Where to even begin? Front page Freep headlines.

Submitted by Section 1 on

Where does one even begin, in deconstructing David Jesse's completely-garbage report on booster donations to the Michigan athletic department.

The headline might be one place, although Jesse no doubt doesn't write headlines.  Giving to the Athletic Department has "Soared" under Brady Hoke?  Even Jesse's own reporting notes that donations had already started to climb -- up 14% -- in Rodriguez's last months.

There might have been a story here; that donations are up, due to a vastly improved economy, and final sales (after a rush of intial pre-sale purchases to the most inside of Athletic Department insiders) of suites.  Dave Ablauf apparently did his level best to give David Jesse that story:

Although an uptick in the economy might have helped, the timing of the increase points to one thing -- the hiring of Brady Hoke to replace Rich Rodriguez.

Athletic department spokesman Dave Ablauf downplayed it, saying the increase is in large part because of work done by the athletic development office in selling seats. He said a big reason suites weren't sold out last year was because those selling the suites were selling something no one had ever seen.

"There might be a slight correlation (with Hoke's hire)," Ablauf said Tuesday. "(But) that number is primarily because of the suite sales."

But the Freep wouldn't have it.  They had to have the "get Rodriguez" angle.

And so, the resort to "some fans."  Sounds a lot like "some current and former players and their parents."  We know about that one.  Anyway, "some fans" are apparently a critical journalistic source:

Although athletic department officials would not make a direct link to Hoke, some fans did.

"It's all about Hoke," said Ted Walls, who splits premium seats with a friend. "(Rodriguez) lost too much, plus there was all that off-the-field stuff. We're just glad they decided to go back to someone who knows Michigan. We didn't really want to give them any money to support (Rodriguez), but we really like Hoke, everything he is saying. I think you'll see a lot of fans who gave up on the program coming back now that Hoke is in charge."

Does anybody know "Ted Walls"?  If so, I think it would be nice to hear from him, and get his side of his interview with David Jesse.  But you go downhill pretty rapidly after Ted Walls, who is at least a part-owner(?!) of some premium seats.  You get to Mike Warren.  Who, uh, has tickets through his wife's brother's cousin's friends' grandparents' family:

Ticket holder Mike Warren of Grand Rapids, who has tickets through his wife's family, said he thinks it is all about Hoke.

"Me and some friends were actually talking about getting some of those club seats, but they sold out before we got them," he said recently. "We weren't going to do it if RichRod was still there, but I think Brady is going to turn this whole program around."

But if "some fans" aren't good enough for you, there is always the ever-reliable "many fans."  "Many fans" are good if, like, you have no data and the data you do have just totally sucks:

Many fans were discontented with Rodriguez during his three years prowling the sidelines. They didn't like that he broke a long streak by not going to a bowl game, brought NCAA sanctions to the program for the first time, and some didn't warm up to him as football coach because he wasn't a "Michigan man."

Let's be fair to David Jesse; he's a skilled writer.  Skilled enough, to write a cleverly meaningless paragraph like that.  And "prowling" is a nice touch, wouldn't you agree?  Every word of it is true, just like every word of this alternative paragraph is true:

Many fans admired Rodriguez during his three years commanding the sidelines. They didn't like that he was the main vicitm of a front-page Free Press story in 2009, that made substantially false and misleading allegations about the football program's compliance with NCAA sanctions, which led to an investigation which badly hurt the program for most of Rodriguez's last two years, and which in the end turned up violations which were vastly less serious and which might well have been "secondary" violations but for the splashy Free Press campaign against Rodriguez.

Naturally, I have grave misgivings about linking to the story, or even recommending that any of you read it.  What I do assure you, is that if you do decide on your own to read it, you will not go more than a paragraph and a half, without face-palming yourself and thinking, "That's crazy...  No, that's a gross abuse of that statistic...  Wait, I know that's not a true statement..."

And as always, there is the qualifier:  It really seems that nothing, but NOTHING sells newspapers and webpage-hits for the Freep, quite like its never-ever ending personal vendetta against Rich Rodriguez.

 

Don

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:22 AM ^

And I believe Section 1 has done a great job in deconstructing the nature of the Freep's coverage of RR's tenure. However, I think it's silly to assert or imply that the coaching change has had no role in increasing donations, just as it would be silly to claim that there weren't many thousands of Michigan fans who were eager to see RR let go, for reasons that were based on the results on the field and for reasons that were rooted in irrelevant and frequently fictitious off-the-field mythology.

