Anyone else notice that at the spring game the nets (behind the goal posts) sported the Allstate “good hands” logo? I’m told that was just for the spring game and won’t be there in the fall. At least not yet.

I’m not sure the comment about today’s students having their nose in books rather than at the stadium is correct. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe there has been a drop in IM sports participation (though there are fewer fields available to the video game generation. We used to be able to get into the stadium and the tartan turf past the Ferry Field gates. Palmer seems to be under perennial construction and Elbel is now gated and too often closed. I’m excited about the new fields at Mitchell, but are they too far from the dorms? And will students be allowed to use them other than for IM games?)

On the other hand, the comment that today’s students are tomorrow’s alumni and donors is spot on.

I do like the big screens – we all appreciate the instant replay, especially on a controversial call. But that’s customer service, not competing with people who prefer to watch at home. I want to view the game beyond just the field of focus of a camera.

But the blasting ads of all types between seemingly every play? Brandon, you do realize that at home I have – and use – a MUTE button on my remote, right?! (Or is the noise just so we don’t notice that we can’t use our cell phones… making it too loud to call? (: )

I do miss Howard King, but at least we still have Carl Grapentine. I despise other stadiums with cartoonish or circus-act announcers. Etched in my ear canal is a nasally “Eddie George carried” from the game at the snakepit 20 years ago.

We’ll always have Bo and Ufer in our hearts.

But, Brandon, what will today’s students take away from their Michigan football experience?

Greed has definitely become the name of the game. Oklahoma boasts about it’s “XX year sell-out record” yet last year and this year they have been begging folks to buy season tickets, extending donation deadlines, giving those that didn’t renew a 2nd, 3rd and 4th chance to renew etc. Also, don’t let the “sell-out” thing fool you. It’s easy to “sell-out” when the local grocery store sponsor is giving away a grocery cart of free tickets to fill the seats.

I’ve attended every home for the last 18 years and I’ve seen the shift from “we love you-you wild and crazy fans!” to “what is your account number so we can determine how to treat you!” Our tickets have gone up every year but one, last year. Even when we went from 7 home games to 6 a few years ago, the price went up. Last season our AD told us that our prices would stay the same as the year before because we were such AWESOME fans. How about telling the truth by pointing out that we had one of the worse home schedules in 10+ years? This year I guess us same awesome fans don’t deserve the same price… ESPECIALLY since we won a BCS Bowl. And they’re quick to remind us of that on our ticket applications, emails from the school, mailings, billboards etc. “Join us now because we’re winners… AGAIN!” It all reminds me of Rod Tidwell on the phone with Jerry MaGuire saying “show me the money!” doing a dance! Show me the money fans! If you don’t, we’ll find someone that will. Who cares if your grandpa passed down his season tickets he’s had since Wilkinson roamed the sidelines? Money talks, and we need it to make the suite more comfy!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we are a consistently good team, even when we choke off one or three we shouldn’t. I know you gotta pay to play, but at some point it needs to level out! It’s getting harder and harder to write a check for $1500 for 2 tickets when I’m treated like I’m wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles when entering the stadium… or when it’s 114 degrees outside and I see the folks in the newly renovated suites sipping on mai tai’s while conversating instead of watching the game…. or when I get stuck with an extra ticket to Southern Vocational School For The Blind and I can’t get 1/4 of the price printed on it… Or when I can get a pair of better seats than mine outside the stadium for less than half of what one of mine says… Or when I’m trying to talk to talk to a friend about the previous game but I’m interrupted by a loud cartoon jet with the “Con-Air High Flying Play Of The Quarter”… Or when the guy with the long orange glove stands on the field for 10 minutes while rain pours down on our heads. It’s all about the Benjamin’s now days folks. Even in the south where football is God.

Hang in there Blue and Maize friends! Hopefully we’ll see a plateau sometime soon! If not, we can all invest in some bada** TV’s!

ribbon boards as a benefit reminds me of the saying, “Dont ___ on me and tell me its raining”

But, I suppose the program has a history of avoiding competition…see fielding yost and a certain team he refused to play after they defeated Michigan.

I have a hypothesis that an additional factor decreasing student football attendance is that today’s UM students are more academically oriented than a generation ago.

As UM has become so selective in admissions over the last couple of decades, there has been a rise in resume polishers like GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and extracurricular involvement. It’s likely that many of the group of friends I attended games with in the 19X0s wouldn’t even have been admitted to UM these days.

The kids I have known who have attended UM in the last couple of years are wonderful, successful, kids, but I just don’t see them prioritizing spending 12 hours on a cold, rainy Saturday at a football game over their academics.

The high cost of a UM education also keeps the pressure on students to focus academically.

Drastic change is ahead. As a former public school trustee, I can attest to the fact that most school systems and many colleges won’t be able to afford the liability insurance needed to support a football program when the concussion lawsuits start to be filed against them. The short term UM athletic administration strategy appears to be to exploit football as long as it can. They just got a little too enthusiastic!