Member for

14 years 10 months
Points
31.00

Recent Comments

Date Title Body
Still a lot to do

Soccer support facility

New pool for water polo

Indoor rowing tank

New track facilities, both indoor and outdoor

Lacrosse facilities, indoor and outdoor and support

Upgrades to weight training facilities and medical training for a lot of the sports

Maybe some administration building changes?

DB says he wants to close in the south end of the football stadium during his tenure.

I assume they want to solve some of their parking issues too.

Anything I'm missing?

Wasn't a very big crowd last

Wasn't a very big crowd last night since their 7pm start was the same as the hockey game.  Maybe 400?  A lot of people left at halftime to catch the rest of the hockey game with the score in Oosterbaan already pretty lopsided.

Looking forward to the Michigan State game next Saturday.  It's at Birmingham Seaholm High School at 7:00.  Should be a great crowd.  State is pretty good this year.

But how can the NCAA confront

But how can the NCAA confront it?  Title IX is not NCAA legislation.  It is federal legislation that is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).  It has to do with gender equality in all areas of education that receive any federal funding directly or indirectly, not just athletics. 

Publicly NCAA administrators and athletic directors and probably even most university presidents have to toe the party line that Title IX is good legislation that has advanced women's opportunities, blah, blah, blah.  It's true that it has done much good.  But privately, off the record, I'd be willing to bet that most of them hate the way it controls how they operate.  Unfortunately, since it's a federal law, there is not much they can do about it.

The solution to changing Title IX is political.  Elect a president and senators and congressional representatives who want to change it.  Good luck with that, by the way.

Deker's banquet was a lunch. 

Deker's banquet was a lunch.  Got my invite, but didn't go.  Seriously, he was at the lacrosse game until the end.  (Not obsessed with this - but I think it is evidence of his commitment to lacrosse to be there for entire games two weeks in a row).

Brandon was there the whole

Brandon was there the whole game.  I was standing near him the second half.  Immediately after the game he went to straight to Coach Paul to congratulate him and they spoke for a minute.

I thought Michigan looked a little tired tonight.  They came out flying, but ASU had fresher legs late.  Would make sense since ASU didn't play yesterday and UM played the #2 team in the nation.  ASU had three amazing players, and they all stepped up.  Plus Michigan hit a ton of pipes.  Misses are misses, but they were getting good shots in the second half and were centimeters from putting quite a few of those in.  If they had shot a little better, this game wasn't close even with all the things ASU did well.

UCSB was at full strength. 

UCSB was at full strength.  Michigan wasn't.  First line middie Doug Bryant, who scored three goals last week against BYU, was out.  So was their top d middie, Sean Sutton.  This was complete domination.  Michigan just looked way more athletic and fast and physical and talented. 

Great to see Dave Brandon there.  I got to meet him and chat for a second.  He was with his wife and some parents of lacrosse players who he seemed to know pretty well. 

Or set up remote access to

Or set up remote access to your DVR (assuming you have a DVR nowadays).  Maybe cable doesn't allow this? but with uverse you can control your DVR from your computer or from your phone.  I think the satellite companies do this as well, no?

Pretty good showing last

Pretty good showing last night.  Pitt is not good, so a win is not unexpected, but they did completely shut them down in a game that easily could have been a let-down after the huge game against BYU the night before.

Michigan State beat BYU Saturday night 10-7.  The first time Sparty has ever beaten them.  The April 16 showdown between UM and MSU at Seaholm HS is shaping up to be pretty good.  It may be the first time that game has ever been of the "anticipated" variety, given UM's total historical domination in the series.

I had the pleasure of

I had the pleasure of attending last night.  First time I've seen this year's team live.  Incredible start put the game away early.  BYU was HUGE and seemed pretty athletic.  One of their midfielders was listed as 6-6, 235 and a bunch of guys 6-3, 220 and over.  Quite a few small, quick waterbugs too, but Michigan ran by them and was more physical.

If you haven't been out to see the lacrosse team play yet, go.  It's a great atmosphere, they are really good for their level, and it's a fun sport to watch.  Fast moving, high scoring, very physical.  I'm saying that as someone who discovered the sport fairly recently and has become a bit fanatical about it.

