Future spring break trips: South Africa 2019, Brazil 2020, Cuba 2021

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on December 6th, 2018 at 6:03 PM

Haven't heard this yet.

South Africa in 2019

Brazil in 2020

CUBA in 2021! 

Crazy. 

 

#Michigan is heading to South Africa in 2019, Brazil in 2020, and Cuba in 2021. It's a big part of why the parents of 4-star Florida State LB commit @KalenDeloach are telling him Jim Harbaugh's plan is the best one for him (VIP) https://t.co/5n2roSBUHD pic.twitter.com/a5Wd0FCPkA

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) December 6, 2018

joeyb

December 6th, 2018 at 7:28 PM ^

As far as scheduling, as long as they can go to 4 divisions, I think it solves more problems than it creates. Play the 3 teams in your division, 4 teams in another division (rotating), and one rival in the other two divisions for 9 games total. You'd see 6 teams every year and rotate the other 3 out every 1-2 years, which means you'd still be going 4 years without playing certain teams or you wouldn't get the home and home with those 9 teams. The "problem" would be what to do for the conference championship game after. Either you'd need to go with a 4-team playoff from each division, take best two, or take the highest ranked team in either set of two divisions that played a round robin.

Ger Sauden

December 6th, 2018 at 8:25 PM ^

Hey  who doesn't  like seeing cars from the 50's?

 

Seriously, the girls there!! The hottest girl I ever saw was in a parade at half time of a soccer game in Cuba.

But Cuba is very much sheltered from the outside world. A friend of mine talked to a girl when he was there. They somehow got on the topic of the war in Iran. She had never heard of it, or of the name Saddam Hussein. Very sad.

bronxblue

December 6th, 2018 at 6:24 PM ^

This is true. Brazil also isn't a particularly fun place for a lot of denizens. 

I think it's always hard in situations like this because it's definitely a vacation and will likely ignore many of the larger problems in an area, but perhaps exposing these guys to other cultures and their struggles will make them better world citizens.

DrMantisToboggan

December 6th, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^

Yeah, and if that's the angle Jim is taking here, then maybe it's worthwhile. Cuba is a scary place for those who have to live there.

People steal and eat others' farm animals because they're starving, and that animal is sometimes the only thing that person had to make money/produce food.

Staff at restaurants are assigned days of the week where they get to take home the scraps left on people's plates - people are ecstatic over taking home 3 chicken wings for their children.

People wait weeks to get new supplies of things we can buy by the ton at Costco, like toilet paper. 

My cab driver wouldn't talk to me about the horrors in his life because he was afraid that he was being listened to, and he knew people that have disappeared. 

Cuba is hell, but it can be an eye-opening, learning experience.

Jack Be Nimble

December 6th, 2018 at 7:10 PM ^

This is a really ignorant take, and it's difficult to imagine that it wasn't influenced by politics. Cuba is a solidly middle income country. It's certainly a much worse place to live than the great wealthy democracies of the West, but if Cuba is hell, so is half of the world.

There haven't been country-wide food emergencies in Cuba since the mid-90's. No one is ecstatic over chicken wings. Your picture of a populace on the precipice of mass starvation is simply not true.

4godkingandwol…

December 6th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^

You’re wrong. Just take a look at average life expectancy for Cuba. It’s a meager 79.1 years because of their wretched squalor. Compare that to the US which is a healthy 79.3 years, a whole (wait for it) one spot ahead of Cuba in the world rankings. 

So... I guess the US is a shithole where people are eating one another’s babies just to get by. 

4godkingandwol…

December 6th, 2018 at 8:52 PM ^

Actually, I can’t think of many better indicators to show a country is not starving as you say than average life expectancy. Believe me, I am no fan of central governments and have spent a long time advocating against them in multiple careers. But your hyperbolic statements aimed at creating a negative view of Cuba’s centrally controlled institutions don’t pass any critical examination. There are MANY ways to show how the country’s policies have failed. Claiming people are starving and stealing one another’s livestock as a means to prevent starvation is not one of them. 

Regardless, a trip to Cuba is a great learning experience to show the perils of poor governance and the damage of a centrally controlled economy while also showing a strong people’s will to survive and in some aspects, like healthcare and education, actually thrive. 

jcorqian

December 6th, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^

Dude, no offense, but have you been there?  I spent 10 days there, living as richly as possible, and it was an absolute shithole.  I grew up in China back when it wasn't the modern marvel it is today...  I mean fresh off real communist shit China.  Cuba was like that but only worse.

While I do think literal starvation may be an exaggeration, it was an highly unpleasant place.

4godkingandwol…

December 6th, 2018 at 8:42 PM ^

It’s been about 12 years since I’ve been there. But prior to that, in a life long forgotten, I worked at the World bank and other development orgs. I spent about 30 days in Cuba over 4-5 trips with WB where we actually looked at how Cuba had positive health outcomes relative to economic wealth. True, it is not a first world country. It is also not a shithole. I’ve been to those places, mostly in Africa, and believe me Cuba is thriving relative to those countries. 

DrMantisToboggan

December 6th, 2018 at 8:28 PM ^

I’m speaking of interactions I had in Cuba, with actual Cuban people, this year. When you stay with Cubans, travel with Hispanic people, and speak Spanish, and you aren’t just the white tourist in the tourist areas with American money, you get a good taste of the real Cuba.

Solidly middle income is an insane statement. Cuba is hell.