Spath rant on Michigan Football's lack of fan engagement

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on January 9th, 2019 at 6:18 PM

Listening to WTKA the other day and found this to be an interesting rant that he had. Anyone else agree here?

Usually can't stand Spath but I found myself agreeing with him. Throw the fans a bone sometime. 

 

Kevin13

January 9th, 2019 at 7:12 PM ^

Spath is an idiot and this rant is stupid. Maybe we should let a fan get on the headset during the game and call a couple of plays.  Does he really think making players take selfies with fans really connects you to the program?  Look go out and win football games and the fans will love and support you 

Night_King

January 9th, 2019 at 6:22 PM ^

I'll take winning over anything else. I will pay money to support the program if it is winning big games and competing for championships. I don't care about the extra stuff, but I do understand his points. 

newtopos

January 9th, 2019 at 8:00 PM ^

Dear Jim,

Remember how in laser tag at your bachelor party you won by going after the 10-year-old (the weakest opponent)?  Why do you not employ that strategy in football -- i.e., exploit the weakest link on a defense (rather than bunch all of our players and the other side's best players into a phone booth to see whether we can gain a yard (or less) on third/fourth down)?

Respectfully yours in football....

 

maizenbluenc

January 9th, 2019 at 6:42 PM ^

I think they withdrew into a submarine and didn't come out these last two seasons.

In 2016 we had Signing of the Stars and whatever the pep rally thing was that happened on State Street at MDen which drove a lot of excitement. Also, there was a spring game.

All of that gave a vibe of confidence that was missing in 2017 and muted in 2018.

Then again Saban doesn't get all warm and fuzzy with the fans. That is one thing Dabo does well.

Blue in Paradise

January 9th, 2019 at 7:44 PM ^

Thought crossed my mind too.  I love that picture - please tell me that was an actual action shot and not just a set up to make fun of Bama stereotypes.

what is the over/under on the number of teeth per gump?  I am no oddsmaker bit I will start the bidding at 14.

Blue in Paradise

January 9th, 2019 at 7:44 PM ^

Thought crossed my mind too.  I love that picture - please tell me that was an actual action shot and not just a set up to make fun of Bama stereotypes.

what is the over/under on the number of teeth per gump?  I am no oddsmaker bit I will start the bidding at 14.

waliwiz1

January 9th, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^

The Students, the Alumni, and the educators should be a part  of the U of M family, right along with all the athletic teams. They should be part of the Football team. The same with season ticket holders.

The fair weather fans not so much. But Harbaugh should encourage access between the team and the above fans if he hasn't been. I don't go in for that much so I don't get upset.

I agree with Spath.

Wolverine Devotee

January 9th, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^

28 of Michigan's 29 teams make an effort to reach out to fans in some way. 

You can tell John Beilein appreciates the support. After the PSU game last week as he was on his way to his press conference he shook everyone's hand he passed coming down the stairs to the media room and said "thank you for rooting for us".

 

You Only Live Twice

January 9th, 2019 at 10:14 PM ^

Yes and give tickets away for free.

Spath tries to be reasonable, in fact sometimes he tries too hard.  Occaisonally some of his tangents are just not worthy of airtime.  He's got a co-host, Shaw (?), who has a much more consistently easygoing style.

OwenGoBlue

January 9th, 2019 at 6:53 PM ^

Players get plenty of fan interaction by attending the university.

Pricing complaints are valid but making guys take selfies has nothing to do with that. We are not owed any of their scant personal time. 

Mike Damone

January 9th, 2019 at 6:54 PM ^

I wish some of those negative asshole "fans" who have been showing up here lately would become even less engaged. 

I hear Eastern Michigan is looking for a fan base - all negative Michigan fans who like to bitch should start rooting for them - they will always provide a ton of reasons to be cynical.

UESWolverine

January 9th, 2019 at 7:09 PM ^

I noticed this weird negative trend when OSU got beat by Clemson and a vocal part of that OSU fan base was outwardly criticizing Urban and some nut-jobs saying he should be fired. I'm seeing that now with Saban too. The guy just won 5 National Championships - if anyone deserves the benefit of a doubt - it's that guy, but yet a-holes are creeping up saying negative things about him from his own base.

Nobody has realistic expectations anymore. It's nuts. And I thought for sure I would never see that with our fanbase, just because of things like losing to Rutgers and Toledo, but there's just no avoiding it. We got a great coach and I hope he realizes that the majority of the fan base supports him. I look at it like this - our coach won a bunch of college games as a coach and got an NFL job. He won a bunch of NFL games as a coach and took a team to the Super Bowl. That's the guy who is coaching my school. The guy also went to my school and knows what winning here means to us all. I'm going to put my trust in that guy, win or lose, and I don't care if we get selfie day with the team or not.