Michigan spokesman on DB email controversy: "There's nothing else to add."
Title says it all.
Michigan spokesman says right now "there's nothing else to add" RE: MGoBlog report on Dave Brandon emails
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) October 28, 2014October 28th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
I have a feeling MGoBlog will crash in the next week or two..
And I'll be ear to ear grinning as I refresh over and over until I can read the good news that Dave has been relieved of his duties.
October 28th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
Or will you be cackling with knowing glee??
October 28th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
There will be a lot of Rapture Guy reactions on this board.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:30 PM ^
October 28th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
October 28th, 2014 at 4:41 PM ^
Interesting
My guess is that inside the Michigan athletic depatment and certaintly within the academic community Brandon is not exactly revered. That response "There's nothing else to add" reads to me like "I think we'll just sit this one and let that asshole hang himself with his own words." Nobody's going to rush to his defense IMO.
I have worked for two Brandon-like CEOs and one got deposed in a BOD level coup d'etat where the rest of the executive team basically sat silently as the Board took out the asshole CEO. I would not be a bit surprised to watch the same dynamic unfold here as a lot of people "have nothing else to add" cause Dave's own words are damning enough.
Think about it. If he's that big of a dick to total strangers on the internet how much of a dick must he be in person?
October 28th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
The AD spokesperson would probably be a trusted DB sycophant. This might be the spokesperson trying to do the right thing by the boss by not digging the hole any deeper.
Or, it could be as you said, someone thinking he might as well slit his own throat. What's the saying in Congress? If your opponent is committing political suicide, don't stand in the way?
October 28th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
Right, this implies that his management style is passive aggressive, characterized by cynical flourishes of false indignation, and doublespeak. It just screams asshole.
October 28th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
If he's that big of a dick to total strangers on the internet how much of a dick must he be in person?
I don't know, maybe like, a donkey dick? A Chuck Norris dick?
October 28th, 2014 at 5:48 PM ^
I met him at an alumni event in San Francisco a couple of years ago, and he's every bit as much of an asshole in person as he seems like over email. The event was part of the coaches' tour with Hoke, Beilein et al. Prior to the autograph signing session, Brandon got up on the podium and announced, "Keep in mind that we have a line, so when it's your turn to talk to Coach Hoke, instead of telling him your life story, keep it to the first couple of chapters." His tone was sickeningly condescending throughout the event.
October 28th, 2014 at 4:41 PM ^
Remember when the most exciting thing our AD do was go sailing? Those were the days. :)
October 28th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
. . . wished DB a Happy Life.
October 28th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
It means the emails speak for themselves. Burying his own grave..again
October 28th, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^
A sure sign the lawyers have taken the reins. There will be no comments from anyone until a very carefully crafted comment is ready to issue.
Large organizations are either run by finance, or they're run by lawyers. In some things the lawyers just take charge. Right now they're in charge. Silence is preferable to comment.
October 28th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
And I pity the poor sap who has to polish this turd.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
The power of lawyers.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
I can't understand why they allowed the DB PR tour, unless it was to give Dave enough rope to hang himself. Other than that and the tweet about student ticket pricing, Dave's been a shadow.
I want to believe they've told him he's fired pending exit negotiations. Until such time those negotiations are completed, he is to continue to administratively run the department - and execute game day duties. Anything external though has to be approved.
But then it keeps looking like "lay low" and "read the tea leaves" with a little spin to mold the masses mixed in.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
True, but it's still a weird comment. "Nothing else to add" sounds like a tacit acceptance of what was posted here. Why didn't they just say "no comment at this time"?
October 28th, 2014 at 5:39 PM ^
Actually, sounds like "Hey, we get them, too. Can you believe this guy? Oh, wait, that mic is on?"
October 28th, 2014 at 4:56 PM ^
don't work so hard to save their ass like he has with his statements of support, lowering ticket prices for students etc unless there is a reason.
I believe many people know the King will soon be dead and they'll have their freedom.
October 28th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^
"Nothing more to add" kinda sounds like "It speaks for itself".
October 28th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
GTFODB
October 28th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
October 28th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
Certainly doesn't sound like
"A strongly worded denial is forthcoming"
So either the Athletic Department is going to just sit there and pretend this story doesn't exist, hoping it just blows over, or even they now realize that Brandon is such a douchebag of epic proportions that there is no point even trying to defend him, which would basically mean he is a dead man walking.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:13 PM ^
"There's nothing else to add ..."
