I spend 250 dollars on two tickets and people expect me to not use them? LOL must be nice to be rich enough to throw away a $250 invest. ($400 if you add in tailgate costs)

I'll be there. I'm expecting more sludgefart, but I'll be there. The People Who Decide will decide about Brandon one way or another. Personally, I'd like him gone yesterday.

What is missed in the piece is the opportunity to demonstrate on a national stage and still support our players.

Why is it assumed that students coming in after the game starts are not supporting players?

This is not an even playing field.  Brandon can schedule TV interviews at the drop of a hat and have Stephen Ross give him letters of support. A display before a national TV audience is the closest thing to a quid pro quo that the students will ever have to express their feelings.

Just my .02.

 

I'm so pumped for Saturday. I'm going in expecting to get our asses kicked but it's the 1 game this year I was able to make it to and I am going to make the best of it. We're going to be partying starting at 8 AM at Pioneer. Steaks, wings, sausages, beer, cigars and more. Great chance to see people you never see other than these games.

I'm against the boycott, but that was terribly written and argued. The first two points are basically the same - support the players. He then ends this masterpiece by telling us to trust the authorities, meanwhile filling in the spaces with trigger phrases like "time-honored tradition" and "victors and best" (instead of leaders and best). There are better arguments against the boycott than just telling us to trust the AD. Who are you to tell us to trust them? As far as know, this person has no insight into how an Athletic Department operates and his words carry no weight. All we know are the results we've seen. I agree that the boycott is not a good idea but I don't agree with the reasons he came up with.

Your title seems to have a few extra words. It should be:

 

Student Government... is a bad idea

Overthrow the student government!

won't be a hot topic for the MGoTailgate this Saturday.  Really doubt any of the formers players are going to join in any boycott, either kickoff or the game itself.  No boycott for me - too few chances to watch Michigan football live, even though I'm a season ticket holder, and YES I want Brandon and Hoke gone.

Go Blue!

The entire article rests on the idea of the fans as community and what not while ignoring that it was the administration its defending that has worked so hard to turn community into commodity and fans into customers.

The fans are just now finally treating Michigan football by its bottom line, entertainment value, brand pride, etc.  How long has the administration been doing it.  Why not balance this letter out with a call for the the administration to stop marginalizing the fans, students, band, former players, etc. with its actions?

I'm not pro- or anti-boycott -- I tend to think it's probably not the best way to show our discontent, to be honest -- but that letter is the dumbest possible 'anti-boycott' statement I can imagine.

The guys at MgoBlog HAVE BEEN implictly calling for a boycott whether they care to admit it or not. Just refer to the MgoBlog podcast 6.5  (two Monday's ago) when Ace said he would "not go to the Maryland game" (see Minute 16:26) and shortly thereafter floated the idea of a "walkout" or a "no show" of the students. 

As I've been poiting out our program is toxic and it starts with our fans.  Although I love the guys at MgoBlog I cannot get behind this ridiculous initiative. It does more harm than good. And from a player's perspective its unforegiveable...

Anyone thinking of boycotting give your head a shake. How does that help the current situation and what message does that send to kids who potentially want to come here and make this team better? It doesn't get Brandon or Hoke fired and faster. Want to voice your displeasure? Hold a sign, wear a tshirt, start a chant. Don't just not show up.

Let me know how it goes. I will be boycotting until Brandon is gone. Brandon can kiss my ass

student section to hold up a sign to fire Brandon. There is reason to discourage our players. Just let the world know how we feel about Brandon.

Something like this but instead have fire Brandon on it.

I really hope that those advocating boycott are just the vocal minority. It is just so irrational to boycott a Michigan football game. Someone please explain to me how advocating boycott is not a prime example of someone being a fair weather fan??

