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Endzone: The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football
Endzone tells the story of how college football's most successful and respected program nearly lost it all in less than a decade and entirely of its own doing. It is a story of hubris, greed, and betrayal, a tale more suited to Wall Street than the world's top public university. Author John U. Bacon takes you inside the offices, the boardrooms, and the locker rooms of the University of Michigan to see what happened and why, with countless eye-opening, head-shaking scenes of conflict and conquest.
But Endzone is also an inspiring story of redemption and revival. When those who loved Michigan football the most recognized that it was being attacked from within, they rallied to reclaim the values that had made it great for over a century. The list of heroes includes players, students, lettermen, fans, and faculty - and the leaders who had the courage to listen to them. Their unprecedented uprising produced a new athletic director and a new coach who vindicated the fans' faith when he turned down more money and fame to return to the place he loved Michigan.
But Endzone is also an inspiring story of redemption and revival. When those who loved Michigan football the most recognized that it was being attacked from within, they rallied to reclaim the values that had made it great for over a century. The list of heroes includes players, students, lettermen, fans, and faculty - and the leaders who had the courage to listen to them. Their unprecedented uprising produced a new athletic director and a new coach who vindicated the fans' faith when he turned down more money and fame to return to the place he loved Michigan.
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First published September 1, 2015
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About the author
John U. Bacon
20 books197 followersJohn U. Bacon is an American journalist and author of books on sports and business as well as a sports commentator on TV and radio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
August 30, 2015
After catching wind over Twitter last night that the local Barnes & Noble had jumped the gun a bit and had already placed this out for sale, I cancelled my Amazon pre-order and high-tailed it over to get my hands on this book I've been eagerly awaiting for months.
I read this book in about six hours which makes me feel a little bad because John U. Bacon states in the acknowledgements it took him six months, but oh well. He should also be honored I read it so quickly -- it's been a long, long time since I finished a book in one sitting. Especially one that's nearly 500 pages!
Endzone focuses on the rise, fall, and return of Michigan football, yes, but it most closely examines Dave Brandon's four-year stint as AD from 2010-2014. I myself, and I'm sure most other Michigan fans can remember, in 2010 when Brandon seemed like a savior who would delegitimize if not erase the NCAA "scandal" over stretching during football coach Rich Rodriguez's era and bring us our next Bo. Even though most of what occurs during the "rise" part of this book is common knowledge to most hardcore Michigan football fans, read with the benefit of hindsight it was fascinating. And sad.
The "fall" portion of the book is some of the most depressing stuff I have ever read. Brandon probably needs mental health care from a professional. I don't mean that as an insult, just a genuine observation! Bacon goes out of his way to present the facts as he has encountered them without inflicting his personal opinions on the prose, and I came away thinking Dave Brandon has a serious problem with narcissism. For instance, after Michigan beat Kentucky in overtime to advance to the Final Four in 2013, as Coach Beilein and the players cut down the nets on one end of the court, Dave Brandon went to the other end of the court and cut down the other net himself. I cannot think of a less professional, more egregious occurrence of misplaced self-importance. And the book is filled with moment after moment where Brandon continually does things like this, while slowly killing the department by killing the careers of the people who worked there because they loved Michigan and turning Michigan Athletics into a bright yellow (not maize) corporate machine.
And lastly, the "return" part. Yay! One thing Bacon doesn't note (that I remember right now) is how none of any of this would be possible without Mary Sue Coleman happening to retire when she did, because apparently, she was Brandon's #1 fan. Why, I cannot fathom. I have always held the utmost regard for her and her misplaced faith in Brandon baffles me. And as you'll read, there were about a hundred other unlikely circumstances that had to come together for Harbaugh to get to Michigan...though that they did all come together makes it seem even more like a "manifest destiny", as one of Harbaugh's friends is quoted as calling it in the book, for Harbaugh and Michigan to make it work.
Over the course of the book, reading about how lettermen, employees, regents, and students (in no particular order -- they ALL had their parts to play) strived to make Michigan be what Michigan should be is one of the most stirring experiences I have had reading a book in recent memory (or ever). As a townie, life-long fan, alumna, and staff member at the University of Michigan, I cannot imagine being more proud of how the spirit of Michigan brought so many different people together for a common goal because they love this university and athletic department.
I could say so much more about what's covered in this book, but you're just going to have to read it for yourselves.
I read this book in about six hours which makes me feel a little bad because John U. Bacon states in the acknowledgements it took him six months, but oh well. He should also be honored I read it so quickly -- it's been a long, long time since I finished a book in one sitting. Especially one that's nearly 500 pages!
Endzone focuses on the rise, fall, and return of Michigan football, yes, but it most closely examines Dave Brandon's four-year stint as AD from 2010-2014. I myself, and I'm sure most other Michigan fans can remember, in 2010 when Brandon seemed like a savior who would delegitimize if not erase the NCAA "scandal" over stretching during football coach Rich Rodriguez's era and bring us our next Bo. Even though most of what occurs during the "rise" part of this book is common knowledge to most hardcore Michigan football fans, read with the benefit of hindsight it was fascinating. And sad.
The "fall" portion of the book is some of the most depressing stuff I have ever read. Brandon probably needs mental health care from a professional. I don't mean that as an insult, just a genuine observation! Bacon goes out of his way to present the facts as he has encountered them without inflicting his personal opinions on the prose, and I came away thinking Dave Brandon has a serious problem with narcissism. For instance, after Michigan beat Kentucky in overtime to advance to the Final Four in 2013, as Coach Beilein and the players cut down the nets on one end of the court, Dave Brandon went to the other end of the court and cut down the other net himself. I cannot think of a less professional, more egregious occurrence of misplaced self-importance. And the book is filled with moment after moment where Brandon continually does things like this, while slowly killing the department by killing the careers of the people who worked there because they loved Michigan and turning Michigan Athletics into a bright yellow (not maize) corporate machine.
