(UPDATE!) STUDENTS: BRANDON IS NOT MICHIGAN, WE ARE. BOYCOTT PENN STATE KICKOFF
Working on pulling this together, talking with CSG members to figure out best way to get this moving. In the meantime, I created a facebook event below (at the very least, this will confirm or deny my assumption about students desire to boycott kickoff)
Here is the link to the event page: if you are sympathetic to the cause please join! support our team and student-athletes while making a poignant statement about this inept administration.
https://www.facebook.com/events/305485896305048/
Share this with your friends and across social media; lets bring more attention to our cause.
GO BLUE
October 7th, 2014 at 11:36 AM ^
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October 7th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
(((GO BLUE)))
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October 7th, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^
Why cant they do both? Show the empty seats at kickoff and then chant "Fire Brandon" once they enter. They are trying to make a statement that they are pissed off and I agree with them that the visual of an empty student section at kickoff would be pretty powerful.
The other problem with the chant is that you're assuming the networks are going to have an audio feed that picks it up and broadcasts it. The visual you cannot miss as the camera angles will pick it up and, if they pull it off, the vast amounts of empty seats for a national game will become the storyline.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^
Chants would get drowned out by the piped in music, not as effective.
I prefer the partial boycott to an all out boycott. However I will be in my seat from before kickoff until after the time has expired, cheering my team.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^
If they play nothing but ear-splitting music, how will that go over with the blue hairs?
October 7th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
Aren't the Blue Hairs already as pissed off as much as the students? They may be chanting too.
I love the band. I don't like their recent (last 2 years) skits with "acting" though. I think they are horrible in fact.
I feel that the Big House has outgrown the band. We're too big now. The upper endzones are too far away from the band. The band rarely plays to the endzones. In my upper endzone seats we can barely hear the band. I wish they would amplify the band instead of piping music all the time.
Rant over.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:45 PM ^
You do know that the Big House hasn't really grown (especially in the end zone) right?
The boxes on either sideline increased the capacity and also help retain the sound.
Also, they DO amplify the band every time they play. Do you really attend games? I'm confused at your points.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
Maybe you haven't been around long enough but the endzones have increased. I'm in row 96. There haven't been 96 rows since it was built.
I have had season tickets since I was a student back in 1994.
We can barely hear the band up in the top corner of the stadium. I rarely hear it amplified. I know they do not amplify the band during the halftime show, which was my point. Maybe it is a product of my seats being in the south endzone and all amplified sound comes from the north scoreboard, another one of my complaints.
Original construction had the top row at actual ground level before Yost added bleechers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Stadium#mediaviewer/File:Michigan_Stadium_opening_3c27311.png
The top row is now 26 rows above said grade. A bit of a difference in distance from the field.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
They can also be in the stadium for the pregame stuff and leave for kickoff. In fact, doing that would send the clearest message. (I actually think they should do it for the entire first quarter, but what they actually do is up to them.)
October 7th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^
I'm sticking to my pledge to boycott the kickoff (as I posted on the original thread Sunday). Going to show up early for warmups, the pre-game MMB show, and the National Anthem, then leaving prior to kickoff. The 2-pronged approach of 1) kickoff boycott, and 2) frequent "FIRE BRANDON!" chants will be the best approach to take, IMO, this Saturday.
To the OP: Is there any plan as to how long to wait before re-entering our seats? 5 minutes? 1st quarter? Or immediately after kickoff? I'm willing to go along with any kind of organized plan you might have, even if it means missing the entire 1st quarter, but I think it needs to be at least 5 minutes, otherwise it will just appear that the students are just slightly tardy.
One more suggestion to the OP: If you're on Twitter, can you get the message across there, too? I don't do Facebook and only do a bit of Twitter, but the more the word gets out about the Kickoff Boycott, the better.
I'm on the Twitters as @Mgo13lueRob
October 7th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
This.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^
If you want an empty student section by kickoff, the students need to leave well before the National Anthem.
Also, you need to stay out a while so that the TV cameras have a chance to pick up the empty student section. 5 minutes is not going to do that. Otherwise, it will just look like a bunch of students just coming and going in the early part of the game, not much different than any other game.
It needs to be a binary visual image to have an impact. Thousands of students there, then thousands of students not there. Not a bunch of wandering yellow mush.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
the visual of an empty student section at kickoff would be pretty powerful.Why would it be powerful when it happens at every school pretty much every week? Most viewers will either not notice or not think anything of it. Conversely, going to the game early and chanting various anti-AD messages is impossible to ignore.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
I think the idea is that with an effective social media presence, it will be clear to broadcasters that the even-lower-than-usual turnout is specifically related to the gulf between the students and AD. It's reasonable to think, with the increased level of scrutiny on the program, that outside media members are aware of the issue and will be able (and quite possibly eager) to note that the story goes beyond student apathy.
