Stephen Ross wanted Dave Brandon to stay on as AD
I guess money can't buy you everything.
Look at the excitement around this program today.....
I guess being an extremely succesful business person and unimaginably wealthy doesn't prevent you from suffering from a bad case of confirmation bias. Here's a guy who's been incredibly good in his business ventures, and yet he cannot see the elephant sitting in front of him. Brandon was terrible for Michigan. I'm glad Ross had the humility to not take it to heart that Brandon wasn't retained.
love yes men like Brandon, and people like Brandon love yes men even more.
They may be rich and successful but they surround themselves with low character people that will ultimately let them down
I am really glad Ross didn't get his way. I definlitely agree that Ross has some kind of "blind spot" when it comes to David Brandon. I think Brandon is a world class expert at coming across well to rich people. Sadly, that was pretty much the opposite of the skills he needed at Michigan.
by almost all his fellow rich donor friends. But other than maybe the student athletes and winning coaches, he didn't give a rat's ass for the rest of us. I'm really glad Ross came out and said how in the end, his money didn't have an influence on the decision to get rid of Brandon. That makes me feel good about the way U-M is being run and that they're sticking to higher principles than some of 'other schools'.
Does anybody really want a solid gold toilet? I mean even if I was disgustingly, filthy rich, I would still take that solid gold toilet and have it melted down into solid gold bricks. Then I'd go out and buy one of those high-tech Japanese toilets with the built-in bidet and plays waterfall sounds to make your bathroom experience calm and serene.
with that kind of money you go out and hire your own personal ball washer. Be creative.
/stolen from Lewis Black
is that Hackett reached out to speak with him during the CC. I would have loved to hear that conversation.
we're going after Jim Harbaugh. Don't try to hire him to coach the Dolphins.
my response could have been read that way. I should have been more clear.
I don't imagine that Hackett speaks to DB. Unless DB is drunk dialing him at 1am. Which is entirely possible. .
In my head, DB has spent the last several months in his bathrobe, never leaving the house and only bathing when he's forced to. He has a beard and is pretty much constantly drunk or high on prescription pills.
I would not be that excited for football season if Brandon and Hoke were still here. Now the anticipation is killing me.
Not that excited is an understatement. I don't know how many games I would have been able to stomach beyond the first quarter.
but more importantly, he's not afraid to the obvious thing. . .
Between this and another recent decision that I won't mention because of the no-politics rule, I'm liking Schlissel more and more. Mary Sue let a lot of things slide, but Schlissel seems to be fixing them as quickly and efficiently as I could have hoped. At least, it seems to be working so far - it'll take a bit to see how things turn out, of course.
So far, so good. I'm under the impression that it was a benefit to UofM that Schlissel came in not understanding the whole "Michigan Football" thing. It allowed him to approach the issue without any bias, view it with a clear mind, and make the best decisions for the entire University that he is now in charge with. He spoke to the right people to gain an understanding of just how important athletics are to the culture and community of our University. And needless to say, I believe he gets it now.
who was greatly concerned about the Schlissel hire, at least as it related to athletics, due to his IVY background.
I'm glad I was wrong. He's doing a great job so far.
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The first type is a Boss. The second type is a Leader.
And Leaders are Best. (Sorry - couldn't resist.)
Best line from article: Dominoes began to fall for Brandon over the summer.
Dominoes began to fall for Brandon over the summer, when the regents rejected a routine approval to use fireworks at an upcoming game; when students, frustrated by the team's lackluster play, rallied in front of the president's house to complain about ticket prices; when an online petition pushed for his ouster. Mounting losses and the concussion controversy over Shane Morris didn't help. Video of a wobbling quarterback staying in the game came to symbolize a poorly managed program, compounding internal squabbling between the athletic department, the president's office and a few regents over a news release on Morris issued at 1 a.m.it looks like they collected all the facts and then garbled the narrative by re-assembling them in the wrong order. I'm surprised to see Chengalis' name (along with a Mr. Daniel Howes) name on the article, considering how well she has done by us in the past. I wonder if someone somehow slipped this one by under her name without giving her a full look at it?
Maybe Ross is just being humble. I am %100 positive his opinion matters. Maybe it didn't help on the Brandon front, but surely he had a say. Otherwise, Hackett would not have reached out to him in the first place. Here's the key paragraph:
"Mounting losses and the concussion controversy over Shane Morris didn't help. Video of a wobbling quarterback staying in the game came to symbolize a poorly managed program, compounding internal squabbling between the athletic department, the president's office and a few regents over a news release on Morris issued at 1 a.m."
Nothing was going to save Brandon after that. There were too many issues that preceded this. Ticket prices, student seating, App St scheduling, Coke for tickets etc.
Don't get me wrong, Brandon did do a lot of good things. They were just overcome by too many mistakes and losing the fans, students, and alumni confidence. To say he can be arrogant is an understatement. I have met with him at several donor events. So, I do have an educated opinion about him. Regardless, we are in great hands with Jim Hackett right now!
Go Blue!
Lloyd Carr made the comment, "Brady won't survive this" the night of the MInnesota game at dinner.
I hate to see people lose their dream jobs. However, it was necessary and I think we are much better off right now. I have been going to games for 33 years and to see those empty seats in the Big House hurt! It showed how far we have truly fallen. Fast forward to this year and the spring game. I highly doubt we see 10 - 12,000 empty seats!
I'm just curious how you know this?
but also some terrible ones, and his need to be in control and visible did him in when things got tough.
I completely agree with the arrogance statement. His photo should be posted next to the definition of hubris.
I think you are spot on about the Ross being humble bit. No one, other than Ross, knows how he really felt about Brandon. He is a smart business guy and he could also see all the negative issues surrounding DB, and he probably would have done the same if he were AD.
But, it looks good politically for all sides if he comes out and says that I still wanted DB, but they didn't listen to me for the follwoing reasons:
- Makes our University look like it has a backbone and does not kowtow to big money donors, and
- Makes Ross look more likeable and not an overbearing big money donor like T.Boone Pickens at Okla St. or Phil Knight at Oregon.
And both DB and BH got their severance payments and we got JH & JH - just noticed the double JHs. So a win-win-win-win-win-win-win situation all around.
..." I support him," and "I support him but I am not going to get involved," are two very different statements. The prior is a statement of intent, the later is window dressing to preserve relationships. Ross provided the latter. The rest is history.
I think Ross can appreciate the fact, although he would rather have Brandon, overall this is the best for the University in the long run. He knows as well as any of us: that it was either Brandon or Harbaugh. You couldn't have both.
Sorry, Ross, I know you've contributed a ton to this university and I'm grateful for that, but a change needed to be made.
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