And lastly, the "return" part. Yay! One thing Bacon doesn't note (that I remember right now) is how none of any of this would be possible without Mary Sue Coleman happening to retire when she did, because apparently, she was Brandon's #1 fan. Why, I cannot fathom. I have always held the utmost regard for her and her misplaced faith in Brandon baffles me. And as you'll read, there were about a hundred other unlikely circumstances that had to come together for Harbaugh to get to Michigan...though that they did all come together makes it seem even more like a "manifest destiny", as one of Harbaugh's friends is quoted as calling it in the book, for Harbaugh and Michigan to make it work.
Over the course of the book, reading about how lettermen, employees, regents, and students (in no particular order -- they ALL had their parts to play) strived to make Michigan be what Michigan should be is one of the most stirring experiences I have had reading a book in recent memory (or ever). As a townie, life-long fan, alumna, and staff member at the University of Michigan, I cannot imagine being more proud of how the spirit of Michigan brought so many different people together for a common goal because they love this university and athletic department.
I could say so much more about what's covered in this book, but you're just going to have to read it for yourselves.
September 11, 2015
Are you a Michigan football fan? If not, you do not want to read this book. If yes, READ IT NOW!!! There were so many fun insider information tidbits, quotes by anybody who's anybody, and sidebar stories about random Michigan football characters from the past and present. As I fall directly into this book's target audience, I ate it up!!
September 23, 2015
Safe to say, I was heavily involved with the University and football program over the exact timespan of this book... Definitely read like a bizarro-yearbook of my time there. There is so much that I didn't know. Go Blue forever.
September 8, 2015
Disclosure: I've read every single book that John Bacon has written and hold him in high regard, despite being an Ohio State fan, but this book was terribly disappointing. Not only because of the numerous typos, awkward sentence structures and redundancies, but those really didn't help, especially after the long explanation of what Michigan expectations "This Is Michigan!" truly mean. Clearly the book was written on a tight deadline, and it needs a good edit and a proofread before the second printing.
The two star rating is primarily due to the strident voice in which the author communicates Michigan culture. He clearly is hoping to ensure that the reader really gets what makes Michigan special, and he spends a lot of time on the culture, the history, the expectations and the responsibilities of the University of Michigan and those who attend there and especially the athletes. In doing so, he's often redundant, and...strident. Anyone who picks up this book has enough interest in Michigan football to understand the history and the Michigan Way. We know a Michigan Man needs to coach Michigan football, etc. Less preaching and more of what happened next would make this a much better book.
The two star rating is primarily due to the strident voice in which the author communicates Michigan culture. He clearly is hoping to ensure that the reader really gets what makes Michigan special, and he spends a lot of time on the culture, the history, the expectations and the responsibilities of the University of Michigan and those who attend there and especially the athletes. In doing so, he's often redundant, and...strident. Anyone who picks up this book has enough interest in Michigan football to understand the history and the Michigan Way. We know a Michigan Man needs to coach Michigan football, etc. Less preaching and more of what happened next would make this a much better book.
October 20, 2015
I think this is a great book for the simple fact that it reminds us Michigan fans that we got rid of Dave Brandon. Unfortunate many problems during this timeframe that DB was there were not even mentioned. Most of the book was devoted to his missteps in how he handled the student ticket policy. Dave Brandon tried to bring Ringling Brothers to Ann Arbor, trade tradition for wow factor, and if he had the power of the Queen of England he would have knighted himself as Sir Dave Brandon. He cared for nothing but building his legacy, which this book proves his legacy as athletic director for Michigan is as a selfish, heartless narcissist. The book doesn't give lots of new details but it does give more insight on the stories we have heard. John U. Bacon is an amazing resource for Michigan information, too bad it doesn't come through as much as it should. This is still a good read but if you can split the cost of the book with a friend and share it, that would be my recommendation. Go Blue!
September 6, 2015
A five-star story about the mismanagement of one of top athletic departments mixed with one-star prose results in the two-star rating. The numerous typographical errors and at times incoherent sentences are most likely a result of the tight deadline the author faced in getting this book ready for release on the eve of the current football season. I could have waited a little longer for cleaner prose. One other thing that stands out is the mistake of declining an interview request from Mr. Bacon . . . three prominent players in this saga, Dave Brandon, Mary Sue Coleman, and Lloyd Carr all declined such requests, all come off in an unflattering light. As an alum of The University of Michigan, I'm glad to have some insight as to how the culture of the athletic department dramatically changed during the Brandon administration, but I doubt I will have any reason to re-read this book.
September 5, 2015
An essential read for any Michigan fan. This recounts the many mistakes of Dave Brandon, and takes you behind the scenes to see how Michigan managed to bring Jim Harbaugh home. A fantastic read for the beginning of the new season.
September 15, 2015
For followers and fans of University of Michigan football, this book tells a riveting story. For those who are not there is not much of interest. The dozens (hundreds?) of typos and grammatical errors which a decent editor should have corrected are a distraction.
November 4, 2018
5 stars! Like other reviewers said, if you love U of M you need this read book yesterday.
If you love history and non/fiction books, I would recommend this one.
🤙🇺🇸
If you love history and non/fiction books, I would recommend this one.
🤙🇺🇸
September 13, 2015
I'm a John Bacon fan and a Michigan Alum. This book was rushed to the press to make money. The editing is horrible. Typos etc... John should have taken his own advice about the "Michigan Man" and tried to get it right. Having had two daughters at the University of Michigan during this time period, coverage of the Brendan Gibbon's rape case is three paragraphs ( Taylor Lewan's behavior unmentioned )which got them both expelled three years after the rape charge! I think if Bo was coaching they would have been kicked off the team in 2009. Bacon says he spoke privately with people and his opinion is that the athletic department "played the Gibbons case as straight as it could" no journalistic integrity on that issue. Instead we get way too many pages talking about punter Will Hagerup?? Who cares?? The football office never came clean about how they let Gibbons play for so long and then when the school finally expelled him Hoke said he was gone for family issues?? No further investigation or coverage from Bacon and this was a campus story for 5 years. I guess "Michigan Women" don't matter.
