OT: MSU to Implement PSDs, and Mark Hollis Comes off as a Dick
Heres a few ideas of how NOT to squeeze a few extra dollars out of your alumni after your second-rate team had two good seasons: Link
"Any time you have something positive happen, it comes at a cost"
So we finally won a bowl game. Now you have to pay for it.
"Now it’s in the hands of those that make the contributions and buy the tickets to determine if we’re going to be successful or not. Because it takes those resources, flat out."
Guilt your patrons into giving more money. If the team fails, they didnt give enough.
"If individuals don’t understand the plan or are unable to support at that level like other institutions do, then as an AD, I’ll have to refocus what our expectations are and where we want to go based on those returns."
That's right. The only way we can have high expectations is if you give money.
"This is the plan. It’s up to our alums and fans to make a decision about how they want to support the program."
"It’s very common at Alabama. It’s very common at programs like LSU or Texas or Ohio State or others."
Don't feel the need to mention Michigan, one of the top grossing ADs in the country. I'll settle for "others"
Michigan fans, I know we don't always see eye-to-eye with Dave Brandon (rawk music, road jerseys), and we sometimes feel hit up for cash too, but lets be thankful that it doesn't come off like this. Mark Hollis really wants to sell you a candy bar, and he's trying to make you feel guilty for not buying it. Little Brother, its time to get off my porch!
January 27th, 2012 at 2:16 AM ^
Where are they going to find the money? A MSU degree is good for what? A job at mcdonalds?
January 27th, 2012 at 2:26 AM ^
Please don't say this in public and degrade the value of the Michigan fan base.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:32 AM ^
they're not only qualified to serve french fries; they're also qualified to grow them...and to milk things! woo state!
/trolling
January 27th, 2012 at 2:18 AM ^
The comment about "other schools" is pure trolling. Hollis is playing to his base, nothing more, nothing less.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:05 AM ^
Unfortunately, "playing to the base" in EL always involves the lowest common denominator.
As for selling seat licenses, don't schools usually wait until they can sell out most of their games before asking for more money?
January 27th, 2012 at 10:34 AM ^
Bando is exactly right. I recommend treating Mark Hollis, and anything he says, like any other troll. A $310,000 troll.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^
Pure Trolling? Other side of the coin: The Michigan fan base reacting to not being mentioned by MSU's AD says something about us more than Hollis not mentioning us. Are we so entitled we need to be mentioned? I personally don't give two poops about what Hollis says, or doesn't say.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:20 AM ^
He should sweeten the deal by throwing in some MSU gear autographed by The Situation. That'll excite the base.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^
a roving band of football players in ski masks on your doorstep looking to beat people up.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:29 AM ^
i wouldn't say that he's being a dick so much as he seems kind of pathetic. it's one thing to roll out new fees with an explanation of their necessity, but another altogether to roll them out with a ton of hedging in case it turns out nobody is willing to pay them. this just has MSU's inferiority complex all over it.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:35 AM ^
Not to mention the whole "we should do this because all the other good teams do this" comes off as really week. You just man up and do it. If people think your product is worth it, they will pay. If they don't, you will have a lot of empty seats.
I don't understand the logic behind adding a PSD when you don't even sell out your stadium for most games. It's pretty clear he is striking while the iron is hot. This is his only chance to pitch the football program coming off of back to back 11 win seasons and a bowl win. The level of despiration is palpable.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:04 AM ^
It's no wonder why they don't sell out games - that stadium is a visual mess of Warsaw Pact-era concrete with superimposed brick lux boxes. Its not an appealing facility - this coming from a guy who thinks Ohio Stadium is actually an attractive crib. /covers head
January 27th, 2012 at 9:39 AM ^
The Horseshoe is an attractive stadium....
when it's empty.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:40 AM ^
Amen. With the huge wall that surrounds the field and keeps the restless natives held at bay, I've always thought Spartan Stadium is one of the worst environments, and one of the worst looking on television, in major college football.
I haven't been in Ohio Stadium in a bunch of years, but my general feeling on that is: cement factory covered in pigeon shit. Attractive at a distance maybe.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:50 AM ^
The inside of of Ohio Stadium has been chopped up and is little too quirky. I'm pretty sure its sightlines are piss-poor in many parts of the stadium (upper decks, underneath the overhangs, etc). But the outside of the stadium is intersting for its arches - it seems to present itself as an historic structure.
MSU looks like a place you'd see the Hungarian national soccer team play home friendlies..
January 27th, 2012 at 9:17 AM ^
Boise, ND, Nebraska, and OSU at home. Just as DB raised ticket prices this past year with our favorable home schedule instead of waiting for the 2012 season when the home schedule is a joke. If Hollis is going to try to pull this off now is probably the right time.
January 27th, 2012 at 3:20 AM ^
I was just mulling the Hecklinski incident with Douchetonio over some cheese and crackers and some herb... and I was thinking "why the fuck does Michigan even send people to associate with these MSU douchebags for these public events?"
It would be nice to just dissassociate with Sparty on all levels other than in competition, but we have to be there....have to represent Michigan.