15-5 isn't a blowout?

15-5 isn't a blowout?

I just can't help it.  I

I just can't help it.  I always want to Sparty to lose, even if it ultimately hurts our RPI or whatever.  Call it a weakness I have.

This is not even a little bit

This is not even a little bit surprising.

You got one right

There's a Max.  Greenspan from San Diego, CA. But is Max really a typical blue-blood name? 

I get your point, but I don't get why you're making it.  Rich, prep-school kids play lacrosse?  Stereotype much?

According to Laxpower there are 109 high schools playing boys lacrosse in Michigan.  Looking at the list I'd guess at least 80% of them are public schools.  Hell, Ypsilanti, Romulus, Dexter and Tecumseh have teams.  I'm guessing there are not a lot of the kids you're alluding to there.

How many of these responses

How many of these responses actually provided an answer to the question posed by the OP?  Maybe 20%?  Maybe a quarter of those serious responses?  How easily we go off on tangents.

Those, by the way, are not my questions for DB. 

I don't really want to know why he handled the coaching change the way he did.  It's done.  I'd prefer to focus on the future.  Plus, the request was for questions that would not be a waste of the opportunity.  Assuming this is more of a semi-private luncheon, with a formal Q&A at the end as described, then DB isn't going to be giving in-depth answers to many of the questions posed here.  (Although, he may give you some insight into the boxers or briefs question if you ask it professionally.)

I have three:

Now that you have a CMO on staff, what are your goals in marketing Michigan athletics?  (ie. How do you want to improve on what is already one of the most recognizable brands in sports?)

When are you going to announce new varsity men's and women's lacrosse teams, as has been rumored for some time?

With nearly a year on the job now, how much has the actually job of being AD at Michigan been a surprise to you, and how much is fitting your expectations?

 

Spring "game"?

When was the last time Michigan played a real scrimmage/game at the spring game?  I definitely remember them, but at some point Lloyd Carr changed the format to a simplified practice with ocassional controlled scrimmaging.

Don't most other major programs run actual spring games?  With big crowds even?

Wish I could

...but I can't make it in.

I've gotten hooked on lacrosse since my sons started playing in youth leagues (never really exposed to it growing up in the midwest), and I get to Michigan games whenever I can.  It's a great sport, and we have a really good team.  Oosterbaan is an interesting place to watch a game.  You are right on top of the action (imagine watching hockey from right next to the ice, but with no boards!).  And there's a very social atmosphere after the games.  My sons have loved being able to meet the players and the coaches after ghe games and load up on autographs.

As much as I like watching the current Wolverines, I'm looking forward to the rumored D1 team that is coming.  I think lacrosse can be a high level varsity sport at Michigan, both in terms of success and fan interest.

Agree

When you put it that way, I guess count me as a Hokester.  But isn't everyone a lax fan already? 

Seriously, coming from someone who actually is a Michigan lacrosse fan, it's really great to read stories like this about some of these young men.  Thank you for posting.

My sister's cousin's

My sister's cousin's boyfriend's plumber apparently told someone none of them know that Hoke broke Troy Woolfolk's ankle in order to help ensure RR would get fired so he could get the job.

You seriously think DB would tell players that?  How naive are you?  He's a very media savvy person.  He knows full well that anything he tells anyone has a chance of making it to the public, and right now everyone wants to seem like they are in the know somehow.  Even if this was true (it's not), no way he's telling 19 year old kids secrets.

What are the "obvious reasons" for hating the Hoke hire?  Because Brian said it's a bad hire?  Because you wanted Harbaugh, and now you feel rejected because he had other career ambitions?  I just don't get all this negativity.  Brandon has been nothing if not consistent in his message.  He was pretty clear yesterday.  He did a lot of research, and everything kept pointing back to Hoke.