I think Bacon is guilty of everything he accuses Brandon of capitalizing on Michigan Love to spend $28.00 on crap. This book needs to be half the size it is. I had to force myself to finish it.
I think Bacon is guilty of everything he accuses Brandon of capitalizing on Michigan Love to spend $28.00 on crap. This book needs to be half the size it is. I had to force myself to finish it.
September 15, 2015
A thorough takedown of Dave Brandon's tenure as Michigan athletic director. It's an engrossing story, and it's well-reported (especially given that three key figures in the story - Brandon, former football coach Brady Hoke and former school president Mary Sue Coleman - didn't agree to talk to the author. Having read the author's other book on Michigan football, it's clear he is plugged in and respected through most of that community. The sections on the student response to a failed general admission seating policy are particularly strong.
However, as others have said, the book suffers from a distractingly high number of typos, in some cases with one sentence or phrase repeating itself, a clear failure in editing. I'm sure the book needed to be delivered before the season began, but it needs to be cleaned up for subsequent printings. It also drags in places where the author adds his own commentary about mistakes of the administration that are obvious in and of themselves.
I would recommend it, though - certainly to college football fans (Michigan or otherwise), but also to those interested in the dynamics of a major university or those interested in leadership lessons. The book is full of them.
However, as others have said, the book suffers from a distractingly high number of typos, in some cases with one sentence or phrase repeating itself, a clear failure in editing. I'm sure the book needed to be delivered before the season began, but it needs to be cleaned up for subsequent printings. It also drags in places where the author adds his own commentary about mistakes of the administration that are obvious in and of themselves.
I would recommend it, though - certainly to college football fans (Michigan or otherwise), but also to those interested in the dynamics of a major university or those interested in leadership lessons. The book is full of them.
September 9, 2015
It's weird to read a book about a place you worked for seven years offering new perspectives you were aware of but without all the details.
The pre-Harbaugh portions (most of us book) were my favorite, with an in-depth look into how Michigan maintained success into the 2000s and then, in a few years, undid many of those same victories.
The Harbaugh courting made me feel a little weird. I understand that Michigan had to overcome being cool on him before the 49ers snapped him up, but the amount of love he seemed to require felt a little ... Needy? Though, harbaugh's wife put it best in this analogy (and I'm paraphrasing):
They were dating the cool guy with the flashy car and all the money, while Michigan was on the side showing them true love. It wasn't until they left the awesome amazing guy for Michigan that they realized it was Michigan they should have been with the whole time.
I get that, and understand michigan needs Harbaugh more than Harbaugh needs michigan, but it feels a little weird. Ultimately if you're a Michigan fan, who cares. Things seem stable. You got your guy. Michigan has returned.
The pre-Harbaugh portions (most of us book) were my favorite, with an in-depth look into how Michigan maintained success into the 2000s and then, in a few years, undid many of those same victories.
The Harbaugh courting made me feel a little weird. I understand that Michigan had to overcome being cool on him before the 49ers snapped him up, but the amount of love he seemed to require felt a little ... Needy? Though, harbaugh's wife put it best in this analogy (and I'm paraphrasing):
They were dating the cool guy with the flashy car and all the money, while Michigan was on the side showing them true love. It wasn't until they left the awesome amazing guy for Michigan that they realized it was Michigan they should have been with the whole time.
I get that, and understand michigan needs Harbaugh more than Harbaugh needs michigan, but it feels a little weird. Ultimately if you're a Michigan fan, who cares. Things seem stable. You got your guy. Michigan has returned.
October 13, 2015
Great book. A little back ground, I am an East Coaster, so I knew nothing of the traditions, the history nor the devotion of the fans at Michigan. All I knew about M was they played Ohio St in a big game every year, and a cool movie, The Big Chill. If learning and knowing about such a clearly great school can be rated, I jumped from a 1 to a 4 (1-10 scale) just by reading this book. This author has written several books revolving around various aspect of the athletic experience at M. This is the second I have read. I will now read the rest. Quickly. If there is a more knowledgeable source for M I would really like to meet them. This guy knows it lived it and continues to keep up. It is a small percentage of books you will read where passion for the subject matter, meets a wealth of knowledge and can be delivered with no overt telegraphing of where the story is going. Don't get caught up in the whole Michigan sports aspect, Its a great overview of the history of the school, athletics and academics, wrapped around a very very compelling story full of personalities, some you'll understand, some you wont. Read it.
November 3, 2015
I love John U Bacon's books. Being a rabid, life-long Michigan fan, I devour them. Can't wait for them to come out. But I could have waited a little longer for this one, if it had been edited better. While I give this one 5 stars for the storyline and the stories within, I cannot get past the multiple misspellings, misuse of words, repetitive phrases (there is literally one point where a sentence is repeated. Literally, repeated. How does that happen??) and descriptions of people or places repeated. I love that Fritz Crisler quote. But wouldn't it have been more powerful if it were not repeated three times during the book?
I loved the behind-the-scenes access to Michigan's athletic department, and the reasoning behind some of the PR stunts of the past few years. I loved the stories running up to the hiring of Jim Harbaugh. It is such an exciting time for our program! I just wish the chronicle matched the standards we are all accustomed to at the University of Michigan. This book would not earn a C in English 125 as printed.
I loved the behind-the-scenes access to Michigan's athletic department, and the reasoning behind some of the PR stunts of the past few years. I loved the stories running up to the hiring of Jim Harbaugh. It is such an exciting time for our program! I just wish the chronicle matched the standards we are all accustomed to at the University of Michigan. This book would not earn a C in English 125 as printed.
September 19, 2015
An amazing story of corporate dysfunction and redemption
Full disclosure: I graduated from the UM Law School in '85, so I have a rooting interest that may sometimes color my thinking. This is a well-told story about the Dilbert principles at work in big-time college sports. It's also the fascinating backstory of how Michigan convinced the hottest coach in the country to return to his alma mater. The only major criticism: Mr. Bacon, at one point in the book, makes it clear that Michigan demands commitment and full attention to detail from all its students (he teaches classes there) - yet the book (at least the Kindle version) is loaded with typos! A small price to pay for reading an interesting story, but occasionally distracting.
