John U. Bacon: "You're killing the fanbase, David Brandon!" (Paraphrased with liberties)
Mr. Bacon has written quite a bit about why Ticket Sales have been flagging. As I, myself, have recently been offered a "deal" on single-game tickets, I love reading Mr. Bacon's salvoes over Brandon's bow:
This fall Michigan is in danger of breaking its string of 251 consecutive games with 100,000-plus paid attendance, which started in 1975.
And then this gem:
After Brandon became Michigan's 11th athletic director in 2010, he often repeated one of his favorite lines: "If it ain't broke ... break it!" You have to give him credit: He has delivered on his promise.
Happy Monday Mr. Brandon! Special Delivery for you, direct from the desk of John U. Bacon!
I'm confused, did he copy-paste his column to Sports Illustrated?
At first glance I thought this as well. Though the articles are strikingly similar there appear to have been a few tweaks.
http://johnubacon.com/2014/06/the-real-reasons-why-students-and-others-…
confused at first as well as most of it seemed very similar. Apparently enough was unique to make it a new article, and that gem at the end that I blockquoted felt worth the post to me!
I love Bacon!
Yeah I love hyperbole and no substance.
Bacon is a very good writer, but I've had a hard time buying what he's be en selling recently regarding Brandon's effect on ticket sales. The crappy schedule falls somewhat on Brandon, but this team is barely about .500 for the past 6 years - that's why people aren't lining up. I think you could get a couple of more fans if he just dropped ticket prices dramatically, but next year (with much better home games) I think you'll see a rise again.
I have been to a couple games the last couple years, for the first time in a decade.
The Big House sucks now. Constant commercials on the boards, not many replays, constant shitty music blaring? I can see why ticket sales are declining. If you make it an experience people want, they will go. College Football is NOT NFL-lite. Don't make it so. Keep the traditions and things that made people want to go.
If they got rid of the piped in music and commercials and had more replays on the big screens and the BAND playing during time outs... I think it would go a long way.
Also, winning does help. If Hoke can't start getting things figured out this year, I think it may be time to put some pressure on. I think he should still have another year, even after this year... But I wonder if Brandon didn't hire his replacement already. Will Michigan go with the Head Coach In Waiting Assistant? That is, if the offense turns around.
Nobody would give two shits about David Brandon if we had a good football team.
I'm not at all sure about that one. I straight up can't stand the guy.
him driving up football ticket prices for students.
The way that people who had held hoops season tickets for the decade of suck only to be relocated now that the team is good and people with deep pockets wanted to start going to the games really rubbed me the wrong way.
Better monetizing your product is one thing. Spitting in the face of loyalty to get there is another.
Have you ever met him?
I do however, have a friend who worked directly under him at Valassis. He confirmed most of my perceptions of DB, and that's all I'm saying about that.
As long as we ignore issues like Jock Jazm, Uniformz, pricing and seating policies...well, then you'd have a point.
And if we were elite, you would ignore every one of those (or at least the vast majority of fans would).
That's absolutely incorrect and ignores the problem at the heart of Bacon's argument. What Brandon has done (and continues to do) is to make Michigan football games more similar to NFL games. Most love Michigan football because we feel that "This is Michigan" and it's different. For much of the Brandon-era games, you can close your eyes and forget that you're not in [insert random NFL stadium or MLB minor league ballpark here].
Okay, I disagree. Hopefully the team can settle the debate.
if we went 11-1 or 10-2 over the last 2 seasons, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It seems like we would considering the points mentioned above have to do with "experience" but when I'm sitting at the Nebraska game last year and Gorgeous calls another Green counter that only fooled that 4 year old girl in section 41... my experience sucks. I leave pissed, mad, frustrated - which makes me focus on the other things, like ticket prices, piped in stupid music, etc. If you win, nobody cares. If you've ever been in sales, when things are good - none of the sales people bitch (everyone's making money, happy) - when things are bad, the coffee could be off by 2 degrees and there's pandemonium.
I was in Section 41 vs Corn last year as well. I remember that girl. I think the images below correctly depict her progressive emotions over the course of the afternoon.