When might this be formally

When might this be formally announced?  The rumors have been flying around for awhile now, and Brandon is obviously not hiding his interest.  I'm assuming that the 2012 season is out of the question, but if they are looking at the spring of 2013 as the first season, they need to announce and hire a coach pretty soon or miss out on whatever junior recruits are left.  Most of the top ones have already committed.

lacrosse maybe

Ohio State plays a couple of lacrosse games every spring in the horseshoe.  One of them is played before their spring football game (which is an actual game and draws a much bigger crowd than our spring game).  I wonder with all the talk about Michigan lacrosse going varsity if they will be playing a game or two in the Big House in the future.  Maybe a home and home in alternating years with the buckeyes before each school's spring football games?

Varsity

Thanks for the update Tim.  Any new news on a potential elevation to D1 for the lax team?  Behind the scenes info?  Gut feelings?

tangent

With all the rumors about Michigan adding lacrosse, and the Title IX and budget reasons often given for not doing it, this shows that an athletic director at a fiscally healthy department with good donor support can get it done.  As the new guy on the block who is still learning the ropes, I wonder if Brandon views this as a bit of an opportunity or validation to get that done.  And if he does, will it open the door for women's hockey to offset men's lacrosse for Title IX, or would Michigan add men's and women's lacrosse together?  Pure speculation, I know.   But certainly the Michigan lax team is at least as successful and ready as the PSU hockey team.  Plus, I'd like to see a women's ice hockey team at Michigan.

home and home

I would guess it's more about teams not returning trips. They played at UCSB and Chapman last year, but neither one came to Ann Arbor this year. Chapman vs. Michigan would have been a great regular season game. The game at Chapman last year was televised in ESPNu and had a crowd of something like 4 or 5 thousand. You would think Chapman would want every crack at Michigan they can get.

One of the things I'm always most impressed with is what a great gameday experience the lacrosse team provides, especially considering what a cramped, fan-unfriendly facility they play in. Big crowds. Lots of kids. Very good PA announcer. Music. Promotions. Cheerleaders. I've seen the dance team there before. No concessions, which I assume is because of the facility limitations. I wish they could get the UM pep band there for a big game or two. More bleachers would be nice too, but I'm sure there's only so much they can do with what they are given.

Purdue game

I haven't posted in awhile, but since I assueme phjhu89 will say something about the "broken ride" goal...

From my perspective it looked like what Tim describes. A pass from one Purdue player to another that the second guy couldn't handle at midfield, and the ball simply rolled down the field into the goal. The irony is that this wasn't a broken ride so much as a case of a bad team scoring because they are bad. Had the player caught the ball, the UM players probably would have been on him quickly and taken the ball back away, as the ride is intended to do. Similar to a pass to the crease that misses everyone but gets past the goalie because he's expecting the pass to be caught.

A great crowd, including at least a hundred little kids in their lacrosse gear, got to see another total blowout. This sounds like the common refrain about football scheduling, but I wish these guys could schedule more quality opponents for home games. Tim, do the better MCLA teams not want to come to Ann Arbor? I'm assuming Coach Paul tries to get top level opponents at home. They seem to have no problem scheduling the best teams on the road, so they aren't dodging anyone.

sure, but who cares?

I don't think anyone would argue that they could hang with Virginia or Syracuse right now, but who would expect them to? You can't really compare this team to those teams. They dominate the level they are allowed to play in. That's all you can expect of them. It's actually more than you should expect of them, but certainly all you could want from them. The fact that they can hang with, and even beat, ANY D1 team with scholarships is a pretty strong statement on the strength of the club team.

If they become varsity they'll be recruiting the blue chip players and the top players on this team probably become role players and walk-ons. That's a given isn't it?

I'm all for making noise about adding varsity lacrosse. But in the meantime, we have an incredibly successful team on campus that is fun to watch. By the way, Sparty is in the top ten of the MCLA for the first time ever(?). They play each other April 24. Big game. We may all put a higher priority on football, basketball and hockey wins (thank you Hunwick) over the greenies, but here's another chance to crush some Spartan dreams.