Full disclosure: I graduated from the UM Law School in '85, so I have a rooting interest that may sometimes color my thinking. This is a well-told story about the Dilbert principles at work in big-time college sports. It's also the fascinating backstory of how Michigan convinced the hottest coach in the country to return to his alma mater. The only major criticism: Mr. Bacon, at one point in the book, makes it clear that Michigan demands commitment and full attention to detail from all its students (he teaches classes there) - yet the book (at least the Kindle version) is loaded with typos! A small price to pay for reading an interesting story, but occasionally distracting.
September 15, 2015
I am only giving this 3 stars because the editing was atrocious. Too many spelling and grammar errors. St. Martin's Press should be ashamed of themselves. The research and the storytelling however deserve five stars. The author really did his homework and it showed. The book is worth reading if you are a Michigan fan.
September 5, 2015
Just a must-read if you're a Michigan fan. Great behind-the-scenes picture of former AD Dave Brandon and just how the university wooed Harbaugh.
March 2, 2016
This book gives a detailed account of the many problems faced by the University of Michigan football program and athletic department from 2010 to 2015 under the direction of athletic director Dave Brandon following a brief history of its past, characterized by the author as its rise, and concluding with the months following the resignation of Brandon, characterized as its return.
The Michigan football team is one of the oldest, richest, and most popular of all in college football and it’s a subject Bacon knows well, having written about it recently in his book, Three And Out, an account of all the many problems and internal divisions and football defeats under head coach Rich Rodriguez from 2007 to 2010. In Endzone Bacon characterizes this time as the apogee of the Michigan Athletic department, a time when the preceding athletic department administration of Bill Martin “left Brandon some $400 million in capital improvements-in the form of fourteen state-of-the-art buildings, both new and renovated, including the Big House-plus about $10 million in annual operating surpluses and over $50 million in the reserve fund. Further, they generated the plans and the funds for the renovations to the basketball and hockey venues, which were completed after they left.”
This sets the scene for what’s to come, which is Brandon taking a wrecking ball to everything with a corporate-inspired business philosophy. But Bacon leaves unmentioned that this was also a time when the football coach was being rejected by many including fans and other Michigan constituencies (the Michigan Daily would call for his firing by the end of the 2010 season), there was an NCAA investigation which resulted in the finding of rule violations, and the athletic director hastily retired after being accused of pushing some security guards. Hardly an untroubled utopia of sports perfection.
Anyways, along comes Brandon fresh off his stint of more than 10 years as CEO of Domino’s Pizza. A graduate of the University of Michigan, a former member of the football team who played under the legendary coach, Bo Schembechler, and a former Regent of the institution who had a hand in hiring the President who hired him, Brandon coasted through a vetting process aided by President Coleman’s strong desire to hire him as the next athletic director after the retirement of Bill Martin.
What happened next unfolds in excruciating detail to the horror and amazement of the author, John U. Bacon, someone who believes that Michigan is a unique place which attracts special people, people who built up the University upon values “including cooperation and compromise, transparency and truthfulness." An institution with a mission “to pursue the truth in all its forms.”
Brandon takes an axe to it all. He fires people who disagree with him. He builds things that are a waste of money. He sends mean emails to fans. He helps a few student athletes out here and there but then he does more dumb, sketchy, inappropriate stuff. That, in a nutshell, is this book with so much rumour, gossip, and anecdote that it eventually fills 464 pages plus xiv pages, which I think is 14 more pages.
Bacon puts it all within a narrative arc which will be familiar to readers of Gibbon-a history of a Decline and Fall. Bacon is a true believer in the hallowed Michigan tradition and sees Brandon as the antithesis of everything it represents, and a lot of this book (okay, practically every page) reads like an ardent personal attack on Dave Brandon by someone who’s very enthusiastic about showing Brandon is the opposite of a Michigan Man. This leads Bacon in some interesting directions. On the one hand, it’s very well-researched in the sense that Bacon seems to have talked to everyone with a reason to hate Brandon (ex-employees, people offended by Kraft advertisements in Michigan Stadium) and they provide him with a ton of detail about everything that went down during the Brandon Era. On the other hand, he can be quick to take the opposing side and not dig too deeply into things that will make Brandon look bad.
Let’s take the Domino’s stock price analysis that appears on page 65 and purports to give an accounting of Domino’s Pizza stock during the period of time Dave Brandon was the CEO. “But the new-CEO shine wore off almost as fast. In 2009, the year Brandon stepped down, Domino's stock price had fallen from the 2004 IPO price of $13.56 per share to $8.38 a share in just five years. By the most important business metrics, Brandon’s stint at Domino’s had been a mixed bag.”
This section, along with more details on the following page about how much the stock went up after Brandon stepped down should sound familiar to readers of the Michigan football blog MGoBlog because it’s very similar to a post by one of its contributors called “Something to remember about DB's credentials” dated near the end of Brandon’s time as Athletic Director when sentiment against him among Michigan fans was extremely hostile.
But if you read the entire thread generated by that anti-Brandon post, and Bacon seems not to have, then you will see that any analysis of the Domino’s stock price is incomplete without accounting for an extraordinary dividend of $13.50 paid during his time as CEO. Also worth considering is the global financial crisis which struck the markets in late 2008 and affected the stock prices of many corporations, even those with the best possible CEOs. As a later post by michgoblue said of this attempt to make Brandon look bad: “You are cherry picking numbers without context in an attempt to imply that DB was a bad CEO.”
Bacon seems to have a double standard designed to make Brandon look as bad as possible. When Brandon hires head football coach Brady Hoke he does something designed to get a sound bite and according to one of Bacon’s sources, “for the privilege of having an idiotic, dark-ages quote that no one gives a shit about, Brandon probably paid $500,000 a year more of Michigan’s money to get Hoke than he ever had to.”