From top to bottom, right to left...1. enters the stadium 2. Band, take the field! 3. National anthem 4. rush for no gain 5. and again 6. and again 7. and again 8. and again 9. and yes, again.
Not sure which were Green counters, but not sure it matters.
but in my heart i gave you lots more for that post. good one.
Thanks,
I sat by the same little girl for Denard's first carry vs Western Michigan. Simply reverse the order for her expressions throughout that play.
(yes, I realize she would have been an infant at that game...who says infants can't sit in section 41 and have emotions with matching facial expressions?)
for denard's first carry v. wmu, and it was all i could do not to fill my word balloon with "#$!" in front of one of my young sons who was in attendance with me. that son was only 5 then but he remembers that play very clearly.
I agree....it is about success or lack thereof. While the schedule is weak, both college and professional sports have numerous instances when W's and L's make the difference. Fan interest erodes over time when teams lack success and I think that is the single biggest factor in ticket sales. Costs are high and all the bells and whistles pre-game and at half-time don't mean jack when you lose.
Sure, Brandon's decisions about students and ticket costs have turned people off, but the real issue is the lack of success over all but one season since 2006 and the perception that this season may not be very different.
One group seems to be talking about fans filling the stadium and the other people are talking about their feelings toward Dave Brandon. The two, in my opinion, are mutually exclusive.
I think for the ones saying winning cures everything, what you're really saying is winning will put people in the seats no matter the cost and I'd agree with you. That same winning won't make people change their opinion of Dave Brandon though, because it goes far deeper than just ticket prices.
My father coached me in various sports growing up and he taught me the same lesson every coach tries to teach their players; Winning isn't everything. At Michigan more than most places, that seems to be more than just a cliche.
We always hear people say things like they wouldn't want a certain coach or player, regardless how good their pedigree, if they didn't fit the mold of what it is to be a "Michigan Man". How can people honestly say (and believe) that winning will cure everything in one breath and than say something like that in another.
Again, if the only issue with Dave Brandon was high ticket prices and the piped in rock music I'd probably agree that the team winning would go a long way toward making everyone forget about their lack of appreciation for the guy, but for me at least, it goes far deeper than just that.
I wonder if you really believe this:
Michigan is Michigan because of 110k people at games and a winning history
Funny, growing up I always knew the stadium was big and that we won lots of games, but I also knew the words to The Victors. I knew about the players, the uniforms, the marshmellows, the Mud Bowl, Bullwinkle, etc. Our traditions aren't just "big" and "winning" and maybe it's hard to put it all into words. That's why "This is Michigan" resonates with so many people.
Listen I get that it means more to you, and to mgoblog people. Mgoblog isn't a representative sample of the Michigan fanbase. I get caught up in womens softball every year because michigan plays, I also don't watch a game other than Michigan, this isn't normal. Most fans who show up to football games don't watch the softball team partly because they are not as invested in Michigan. Dave Brandons job isn't to make mgoblog happy, its to run a successful athletic department and make sure that there is continued success for football and success for football means wins, if we win people show up, it really is that simple. Paying for nussmeir and mattison is expensive, the assistant coach salaries are higher than they have ever been, facilities cost more than they ever have and Michigan is actively avoiding thousands of dollars in revenue by not playing ads, Brandon is going to make that up somewhere, just like every other perosn running the AD ever would.
Michigan is no longer Michigan. It's now just another over priced stadium that a college team plays in.
I don't know if I'd go that far; it's still Michigan, but a watered-down version. The band has been watered down (but at least they're playing more than they were a couple years back), the seating is a mess and the uniforms look like misprints from an outlet mall, but it's still Michigan.
It's funny because Brandon's ego caused much of the mess, but his ego is only big enough to copy the generic "sporting event" activities. A better AD would either hire a proper events person to handle that portion of the job, or find a way to bring all of the tradition we love into a modern, hi-tech event.
Give him another two years. I'm sure he'll do something more to alienate fans and drive them away.