As for Michigan's "vastly improved" economy playing a significant role in the improved financial picture, I don't see any evidence of such an improvement in general across the state. Whatever improvement has been spotty and weak, compared to the large majority of post-WW II recoveries from typical business-cycle recessions. This recession is a different animal.

dahblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:20 AM ^

In the world of selling tickets for events, excitement makes a big difference.  Period.  Many people were unhappy with the direction under RR and most people are very excited about the current path of the program.  That sells tickets (and PSD).  Having Nebraska, ND and OSU at home also sells tickets (and PSD).

Rich is gone.  The "practice" violations will fade into history (if you stop ranting about them).  The sky has cleared in A2.  This article isn't an outrage; it's common sense - people invest more in a program when they see success on the horizon.

Michael Scarn

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^

That there's a correlation, I think your example isn't great. Ticket sales for every NFL team saw a considerable uptick when the lockout ended as both renewals and new buyers were waiting to make sure there would be football. An overall increase in season tix, sure, but let's not confine it to this short, accelerated ticket market.

Callahan

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:23 AM ^

Where would your alternative paragraph even fit into the story?

Certainly it's circumstantial that the donations are up and it started right about the time Rodriguez was fired. And Ablauf offers an alternative theory that it's related to premium seats. But isn't it possible or even likely that they are both right: people plunked down money for premium seats because of Hoke (or, alternatively, because Rodriguez was fired?) 

By the way, I liked the part where you seem to doubt that "Ted Walls" exists and lessen his fandom because he sunk a large chunk of money into half a premium seat. A man can't be "All In" unless he's paying for games against Western AND Eastern. And what about that closet Spartan who gets tickets through his wife's family? What a pussy, right?!

Section 1

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:35 AM ^

You are all right.

I don't know what possessed me, to  post a thread, about a front-page story in Michigan's largest daily newspaper, concerning Michigan Athletic Department fundraising (along with Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez as story-props), when I could have posted a thread about...

Casey Anthony in Ohio:

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/casey-anthony-surfaces-ohio

Geaux_Blue

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^

this story affects... nobody. Fundraising gains = yay. the fact you are now waging campaigns based upon an arguably factual and fair article against RR just shows you're obsessed on a topic nobody cares about. again, create a Michigan blog and write in it. if there's an interest, you'll have a readership. the fact you have about a 95% negative response (many, not some!) to your post(s) should not be met with ridicule and obnoxious elitism. instead you should ask yourself "why am i spending time writing something nobody wants to read?"

long and short of it is this: you're not winning people over with your posts. nobody is canceling their subscription because of this. fight the good fight elsewhere - you, in my opinion, make the fanbase look petty and obsessed by posting such content on the blog.

maizenbluenc

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^

point of view on the annarbor.com and thought we'll be hearing from Section 1 today. I click back over and there is the Freep post on the board. Open it up and there is Section 1.

First, I should say what a sensationalist claim by the Freep.

Second, Section 1 is right to call them out on it.

Third, there really are fans like Ted Walls out there who just couldn't handle Rich's West-Virginian-non-Midwestern-ness. They really are eating up Brady Hoke, who is about as polished a speaker as Rich is, but his unpolished speak is in Midwestern vernacular with the added benefit of having been on Michigan staff in the past and knowing what syrup to feed them. (It should be known that I am a Fierce Pragmatist, and fawning over any coach makes me ill.)

So, I am sure that some of the increase in sales have come from "Hoke-is-so-awesome" wide eyed fans. But I would imagine more come from year two of premium seating. The word has gotten out that watching the game from an actual seat where you don't have to turn slightly sideways and overlap your shoulders with the person next to you is actually an enjoyable experience, even from way up high. And the economy was looking better for a while anyway.

Thus, I wasn't going to post up on the topic, but it is perfectly fine for Section 1 to point out the latest proof of the Freep's bias against Rich Rodriguez.

 

readyourguard

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:40 AM ^

Holy shit!  You mean some big money Michigan fans weren't happy with the on-field results and showed their displeasure by NOT donating to the school?  Proposterous!