But later, during the “return” of Michigan Football, interim athletic director Jim Hackett adjusts the timing of Hoke’s firing in such a way as to cost the University $1 million dollars and Bacon is full of praise: “Because Hackett let Hoke go before December 31, Hoke would receive a buyout of $3 million, instead of $2 million after the New Year. The way Hackett handled this difficult situation-directly, honestly, and as mercifully fast as possible, always demonstrating great respect for Hoke, personally and professionally-stood in marked contrast to the manner Brandon had dismissed Rodriguez.” What about that million dollars?
Some of Bacon’s marshalling of sources is also questionable, but his mistakes in emphasis always seem to be done in the service of conveying what a terrible administrator Brandon was and what a wonderful tradition Michigan has. One section deals with a dispute over student football season tickets. Brandon wanted to get students to show up to games by the kickoff and was willing to experiment to try to achieve his aims. Bacon doesn’t seem to understand this was Brandon’s priority and gleefully reports the steep falloff in overall student ticket sales, a statistic that Brandon just didn’t seem to think was very important.
Brandon switched the student tickets from assigned seats with freshmen furthest from the field and seniors closest, to a general admission seating policy offering the best seats to those who arrived earliest, a policy which is common at other colleges. Michigan student government officials started surveying the student body to get their input, something the athletic department didn’t do before it introduced these major changes, and Bacon’s descriptions of the students confronting the administrators with their survey results are inspiring as the students seem to outfox highly paid professionals brought in by Brandon to replace the long-time department officials he’d either fired or alienated.
But Bacon’s analysis is also somewhat faulty. This is what he says about one survey: “The survey’s first question asked respondents to rank the importance of a list of factors in their decision to buy season tickets: strength of home schedule; price; team performance; seating policy; love of the sport; and tradition. The clear winner was ‘tradition,’ the very quality that had been drawing fans to the Big House for decades-and the element Brandon seemed to care about least. Distant runner ups were ‘price’ and ‘strength of home schedule.’
Actually, tradition wasn’t the clear winner. According to the Report on the Student Relationship with Michigan Athletics published by the Central Student Government: "The “Average” column is the average ranking students assigned to each factor. A lower average indicates the
factor is more important in students’ decision to purchase season tickets." Tradition got an average of 3.31 which is higher than the average of “Price” (3.23) and "Strength of Home Schedule" (3.08). "Tradition" was ranked number one by the most students, but that doesn't make it the "clear winner."
There’s much more like this which puffs up the vaunted Michigan tradition while downgrading Brandon but I wish Bacon had gotten more closely into some of the kinds of issue that would make a Michigan fan uncomfortable and maybe question her assumptions about the inherent superiority and perfectibility of Michigan. Questions like, isn’t Brandon a product of the Michigan education? Isn’t he a “Michigan Man” with long service to the institution as a Regent, a donor with a part of the Museum of Art and the hospital and even the School of Education named after him? And didn’t he play for legendary coach Bo Schembechler, he of The Team, The Team, The Team? What was Schembechler really teaching those football players after all?
These question don’t get considered in Endzone, they don’t even get asked. Nor does Bacon really explain that it was actually the retirement of Brandon’s patron, Mary Sue Coleman, which really signalled the coming end of his time in charge of the Athletic Department, and not some mysterious self-correcting values that always brings Michigan back to the True Course. Yes, it was a change of leadership at the top, a new President, Mark Schlissel from Brown University, someone who’d never even been to Ann Arbor before, who harkened a new era for Michigan football, a “return” as Bacon characterizes it.
This is a good book, full of interesting anecdotes and tons of information about Michigan football, its history, and its recent past. It also includes much valuable insight and analysis about what is a representative large sport-related institution connected to a major university and as sports becomes an ever-bigger business a book like this will be seen as a valuable resource for anyone hoping to understand the way things work behind the scenes and outside of the arena. I’m glad this book was written because as the journalistic outlets which cover college sports get diminished by the decline of print journalism - and I’m thinking here of the coverage of Michigan football formerly provided by The Ann Arbor News - it creates a need for some type of investigative journalism to make up for the loss and Bacon’s hastily written contemporary history does seem to provide this investigation and analysis.
The Michigan football team is one of the oldest, richest, and most popular of all in college football and it’s a subject Bacon knows well, having written about it recently in his book, Three And Out, an account of all the many problems and internal divisions and football defeats under head coach Rich Rodriguez from 2007 to 2010. In Endzone Bacon characterizes this time as the apogee of the Michigan Athletic department, a time when the preceding athletic department administration of Bill Martin “left Brandon some $400 million in capital improvements-in the form of fourteen state-of-the-art buildings, both new and renovated, including the Big House-plus about $10 million in annual operating surpluses and over $50 million in the reserve fund. Further, they generated the plans and the funds for the renovations to the basketball and hockey venues, which were completed after they left.”
This sets the scene for what’s to come, which is Brandon taking a wrecking ball to everything with a corporate-inspired business philosophy. But Bacon leaves unmentioned that this was also a time when the football coach was being rejected by many including fans and other Michigan constituencies (the Michigan Daily would call for his firing by the end of the 2010 season), there was an NCAA investigation which resulted in the finding of rule violations, and the athletic director hastily retired after being accused of pushing some security guards. Hardly an untroubled utopia of sports perfection.
Anyways, along comes Brandon fresh off his stint of more than 10 years as CEO of Domino’s Pizza. A graduate of the University of Michigan, a former member of the football team who played under the legendary coach, Bo Schembechler, and a former Regent of the institution who had a hand in hiring the President who hired him, Brandon coasted through a vetting process aided by President Coleman’s strong desire to hire him as the next athletic director after the retirement of Bill Martin.
What happened next unfolds in excruciating detail to the horror and amazement of the author, John U. Bacon, someone who believes that Michigan is a unique place which attracts special people, people who built up the University upon values “including cooperation and compromise, transparency and truthfulness." An institution with a mission “to pursue the truth in all its forms.”
