Was All or Nothing's filming a distraction?
I've been enjoying All or Nothing. Well-produced, humanizing, and for a Michigan supporter, like a sugar rush of additional fandom.
But with the amount of exposure, filming, etc. I have to imagine that this would cause someone to switch up a normal routine - especially for a college student and double especially for a student-athlete. Is it possible that having a film crew was a distraction for a team chock-full of youth?
For those of you who have been part of a type of filming/docu-style work like this, whether as part of a sports team or not - I'd like to hear your experiences and whether it was a disruption - or just a minor blip. Given that athletes, coaches, etc. are already heavily followed with an established public image, I'm hypothesizing that the answer is "eh, probably not a ton."
(N.B. I'm not suggesting that this is the prime reason for the season being iffy. It's whether, in hindsight, it was worth the tradeoff.)
Thoughts?
April 12th, 2018 at 10:00 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
My take is not really a take - it's a question meant to inspire discussion.
I even said "eh, probably not" with similar observations as yours.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^
I’d suggest that it has to be a distraction because it’s different than the norm. There was video outside practice. No one will be able to say it impacted the results but dismissing it as a possibility is likely an error.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:41 PM ^
What you don't realize is that they filmed Gary eating dinner with his mother on fifty three separate occasions and chose the best conversation. Definitely a huge distraction.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:02 PM ^
Yes. Just the same was Jets were affected when they were filmed for the HBO special.
For instance, everyone was wondering why JH was rather quite on the sideline. Now we know why -- he was being recorded all the time.
It affected how the most important players -- the QBs -- behaved.
The only one not affected was Brown.
This was a terrible idea.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:06 PM ^
I watched a few episodes and felt the show was a distraction. That said, I'm not sure our record would have been any different without the cameras, but I think knowing they're on you naturally alters behavior, which could easily alter performance in a negative way.
Assuming arguendo that you are correct, and that being "on camera" alters a player's behavior, since every single game is broadcast live by many cameras surrounding and in several cases directly above and following the players, then players should have cameras surrounding them whenever they practice so that they will practice in the same altered state that they are forced to perform in.
There' s a psychological reason with decent research behind this, if you are interested in state-dependent memory.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
Yeah, okay... The Jets suck because cameras were in the room. By God, everyone must have been affected!
April 12th, 2018 at 10:48 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 11:09 PM ^
For instance, everyone was wondering why JH was rather quite on the sideline. Now we know why -- he was being recorded all the time.We don't know this is why. You're guessing it is.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^
We also know he got a lot of advice about his sideline demeanor, plus the fact that personal fouls for coaches were given a short leash this year.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:19 AM ^
Or, as harbaugh has said himself, 1) technical foul legitimized by new rule 2) he didnt really like the way he looked acting like that 3) his dad agreed 4) he wants the kids to be the focus.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:05 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 10:07 PM ^
After watching the series and seeing how concerned Speight seemed with any soical media opinion on him I'd have to say yes.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:11 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 10:28 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
He my be physically tough but thats one part of it. I'm not talking about his GF's statements or whatever that is about. I'm talking about him crying about what people say about him or how he gets critqued his ability to not take cirticism is telling.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 11:43 PM ^
I represent thousands of people and their families. I am constantly critized and constantly told I am wrong and failing. Gotta tune it out gotta have thicker skin. It's not that hard, if he doesn't like the heat so what no one is making him be a football player. He is electing to do this on his own. You take the good with the bad and this is part of him being the starting QB at Michigan. Iron sharpens Iron my friend.
It's explaining a point one that has a defenseive posture because its a a mindset set. If you or someone doesn't agree with me I'm not gonna loose sleep over it. Nor am I going to care about it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion regardless. At the end of the day not one single persons opinion is going to make or break you. Only yourself can alter that outcome. Take care of what you can control and the rest will fall into place.
I litterally am ciritized and death threatened, including my wife yes I fully understand what it is like, daily weekly etc. Roll with it. The bigger more prominate public roll you take the more heat that comes with it.
At the end of the day you do everything in your power to do the right thing and things should more likely than not work itself out. Even Tom Brady has haters, Tom doesnt seem to throw himself a pity party everytime it happens. I'm sure he uses it as fuel to the fire and says I can't wait to prove them wrong. Fight or Flight mentality I'd rather fight in a proper context than sit there.
What about the scene where he started to complain to his father(?), who eye-rolled, pulled his shades down, and sighed before Wilton even finished the sentence?
April 13th, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
Are mentally and physically weak
April 12th, 2018 at 11:21 PM ^
I don't think being injury prone is the same thing as being tough. Props to Wilton for playing less than 100% 2 games in 2016 but neither of us know how much pain he was in those games if any. Now Devin Gardner was a tough QB.
Gardner, Shane, Rudock, Wilton (2x), Peters, even JOK said he was "not 100%" ... this isn't because our QBs lack toughness. I think you have to conclude our OL has lacked something awful over the past 5+ years.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:17 PM ^
I'm so glad someone posted this thread as a rehash of what got mentioned throughout the year in almost every game thread.
Now I'm eagerly anticipating Lion King references to why this year will be different because the past is over....
(...which is literally true regardless of outcome..)
April 12th, 2018 at 10:37 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 10:22 PM ^
This isn't a reality show with hidden cameras or crews following players 24/7, it's a docu-series.
Amazon arranged specific shoots on certain days with some players/coaches and otherwise recorded practice/games, where there are already cameras anyway. The non-football shoots aren't all that different than what players already get for off-field features with networks, MGoBlue, etc.
A bunch of the footage they used was from Michigan's own in-house team; footage that was being recorded anyway. Michigan also had final cut to protect the players from anything they may not want to make the series.
P5 football players are used to being surrounded by cameras. There were more cameras, sure, but not anything materially different.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^
They should've done a Trailer Park Boys version following Harbaugh around. A show on him would've been enough and he won't get distracted from anything football-related.
April 12th, 2018 at 10:49 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^
I don't know about the team...but it was a good distraction for me in the off-season.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:07 PM ^
I'll be honest - I didn't even really think about this as I watched the series because I found the whole thing fascinating from a historic standpoint, even if it was very recent history. Could it have been a distraction? Maybe. Does it affect my evaluation of the season? No. Am I going to be one of those special people that wants to rail against this series because of how the season went? Those people are not worth anyone's time.
Indeed historic, I agree.
April 12th, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 11:29 PM ^
Best to have had this in 2017 and not 2018 or 2019. From a PR standpoint I think it's a great idea - Harbaugh has haters but he has also created new Michigan fans.
The distraction question is difficult to evaluate. Anything is a distraction if it takes away where somone's focus should be. MGoBlog regularly distracts me from reports I should be writing (but they get written anyway)
Did this affect the season or any game outcomes, doubt it.
Are you guys really arguing against having Michigan football inside documentation during a possible NC run season or at least potentially great season??? You do realize the entire rationale behind the series is as a recruiting tool for many years to come, right?
April 12th, 2018 at 11:52 PM ^
I was featured on a reality TV show for 2 evenings. I can say that after the first hour; I didn't notice anyhting. It was just me being myself as well as the other people I was with.
April 13th, 2018 at 12:09 AM ^
April 13th, 2018 at 12:54 AM ^