/s

Give me an f'n break.  The results on the field sucked ass and if someone didn't want to buy a suite because of it, that's their perogative.  Get off your soap box.  The Rich Rod era is over.

burtcomma

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^

We'll know a lot more about all this and what is actually going on down the road after a couple of seasons.....How will the football team do this fall?  How many games will we win?  How is the economy in Michigan?  There are no facts other than giving is up, everything else is ancedotal.  WAIT FOR MORE DATA!

Meanwhile, in time, the 3 years of RR may well be seen as a blip on the radar of Michigan football history.......

MGoJoe

August 3rd, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^

As always, there are many contributors to an outcome. Some are independent and some are correlated. Do we know exactly what factors contributed to the increase? No. Will we ever know? No. Of course that doesn't stop the media and bored people from speculating and spining the story in the most provacative/controversial way possible. That's just the way it is, and is why I don't read media articles or get caught up in the controversy.

FREEP logic != causation

sheepdog

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^

I am not from Michigan, so forgive me for not knowing.  But why do I always here a collective GROAN everytime someone mentions the FREEP?  Are they anti-UM or just prickly journalists?

dahblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^

The Freep's ridiculously unprofessional tactics were a main factor leading to the firing of RR.

I wonder if RR's performance was a "main factor" in his firing?   

GoBlueInBama, here's the short version...The Freep overplayed their hand with the NCAA violations under RR.  There were indeed violations but not as severe as the paper alleged.  They also went wild for the Demar Dorsey story (prior criminal history) while ignoring MSU players with similarly questionable backgrounds.  That being said, some folks here can't allow themselves to accept the reality that RR didn't get the job done and was fired for that reason alone.  The violations (which also occurred under his watch at WVU) were real, albeit not mind blowing.  He would have won the press and fans over if he did a better job; but he didn't.  For some, it's easier to blame a newspaper than accept the fact that RR failed on his own accord.

maizenbluenc

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:52 AM ^

and maybe main factor is too strong. That would be giving the Freep too much credit.

I think it is safe to say the Freep had a serious journalistic bias (and editorial bias) against Rich Rodriguez, and sensationalizing otherwise minor stories did a lot to feed the split in the fan base, donor base, a football alumni base of the program. Those actions did bring an NCAA investigation down on the program, did make recruiting more difficult, and did cause other distractions that eroded team focus. (All the while the Freep had an opposite benefit of the doubt bias with Dantonio.)

In short, the Freep at the very least help to destabilize support for Rodriguez, perhaps to the extent that he was fired rather than given the chance at one more year with a new defensive staff. Whether he could have made hay of a theoretical one more year is a separate debate (I think not by the way).

 

blue in dc

August 3rd, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^

I think it is extremely unlikely that we would have had to deal with violations absent the Freep. Absent violations, the drumbeat wouldn't have been as loud. RR would have had more energy to focus on the team, Brandon wouldn't have had to spend energy on the violations and could have spent more of it helping RR and the team. I think it could have made a difference

jmblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^

Even if all that is true (and it's grasping at straws as it is), it doesn't change the fact that we did break NCAA rules.  Anonymous players blew the whistle.  You can argue that the Free Press overhyped the whole thing, but it had a right to report on the story.  We ultimately brought it on ourselves.  This is like blaming that lawyer, or Sports Illustrated, for OSU's scandal.

yoopergoblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^

RR bullshit excuse making has hit a whole new level with that line of reasoning.  The Freep had nothing to do with RR getting fired.  Going 15-22 over three seasons and going 0-6 against our two main rivals is what did him in.  He also broke NCAA rules and the program was put on probabtion because of it.  These are facts!  You can't blame a newspaper (!)  for a head  getting fired when he couldn't field a defense or win games in the Big Ten.

sheepdog

August 3rd, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^

While RR was fired because his record was dismal, I can see the paper playing a role in splintering the support and the fanbase.

Although, just by reading the articles and no influence of MGoBloggers, I always got the feeling they were trying to get in Dantonios shorts if anything and trying to stretch the truth about UM's recent issues like the violations and the coaching change.

jmblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^

You're giving that paper way too much credit.  Most of its readership is in the Detroit area.  Did you ever detect a greater amount of support for RR outside Metro Detroit than within it?  Me neither.

RR's bad record caused the fanbase to turn on him.  No coach - Hoke included - will be popular here if he goes 15-22.   If that's Hoke's record three years from now, no one will give a shit that he never wears red or has our total number of championships memorized.  People need to let go of their man-crush for RR and stop trying to find alternate explanations for his dismissal.