Regarding Hollis...Bill Martin reportedly used to travel with him when he was AD to certain events where both were required to be there... and Dave Brandon certainly associates with Hollis on some level...hence the hockey game, golf challenge etc...and Brandon has been quoted with saying some favorable things about Hollis in the local media.
Well Fuck That. This coddelling to Douchetonio and his henchmen has to stop...... This is a serious rivalry and its time for Michigan to start taking it to another level.
January 27th, 2012 at 3:30 AM ^
I prefer DantoBeano because he always walks around like he's surrounded by ppl who have just shat themselves...
Just a thought.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:44 AM ^
From the official pet peeves list...
Stupid, juvenile nicknames Most relevant to Michigan fans is the infamous "scUM," but this idiocy affects many fan bases. Any "State" school is liable to find a dollar sign replacing the S in their abbreviation. In a rush to damn the NCAA people will completely disregard the fact that "NCAA" doesn't have any S's in it and go ahead and make the same swap anyway. Penn State gets called "State Penn" whenever a player gets drunk and frisky. Morons spell out "University of Spoiled Children" over and over again to display their disdain for USC. EXAMPLE "scUM and the University of Spoiled Children are playing in the Ro$e Bowl because the NC$$ needs the money." DIAGNOSIS This person is a moron who is under the erroneous impression that he is being funny, like that one uncle who tells the same joke every Thanksgiving for 30 years. This affliction is always, always a sign that you can safely ignore anything the person says, as they are either twelve or have Down's Syndrome. CURE Insert bullet travelling at extremely high velocity into skull. SUSCEPTIBLE FANBASES Most common with universities best described as "technically not high school" or fanbases in areas where there is no pro alternative. Obviously, then, this is an absolute plague amongst OSU fans, and is rampant at MSU as well. EXCEPTIONS "tOSU" is permissible to use in a slightly disdainful fashion since OSU fans tend to use it themselves.
http://mgoblog.com/content/official-mgoblog-pet-peeve-list
January 27th, 2012 at 3:59 AM ^
I thought only arrogant Michigan did this kind of stuff to its fans.
January 27th, 2012 at 5:51 AM ^
I just read that the MSU football team will be holding a car wash from 12-4 pm on this Sunday @ sisters of the poor agnostic church in lansing.
January 27th, 2012 at 5:55 AM ^
Calling MSU "second-rate" right now is lame. It is not a lifelong right to look down on a program just because of the colors they wear, it's a privilege that comes when your school's team is getting it done. We are all confident about the future (supremely so when it comes to Sparty given recruiting trends) but, sorry, losing four in a row should put the soapbox on a form of layaway. It's too many years to write off as a fluke or aberration.
Win. Then talk. That's the way it should work.
January 27th, 2012 at 7:45 AM ^
Maybe not "second-rate" in terms of their on-field performance, but certainly in regards to coach salary compensation, facilities, and attendence. When you look at the B1G, they are on the lower-to-middle end in all 3 categories. That is what I consider, second-rate.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:49 AM ^
consuming fewer resources (MSU) is worse than being mediocre and wasting valuable resources (UM for the three years prior to this one, and basketball for many years).
Over the past four years UM must be very low on any sensible productivity scale.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
I don't think Hollis was talking about on-field performance here. He was speaking about getting MSU up out of that lower tier by emulating the upper tier in terms of ticket sales and donations.
Sure, you can be Boise State and win without the big stadium and facilities, but Hollis knows that it becomes much easier to sustain winning seasons if he can afford the nice things that M/OSU/PSU/UNL have. That's what is being discussed here, not who won the wins/dollars spent ratio the past four years.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:59 AM ^
What "valuable resources" did Michigan basketball have from 1998-2007? We ran that program on a shoestring budget during that time. One anecdote: Tommy Amaker actually had to buy a VCR out of his own pocket when he came here.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:28 PM ^
If true, that's disgusting.
Fuck Bill Martin.
January 27th, 2012 at 5:58 AM ^
Maybe now Phil Knight can use Dantonio as his new replacement "hero" and funnel in all the Nike money. Hopefully Dantonio knows the words to "wildthing".
January 27th, 2012 at 7:46 AM ^
Lol. This is the common RCMB logic, that ever since MSU wore pro-combat jerseys for one season, Phil Knight wants to turn them into his own personal project to create the "Oregon of the midwest." Forget the fact that Knight is an Oregon alumnus, and has no personal connection to MSU.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:22 AM ^
actually it was a rip on knight for his jopa eulogy. kinda off topic but timely.
January 27th, 2012 at 6:26 AM ^
I understand that we as Michigan fans want to find every possible excuse to hate on State but i just dont see this as being a good point to get at. I mean, all the big boys have been doing this for a while. I just don't see how else he explains this any other way. Hating Dantonio is supremely easy hating Izzo is easy when he loseses because he gets petulant. But really, its kind of difficult to find legit reasons to hate on Mark Hollis
January 27th, 2012 at 6:58 AM ^
Mark Hollis does not need any help painting himself dickish. He's mastered the art.