There exist fans, even Michigan fans, for whom winning is all that matters. You may be one of them. But in some fanbases, in the Michigan fanbase perhaps more than any other, there are a great number of fans who also care about HOW we win: what uniforms we wear, what teams we play, what offense we run, whether the band goes to Dallas, and yes, whether our athletic director is making tone-deaf statements to the media that make it sound like he's actively working to cheapen the Michigan fan experience, even as it grows more expensive in financial terms.
I will not claim to speak for the "vast majority" of Michigan fans (and you probably shouldn't claim to do so either). But I will say that for myself, I absolutely do care what Dave Brandon says and does, and will continue to care no matter what the W-L column says. Judging by the comments here, I'm not the only one.
If you look at the moderation on the comments, both sides of the argument have more plusses than minuses. This shows two things. People probably don't want to downvofe for an opinion they don't share, for one. The other thing is that both sides of the argument really have supporters. There is the TRADITION contingent and the WIN contingent. Personally, I'm with the TRADITION contingent. I was in the MMB for a couple years and went to a bowl game with the band and it was great. And games were great.
"Everything is awesome. Everything is great when you're part of a team. Everything is AWESOME" was the feeling (yes, I do have a 5 year old)
Now we have an NFL stadium and a team that hit a rough patch. I can deal with the rough patch more than I can deal with the decline in tradition, personally. I can do without the commercials on the screens, the planes every game, the fireworks, the singers at halftime. Bring back replays and the Band. Get rid of Pop Evil.
I guess what I'm saying is GET OFF MY LAWN. But there are definitely others that feel that way.
I can deal with the rough patch more than I can deal with the decline in tradition, personally.
Likewise. Fans who have been around long enough understand that there are ebbs and flows to winning and losing, but during those ebbs, we have our traditions to fall back on to keep us engaged. Remember the early 90's when Miami (YTM) was completely unstoppable? For a couple of years, they were a hot ticket, and people everywhere were wearing those hideous orange jerseys. But Miami plays in a pro stadium, and has a 'winning tradition' built on bought-and-sold players, and never had a Bo Schembechler. So now that they're no longer an unstoppable juggernaut, they're just another team. From 1994-2013 Miami is 75-50; Michigan is a near-identical 77-49. So why do we still sell out our 100k-plus stadium, get plum TV deals, and rank in the top 5 in merchandise sold every year, and Miami does not? Why, when I lived in California, did I see people wearing Michigan gear minimum once per week for six years, and saw someone wearing 'Canes gear maybe once total? Because Michigan stands for something beyond just wins and losses, and what it stands for keeps fans engaged, and therefore keeps Michigan relevant even when the team underperforms. Without that, we're just another team. On a decadal timescale, it really is the traditions, more than the wins and losses, that account for why people care.
There's a ton of truth here and the Miami reference is an especially good point. I agree with the people who say there'd be less bitching if we were winning on the regular. Michigan football means a lot of things, winning being one very big one. But if the winning's not there - there damn well better be the other things to fall back on.
And if I tune into a game or go to one, and the team is wearing sikk bumblebee uniformz with khrom helmetz, and rokk muzic instead of the band is playing, and the stadium isn't crammed to the gills, and we're playing Rutgers, instead of Minnesota for the Brown Jug, what's left? Michigan football isn't a set of discrete and separate traditions. It's the whole package. You can't say "it's still Michigan" if you take away half of the things that make it so.
but what in the freaking hell is "Jock Jazm?" And can Tide get rid of it?
I think it is related to toe jam or maybe smegma. I think you need bleach to get that out
.
I believe it to be an awesome typo that I noticed but felt better to leave in place.
I heard precious few positive words for either Goss or Martin even when the team was (relatively) good. Brandon sucks because the game experience is getting worse while the cost of attendance is going up. I don't think Michigan is doing any worse than any other major college team in terms of game experience. But we're the Leaders and Best. he needs to quit "branding" and start "innovating" ways to make attending games more fun, more convenient, and less expensive. A mini "super bowl" (against Appy State and UConn) 7 Saturdays a year doesn't cut it.
good to say because he drove the AD into the red and he put that gawdawful halo around the stadium. Martin was little spoken of, good or bad, until the fall and early winter of 2007.