"... except this: does anyone know where I can get a good deal on packing boxes?"
October 28th, 2014 at 6:52 PM ^
"These aren't the droids you're looking for"
October 28th, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
"The statement of Secretary KhrushchevDave Brandon remains the position of the Soviet governmentAthletic Department. To that, I have nothing to add."
October 28th, 2014 at 5:16 PM ^
As bad as this is Schlissel already knows what kind of a guy Brandon is through interacting with Brandon as well as what he has been told. If the Concussion Crisis did not get him booted this won't.
I do think that he will be fired, but it will be for multiple reasons, not just for being an obnoxious ass to fans.By itself this is a "letter-in-your-file" type situation based on my experience at working at UM. Everything short of gross misconduct is not immediate dismissal.
Maybe(hopefully) I am wrong and he does get terminated this week, but I sincerely doubt it. UM is pretty liberal when it comes to tolerance of employee behavior.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
Bill Martin and Gary Moeller might disagree.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:50 PM ^
Martin? Didn't he retire on his own?
October 29th, 2014 at 5:22 AM ^
with an employee. There were many articles written about it that you find online. But I'm not going to dig up old news.
October 28th, 2014 at 9:00 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 28th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
Good. They shouldn't need to respond with anything else, because there is nothing else to add. Dave Brandon apparently responds to emails from people like a petulant 14-year-old, and MGoBlog has compiled a number of examples. The school said it could not find any reference to the email from one poster, and Brian's waiting on a response from a couple of other FOIA requests. I suspect they will not turn up anything else, but it sounds like that's a bookkeeping/retention issue moreso than them never existing. I'm happy, for once, that the school just left controversies to whither on the vine. The damage has been done, and talking about it doesn't help anyone.
October 28th, 2014 at 5:46 PM ^
October 28th, 2014 at 5:49 PM ^
"Nothing to say"? What organization w/ a Fortune 100 CEO and a $115M budget has "nothing to say"? And I can't imagine they are hoping this blows over, not with the frenzy out there.
My guess -- but just some random guy, don't have any real insight here -- the POTUM has muzzled DB and the AD, so they have to remain mum. The POTUM will respond to all of this himself at some point. And that response is probably going to be announcing the resignation of DB. So why say anything now. No reason to defend a guy who's not going to be around much longer.
October 28th, 2014 at 7:02 PM ^
new term some nice fellow taught me on here yesterday.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:04 PM ^
of a story. And when a spokesman claims there is nothing to add, he is giving creedence to the substance of the story, which is that Dave Brandon wrote the alleged emails in question. A non-denial denial, constitutes confirmation. He didn't deny Brandon wrote them, he just didn't acknowledge that Brandon or his staff needed to comment on them.
The conduct bespeaks the author and the staff response.
October 28th, 2014 at 6:43 PM ^
Tailgated at the Penn St game with a guy, his wife works in compliance at UM. I tried to get some information on how Brandon was viewed by some of the people within the department. His response was "if Brandon dropped over dead in front of my wife, she would step over him and keep on walking" I guess that says it all
October 28th, 2014 at 6:51 PM ^
October 28th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
October 28th, 2014 at 8:01 PM ^
He did an interview from the field on Michigan football radio pre-game Saturday.
It was short on specifics except for a little depth on the ticket price reduction for students.
It was noteworthy only because it was a public statement which posters have noted are becoming rare.
Compared to his usual condescending vibe, his tone seemed whimsical. I took it to mean he knows he's cooked.
Maybe because that's how I wanted to take it.
October 28th, 2014 at 10:47 PM ^
no way branden last till saturdays game. or its going to get ugly for him. i bet he wishes it was a road game saturday it just keeps getting worse for him
October 28th, 2014 at 11:13 PM ^
what is it going to take to get this ass fired . do we need a vid of him beating his wife
October 30th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^
That can also mean that the University feels that its prior response to this is sufficient. In other words they are going to ignore it. It is important that the "Michigan says right now" comes only from the tweeter not from Michigan.
This is a very different response than a "no comment" or a statement of support. This suggests that Michigan considers the entire matter closed. That does not mean that Brandon is fired, or is being retained. It only means that Michigan intends to make no further response to the matter.
I very much doubt that there is anyone who has lived and worked as long as Brandon who has not sent an email or two that they would rather have back. I can understand how that can happen once or twice. I am astonished that Brandon was so foolish (probably arrogant is a better assessment) to send so many. Just amazing.