This is my first post here although I read mgoblog assiduously. I’m nearly 70, graduated M in 1970 and was in the student section when Bo took his team onto the field and beat Woody’s NC osu team. Having experienced the 60s and M’s campus alive with antiwar and anti-Nixon protestors I can tell you student power does have an impact. There are 3 generations of M grads in my family, 4 if you count my Son’s 6 year old daughter who started attending games this fall. We are both financially and emotionally invested in M football in many ways. You can make a difference with a boycott of the game and still support the players by remaining in the corridors and not entering the stadium until the KO. Why? Some of you may know that the President’s Advisory Council is having scheduled meetings this week. You may not know that Steven Ross – the donor that has given millions to the U will be in attendance. So will all eight Regents. Observers believe that Dave Brandon’s leadership of the athletic department will be on the Council’s agenda. So what you say? Ross (the money) and the Regents (the power) will be in the President’s Suite for the game on Saturday. By your absence in the stadium (until KO), you can send a powerful message to the money and the power that you are dissatisfied with the trajectory and the course of the M football program. Moreover, the game is televised on ESPN2. While this is not ABC prime, sports journalists looking for a story will jump on an empty, or nearly empty M stadium. It is pressure from the press that brought Nixon down. It can, and likely will, bring Dave Brandon down. I don’t need to tell Michigan students how important responsible protesting is. Boycott the game in a way this is appropriate and meaningful to you.

This letter is garbage. Please explain how this is VERY well written aside from the fact that it is, uh, in coherent English? I guess with our head coach, that constitutes a win nowadays.

I'm thinking you ditch the boycott both for Penn State and for Maryland because it is not targeted enough to the complaint or to the recipient of the message.  The reality is that because the team is performing poorly and students are notorious for showing up late anyway, any message of the boycott will be muddled with the team's poor performance on the field.  So, I have no problem with boycotts.  I just don't think the message is effectively targeted in this case.

I suggest more targeted forms of protesting that go straight to the AD's policies in ways that the President and Regents may be more willing to hear:

• I really like the idea of boycotting concessions.  That goes straight to the bottom line.
• Circulate "Fire Dave"  or "Bring back Michigan" stickers for people to put on their water bottles and such.  You could either bring them to the Stadium with the expectation that they will be confiscated upon entry, and just make sure the Michigan Daily gets a good picture of it  -- perhaps a long row of cups lined up by the recycle bin outside the stadium.  Or just circulate the stickers and put them on things once you get inside and smile for the tv camera.  Or a combination of the two.  Getting a few choice photos on national TV will raise the profile much more than an empty seat at kickoff.
• Protest ticket prices by throwing ramen noodle packages onto the field when they announce stadium attendance.  I'm thinking that throwing Ramen Noodles would be harmless like throwing marshmallows, but I'm willing to concede this one if it would present a safety risk. 
• You could also throw packages of Ramen Noodles on the President's lawn, like every fucking day.  Just cover it.  I choose Ramen Noodles because of its association with poor students.  There may be a better choice.
• Every time they finish piping in rawk musik, continue singing the song but on some variation of the tune on "Fire Dave".  You get the point. 
• I also like Brian's idea of turning the "Goooooo!  Bluuuuuue" chant into a "Fire Daaaave" chant.   
• Above all, voice well-reasoned complaints to the Regents and to the President through student government and letter writing.  

I'm an Alum that is pretty far removed from student life at this point.  I'm drawing more from my fairly extensive public policy backround to recommend an overarching more targeted strategy, so don't get caught up in the specifics.  Michigan has a long history of supporting its teams even when they have struggled.  The key here is more targeted ways of voicing objections that differentiate between dissatisfaction over AD policies that are compromising UM culture and community goodwill versus team performance on the field.  And then be persistent with the message over time. 

I do think the President and maybe the Regents will eventually get the message that Michigan Football is not just a profit maximizing business but has been and should continue to be an integral compontent to the Michigan culture.  Many of them are in academics and not on Wall Street for a reason. 

That anyone is considering boycotting and someone has to ask them not to speaks volumes as to where this football program is. It needs to be fixed and NOW.

On the contrary, I didn't see any compelling argument for not boycotting.  Their three "reasons" consist of:  Don't hurt the players, support the players, and we are the leaders and best (so trust the AD).

Could someone explain to me how playing in front of 80,000 fans rather than 110,000 fans "hurts" the players?  Aside from pride, etc. how is anyone hurt?  Does anyone lose a scholarship or suffer any other harm, other than simply knowing that some fans chose not to go to the game?