Proof that Brandon tried to move Michigan and OSU

Submitted by JeemtotheH on
In light of Brian's epic post, can someone provide actual evidence that Brandon tried to advocate for Michigan and OSU in separate divisions and to move the game to midseason? Brian referenced an interview but is that it? I am amused and terrified that the email Brian quotes is so similar to the response Brandon sent me when I voiced my concern over moving the game. To paraphrase Brandon: "I understand the rivalry better than you, get a life, have a good weekend". Not to be confused with Jim Tressel's "have happy easter, go bucks". Edit: happy easter, not have a good weekend.

Tater

February 19th, 2015 at 1:21 AM ^

UK is going to win it all no matter where Duke finishes in the regular season.  They have apparently stopped giving a shit whether or not the NCAA knows their boosters are buying up all of the one and dones.  

If they make a big enough joke of the process, maybe the NCAA will actually do something about it.

snarling wolverine

February 19th, 2015 at 7:10 AM ^

It's possible that, at this point, Calipari isn't cheating that much.  He's established a reputation as a guy who can get you to the NBA if you spend one season working with him and that might be enough to convince a kid to come (especially since he probably won't have to go to class after the first semester).  

But of course, Calipari got this far in his career by cheating his ass off at his other stops.

 

M-Dog

February 19th, 2015 at 12:32 AM ^

Brandon made public proclamations at the time that "times have changed" (because of the move to B1G divisions and a Championship game), and that some things would just have to change.
 
He then mentioned that one of them was that Michigan-OSU would not necessarily be the last game of the year, to avoid back to back Michigan-OSU games if both teams were headed to the Championship game.
 
I remember being stunned that our own AD was willing to be the mouthpiece for such a bad move for Michigan.  I was suspicious that his motive was that he was angling for the B1G Commissioner's job, and that he was willing to sell us out accordingly.
 
I posted this at the time:
 
"Why are our own people selling us out?
 
I get that there are competing interests in the Big 10.  One of them is ours.
 
We've heard loudly and clearly from Alverez, Iowa, etc. about what their priorities are.  What about ours?  Mr. Brandon, your job first and foremost, is to look out for the interests of the University of Michigan.
 
Whether we're out-voted or not, we should be screaming our position and our objections from the rooftops for all to hear.  Why are our big voices silent?  Where is Desmond, Charles, Lloyd, Mary Sue, heck even Herbie?  They can't all be bound by some Big 10 Office gag order. 
 
Why are our own people just rolling over and giving us all pats on the head like it's no big deal?  In their heart of hearts do they really believe that this is in the best interests of Michigan?
 
The Game - Michigan against Ohio State in the last game of the season - is part of what defines the very essense of Michigan.  Do they really believe that it is in our best interest to make it just another big mid-season game, and replace the last game of the year with Michigan-MSU on a BTN overflow channel?
 
We'll be completely overshadowed by the season-ending rivalry games in our own conference like OSU-PSU and Nebraska-Wisconsin, much less by the other key national rivalry games.
 
We will go from being the premier headliner national game on Rivalry Week, the most important week of the season, to being Tennesee-Vanderbilt.  How is that in our best interest?
 
Mr. Brandon, It's time to lay the cards on the table.  Either you have not been doing your job defending the best interests of Michigan, or you've worked out some sweet secret back-room deal that is so compelling that it makes throwing the very soul of Michigan away worth it.  It's time to let us in on it."
 

JeemtotheH

February 19th, 2015 at 12:42 AM ^

I remember a lot of consternation at the time over Brandon's lack of advocacy for keeping Michigan and Ohio in the same division and playing at the end of the year, MDog's post being a good example. Heck, I even emailed Brandon at the time to voice my concerns. And obviously Brandon was a horrible AD for many reasons. I'm just wondering how much of the "moving the game outrage" was based in fact and not emotion. Does anyone have any actual articles/audio/video of Brandon's transgressions on this topic?

M-Dog

February 19th, 2015 at 2:11 AM ^

It was based on what he said.  We didn't make it up.  

It was not just a "lack of advocacy" for keeping Michigan-Ohio State the last game of the year, it was him proactively telling us that we need to get used to the idea of it being moved and that was the price of progress.  He wasn't just not acting for us, he was acting against us.   

When I posted the above, it was in response him selling us out in public, not him being too quiet.  If I had enough time, I could go find his statements somewhere.  But I assure you, I and others did not react to just thin air.  

