Dave Brandon Earns Inaugural IMLCA Extra Man Award
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/121313aab.html
The newly created award is presented annually to a university or college administrator who displays the highest level of support for the growth of lacrosse.
December 16th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
Well I figure it's never a bad thing when a UM adminstrator wins a positive award, so congrats to him.
December 16th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
Agreed, and I'm happy to see that Michigan's embracing lacrosse these days. There isn't really any such thing as "negative awards" in this business, though. A polarizing AD like Brandon probably will get more than his share of positive accolades without those accolades being balanced out on the other side by something that conveys that he is, in fact, polarizing.
Maybe I should start the "Turd of the Year" award or something to help solve this problem.
December 16th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^
i'm sure we will see a 10 min video of brandon receiving this award on the big screens at the opening football game next season.
December 16th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^
........................................................................................ Herm? Is that you in my head?
December 16th, 2013 at 2:16 PM ^
By NOT saying anything at all.
December 16th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
Is there any other person even in consideration? I mean, he made both teams DIV 1 programs, is giving them facilities and resources. Good to receive, but seems pretty obvious if that is what the award is based on.
December 16th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
Congrats Dave, this program is going big places in the years to come.
December 16th, 2013 at 1:00 PM ^
Well deserved. B1G Lacrosse is a big step for collegiate lacrosse.
December 16th, 2013 at 1:03 PM ^
That's um....random.
December 16th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^
December 16th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
you can get lost...
December 16th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
December 16th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
December 16th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^
Dave Brandon is the DEVIL
December 16th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
I find that to be highly unlikely. Maybe a high-ranking henchman, but not the actual devil himself.
December 16th, 2013 at 5:04 PM ^
December 16th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
I usually go to either this event or the US Lacrosse convention, which is in January. I chose the USL convention this year. Had I known he was going to be there, I would have attended. Great for Michigan for him to get this kind of recognition, and his attendance in Baltimore at a lacrosse luncheon further demonstrates his commitment to the sport.
December 16th, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^
I heard he made sure lacrosse was being played on a field with a giant noodle as the midfield emblem, with a DJ playing Pop Evil as the he shrunk the student section and enforced assigned general admissions. All the while he was literally branding the lacrosse players with the block M.
Just kidding. Good work in regards to lacrosse, Dave.
December 16th, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
I really do think this is great and all, but to put it in perspective, Dave Brandon is not the first athletic director at Michigan to try to put lacrosse on the map. He's just the only one who had a surplus large enough that he could put up a program for men AND women in order to get around both the Title IX and financial roadblocks that faced Bill Martin when he mulled it over a few years earlier. What held back lacrosse was the same reason men's soccer took forever and a half to go varsity (after YEARS of trying), just as much as it's the same reason women's hockey has been knocking at the door since the mid-1990s.
When the men's club lacrosse team was winning like crazy in the mid-2000s, Athletics was trying all they could to raise the profile on campus, the biggest example being the much-publicized game against Johns Hopkins over at Elbel. The money just wasn't there. So, basically, just like the massive facilities upgrade, Dave Brandon pushed a half-finished Bill Martin project over the top, and Martin gets next to no credit when the accolades are handed out.
December 16th, 2013 at 9:31 PM ^
And Brandon gets criticized for being a money grubbing bastard.
For all the bellyaching about how much of an elitist Brandon is and how he screws over the average fan to suck up to big donors, he sure seems to spread the wealth to the non revenue sports.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:51 AM ^
I don't disagree with your premise that Martin doesn't get enough credit for many of the projects he started, but I have to disagree about lacrosse. The one positive impact he had on the program was elevating it to "varsity club" level in 2001. Other than that, he pretty much ignored the sport as far as I could tell. Athletics had nothing to do with Hopkins and Army coming to scrimmage the club team in 2007. That's why the game was at Elbel instead of at an athletic department facility. That event was scheduled by JP (he and the Hopkins and Army coaches are close) and run by the Recreational Sports Department, which oversees club sports. I was one of the many alums in attendance (it was a great night that made me really proud to have been part of the program), and I remember that Bill Martin was supposed to make an appearance but never showed. The Army AD, who is now the Maryland AD, was there by the way. I had an opportunity to chat with him.
Until a few years ago the athletic department technically oversaw the rec sports department, but the two had virtually nothing to do with each other. Now rec sports is completely separate from athletics.
December 16th, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^
^^^ made me laugh. Thanks.