Impressive

If they are drawing about the same number of fans as softball and baseball as a club team playing in a practice facility with uncomfortable seating if you can find it, no concessions and no space. And if they are doing this with almost no media coverage (mgoblog duly noted for getting on board before most others) and no athletic department marketing support, what does that say about the potential for lacrosse? I think it's pretty encouraging. If varsity is in the works, and you'd have to figure an outdoor stadium and indoor games in Glick eventually, could lacrosse here draw as well as it does at some of the eastern schools? Some of them average crowds well into the thousands, with bigger regular season games and events drawing between 10,000 and 20,000. This is not counting the 40,000+ who watch Ohio State play one of their games in the horseshoe every year before their spring football game, and the 50,000+ who go the NCAA finals.

The club team already plays in front of as many as 5000 every year when they play Michigan State at a neutral site. (East Grand Rapids on April 24 this year). The new soccer stadium beyind the tennis center will seat around 2200, according to mgoblue. I think it's safe to say lacrosse would need a bigger facility than that. Is this is a potential impedement to varsity status (the fact that the sport might need a bigger stadium) or is the fact that the sport has the potential to draw so well more of a selling point to the new AD?

Mel Pearson

I can't imagine the job going to anyone but Pearson. It does seem as if he's been groomed for it. If we learned anything from football, drastic changes to tradition-bound programs can bring a lot of short-term anguish (hope, hope, hope that it's not long term). Nobody can replicate the Red persona and presence. It's one-of-a-kind. But at least someone who has dedicated his career to Michigan and to Red can understand what it means to uphold a tradition that is not only special, but is also not holding the program back.

what?

Did the head coach of WMU lax really just post on here? Is that a first for mgoblog? (Opposing coach posting, at least openly.)

Coach Blank,
No disrespect intended, but this is a blog, not mainstream media or university media relations. I don't think you understand the difference. It's by fans for fans. It's not run by a news service, and it's not run by Michigan. It's run by a guy on his computer with some helpers on the side. They rip people. They rip programs. They have some fun. I would advise ignoring sites like this altogether. I kind of doubt Coach Paul, or any Michigan coach, is perusing any of the Western Michigan sports blogs, assuming such things exist.

Sorry to hear that

That's too bad. Then I guess we all owe you an even bigger thanks for keeping lacrosse covered considering the boss doesn't get it.

Time is now

Detroit Mercy just got their first win as a D1 program in their second year of existence.

I agree with all that the time is now. I only hope that DB sees it that way as well. I truly see lacrosse growing at Michigan to at least the level of baseball and possibly even approaching hockey's status as a 2nd tier sport, just below football and basketball. There is a tremendous opportunity right now, and it sounds like the transition could be fairly painless given the success and organizational capabilities of the club team. I'm not saying this is a final four team right away, but certainly the team could compete at a fairly high level if given full support, including scholarships.

Tim,
Any chance we'll see lacrosse postings on the main page of the blog? There seems to be interest. Thanks for keeping the message out there.

makes sense to me

Doesn't the hockey team go up and down stairs to their locker room? Four times a game? In skates? The football team goes down a big ramp from their meeting rooms directly to practice. I'm pretty sure they have to climb up it before they come back down it. I'm confident that college athletes can handle the stairs.

I would bet this is just a prelimary design anyway. I'm sure there will be adjustments. Are they on the second floor because there is a different tenant on the first floor?

The field we see in the video may be just a practice field. For all we know, lacrosse will use the soccer stadium for games. Football practices a fair distance from their game field. Seems to work just fine for them. Could lacrosse even use the soccer field though? It's grass. How deep into the lacrosse season would they be before it's dried out and in good enough shape after a hard winter and the muddy thaw?

Lacrosse has the potential to draw good crowds. Hell, the club team already draws bigger crowds than most varsity teams, and they get almost no media coverage or marketing (thank you mgoblog for doing your part). I truly believe lacrosse could eventually develop into a hockey-level sport at Michigan. Maybe not 7,000 a game, but certainly 3,000-5,000. They got over 4,000 when Hopkins came to town, and they play in front of thousands every year against State. Maybe the plan is to build a stadium for lacrosse eventually. I do agree that moving them to the soccer stadium area eventually would be a mistake. They get a lot of student support now. That would be a lot harder to come by 2 miles down State Street.

