #4 jerseys the day he was hired and the stuff went up on their site.
There were about 5 adidas Harbaugh themed shirts being sold too.
Not to mention the fact that everyone was posting old videos and photos of him as a player on here and on Twitter—including U-M official accounts.
But I get why there’s concern trolling on this. It’s not Michigan Football. God forbid any attention be taken away from Football ?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
There were t-shirts focused on his khakis. Maybe he wore khakis to the Heisman presentation and that was really about his time as a player?
(eye roll emoji)
Glad to know I'm not in your troll cave. Yet.
October 30th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^
I totally get what you're saying.
Regardless of being a former player, Harbaugh was probably the biggest name on the coaching market in general. We were hyped because of coaching ability - being a former player was just a nice addition.
With Howard, the last few months have mostly been about how he was a Fab Five member. Obviously that's because we know very little about his coaching right now, so that's the main reason, but there's a clear difference between Harbaugh's initial treatment and Howard's.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
Basketball is the preferred sport for a bunch of people on this blog.
And I am not "concerned." I just think it is tacky.
October 30th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
Concern trolling... The Michigan Difference.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
A bobblehead is a promotion to get people in the door. You're way overthinking this. Go look at the price of tickets on StubHub for this game. This is a smart idea.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
You believe that fans will pay more money for this game if they get a Juwan Howard bobblehead. Is that really your position?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^
Do you really think Juwan Howard is making marketing decisions?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
I don't know. Have I blamed Howard for anything in this thread?
October 30th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
I think they want to market him because he was an extremely popular player for us. It would be crazy not to.
October 30th, 2019 at 2:30 PM ^
You're missing the point. They'll make money with concessions etc... with people in the arena than not in the arena. I don't know what percentage they get from StubHub sales (as they are the official resale partner for UM), but the bigger point is to get people in the arena and early. First 3500 fans getting them means they'll come early and have nothing to do for a while before the game. They have a captive audience to sell food, drinks, and merchandise. And yes it may drive up the market (likely a negligible amount though) as people can pay like 10.00 after fees to get a bobblehead. Plus they get to attend a game also.
October 30th, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
In fairness to ijohnb, your initial post was too subtle. You said to look at the ticket prices. The implication would be what ijohnb thought.
As for the overall point, no one has said "There should be no giveaways to get people in the door!"
I won't speak for ijohnb, but for myself I will say that you could either have a giveaway that is a bobblehead of the coach wearing a basketball jersey, or you could have a giveaway that is NOT a bobblehead of the coach wearing a basketball jersey. For example, it could be a bobblehead of a Juwan Howard wearing a suit with the jacket closed.
But maybe they did a focus group and found that 75% more fans will show up because they used the one with the jersey.
October 30th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
I'd like to think that most of the people on this board could connect the dots between it being a promotion announced when ticket prices are under 10.00 per ticket. Some people just look to be mad about anything I guess. There have to be many more things out there to get up in arms about than the specifics of a bobblehead.
October 30th, 2019 at 3:07 PM ^
Sometimes I comment on things that are not the most important thing in my life. I even do that offline as well.
October 30th, 2019 at 1:23 PM ^
I find bobbleheads terribly creepy
October 30th, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^
But will he be able to profit from his likeness?
/s
October 30th, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
Bold move so soon after Towel-Night...
October 30th, 2019 at 2:16 PM ^
Put the refs on notice. No bad calls.
October 30th, 2019 at 3:04 PM ^
I don't want any ordinary bobble head. Give me just the uni with a Final Four hat on and doing the cabbage patch.