Current QB's Thoughts on UM Fans
Brian Cleary, walk on RS Soph QB, has a Hot Take on the UM fans (via his twitter):
Easiest thing in the world is to abandon others and tell the world how much better youwould be in their situation. It takes courage to stand by someone and remain loyal because you believe in them regardless of the popular opinion. I know you think your history as a Michigan fan somehow makes your opinion relevant, but it doesn't. I love Coach Hoke, Dave Brandon, DG, and the rest of my teammates, and I'll stand with them until the end.
I understand you get frustrated with fan criticism. But goodness gracious. Once again, the people who pay hard earned money, invest thier time and emotion into the supporting the program are not cash dispensing robots. They are people. People who don't like to be treated like cash dispensing robots. When you treat them as such, they will walk away and spend that time and emotion with people who treat them like people and not robots. Their opinions are most definitely important.
Maybe I've been missing this kind of thing in the past, but between former players and now current players, there's a serious disconnect between the program, the athletic department, and fans. I mean none of the current vitrol is directed at the players. Yet somehow they think that whatever the AD does to fans is good. I don't get it, but it makes me feel even less a part of the UM community which was the source of my fandom in the first place.
EDIT: I should clarify: when it comes to things like player performance, no the fans' opinions don't really matter. But when it comes to how the AD presents the university to the world, or the policies that directly affect the fans, then yes, the fans' opinons are probably the most important.
UPDATE: Cleary seems to have clarified with the following statement in response to a fan asking if he didn't want the fan to show up for games anymore:
no sir. Passion from the fans is great, but your opinion on who is or isn't doing their job won't change how I feel about my team
Which, great, I'm glad that no matter what is happening you're staying with your team; I don't think anybody is going to be angry about that. I still have to say that fans' opinions on whether Brandon is doing his job is still very relevent.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
And I am not saying I am entitled to anything. I am saying anyone who attends Michigan does so expecting the football team and its successes to be part of that experience. Athletics and academics are forever linked at a school like Michigan. This isn't the ivy league.
As a side note, I would think with a motto like "Leaders and Best" our actual leaders would, you know, come close to that expectation. John Beilein is that kind of leader, Hoke and Brandon, not so much.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
Your first sentence says you're not entitled to anything. The entire rest of your post is describing what you're entitled to when you attend Michigan. I give up.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^
It is expectation, based on decades of consistency. There is a difference. I expect Michigan, and all that it stands for, to strive for success in all fields. Period. Complacency and Michigan should not go together.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
that's fine. You can expect what you want. But the results haven't met your expectations. You can deal with it. Or you can not, in which case it means you feel that you are ENTITLED to better results. Jeebus. You're the guy with two degrees.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:52 PM ^
Brandon will be fighting for his job until the bitter end! If Hoke finishes the season 6-6 and shows improvement, it would not surprise me if Brandon gives him one more season to prove himself. Otherwise, Brandon will be selecting the new coach but most of the talented coaches probably will not want to work under him. It just looks bleak for our football program until Brandon resigns or is fired by the president.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
"I agree, our athletic director and coach should be fired. Our program needs a total, top-to-bottom revamp." - No College Football Player Ever
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^
Asking for excellence (I'd settle for competency at this point) isn't abandoning them; it's criticism. Learn to take it.
The AD can't handle fan relations or media PR to save it's life.
The coaches can't get the offense or defense to play at a high-level for short periods of time, let alone consistently. And they apparently aren't aware enough or don't care to a. take out our QB that can't stand up because of a leg injury then b. take out our QB that can't stand up because he clearly had something wrong with his head.
This team is a bunch of pampered babies who don't stick up for teammates or seem to care they aren't playing well.
Nobody in the program is performing at an acceptable level and they just expect the fans to not be upset about it?
I don't rant often but good lordy, GTFO of here with this garbage, Brain.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
just like he shouldn't have said this, we probably shoudn't spend a lot of time discussing it. some comments are best left forgotten.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:15 PM ^
I have officially hit the "do not care" stage and it's October 3rd. How stupid was I to buy a triple game pack for $490 and have to drive nine hours to watch this circus. Sold my Miami (OH) tickets before the season [THANK GOD] for $100 for the pair.