Totally exciting

In my several decades of going to games, I've been waiting for this. Most of my friends have been clammoring (to each other, which is mostly useless) for a night game or two for years. The atmosphere will be electric. Great move by Brandon, and clear statement that he is willing to make major changes to the status quo. How many times have we heard UM AD's say "there will never be a night game in Michigan Stadium while I'm AD?" Within two weeks the new AD makes a previously unheard-of move that gets people excited about a program that hasn't exactly been the greatest fan motivator recently. Kudos Mr. Brandon. Kudos.

The games are usually packed

The games are usually packed with kids, many wearing jerseys or jackets from Oakland county teams. I saw at least three whole teams at Friday evening's game. One of them was about 100 young kids from a youth lacrosse program in Birmingham.

I suspect they play in the evenings to maximize their crowd. Facility availability may be an issue as well.

I don't have a problem with

I don't have a problem with those sports at all. Just saying they were Title IX ads. Women's crew has been added all over the country as an easy Title IX fix because of the size of the typical crew roster. At least Michigan hasn't gone the route of some schools and made women's cheerleading varsity.

I also would hate to see a sport cut, and there is no doubt that men's gymnastics is successful. But how successful? There are only 14 D1 teams in the nation! Being top 10 every year loses a bit of its luster given that fact. The sport is in its death throes at the college level (for men, not women). At some point you have to take a hard look at why you are keeping it, which I'm sure Brandon will do. If he finds a way to keep it going, while also adding sports that are currently a better fit at Michigan and trending upward (http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav/NewsandMedia/PressReleases/LacrossePar…), more power to him.

I agree that men's rowing should be recognized more for their success. From what I read, they have an incredible program that is in many ways like the lacrosse program. What rowing lacks compared to lacrosse is the national growth at the high school and youth levels, a mainstream sport fanbase, and perhaps most importantly, NCAA sponsorship. Women's rowing is an NCAA sport. Men's rowing is not. That may be a tough sell. If rowing had a chance, I would have thought it would be under Martin because of his Olympic background. As a fan, I've come to appreciate lacrosse simply because it's a great sport to watch. I can't say I've ever been to a rowing event. I'll give it a try. My expectations for a thrilling spectator experience are not all that high.

I saw that article too.

I saw that article too. Stevenson is a dinosaur. He's older than me, and I'm pretty old (note the name). He'll be gone within the year.

Hopefully Brandon has some vision and fortitude to make some changes. Michigan has a lot of varsity sports. Some of them make sense to have now. Some are obvious Title IX adds (cough, cough, women's rowing, cough, women's water polo, cough). Some belonged 30 years ago but don't any more. How many men's gymnastics teams even exist any more? Are there 30? (I just looked it up. There are 14 NCAA division one teams. Ouch.)

I have become a relatively new lacrosse fan over the past two-three years as my nephews have gotten involved. I follow the Michigan team and tell everyone I know that doesn't follow them yet what they are missing. Despite the pretty high level of play amongst the top MCLA teams, they are quickly exhausting any reason to continue playing club lacrosse. What's the point if there's no competition?

I know the economy is bad, but Martin has done a wonderful job creating a huge surplus for the past several years, with more of the same predicted for the immediate future. Even if they didn't adjust the sports they currently have, couldn't they add lacrosse and the necessary Title IX matching teams within the current budget? I doubt it would take $10 million a year to do that.

Thank you, thank you, thank

Thank you, thank you, thank you. More lacrosse coverage. Keep ignoring all the myopic robots (football, football, basketball, football, hock...oops, football, football) who refuse to break out of the mainstream. Lacrosse is the oldest sport in America. It's also the fastest growing sport in America. To say it is a just an East Coast sport is simply wrong these days. California has more HS teams than New York. Michigan has over 100 high school teams and growing quickly. There are now more HS lacrosse players in Michigan than HS hockey players. The NCAA lacrosse championships are the best attended NCAA post-season championship out of all sports except men's basketball.