January 27th, 2012 at 7:01 AM ^
Well, Michigan's athletic department is entirely financially independent of the University, so it lives off of sports revenus, alumni donations, etc. It actually would probably be a poor choice to compare your athletic department to that one, unless you have the same structure, so I don't see him not listing Michigan as an issue.
However, where he screwed up was in comparing MSU to Alabama, Texas, and Ohio State. Those three teams have 3 times as many NATIONAL championships as MSU has CONFERENCE championships (although State does have 3 NCs of their own). Not to mention all of those teams have won national championships in the last decade (Well, OSU's was 2002, so the 2001 season, but you know what I mean). State has not had that success lately...
January 27th, 2012 at 7:42 AM ^
Not to mention the fact that State recruits nationally now.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:35 AM ^
They list national championships by regular season year, just like football. I remember not long after tOSU's championship, the Bucs won the Super Bowl.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:19 AM ^
Gotcha. Thanks. Good looking out.
January 27th, 2012 at 7:24 AM ^
January 27th, 2012 at 7:36 AM ^
and we sometimes feel hit up for cash too
You can throw "sometimes" out of your statement.
By implementing a mandatory $500 year "donation' in order to stay on the season ticket wait list, he's squeezing out lower and middle class Michigan fans from being able to participate.
But at least he offers those who are unable to to buy season tickets the opportunity to purchase single games that high level Victors Club members don't want.... MAC schools, Division 1-II, bottom feeder B1G.... for only $70 per each. :/ In fact, be assured that it was by design that we saw the face value in ticket take a significant hike prior to this past season, in which ND, OSU, and Neb were all at home. It isn't going to feel all the great paying those prices for the upcoming home season.
Brandon's a savy business man. As a business owner myself, I have respect for him, but don't kid yourself. He and Hollis aren't all that different. Brandon is just more articulate and tactful.
January 27th, 2012 at 7:43 AM ^
I could be wrong, but I believe the $500 was a one time thing, as opposed to $500/yr.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:35 AM ^
Priority on Season Football Tickets First Team Level - $500 and above
- By donating $500 or more by January 31, 2012 you will be eligible to be offered season tickets.
- Season Football Tickets are based upon availability and are not guaranteed
- Available Season Football Tickets will be allocated based upon your priority point total
- Your donation provides a Michigan Student-Athlete with 37 hours of Academic Services which are committed toward supporting our student-athletes' leadership development and academic success
- By donating to The Victors Club you will earn valuable priority points
- All new season ticket holders will NOT pay a Preferred Seating Donation (PSD) in their first year. When you renew your season tickets in your second year, you will pay the PSD in your respective tiered location. For more information on PSDs click here.
No where does it say that you are guaranteed tickets at any time but I admit that I haven't looked into it in depth as I already have season tickets.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:40 AM ^
You have to donate at least $500 to be considered for season tickets. The more you donate the more consideration you get, so it is possible that you donate $500 and don't get tickets. If that happens you have to pay whatever the minimum donation is next year in order to he considered for season tickets. I presumes it will be $500 again next year but it was $15 last year so who knows?
January 27th, 2012 at 8:03 AM ^
as a businessman, I'm surprised you think Brandon knows what he's doing. The absolutely most important thing that a businessman has to do is to know their product. The fact that DB constantly cheapens the Michigan brand (in his everpresent quest to "expand the brand") only shows he doesn't know what he's trying to "sell." Every fingerprint Brandon leaves on the program lowers the value of the product.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:45 AM ^
I didn't say that I respect his model..... but the Athletic Department stays in the black and he keeps the regents happy.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:44 AM ^
Please give examples and proof that Brandon "cheapens" the Michigan brand. His department has certainly made decisions that have priced some out of the market (myself included) but I'm not sure how that "cheapens" the brand. It seems it does the opposite.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:58 AM ^
The yellow t-shirts ( too feminine ), Sweet Caroline?, That fucked up 1980's haircut?
Dudes got Issues.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:59 AM ^
Rawk music, advertising on Crisler scoreboard (not sure if this was done prior to Brandon), entertaining the idea of a mascot..... and other moves that have infringed on tradition. For the record, the music doesn't bother me, and I'm ok with tasteful advertising if it keep ticket prices down. I'll never buy into a mascot except for unique situations..... Go Blue Kid's Club events, Mott's visitations..... as long as it never makes it through the gates of Michigan Stadium.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
Brandon did not introduce most of those things. The piped-in music and PSDs started under Bill Martin. The advertising at Crisler has been there for a long time, going back to at least the 1990s. We've actually scaled back the advertising there in the last couple of years (all the signs above concourse entrances used to have ads as well).
Brandon did float the idea of a mascot, but decided against it after getting feedback from the fanbase. I don't see what the big deal is about that. I'm glad he listened to the fans. I don't think it's reasonable to expect an AD to get every initial decision correct, but if the fans give him negative feedback he should respond accordingly.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:42 AM ^
You can see First America and Coke signs in the background here, so it's been that way in Crisler for quite a while.
January 27th, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^
I think people are too hard on Dave Brandon. The Arby's ads got a little too out of hand for my taste, but hey, he's doing alright.