Also, keep in mind that this was early on, and everybody still thought Brandon was God at the time.  This was not part of some anti-Brandon crusade.  

He sold us out, quite unexpectedly at the time, and we were stunned by it.

KSmooth

February 19th, 2015 at 1:57 AM ^

My understanding at the time wasn't so much that Brandon was actively pushing to have the OSU game played in the middle of the season.  But, as was so often the case, he was more than ready to make the change if someone had flashed a few dollars, then he backed off when he saw the backlash and simultaneously realized there wasn't any money to be made.  That was admittedly conjecture based on his public statements -- there's no smoking gun -- but it's entirely consistent with the man's overall approach to managing the football program.

M go Bru

February 19th, 2015 at 3:41 AM ^

Brandon did not complain enough about MSU and OSU being both home or away games in the same year making subsequent years schedule imbalanced.

How could he allow this to happen? He totally screwed our schedule forever!

Not only that but it also screwed MSU in having both OSU & UM both home or away in the same year. You would think MSU would have not wanted that either and would have also assisted in complaining to the Big Ten. However, MSU benefitted by those back to back home games. Maybe they viewed it only for the short term benefit of possibly getting a Big Ten Title.

The only other Big Ten rivalry game that was adversely affected was Purdue - Ind.. Ind. got two home games in a row.

Avon Barksdale

February 19th, 2015 at 8:28 AM ^

Schedule won't be imbalanced that long.... Sparty won't be good after another 2-3 years. I'd rather have MSU and Ohio State "imbalanced" as opposed to having to play Ohio State and Penn State on the road together every two years.



There are simply too many heavy hitters in the East for MSU, with or without Dantonio, to be playoff contenders. Urban, Harbaugh, and Franklin will be running the show the next ten years. I mean they'll be serviceable - 7-5, 8-4, but you can't recruit at a 30-50 level and expect to be elite for long - and no I don't think they're elite. They've taken advantage of the weakest Big Ten in recent memory.



Good for them. Adds a little depth. But the Big Ten will only become elite again when Michigan is elite again. We all know that.

snarling wolverine

February 19th, 2015 at 9:03 AM ^

The issue isn't that MSU might be good forever (they won't be), but that the MSU game is always a big draw regardless, as is OSU, and instead of having them on alternate years like we did for decades, we have both in one year and none the next.  We're going to always have good home schedules in odd-numbered years and terrible ones in even-numbered years if this isn't fixed.

 

Avon Barksdale

February 19th, 2015 at 1:03 PM ^

Maybe it's because I don't live in Michigan and deal with those people every day anymore, but a 4-4 MSU shouldn't be a bigger draw than a 6-2 or 7-1 Penn State at night - which I think is going to be happening very soon.

Also, it's not like the evens are going to be bad that long:

2016 - Hawaii, Colorado, UCF, Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana

2018 - Arkansas, SMU, Nebraska, Maryland, Wisconsin, Penn State, Indiana

I might be in the minority here, but sign me up for a Colorado, Wisconsin, Penn State as opposed to a Colorado, Wisconsin, MSU in 2016 and an Arkansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State as opposed to Arkansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and MSU in 2018.

"Michigan State ain't going no where as long as Dantonio is there." No one said they were, we just think they are a lot closer to the 11-1 team that lost 49-7 to Alabama and the 10-2 team that lost by 21 to Oregon. It's not anything to do with them, but as the Big Ten gets better, their flaws will show. They are not that good (2014 especially); the Big Ten has just sucked.  

 

lilpenny1316

February 19th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^

We've routinely been hosed by this conference when it comes to scheduling.  In the 90s, it was OSU and PSU in back to back weeks.  Or us playing PSU while they were coming off of a bye week.  Before PSU joined the conference, it was kicking Northwestern and Purdue off the schedule many years due to competitive balance and keeping the weakest conference opponents off our schedule.

I'm more concerned about PSU going forward than MSU, so we were going to have to play two or MSU, PSU and OSU on the road each year.  This to me will not be a big issue going forward.  

As a comparison, Bama has to go to Georgia, A&M and Auburn in 2015.  Last year they went to LSU and Tennessee in back to back weeks.  Good teams win at home and on the road.  When we're "back" none of the scheduling nonsense will matter.

JeemtotheH

February 19th, 2015 at 7:19 AM ^

I understand if you don't want to spend time looking it up just because some dude on the internet asked. Maybe I can find it. Were direct sources posted on Mgoblog, or one of the Michigan newspapers (daily, det news, freep)?