Most importantly, Ohio State and Notre Dame both have big-time D1 teams. Dave Brandon - how about finding a way to make it happen at Michigan?

I was there too. Michigan

I was there too. Michigan and Bellarmine actually practiced together last night, so the Knights knew what they were getting into. Michigan didn't surprise them. They were just better. More athletic, more skilled, better plan. And they were doing it without their MVP from last year, Kevin Zorovich, who is out right now with an injury.

It's a scrimmage, so both teams emptied their benches in the second half, but Michigan's starters completely dominated the starters from a scholarship supported D1 team. That's pretty impressive.

This team needs to be varsity. If they are doing this as a club team, imagine what they could do with blue chip recruits.

Wait..

What? The pro-shop guy at Barton Hills was wrong?

Fritz

You would be wrong if you believe that. I don't know of a single person in the department who would like to see Fritz in that job. ...and I did not get that info from a pro-shop worker.

Michigan needs to hire someone who can do the job. Period. The job is keeping a good thing going without screwing it up, keeping a lot of competitive people happy enough to do their jobs effectively, keeping the budget in the black, and most of all - fielding a winning football team.

Hopefully MSC and the committee will think outside the box when they build their candidate list. Not that they should necessarily hire from outside, but it won't hurt to get some different perspectives. Tradition doesn't run a business.

Inside perspective

Spoke to three different insiders in the department today about this. One is a coach. One is an administrator. Another is what you would probably call support staff. Also spoke to a former staff member who was there in the 90s and is still involved peripherally. The general sentiment seems to be that Martin did much of what needed to be done after the mess that was Tom Goss, ie. balance the budget and build the infrastructure. What they all mentioned that is hard to see from the outside is a department that is somewhat dysfunctional in its inside culture. They were all hoping for someone who gets the business side, but also gets how to be a good manager. It's an incredibly complex job, and it's a really important hire for the university. I completely agree with some of the people here who express the desire for quality over loyalty. Personally, I'd also like to see someone who is innovative. Michigan athletics should be leading the way, not following. For all the good work Martin did, much of it should have been done 20 years ago.

my take

I like the piped in music, but feel it could be executed much better. Better timing. Maybe a better mix. I am almost three decades removed from college, but some GnR or ACDC or even Eminem at the right moment gets my blood going, just as it seems to for the young people playing the game and watching from the student section. We (collectively) forget sometimes that this is about them more than us.

I was on the field for a good chunk of the game Saturday, and along the Michigan sideline at the south end of the stadium the MMB was very hard to hear. I'm no expert, as some who have posted seem to be, but I assume that no change in technique or instruments used can completely compensate for location and direction. I was directly across from the ND band. They were loud (and incessant and annoying). Not surprising since they were playing directly "at" me.

On a related note, why can't the basketball pep band be more like the hockey band? The hockey band, with its emphasis on drums, stimulating music and a dancing director, gets the crowd in Yost fired up and involved. The basketball band, with its smooth tunes and classics repertoire, jazz band drum set and a boring director, more often silences the crowd at key moments. There's a buzz in Crisler when the alumni band is pinch-hitting (which, not coincidentally has an entertaining director). Maybe the current band should take note.

More of this please

Thank you, thank you, thank you. X's and O's are not only more interesting to me than all of the recruiting speculation, they may also, over time, educate some of the football "experts" who sit around me in Section 23. I can't tell you how often I want to turn around and correct someone, but if I took every opportunity, I would 1. never see the game, and 2. alienate everyone who sits near me. Football is a complex game, but considering its popularity I'm always amazed at how little most fans know about how it's played.

Keep up the edumication!

Have some depth or blinders

Seriously. Why do some feel it's necessary to let everyone else know they care only about football? Good for you. You are an incredibly well-rounded person. And you have got us all thinking that maybe football has a bigger following than women's soccer. I wasn't sure, but now I suspect that may be the case. Do you get pissed at ESPN.com for having articles on sports you don't like too?