I think the general UM fanbase opinion of Goss and Martin was vastly different, at least until Sailboat Bill surfaced.
Under Goss, the finances were in a shambles, and to add insult to injury Goss was the genius who gave the thumbs-up (along with Bollinger) to the Halo. There was nobody around MGoBlog or anywhere else in the fanbase-o-sphere who had positive things to say about Goss.
Not only did Martin completely turn the financial picture around, the athletic campus underwent a vast transformation during his tenure, and the changes are overwhelmingly positive, IMHO. By far the most controversial change to the athletic campus was the addition of the suites to the stadium, and even the most vociferous critics of the athletic department today rarely focus on the suites per se.
Martin certainly did his own image and perception no favors with the incident where he upbraided a stadium student employee for asking for ID, and more seriously, he did not handle the task of replacing Carr very adroitly.
Regardless, the complaints about Martin overall during his tenure are dwarfed by those made about Brandon. I think this is greatly influenced by their personality; Martin strenuously avoided the limelight, while Brandon never misses an opportunity to shine the spotlight on himself, so his faults—whatever they are—are magnified.
Basketball fans didn't like Martin. He ran that program on the cheap, which included making Tommy Amaker buy his own VCR (yes, he had to use a VCR) and kept promising to upgrade the facilities without delivering.
Basically, every AD has managed to offend people in some way.
Yeah, I remember being at UM around that time and hearing for 4 years how they were finally going to upgrade Crisler but never did, and how recruits mentioned it was like a dungeon in there and the facilities felt second-rate.
I agree that people bitch and moan about ADs regardless of what they do.
Generally, I think a good AD is one who you DON'T have a strong opinion on one way or the other. More often than not, when an AD (who's not a famous former coach) is the "face" of the program, it's a negative thing. A good AD should be friendly to donors, not rock the boat unless necessary, and let the coaches and players represent the brand. Most of the students shouldn't even know the AD's name without looking it up.
Honestly, that's what bothers me more than anything about DB - his seeming need to leave his mark on everything, whether it's okay as is or not. And generally the mark is neutral or negative. Don't fix what ain't broke. Make as much money as you need, but don't nickel and dime just because you can get away with it. And don't interject yourself into everything. The AD shouldn't be famous.
Anyway anyone who thinks we wouldn't be having this conversation if we were winning more is a fool - if we were winning, Brandon would be the ONLY thing to complain about. And we do love complaining.
Let's not forget that Martin disappeared right around the time major sports blogs popped up that tracked stuff like AD spending and gave a voice to complaints about them. Martin did some dumb stuff too, and it wasn't too long ago that this blog LOVED Brandon and his pimp hand. Martin wasn't bad by any stretch, but he benefitted quite a bit from the paucity of voices capable of complaining about him.
Meh, people bitched about Martin too. Nobody would care about Brandon if the internet didn't exist and people had the ability to express their opinions so easily. I severely doubt Bacon gets this into a major publication's print version.
You really think that if the internet didn't exist people wouldn't care? If what you really mean is most people wouldn't know and thus couldn't have an opinion one or the other than I could buy that, but if what you're saying is if the internet didn't exist and people were still aware of DB and all his hairbrained schemes nobody would care because they couldn't post their opinion on the internet, I have to disagree.
My opinion of DB has absolutely nothing to do with what others feel about him. I have no issue with standing alone in my beliefs or ebing in the minority (as many will atest to on this blog having seen me stand up for my unpopular religion.). I don't like Db for who he is, what he represents and what he has done to the University of Michigan.
I (nor anyone else here) don't need approval from Brian (or anyone else) to feel the way I do. I figured out all by myself, without the help of the internet, that DB was more like a slimely used car salesman than an AD fit to carrying UM into the 21st century.
Now I don't have any issue with people disagreeing with the way I feel about DB, everyone has their own opinion. I just find it hard to believe that anyone would think that without the internet no one would care about what DB is doing. It kind of implies that we need to be told what to be angry about and are incapable of independent thought.