Michigan AD pulls an about face on seat cushions
It was just brought to my attention that the athletic department today has changed its policy regarding seat cushions in response to the outcry they received. Outside seat cushions are now ALLOWED in Michigan Stadium.
Wow. My thread is basically useless now.
You were part of the outcry!
Slap cushions in applause.
Or has that page just not been updated yet? There is no statement on that page that they have changed the policy back. It's possible that page has not been updated to reflect the new policy.
"Updated for 2013 Season"
At the top of the post. Not conclusive, but there's that.
That could have been updated in May or June 2013. This policy change went into effect in the last week I think.
When you say this was brought to your attention, did someone actually get a statement about a change in policy or are you/or someone else just inferring it from seeing on that webpage? If it's the latter, I would wait until I hear something official before assuming it to be fact.
It was brought to my attention on the Michigan Football facebook page in reply to a rant I posted.
Someone who is better than I could check the timestamp on the website.
Did it myself: IE says it was modified today (8/1/2013)
FWIW if you go to the BliMfolds post from yesterday that kicked this off, it's the same link. Yesterday it said no seat cushions, today they're permitted.
All hail Brandon, the patron saint of generosity!
He's just showing the vast power he has over all of us. The power to give and take away whenever he chooses. We all are supposed to believe he's benevolent after this "stunt" (and that's exactly what this is, a planned stunt) to make him appear like a nice guy. He created the issue in the first place people!
~Herm
Is our Athletic director now our Athletic Dictator? With a lame duck President, i can imagine Dave can do whatever he likes. All the while Dave is saying pride of the Michigan people; he is really hoarding all the gold. Viva la Motherland
I'm sure DB got calls and emails. I sent him an email and got this response yesterday:
The Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics
The University of Michigan
1000 South State Street | Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2201
Do sheep really support the shepherd? It seems more like reluctant acceptance.
... was Brandon involved in the original decision? Was he supportive? There is changing his mind based on response, and then there is finding out about the stupid shit your team decided to do and fixing it.
either way, glad they've about faced. This was just stupid beyond words.
I still find it odd that they won't just put down seat pads in the stadium to begin with, some really cool yellow seat pads with the block M emblem in the middle.
Yellow would get stained and gross really quickly.
Plus it would limit their ability to draw really tiny seat widths.
So where's that guy who told me my email wouldn't make a difference?
/Vindication
Banning outside seat cushions makes a lot of sense from a security perspective. The fact that it allows the AD to make a little extra money is just an added benefit.
August 1st, 2013 at 10:15 PM ^
I imagine it'd be pretty easy to cut a slit in the end of one and stuff a bunch of contraband into the middle of it. Of course, just about anything you could fit in there could be just as easily stuffed into a pocket, but I don't want to give the AD any ideas about banning pants with pockets.
August 2nd, 2013 at 12:15 AM ^
August 1st, 2013 at 10:38 PM ^
What's behind the backtracking is that all this security theater nonsense is not actually for our safety. There was no legitimate security issue, and the smokescreen deployed in this case failed to cow the fanbase into silence. So the financial bottom line just looked worse than expected once they realized what a bad PR move it was.
They might have seen it coming if they'd hired employees on the business side who don't call themselves things like Lochdog.
August 1st, 2013 at 10:48 PM ^
I called Homeland Security, and asked them for the average number of seat cushion-related attacks committed per year in this country. They said the number was roughly zero point THEY ARE PADDED FREEKING CUSHIONS per year.
Actual statistic.
August 2nd, 2013 at 12:09 AM ^
But that's a reason for examining shoes. It's not a reason for banning shoes, and then making people rent Stadium Slippers.
Well, what I wrote out was something along the lines of that they really don't have any other option. If the security threat caused seat cushions to be banned, what other option, besides renting the seat cushions, does the AD have? They can't exactly just give them out, can they? That would be unprofitable and very challenging, logistically. Of course, the argument is probably moot, as the security threat apparently isn't real enough for them to continue the program.
August 2nd, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
...I love the idea of banning shoes and enforcing a stadium slipper rental. It'd be awesome to see everybody wearing maize & blue footies.
Good.
DB gets it.
Are they even allowing this type of seat cushion: http://amzn.to/1eeIj44 ?
Brandon's strategy is to prod the beast and see if it roars. This is exactly what happened when the band was taken off the Alabama game.
That's what I keep thinking. And now he can backtrack (like he did with the band) and say it was a typo all along or something of that nature.
Whatever. Glad to have my seat cushion back.
An intern at the NTSB...
You know, same sort of thing.
but holy hell they should have figured out what the reaction was going to be before announcing it. How the people in the AD didn't know ahead of time that it was going to provoke a shitstorm is mind-boggling. And mind-bottling, too.
IF they truly were concerned about the security aspects of bringing in seat cushions, they should have planned on providing them free of charge. There are times when using every single opportunity to get cash out of the customers is counter-productive, and this is one of those times.
will they just be free to carry their terrorist seat cushions into the stadium?
wouldn't it be cool if DB did this stuff just for the reaction alone. Touche DB, touche
All these false alarms add up. They create an indelible image of an AD that is hostile to its fans. The tipping point comes when fans (who are already financially fatigued) decide it's just not worth the additional aggrevation.
Each B1G school gets the same TV money, large stadium or small. When you are Michigan, you get extra money by being able to fill up your large stadium. UNTIL YOU CHASE YOUR CUSTOMERS AWAY FOR NO GOOD REASON.
Sticking a finger in your customers' eyes just to see them squint and see how long they will take it until they scream is not a business model with much of a future.