October 7th, 2014 at 5:31 PM ^
If 10,000 students in Maize are gathered inside the gates but not in the bowl you can believe the cameras will find them. If they wait until the second TV timeout to enter you can bet the re entry will be covered. Still kind of shitty to leave the corner empty for warmups and band, but there isn't any way to be there for that and be out by kickoff...not with those numbers.
If the 10,000 stay away from the stadium until late first qtr it will look like partying kept them away.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:26 PM ^
But Brandon still wins in the end if everyone shows at some point. He still got your money. Boycotting the kickoff is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
Brandon might win on that front but I think the point is to grab the attention of those above Brandon and hold it.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
I wish the students would spend the entire first quarter partying outside the stadium en masse. That time element would make it a huge national story. Then, when they come in, it would have a larger impact. Both the empty seats and the entrance would be national news.
Most of all, the publicity would be impossible for even the most "disenterested in football" president or trustee to ignore.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
Because God knows the students need more partying before entering the stadium.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^
Especially for a night game
October 7th, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^
where it might improve coordination and excution of the planned event.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
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October 7th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^
Agree... don't let the players (and attending recruits) see what they will assume is apathy. The message you intend to send will be mistaken for a message you don't want to send.
Go early.... chant "Fire Brandon".
October 7th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
This is the best Idea I've seen. If I was a player and came out 10 minutes before gametime, and at kickoff the student section was empty? I'd be PISSED. Now imagine the students showing up an 45 minutes til kickoff and chanting "FIRE BRANDON" that entire time? THAT would be something
October 7th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
They will just turn up an already too f'ing loud rawk musak audio to an even more painful level to drown out the chant.
Doing both is the option i think will have the most impact on our newly installed president; this gives a visual to augment the chant, thus, defeating the volume button on the rawk musak..
October 7th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
when their teammates get blown up on disgraceful cheap shots, I'm not sure they have the ability to get angry about anything.
The next time they show any anger will be the first time all season.
October 7th, 2014 at 7:48 PM ^
First off, if it takes an empty student section to make our players pissed, and not our 2-4 record, then we have some major issues.
Secondly, I'm tired of all the talk about what the players will think. While a lot of (read most) of the blame does fall on Brandon and the coaching staff, the players do deserve some of the blame for our performance on the field, because, well, you know, they're the ones performing on the field. They're 18-23 year old men, we don't need to be protecting them.
Thirdly, this is an apathetic protest. If you want to complain about apathy, complain our star wideout saying wins and losses are "just a statistic." That's apathy. The players should be the ones who are answering questions about their apathy, not the students.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
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October 7th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
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October 7th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
I love massages!
October 7th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
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October 7th, 2014 at 12:20 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
That would drive me away for good.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^
Chants don't mean anything. You can't hear them on TV. Last time, everyone thought it was "Fire Brady".
You need something that has a visual impact on TV. Something that the media will still be talking about on Sunday. The media is where Brandon lives.
Go find that giant "Thanks Steve" banner and change it to "No Thanks Dave". That will get noticed.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
show up early, chant often. Keep it focused on the AD.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
Or...just have one student show up with a sign that reads Fire Brandon.
Please someone photoshop John Cusack in Say Anything with a Fire Brandon sign in an empty big house student section
October 7th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 4:22 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 11:36 AM ^
support the team.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
The protest and your comment aren't mutually exclusive.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
You stole my Jesus fish, didn't you?!
October 7th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
I'm so sick of "support the team."
Someone posted this in another thread and it's balls-on correct. A stadium of 100,000 isn't a birth right. I'm not out there booing them but I don't have to treat them like an 11-year old after they lose in Little League either. Maybe they should play a little better?
Having said all of that, I hate what Michigan football is today because of Brandon and Hoke. Protest in any way you see fit, students.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
but here is what Purdue is doing to kick out cancer
October 7th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
October 7th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
Looks close to the adidas shade of Maize, actually.
Maybe they're trying to kick out the cancer of Michigan athletics that is Dave Brandon.
October 7th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
The players flat out said not to do something like this in their press conference. Link. From Jake MIller:
This experience and what that atmosphere could be like Saturday night is something special, for everyone involved," Miller said. "So to represent the university, to represent Ann Arbor and what a special thing that can be, for that to go to waste would be disappointing.