BigBlue02

August 3rd, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^

So I assume you were on board with firing Hoke at BSU for having a losing record after year 3, right? And I bet you were just as livid after years 4, 5, and 6 when he still had a losing record, right? Or are those not the FACTS about our current coach you wanted to focus on?

I also notice quite a few people leaving out beating Notre Dame twice when they mention our rivals. Or the fact that OSU was was cheating (as RichRod didn't go 0-6 against OSU and MSU) or the fact that MSU, in 2 out of the 3 years RichRod was here, had better seasons than most of the past 30 years. Just funny what type of facts people concentrate on to make a point.

The Barwis Effect

August 3rd, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^

I'm not sure Ball State fans give a s**t about their coach.  Why would any U-M fan care whether BSU's coach deserved a 4th, 5th, or 6th year?  Frankly, you're delusional if you think that coaching expectations are the same everywhere across the board.  Your post implies that you think they are, or at least that you think they should be.  U-M is a pressure cooker.  Ball State is not.  It's as simple as that.

P.S.  if it makes you feel better, RR went 2-7 against our rivals.

blueblueblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^

Section 1, your obsessive-compulisve, dim-witted rants are starting to make me appreciate the Freep all the more. I am not sure if this is your intended effect. 

wolverine1987

August 3rd, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^

I wish would stay away from the program permanently.  Anyone that "gave up" on the program because we had three down years and wants to return because they like the new coach is a turd.

lexus larry

August 3rd, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^

myself.

As I've posted elsewhere, I supported the team during a slew of miserable losses to Tressel, losses to teams that had no business being in the game (looking at you, Appy St), etc.  To imply that I wouldn't buy a PSD because I didn't like LC (or Debord, or Herrmann, or English) is, put simply, moronic.

If I had another $500 or $1000 to give, and knew the economy and job would still support it going forward, I'd bump my PSD for my seats.  At this point, I can't, so I didn't.  If I could have, it would have had nothing to do with the coach, and everything to do with improving my vantage and sightlines...  I can imagine Club Seat sales being of a similar line of thought/impact.

Mr. Yost

August 3rd, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^

Why does this matter?

Wouldn't most schools get a bump in sales after a new coaching change and 3 years of misery?

Indiana has a new coach and a top notch QB...would it be odd to see them get a spike in sales this year and next?

...I don't see the point.

 

Oh, and we have a kid, his name is Denard Robinson that everyone wants to see since they didn't expect his performance last season.

mlax27

August 3rd, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^

I find it amazing that the additional $5 million in lacrosse donations during the year were barely mentioned in the article when the total donation increase was $5.3 million. 

mlax27

August 3rd, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^

There were a couple main donors, however the entire purpose was to endow lacrosse scholarships to raise the team from club to varsity status.  That fundraising effort began in the fall and would have happened regardless of hoke or rodriguez. 

lexus larry

August 3rd, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^

How hard would it have been to ask, do some "investigative" journalism or ask "leading questions" to get this information.

Regardless, thanks for the update...really good info, and great news for U-M's newest varsity teams!

MichiganPhotoRod

August 3rd, 2011 at 10:46 AM ^

If this isn't a nonsensical diatribe about a generally unacceptable topic here I don't know what is.  Let us remove ourselves from this before people begin removing themselves from MGoBlog.

Someone pass me the Tylenol.

Section 1

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^

Let's just cheer Brady Hoke and gaze upon the awesome scoreboards.  Ooo-rah.  Oh, and Casey Anthony.

Never mind a front-page story about Athletic Department fundraising.  Such an "unacceptable topic here."

The perfect summation of today's comments comes in the form of fresh humor from The New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2011/08/08/110808sh_shouts_simms

In reply to by Section 1

Carcajous

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^

You still seem to not get it (maybe on purpose??).  The Casey Anthony thread sucked.  So does yours, not because you are pointing to a relevant article about UM athletics, but because you went off on a ridiculous rant.  It ain't the "topic" that sucks, it's your tired approach.

 

And, yes, let's cheer Brady Hoke.  And the scoreboards are pretty cool, too.

profitgoblue

August 3rd, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^

You know what, there's no reason to bash Casey Anthony.  She has a very nice chest and I, for one, am appreciative of all that point me in the direction of pictures thereof.

P.S.  These kinds of threads are what make the off-season fun.  If you don't like it, stop reading until the season starts.