I'll be there for the Penn State game. If anyone wants my Maryland tickets I may give them away for $40 if that's even possible come November. I'll decide after next weekend's debacle. Hellacious way to spend your birthday weekend, huh?
October 3rd, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
Unfortunately by November a 2-9 Michigan ticket would only be worth a can of coke!
October 3rd, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^
I may just come up and get drunk on the golf course and not even go to the game. I'd probably be in a better mood than watching Senior Day anyways.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:22 PM ^
His teammates when either of his QBs got cheap-shotted.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^
College football started witihout fans. The business of college football needs fans, but the sport itself does not. Suppose you could actually manage to convince every season ticket holder that they should not renew because the product doesn't warrent the cost. All that would happen is ticket prices would drop to fill the stadium.
Suppose you could convince every current fan of Michigan football to stop following the team, regardless of price. You'd also have to convince the fans of their opponents not to attend to watch their teams play at Michigan so all the ticket money dried up. To make it complete you'd have to dry up all the shared money from the other B1G teams, so you'd have to get all the college football fans to stop following college football. Even in this alternate reality college football would still survive, it just wouldn't pay the bills for itself and other programs. It would become a non-revenue sport like so many others. The number of scholarships would probably be reduced or dry up completely but the sport would survive.
The simple fact that many athletic departments lose money every year but still field a football team, clearly demonstrate that fan dollars only effect the poshness of the program, not its existence.
BTW: While most, if not all donors are fans, the vast majority of fans are NOT donors. So lumping them together is a mistake. Even without the "support" of most fans there would still remain a donor base to support athletics, including football. The dollars would be less, perhaps far less, but between university payments and donor contribution there would be enough money for football to survive.
I'm probably as passionate and loyal a fan as anyone you might find but I have no illusions about my "importance" to the program. The price of your ticket only reflects the willingness of other spectators to pay for a seat, nothing more. Your passion as a fan is entirely your own. Our dollars may make us relevant to the athletic department's bottom line, but those dollars and our fandom is completely irrelevant to the team and the sport.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
Top recruits again and again state 100K fans as the reason they want to come play ball at Michigan. So yeah, if we had 20K people in the stadium, that would affect the team.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
It's well and good that he is defending his coaches and teammates. But - hey kid - some of us "fans" have spent more time on campus than you have. Some of us aren't just fans, we're alums and donors.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^
Of course with this Hoke is going to paint the us against the world pictures - sadly that might even be against the UM fanbase. But you know what - sorry, really don't care. It's a symbiotic relationship whether they want to admit it or not.
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
I admire Cleary's loyalty, but it is sad commentary when a student-athlete thinks the opinions of fellow students are "irrelevant." The NCAA's entire justification for their multi-million dollar business model is that teams represent the schools they attend.
Sounds like Cleary is saying they only represent themselves. Once again, I admire his loyalty, but he may want to revisit his opinion.
October 3rd, 2014 at 2:14 PM ^
Either Brandon goes or I do.
October 3rd, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^
He won't be the last. Not really a big deal to me.
October 3rd, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
I agree that Michigan has an entitlement issue. What I think some people are missing is that it cuts both ways. The fans feel entitled to a winning football program, because it's been that way forever. The players feel entitled to praise and gobs of money lavished on their gear, practice facilities, etc. because it's been that way forever. The truth is that neither group has a natural right to any of that. It's been a successful symbiotic relationship that nurtured that sense of "deserving" both ways, and now it's broken down.
I respect Brian Cleary, and I understand why he's frustrated. But he has to understand that Michigan football, contrary to this AD's expectations, has no god-given mandate to receive undying love and financial support from fans and alumni. The fans and program are both pissed because our mutually inflated expectations aren't being met.
Let's not kid ourselves; Michigan has such a massive fanbase because we've been really, really good historically. Now we're not, and that support is starting to erode. Sorry folks, but that's just kind of how sports work. A True Fan (TM) is one that wants their team to win, and doesn't start cheering for another team when they're losing. That's it. I don't condone personal criticism of students, but there's nothing wrong with holding an extremely well-paid man accountable for doing his job, which happens to be winning football games in this instance.
