Student Athlete Advisory Committee releases statement on Brandon
Uh.......okay?
Michigan's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee releases statement "standing behind" Dave Brandon http://t.co/9jM19JfW37
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) October 1, 2014
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee stands behind Dave Brandon and the entirety of Michigan Athletics concerning the events of the past few days.
As student-athletes, we are confident that each member of the Athletic Department acts with our best interests in mind. We applaud Dave Brandon for upholding the tradition and values of Michigan to the highest standard, encouraging us to be leaders and best in all aspects of life. As such, we fully support our Athletic Director and trust his ability to make decisions for our success and wellbeing.
It is important to remember that there are 931 student-athletes and 31 teams at the University of Michigan. These individuals and teams consistently achieve great success in every realm. The 2013-2014 academic year saw 5 Big Ten Championships, 1 Team National Championship, and 3 Individual National Champions. A total of 55 Wolverines were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, and 6 achieved Academic All-American honors. Student-athletes also collectively contributed hundreds of hours of community service and raised over $25,000 for charitable causes through last year’s Mock Rock performance. Simply put, as student-athletes we refuse to be defined by the successes or failures of any one team alone.
Competing for the University of Michigan is a privilege and an honor. The athletic community is often scrutinized, but at the end of the day we are one Michigan family; we support one another, and we appreciate the support of family, friends and fans.
On behalf of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee,
Thank you & Go Blue!
October 1st, 2014 at 8:42 AM ^
And the fact that you think "worth" is defined entirely in terms of revenue (within an educational context like a university) tells me even more. I ran track at Michigan. Was my team worthless?
October 1st, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
Well, again in technical terms, yes. Your team brought in no tangible revenue to the AD. In fact, your budget was subsidized by other sports, namely Football and Men's Basketball, and to a lesser extent Women's Basketball (though if you ran track long enough ago, we can remove the latter).
October 1st, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
So play that out. Revenue equals worth (a silly and narrow definition, and you know it, but OK). You must be the biggest Brandon supporter out there, then, right. I mean, he has greatly increased revenue.
That is rhetorical, of course. You don't like Brandon because you understand that the "worth" of something goes far beyond the dollars it brings in and even though he has increased revenue he has diminishd the "worth" of Michigan football.
October 1st, 2014 at 8:44 AM ^
Also, is the value of a team based on its revenue? If so, keep Dave Brandon foreva!!1!!!!1!!!! (Which you, I, and everybody else doesn't want)
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October 1st, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
none of the varsity sports are neccessary. Yes, football is needed to fund other sports. If we don't have non-revenue sports do we really need football at all? It's at best tangential to the educational mission.
As a fan, I enjoy following our teams. But we when only assign them value based on their bottom lines, what are we saying about the purpose of college athletics?
October 1st, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^
"But we when only assign them value based on their bottom lines, what are we saying about the purpose of college athletics?"
I don't know the answer to that but lately I'm becoming more and more uncomfortable with the way sports are run at major Universities and the relationship between the AD and the University in general. For example, with all the facilities upgrades going on, even for the more obscure sports on campus, there is very little in common between regular old students and student-athletes anymore. At some point, that is going to cause some serious problems and dissent. You have students paying upwards of $40,000 a year to attend the University and their facilities are no where near as nice as some of the ones for athletes that can't come close to covering their own expenses. That seems wrong.
It also seems grossly unfair that the programs that create an enormous amount of excess value don't benefit as much as they should and they subsidize other athletes. I have a real problem with football players that came up in family situations most of us could never fathom, end up subsidising scholarships for athletes that could easily pay their own way - like tennis players, for example.
October 1st, 2014 at 8:15 AM ^
If the general student body government made a statement like this, we would listen. But we won't listen to our ATHLETES about the ATHLETIC Department?
October 1st, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^
I want Brandon gone as much as the majority does because of the damage he and his antics have caused the football program, but I respect what you are saying here. The flagship of the AD of course is football, but the other programs should be looked at equally when it comes to forums* like the SAAC.
Yes, there may be a hint of "Stockholm Syndrome" as alluded to above in a post, but I see no meddling by administration to cause the SAAC to issue a statement like this.
It is the complete mismanagement of the football brand and quality coupled with the clearly incompetent handling of Shane Morris that pushed me once and for all into the fire Brandon/Hoke camp. It is sad, but it is needed.
*typed "fora" at first, but it looked a little pretentious, even though correct :)
October 1st, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
So because non-revenue athletes are happy, that means we should adopt their stance in support of Dave Brandon?
OK, let's do that. Let's go 6-6 (if we're lucky) every year because this guy hired a coach he can watch film with opposed to a Harbaugh or Sumlin. Let's watch the AD stumble through countless, embarrassing gaffes and then lie about them to our faces afterword. Let's watch Brandon force out the Jon Falk's and Bruce Madej's in exchange for some tone-deaf MBA's who don't know a damn thing about Michigan's history and culture, only about excel spreadsheets and bottom lines. Let's watch Michigan continue to be a national punchline every week.
But hey, the non-rev. athletes are happy!
October 1st, 2014 at 8:20 AM ^
who didn't have to donate to reserve the right to puchase tickets. . . .
October 1st, 2014 at 8:27 AM ^
Apparently the majority of SAAC doesn't have a sack.
October 1st, 2014 at 8:37 AM ^
going on, I try to stay positive by dreaming about the massive POSBANG that's going to occur when Dave Brandon is fired.
October 1st, 2014 at 8:58 AM ^
Clearly Stephen Ross has the SAAC in his back pocket. This one goes all the way to the top! It's a conspiracy I say! Conspiracy!
/s
October 1st, 2014 at 9:11 AM ^
No kidding they support him. His short-term focus on profits by gouging of football fans is what allows them to have shiny new multi-million dollar facilities.
October 1st, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
Let's not forget that of the $200 million donated by Ross last September, $100 million was earmarked for Student Athletics. It seems that the Ross/Brandon connection is what has served the athletes well. This $100 million was a large part of the $168 million project undertaking that included the new lacrosse stadium, rowing facility and track facility.....The complex naturally would have Ross' name on it. Forgive me if some or part of this project was changed but I'm just going from memory.
So yes Brandon is great from the business perspective but you can't forgive what he has done to the brand to get there.
As a season ticket holder I will reaffirm that he has alienated fans both alumni and non-alumni.
Brandon could have been a great guy in this position but........(insert your reasons here)
October 1st, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^
"We are one Michigan family. We support one another"
Tell that to Shane Morris...
October 4th, 2014 at 3:43 PM ^