Brandon takes an axe to it all. He fires people who disagree with him. He builds things that are a waste of money. He sends mean emails to fans. He helps a few student athletes out here and there but then he does more dumb, sketchy, inappropriate stuff. That, in a nutshell, is this book with so much rumour, gossip, and anecdote that it eventually fills 464 pages plus xiv pages, which I think is 14 more pages.
Bacon puts it all within a narrative arc which will be familiar to readers of Gibbon-a history of a Decline and Fall. Bacon is a true believer in the hallowed Michigan tradition and sees Brandon as the antithesis of everything it represents, and a lot of this book (okay, practically every page) reads like an ardent personal attack on Dave Brandon by someone who’s very enthusiastic about showing Brandon is the opposite of a Michigan Man. This leads Bacon in some interesting directions. On the one hand, it’s very well-researched in the sense that Bacon seems to have talked to everyone with a reason to hate Brandon (ex-employees, people offended by Kraft advertisements in Michigan Stadium) and they provide him with a ton of detail about everything that went down during the Brandon Era. On the other hand, he can be quick to take the opposing side and not dig too deeply into things that will make Brandon look bad.
Let’s take the Domino’s stock price analysis that appears on page 65 and purports to give an accounting of Domino’s Pizza stock during the period of time Dave Brandon was the CEO. “But the new-CEO shine wore off almost as fast. In 2009, the year Brandon stepped down, Domino's stock price had fallen from the 2004 IPO price of $13.56 per share to $8.38 a share in just five years. By the most important business metrics, Brandon’s stint at Domino’s had been a mixed bag.”
This section, along with more details on the following page about how much the stock went up after Brandon stepped down should sound familiar to readers of the Michigan football blog MGoBlog because it’s very similar to a post by one of its contributors called “Something to remember about DB's credentials” dated near the end of Brandon’s time as Athletic Director when sentiment against him among Michigan fans was extremely hostile.
But if you read the entire thread generated by that anti-Brandon post, and Bacon seems not to have, then you will see that any analysis of the Domino’s stock price is incomplete without accounting for an extraordinary dividend of $13.50 paid during his time as CEO. Also worth considering is the global financial crisis which struck the markets in late 2008 and affected the stock prices of many corporations, even those with the best possible CEOs. As a later post by michgoblue said of this attempt to make Brandon look bad: “You are cherry picking numbers without context in an attempt to imply that DB was a bad CEO.”
Bacon seems to have a double standard designed to make Brandon look as bad as possible. When Brandon hires head football coach Brady Hoke he does something designed to get a sound bite and according to one of Bacon’s sources, “for the privilege of having an idiotic, dark-ages quote that no one gives a shit about, Brandon probably paid $500,000 a year more of Michigan’s money to get Hoke than he ever had to.”
But later, during the “return” of Michigan Football, interim athletic director Jim Hackett adjusts the timing of Hoke’s firing in such a way as to cost the University $1 million dollars and Bacon is full of praise: “Because Hackett let Hoke go before December 31, Hoke would receive a buyout of $3 million, instead of $2 million after the New Year. The way Hackett handled this difficult situation-directly, honestly, and as mercifully fast as possible, always demonstrating great respect for Hoke, personally and professionally-stood in marked contrast to the manner Brandon had dismissed Rodriguez.” What about that million dollars?
Some of Bacon’s marshalling of sources is also questionable, but his mistakes in emphasis always seem to be done in the service of conveying what a terrible administrator Brandon was and what a wonderful tradition Michigan has. One section deals with a dispute over student football season tickets. Brandon wanted to get students to show up to games by the kickoff and was willing to experiment to try to achieve his aims. Bacon doesn’t seem to understand this was Brandon’s priority and gleefully reports the steep falloff in overall student ticket sales, a statistic that Brandon just didn’t seem to think was very important.
Brandon switched the student tickets from assigned seats with freshmen furthest from the field and seniors closest, to a general admission seating policy offering the best seats to those who arrived earliest, a policy which is common at other colleges. Michigan student government officials started surveying the student body to get their input, something the athletic department didn’t do before it introduced these major changes, and Bacon’s descriptions of the students confronting the administrators with their survey results are inspiring as the students seem to outfox highly paid professionals brought in by Brandon to replace the long-time department officials he’d either fired or alienated.
But Bacon’s analysis is also somewhat faulty. This is what he says about one survey: “The survey’s first question asked respondents to rank the importance of a list of factors in their decision to buy season tickets: strength of home schedule; price; team performance; seating policy; love of the sport; and tradition. The clear winner was ‘tradition,’ the very quality that had been drawing fans to the Big House for decades-and the element Brandon seemed to care about least. Distant runner ups were ‘price’ and ‘strength of home schedule.’
Actually, tradition wasn’t the clear winner. According to the Report on the Student Relationship with Michigan Athletics published by the Central Student Government: "The “Average” column is the average ranking students assigned to each factor. A lower average indicates the
factor is more important in students’ decision to purchase season tickets." Tradition got an average of 3.31 which is higher than the average of “Price” (3.23) and "Strength of Home Schedule" (3.08). "Tradition" was ranked number one by the most students, but that doesn't make it the "clear winner."
There’s much more like this which puffs up the vaunted Michigan tradition while downgrading Brandon but I wish Bacon had gotten more closely into some of the kinds of issue that would make a Michigan fan uncomfortable and maybe question her assumptions about the inherent superiority and perfectibility of Michigan. Questions like, isn’t Brandon a product of the Michigan education? Isn’t he a “Michigan Man” with long service to the institution as a Regent, a donor with a part of the Museum of Art and the hospital and even the School of Education named after him? And didn’t he play for legendary coach Bo Schembechler, he of The Team, The Team, The Team? What was Schembechler really teaching those football players after all?
These question don’t get considered in Endzone, they don’t even get asked. Nor does Bacon really explain that it was actually the retirement of Brandon’s patron, Mary Sue Coleman, which really signalled the coming end of his time in charge of the Athletic Department, and not some mysterious self-correcting values that always brings Michigan back to the True Course. Yes, it was a change of leadership at the top, a new President, Mark Schlissel from Brown University, someone who’d never even been to Ann Arbor before, who harkened a new era for Michigan football, a “return” as Bacon characterizes it.