Point being: I think Brian Cleary's notion that we're supposed to shut up and toss money at UM football no matter what is just as out of touch as Angry Fan X who demands we win 10 games yearly or else.
October 3rd, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
I will take issue with one thing here. Of course, I am not happy about Michigan losing and looking incompetent. But that does not cause my support for the coaches and players to waver. The galling thing here is the attitude exhibited by Hoke and some of the players. It is about, in Hoke's terms, accountability. They are saying, "We are not accountable to you." That is an immature and lousy attitude. Does a symphony say, "We don't care about the audience, we only want to be an orchestra?" The purpose of the orchestra is to provide excellence and beauty to the audience. Likewise, the Michigan football team does not exist just for the inner experience of team bonding. They stand for something and we have stood with them since we were teenagers or earlier. I have been standing with Michigan football since 1978 when I arrived on campus. I have cheered, defended, shared joy/anguish, purchased, donated, and shown up time and time again. It's this "you don't matter" attitude that is galling coming from a bunch of young people who are failing to embody what they espouse. I don't mind failure at all. I don't mind losing, in the end. I mind a self-entitled attitude of people who think that something big and great is all about themselves. Now, these are young guys and they make mistakes, including their public statements. And no doubt there are many great guys on the Michigan team who feel very differently. But the attitude seems to be coming from Hoke at least, and that has changed me from being overwhelmingly supportive to unhappy in the extreme.
October 3rd, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^
What really gets me is the evasion and (almost surely) deceit in the 54 hours until Dave Brandon released his 1AM press statement. Brian's posts about the fights to keep the word "concussion" out of the 1AM statement and the complete disconnect with Hoke's Monday afternoon presser are certainly consistent with a desire to sweep this under the rug.
Heck, the Michigan Football fan side of me is fine with seeing how the season plays out and evaluating Hoke in December/January and having him return if somehow the team turns it around miraculously. The W-L record and prospects for the rest of the season are bleak, but I just don't have much emotion left for that.
I want Dave Brandon gone. My impression of him prior to this debacle was of someone that was taking the experience of attending Michigan Football out of the reach of fans of ordinary incomes. Now I think he's a lying weasel.
My impression of Hoke prior to this debacle was of a really good guy with a tendency to indulge in white lies about stuff that really isn't the media's business. My inclination is to root for him. But when I ponder the disconnect between his Monday afternoon presser and Brandon's 1AM press statement, I can't help but think that he told some lies about a serious issue. (Hoke and Brandon didn't speak before the afternoon presser after the incident made ABC World News Tonight on Sunday?) My heart wants to root for Brady, but my head can't defend his Monday afternoon presser.
October 3rd, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
I agree that Michigan has an entitlement issue. What I think some people are missing is that it cuts both ways. The fans feel entitled to a winning football program, because it's been that way forever. The players feel entitled to praise and gobs of money lavished on their gear, practice facilities, etc. because it's been that way forever. The truth is that neither group has a natural right to any of that. It's been a successful symbiotic relationship that nurtured that sense of "deserving" both ways, and now it's broken down.
I respect Brian Cleary, and I understand why he's frustrated. But he has to understand that Michigan football, contrary to this AD's expectations, has no god-given mandate to receive undying love and financial support from fans and alumni. The fans and program are both pissed because our mutually inflated expectations aren't being met.
Let's not kid ourselves; Michigan has such a massive fanbase because we've been really, really good historically. Now we're not, and that support is starting to erode. Sorry folks, but that's just kind of how sports work. A True Fan (TM) is one that wants their team to win, and doesn't start cheering for another team when they're losing. That's it. I don't condone personal criticism of students, but there's nothing wrong with holding an extremely well-paid man accountable for doing his job, which happens to be winning football games in this instance.
Point being: I think Brian Cleary's notion that we're supposed to shut up and toss money at UM football no matter what is just as out of touch as Angry Fan X who demands we win 10 games yearly or else.