Bacon tidbit that is not in Endzone
This morning on WLBY, 1290 AM Bacon gave a tidbit about the reason we played msu away two years in a row. "Dave was not the most popular AD in the B1G (shocker), They told him you can ether play twice there or will move one of them to Detroit." I was hoping he would elaborate more but alas he did not. It still doesn't make sense to me why we had to (other than the fact it was a way the B1G could smite DB) (divisonal realignments my ass) but at the end of the day I side with Bacon on his opinion that college game should be played on college campuses not racetracks or NFL stadiums. So happy we get em home this year. Even if the schedule is stupidly loaded every other year now...but thats a topic for another thread.
Go Blue!
August 26th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
@Ronnie Kaye - "probably earlier"? I can say definitely earlier since before the last 7 years we regularly beat Sparty...year in.....year out. Look at the all time record for proof. Football wasn't invented 7 years ago.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
"MSU's fun will be over soon" probably wasn't said at times when MSU ... wasn't having any fun. Context, dear boy.
August 26th, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^
Context is that even in their down years Sparty would occasionally win and even in their losses to us, threaten to win. There were a ton of Sparties telling me how it was just about their time. They were 10 years too early but right in the long run.
August 26th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
It still doesn't make sense to me why we had to (other than the fact it was a way the B1G could smite DB) (divisonal realignments my ass)
Umm, divisional realignment is exactly what it was. Story I've always heard (and I believe Ace and/or Seth said this too) was that ADs got to write three no-no's on what couldn't happen on the schedule and that Brandon's priorities were all related to the OSU game, thus he couldn't snuff out a scenario of possibly going to MSU twice in a row (as they did with other teams and other teams who came here twice in a row).
August 26th, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^
I don't remember those posts, I'll have to dig for them. That sounds very believeable.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
But it also means that MSU didn't object to playing UM and OSU away every other year 9as they will this year).
Maybe it wasn't Brandon that was being smitten by the B10 brass, but Hollis, and Michigan just got caught in the line of fire.
August 26th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
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August 26th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
August 27th, 2015 at 7:19 AM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 10:49 AM ^
"I talked to Brady and he said we can win as easy there as we can here." I'm paraphrasing but that is what DB told the media after the schedule got released. Then he doubled-down on his confidence by skywriting in EL.
August 26th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
This never would have happened without Brandon's consent or utter incompetence. As it stands now it needs to be fixed and I don't care It they have to re-align the whole damn B1G again to do it.
Some choice sky written words over Toys-R-Us HQ in Edison, NJ are in order.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
It's not getting changed. Live with it.
You may not care if they have to re-align the whole conference again to do it, but 13 other schools would.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
The only thing that would need to change was the MSU-Michigan home-away rotation. Having UM play at MSU twice in a row also meant that MSU had to play UM and OSU away every other year. It was an asinine solution to a non-problem.
If MSU had played at Michigan last year, the game would be in EL this year, and all three of OSU, MSU, and UM would be playing one of those games at home and one away, every year.
This is the easiest thing to fix ever; just have MSU return the favor and play in Ann Arbor two years in a row.
August 26th, 2015 at 2:48 PM ^
Of all the things MSU would never go for, playing in A2 two straight years might be at the top of the list. Remember that in the olden days, U-M hardly ever went to EL until the Big Ten interceded. We once got them in A2 for four straight years while they were a Big Ten member!
So no, State likely isn't going for that.
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August 26th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
If the other ADs were ganging up on Brandon, then he should have made a huge stink about this and/or found some way of gettting it leaked. As unpopular as Michigan is, it would be pretty hard for the B1G to publicly admit that they were purposely screwing us over like that. It's not as if it was inevitable.
August 26th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
Play twice in East Lansing or play second game at Ford? Makes no sense from any perspective.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
What confuses me about the whole thing is that the same thing happened to MSU. They play in Ann Arbor and Columbus this year, after getting them both at home last year. I'd think Hollis would have fought against that. Was getting us in EL two years in a row enough payment for crappy schedules every other year? Seems pretty short-sighted to me.
I know the B1G's justification for it is to look at UM, MSU, OSU, and PSU together and make sure there is balance between home and away between all of them, but there has to be a way to switch both ours and MSU's schedules to fix this for everyone.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
His track record as AD at MSU seems to have been a mostly successful one. I would guess that he's not any happier about how this worked out than we are.
Or maybe he's just way more interested in playing basketball games at neutral sites like Saturn. Either way.
August 26th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
There IS a simple fix. Play MSU at the big house two years in a row. MSU couldn't complain since they got to do it.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
to play the game in EL or Detroit and he chose EL? now Im pissed WHY would he do that? First of all he should haver NEVER allowed Michigan to have to lose a home game with MSU..NEVER thats bad enuf but if he had the option to move that 2nd game to Detroit and didnt thats dereliction of duty
August 26th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
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August 26th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
Don't take a team that is trying to get its feet under it and have it play twice at a stadium/location where people hate it.
To a certain extent I get 'Just play the game, wherever it is' but an AD should be an advocate for his team. Not some statesmen of the B1G.
August 26th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^
in which Brandon failed to deliver to the league and then the league stuck it to the Wolverines. Proposing that you move the Ohio State matchup to anytime on the calendar instead of its traditional date, without reason, made no sense.
But the reason to move it, of course, was so that the conference could then have the prospect of Michigan facing Ohio State in the conference champipnship game without concern whether the final game of the season decided the rivalry each year.