This is a good book, full of interesting anecdotes and tons of information about Michigan football, its history, and its recent past. It also includes much valuable insight and analysis about what is a representative large sport-related institution connected to a major university and as sports becomes an ever-bigger business a book like this will be seen as a valuable resource for anyone hoping to understand the way things work behind the scenes and outside of the arena. I’m glad this book was written because as the journalistic outlets which cover college sports get diminished by the decline of print journalism - and I’m thinking here of the coverage of Michigan football formerly provided by The Ann Arbor News - it creates a need for some type of investigative journalism to make up for the loss and Bacon’s hastily written contemporary history does seem to provide this investigation and analysis.
May 6, 2018
A must read for any Michigan fan interested in the David Brandon era of Michigan Athletics. Bacon doesn't focus as much on the football games as in past books (a good thing) and gives a fair overview of the much maligned reign of David Brandon. This is also good if you wanted to understand "The Process" that David Brandon employed to hire Brady Hoke.
November 30, 2015
The story told in Endzone begins in 2007 when tiny Appalachian State shocked the college football world by coming into Michigan Stadium and knocking off the storied Michigan Wolverines. Although they would finish 9-4 with a Citrus Bowl victory, coach Lloyd Carr was done. Controversy then ensued when Michigan recruited away ("stole") West Virginia's Rich Rodriquez. But under "RichRod" and successor Brady Hoke, Michigan would average less than seven wins a season from 2008-2014.
The results on the football field, however, were only the manifestation of years of decline in the university’s athletic department. John Bacon, author of numerous books on Michigan athletics, describes how and why Michigan Football declined on-field and off, what it meant to the University and those who are part of it, and finally how it "returned." To do this, Bacon takes his reader back to the founding of the Michigan athletics program, explaining the enigmatic concept of the "Michigan Man” and its place in Michigan lore.
The book largely centers on the many changes brought by Athletic Director Dave Brandon, and how they systematically undermined the university’s values to the point where virtually every constituent group was alienated and angry. As Bacon astutely notes, when students angrily marched over to President Mary Sue Coleman's House, they were after Brandon’s job, not head coach Brady Hoke’s.
Of his many mistakes, the biggest was Brandon’s failure to recruit former Michigan QB and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh to replace Rodriguez in 2011. Brandon’s ego was a major factor, as it was in many other decisions that led the athletic department astray. Bacon chronicles Brandon’s eventual downfall and the subsequent process that would lead to that failure’s reversal in 2014, a process largely driven by outsiders who had had enough.
It's telling that Bacon's declared that Michigan football had "returned" occurred before playing a single down under Harbaugh. Michigan football isn't about wins, but doing things a certain way, the "Michigan way" with the belief that the wins will eventually follow. Bringing in a coach who understood this and embodied the school's values was all that was needed to constitute "return” in the eyes of the program’s fans.
Endzone is really "must reading" for anyone who wants to understand what happened at the University of Michigan between 2007 and 2014. Alums and fans will find it indispensable. But many others with no connection to the University will be fascinated with the story of how a great institution loses it way and what it must do to restore itself by remaining true to its values.
The results on the football field, however, were only the manifestation of years of decline in the university’s athletic department. John Bacon, author of numerous books on Michigan athletics, describes how and why Michigan Football declined on-field and off, what it meant to the University and those who are part of it, and finally how it "returned." To do this, Bacon takes his reader back to the founding of the Michigan athletics program, explaining the enigmatic concept of the "Michigan Man” and its place in Michigan lore.
The book largely centers on the many changes brought by Athletic Director Dave Brandon, and how they systematically undermined the university’s values to the point where virtually every constituent group was alienated and angry. As Bacon astutely notes, when students angrily marched over to President Mary Sue Coleman's House, they were after Brandon’s job, not head coach Brady Hoke’s.
Of his many mistakes, the biggest was Brandon’s failure to recruit former Michigan QB and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh to replace Rodriguez in 2011. Brandon’s ego was a major factor, as it was in many other decisions that led the athletic department astray. Bacon chronicles Brandon’s eventual downfall and the subsequent process that would lead to that failure’s reversal in 2014, a process largely driven by outsiders who had had enough.
It's telling that Bacon's declared that Michigan football had "returned" occurred before playing a single down under Harbaugh. Michigan football isn't about wins, but doing things a certain way, the "Michigan way" with the belief that the wins will eventually follow. Bringing in a coach who understood this and embodied the school's values was all that was needed to constitute "return” in the eyes of the program’s fans.
Endzone is really "must reading" for anyone who wants to understand what happened at the University of Michigan between 2007 and 2014. Alums and fans will find it indispensable. But many others with no connection to the University will be fascinated with the story of how a great institution loses it way and what it must do to restore itself by remaining true to its values.
December 4, 2016
A very enjoyable book even if you are not a "die hard" Michigan man. The emphasis on college sports over academics is quite troubling. Yet the relentless passion I have seen from Michigan fans that I know makes you think there is something to it all. I have to admit I didn't mind a few years ago seeing Michigan get "knocked off its laurels"-- misplaced arrogance by Michigan fans wasn't always a simple stereotype. Seeing their "little brother" manhandle them for a few years made me enjoy their comeuppance until you started to see the same "arrogance" the MSU fans despised in the Michigan fans as pouring over in droves to them. As I went to a Podunk small liberal arts college in mid-Michigan I could afford to be "objective."