Personally, soccer bores me. But I appreciate it's popularity around the world and the work that our Michigan coaches and student-athletes put in, and I am a Michigan fan, regardless of the sport. I applaud this blog for providing coverage of the less-followed sports at Michigan. I am not a lemming.

More lacrosse please.

More lacrosse please.

agreed

The more Michigan coverage, the better. As mentioned above, if you only want football news it's easy enough to scroll down.

As a lacrosse fan, I'm hoping Tim from VB continues his coverage here.

Coach Paul

I would say they may already have a pretty good coach. Read his bio. Plus, he started out in the athletic department, so I assume he's well connected at Michigan. Anyone who can build a program like they are building with almost zero support from the university should get a hard look. I'm kind of surprised he's stayed this long. He must get offers.

I tend to agree with the posts on here saying that lacrosse could be very competitive in D1 very quickly. I have lived in both New York and Maryland, the hotbeds of lacrosse (back in MI now). I know the respect the school gets in general, and I hear from my family back east that there is a buzz growing in the lacrosse community about the team.

To those say they could care less about lacrosse...so be it. There are a lot of people who have narrow views of sports, following only the popular ones. There are others who simply don't know enough about it to have an opinion yet. There are obviously some who have seen it and simply don't like it, although from my experience that category is fairly small. I was exposed to the sport after college, and I have to tell you I can't get enough of it. It has so many of the parts that I like from football, basketball and hockey. I'm glad to see the Michigan team is finally getting some of the attention they deserve. I hope the university eventually makes a D1 commitment to the sport. It's a great fit at Michigan, and I really see it having the potential to grow into a second tier "major" sport, like hockey.

Michigan connection

Denver's athletic director is Peg Bradley-Doppes, who used to be the volleyball coach and then an Associate AD at Michigan back in the 90s.

$250K is definitely a lot for a college coach in ANY sport other than big-time football or basketball. Denver is making a pretty big commitment to lacrosse. I wish Michigan would do the same by making the jump to varsity.

therealtruth

I also disagree with Topic Thunder's assertion that varsity athletes should have to fundraise. At a school like Michigan they should be able to focus 100% on their sport and school without the distraction of having to raise money.

However, I would urge therealtruth to find out the real truth here. Don't lump all the club teams together. That would be like saying every varsity team goes through the same experience as the football team. The lacrosse team, and I believe the men's crew team, both clubs, put in a varsity level of commitment. Practice more than "three days a week", lifting, meetings, training room, etc. As far as I know the athletes don't do any fundraisers themselves. Their coaching staff and booster club do it. The players pay their dues at the start of the year (or rather, their parents do), and then they focus on lacrosse.

There is no doubt though that these guys are doing it for the love of the game and Michigan. They certainly aren't doing it for a scholarship or for the attention.

I hope a lot of Michigan fans got to watch the NCAA lacrosse semifinals and finals on ESPN this weekend. Huge crowds at pro football stadiums. Amazing championship game yesterday. Michigan needs to get on board.

Why would they get new

Why would they get new coaches? Paul has proven he can build a great program. He has proven he can recruit, even at the club level (if he can get the starting goalie at Gilman to commit to a club program, imagine what he could do with scholarships). He has proven he's well connected with their scrimmage schedule over the years against very good NCAA teams. He has national administrative/board experience and international coaching experience. He's proven he can develop professional level talent. He's a great fundraiser (I know this all too well). And he started his career in the UM athletic department on the administrative side.

Steve Burns (men's soccer) and Mark Rothstein (women's rowing) have both done pretty well transitioning straight from club to varsity at Michigan.

I'm assuming with all of his success and connections that Paul has had multiple opportunities to leave Michigan but has chosen to stay. That usually counts for something around here doesn't it? I remember some crotchety old football coach/AD saying once "I want a Michigan man coaching at Michigan!"

Of course, this is all assuminig varsity lax ever happens. Come on UM! See the light!

They have a donation link on

They have a donation link on their website that goes straight to the university giving site and gives credit for the Victors Club. I've been giving every year for the past few. I get to help out some great student-athletes, AND it gets me closer to the 50 yard line. I'm pretty sure that's a win/win.