So, when that didn't pass public muster, Delaney said well, we gotta do what we gotta do, and nobody is gonna push Michigan's agenda in a vaccum. And Brandon had to spin the move of the push to change the biggest rivalry game in college football as an outsider play, when it was inside power play to gain leverage within the league and didn't pay off.
And the final fuck you to Michigan was getting two straight away dates in EL or the option of playing in Detroit, which the league knew wouldn't sell, and Brandon realizing he would get roasted locally, sold the notion that he was outgunned by the league and had to accept the scheduling change as is.
You know, Alabama has four road games this year. They play 8 at home. And MSU doesn't leave Michigan until October to play on the road.
Now, the national media and we can claim whatever we want about scheduling. But the truth is, that scheduling in college football is a science. And the programs that practice the science well, win big even when not great because they minimize impact to program superiority when roster changes and numbers fail to support outstanding seasons.
In the game inside the game, Dave Brandon fucked up bigtime and tried to downplay the outcome as if he were outgunned politically. Truth is, he got taken to the cleaners.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
I recognize the argument is more about schedule imbalance and appeal to the fanbase -- eg. not having all the marquis games one year and garbage (like last year's) the next but .....
Michigan hosted Minnesota two years in a row and also traveled to Evanston the past two years. So it wasn't just a matter of blowing the opportunity to get it right with the inclusion of Rutgers and Maryland (still don't get that, outside of TV demographics which is 100% the reason), it was a bizarre solution in many respects.
And ...the University of Michigan and Michigan State have been holding neutral site hockey games at the Joe for decades! And the crowds that those games draw are sell outs.
Colorado and Colorado State have been playing at Mile Hi Stadium in Denver for almost 20yrs now and aside from some who bemoan the "lack of campus experience" for those games and the occassional tear gassing by the cops, the attendance and neutral site approach has been just fine.
And for two programs like UM and MSU, the exponential difference in schools size and program prestige could have easily filled Ford Field during the past two years.
We're coming back for BYU, MSU and maybe OSU ...in addition to going to Salt Lake. As of now the only 2016 game we're eyeing is the Colorado game and that's in part because we live in CU and have many friends and family (myself included) who hold degrees from CU and the memories of the '94 & '96 games.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^
that goes in UM's favor this year: OSU plays Sparty the week before The Game.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
Some perspective: We are (finally) in the Big Ten East Division with Ohio State in a rich recruiting territory, and not in the "Legends" Division.
Oh, and Jim Harbaugh is our coach.
It worked out OK.
Nine days till kickoff.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
I think it festers because people want OSU and MSU on rotating years, the way it always was. At the time of schedule release, we viewed it as a large competitive disadvantage even though we now know it doesn't matter where that 2014 game was played - we were losing it.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
Sparty's run is nearing an end. This will all feel like a distant memory in a few years.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 12:31 PM ^
Time has proven me more correct than the clowns who keep saying that.
Fearless Leader Brian himself jumped on the train for a while and had some Sparty-is-going-nowhere posts from the late 2000s that look truly embarrassing for him now.
August 26th, 2015 at 1:47 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
Never has anything nice to say about Michigan, only our rivals and Rich Rod. Why he's here, I have no idea.
August 26th, 2015 at 1:54 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 8:30 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 10:57 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 11:00 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
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August 26th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
I'm sure you've been saying that the last few years and nothing has changed.
Maybe they take some kind of step back next year with how much they have to replace in losing Calhoun, Cook, and their two really good O-Linemen, but as long as Dantonio is around, they will be a very good program.
August 26th, 2015 at 5:30 PM ^
Actually I haven't. To be clear I wasn't saying they (you) wouldn't be good, just that their dominance over Michigan would be ending.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
I've always maintained that this was a Brandon fuck up. We're the only B1G to get shafted like that on the schedule. A couple other programs had double away games but no one had that happen against a rival...and no one had two away doubles like us. How does the most prestigous school in the B1G (ok, I'm biased, but so be it...it's true) end up with the worst schedule outcome of the entire conference? Dave Brandon. Noid. Incompetent. Fool.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
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August 26th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
That's what I said. Minny played in A2 twice in a row and M played at NW on the road, similar to playing in EL twice.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
I'd suggest that UofM v Minn is a much less intense rivalry that UofM v MSU. And I don't think any school other than Michigan got two sets of double away games. However it went down, there's no way that Michigan is the program with the least influence in the conference.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^
There was more to it than that from what I was told. I'm really really trying to get that story on the record; sorry to keep teasing you guys. He said "one day maybe." Make no mistake:
I don't think the Swarbrick and Martin renegotiations were as friendly as suggested in Bacon's book. From multiple sources Swarbrick lacks some very basic faculties required for friendship with humans. I think Martin knew he was getting bullied, but put that aside because he knew Michigan fans cared more about having this series than whether an asshole like Jack Swarbrick gets put in his place.
By the way, the ND game was always at home in the odd years, same as OSU. Michigan suggested having it the other way back in 1978 but ND didn't want to have M and USC at home the same years. As it was in 2007 when Martin was negotiating with Swarbrick, this was a thing Michigan wanted and Notre Dame wanted to get an advantage out of.
August 26th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
August 26th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
Sure, our schedule got fucked up, and so did MSU's. But, we did get Maryland and Rutgers!
This is just another reason why the expansion was, and continues to be, a bad idea.