Still this book and Bacon's wonderful telling of the story makes you think there IS something uniquely special about Michigan. I suppose similar books can and probably have been written about the teams in South Bend, Alabama, Florida, any of the ACC/SEC teams, PAC 10--is there still a PAC 10?--but having live in the Detroit area a good portion of my life the focus always was on Ann Arbor--the passion these people feel for their team is akin to believers in the true cross that it almost gets you to think that it is unfortunate that some much time, energy--and perhaps most importantly MONEY is expended on something as "silly" as sports but it is perhaps a necessary diversion. Also people closely associated with the U of M sports program are truly amazing and should be admired. In one of the most telling chapters in this book I found it interesting that amongst all the praise that perhaps in hiring Dave Brandon as AD--the "villain" of this story--perhaps U of M's "arrogance" caught up with them? Bacon got Tom Monaghan--almost now a recluse--to "open up" and talk of Brandon's experiences at Dominos that make you wonder how U of M could have hired him in the first place--and yet juxtaposed with this is Bacon's attempts to point out that the student athletes LOVED Brandon....still he ultimately comes out as having misguided priorities.
Fortunately, as Bacon details through the efforts of the regents, student government, lettermen, down right fans and amazing people like Jim Hackett and Jim Harbaugh came along to try and right the ship....it is too bad as of this writing (December 2016) there is still a bit that needs to be accomplished but that is not such a bad thing--another book for Bacon to hopefully write.
Still this book and Bacon's wonderful telling of the story makes you think there IS something uniquely special about Michigan. I suppose similar books can and probably have been written about the teams in South Bend, Alabama, Florida, any of the ACC/SEC teams, PAC 10--is there still a PAC 10?--but having live in the Detroit area a good portion of my life the focus always was on Ann Arbor--the passion these people feel for their team is akin to believers in the true cross that it almost gets you to think that it is unfortunate that some much time, energy--and perhaps most importantly MONEY is expended on something as "silly" as sports but it is perhaps a necessary diversion. Also people closely associated with the U of M sports program are truly amazing and should be admired. In one of the most telling chapters in this book I found it interesting that amongst all the praise that perhaps in hiring Dave Brandon as AD--the "villain" of this story--perhaps U of M's "arrogance" caught up with them? Bacon got Tom Monaghan--almost now a recluse--to "open up" and talk of Brandon's experiences at Dominos that make you wonder how U of M could have hired him in the first place--and yet juxtaposed with this is Bacon's attempts to point out that the student athletes LOVED Brandon....still he ultimately comes out as having misguided priorities.
Fortunately, as Bacon details through the efforts of the regents, student government, lettermen, down right fans and amazing people like Jim Hackett and Jim Harbaugh came along to try and right the ship....it is too bad as of this writing (December 2016) there is still a bit that needs to be accomplished but that is not such a bad thing--another book for Bacon to hopefully write.
September 28, 2015
I absolutely love John U. Bacon's books! Here is the story of how Dave Brandon caused a wide gulf between the University of Michigan's Athletic Department and the students, alumni, lettermen, and fans. He made one major mistake after another - firing coaches, raising ticket prices, alienating the students, and running his department in the mode of a big corporation where the only concern was revenue. With the full support of President Mary Sue Coleman, Brandon was in complete control. Although the Public Relations Department was never in the loop as decisions were being made, they were expected to clean up the mess - never proactive, always reactive. Brandon just couldn't grasp the concept of a predecessor's motto, "Never turn a one day story into a two day story." This is a fascinating behind the scenes look at how one man ignored the values and traditions of a great university and the dedicated group who fought to restore them.
Once again, I was shocked by the obvious lack of proofreading which is becoming more and more common these days. Words were left out of sentences, words were repeated twice, "s" missing from plural nouns. A few sentences didn't even make sense. This became a real distraction.
Once again, I was shocked by the obvious lack of proofreading which is becoming more and more common these days. Words were left out of sentences, words were repeated twice, "s" missing from plural nouns. A few sentences didn't even make sense. This became a real distraction.
September 19, 2015
Sometimes, being a high-brow English major, I forget the value in reading a book for the pure, high octane love of the subject. With the crisp autumn air starting to creep in and the inaugural year of Jim Harbaugh off to a start, there is no better time to read a book that delves into the recent turmoil and triumph of University of Michigan's athletic office.
For Michigan fans, this will be a detailed reminder of where we've been and leaves with the promise of where we might go forward.
For sports fans, this will provide a colorful and cautionary tale of what happens when tradition and the heart of a program is traded in for profit. Where the priorities of a few come at the expense of many.
For the casual reader, you will get an insight into deep connections forged between athletics and academics at a storied university, an institution whose establishment precedes the formation of the state it belongs to. I suppose if you enjoy stories about cults, you might begin to understand the fervor, the dedication, and the belief you belong to something much greater than yourself.
Those who stay will be champions. Those who work will stay. Forever and always Go BLUE.
For Michigan fans, this will be a detailed reminder of where we've been and leaves with the promise of where we might go forward.
For sports fans, this will provide a colorful and cautionary tale of what happens when tradition and the heart of a program is traded in for profit. Where the priorities of a few come at the expense of many.
For the casual reader, you will get an insight into deep connections forged between athletics and academics at a storied university, an institution whose establishment precedes the formation of the state it belongs to. I suppose if you enjoy stories about cults, you might begin to understand the fervor, the dedication, and the belief you belong to something much greater than yourself.
Those who stay will be champions. Those who work will stay. Forever and always Go BLUE.
September 11, 2015
What a wonderful book. While at the same time deeply disturbing. How is it possible that a great institution with over a hundred years of history can forget where it came from? How can one man try and change this great institution into something of his own image. The key to remember is that "This is Michigan" and over a hundred years this has meant something to millions of people. With the largest living alumni of any university it is critical to remember that the "Front Porch" to the university has always been the football team and the "Holy Day of obligation" as Bo would say.
It is safe to say that Michigan has found it's way once again and that we alumni and fans should be happy of the place where it is and where it is going.
Whether you are a true fan, or just an occasional one, John U. Bacon has made a book that is both entertaining as well as enlightening. I finished the read in under a week and at times found myself unable to put it down, the intrigue the mystery and the great outcome. Now all we need to do is win on Saturday.
Go Blue!!!
It is safe to say that Michigan has found it's way once again and that we alumni and fans should be happy of the place where it is and where it is going.
Whether you are a true fan, or just an occasional one, John U. