Letter to the president

Submitted by meechiganman14 on

I've been meaning to send letters to the big wigs at UM since the Minnesota game, but just now have some time to do so. I actually think the timing maybe better now anyways as the the firestorm of the Morris incident has subsided without changes made and we need to keep the pressure on. I'm focusing my letter on DB as the president is more directly responsible for him and Hoke's record speaks for itself. I just want to make sure I get as many of our grievances down as succinctly as possible. Here's what I'm focusing on:

1. The consisent raising of prices and general feeling of gouging the fans which has led to the disappearance of the season ticket wait list.

2. Student season ticket policies

3. Sky writing incident, which Brandon labeled a "miscommunication"

4. Coke incident, which Brandon labeled a "miscommunication"

5. Morris incident

Am I missing any other major public relations gaffes? I'm not concerned about stuff like the noodle and music in the stadium, as I feel this sort of stuff is unfortunately par for the course in college football. 

If people like, I'll be more than happy to share what I write so that you can copy and paste and send your own letter once I'm done.

MGoBoard
Football

GoBlueInNYC

October 26th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^

Why not mention the Coke incident? It was a major PR gaffe that got (brief) national attention. If anything, it manages to touch on multiple issues with Brandon's tenure all at once: declining ticket sales, awkward commercial partnership, blown PR response, taking no responsibility for the screw up.

Joined: 03/23/2010

MGoPoints: 8772

Huma

October 26th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^

Agree it is worth a mention but that incident would mean nothing if we were any good. We are a national laughingstock because our coaches and team are bad at football relative to what we perceive they should be. The coke thing doesn't change that one bit.

Joined: 08/05/2008

MGoPoints: 5797

Ray

October 26th, 2014 at 5:43 PM ^

Is that Hoke is in over his head. He cannot manage this program. Brandon's first responsibility as Hoke's manager is to either get Hoke the help he needs, or, if that doesn't work, to manage his exit from the program. My message to Dr. Schlissel (and yes, as an alum and a current U-M dad, I'll be writing a letter) is that both these guys have failed and need to go. The president's responsibility is to exercise in good faith the authority the regents and taxpayers have entrusted him with and see to it this situation is fixed. That would be by relieving them both.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 7044

jblaze

October 26th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

How do 1 & 2 compare to other schools? I know they also have this point system and student prices have increased dramatically.

If you want to lead with this, use data from OSU and ND as Midwest examples. Same thing with the expensive water prices.

3 & 4 were amateurs hour mistakes, but not reason for the ad to be fired. 5 was a problem because Brandon kind of lied and for no real gain. It shows that he has no clue how to handle bad PR.

However, your letter should have some facts that compare michigan to other big time programs.

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 19301

blueblueblue

October 26th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

If you want us to take to time to contirbute to your important letter, I think you need to tell is if you are an average Joe or if you are somebody who has actual influence above the average Joe.

Because if you are an average Joe, your important letter is really an impotent letter.  

Joined: 12/28/2008

MGoPoints: 6630

meechiganman14

October 26th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^

Obviously, I'm as frustrated with the product on the field as all of you, but complaining on message boards doesn't accomplish much. I feel like writing an email is at least doing my part. It's like voting, 1 vote is unlikely to change much, but you really can't bitch about the President and congress if you didn't cast your vote. And if you get enough votes together, maybe change is possible.

As someone currently living 1400 miles from AA, I can't really voice my displeasure by not going to games.

Joined: 06/12/2012

MGoPoints: 509

meechiganman14

October 26th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^

Yeah, I think it would be most effective if we continue to flood his inbox with individual emails. I'm suggesting getting a template together that we could each add our own twist to. But based on the feel of the thread, I'm sensing that it wasn't a winning idea. No big deal, I'm still gonna send my email.

Joined: 06/12/2012

MGoPoints: 509

Scrantastic

October 26th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^

Maybe I'm way off base here but aside from all of the tangible things that Brandon has done wrong, I think the thing that bothers me most about him is how he acts in a way that comes across as dishonest and insulting.  A great example of this is how he released the post-Morris press release in the middle of the night on a Tuesday with the wording "probable, mild concussion."

He does things like this constantly, and they're very transparent.  Anyone who has critical thinking skills knows that he released that in the middle of the night on purpose and that "probable, mild concussion" is worded in a way to mitigate his culpability.  The fact that he thinks that we will fall for stunts like that is insulting on top of it all.  It's one thing to "brand" and "market" sporting tickets but Brandon treats the MIchigan community like ignorant consumers instead of members of a dedicated, familial group.  This is hard to explain or quantify, but I would compare it to that feeling you get when you're talking to someone and they're looking over your shoulder to see who else is in the room, or when people don't make eye contact while shaking hands.  

Joined: 04/18/2010

MGoPoints: 162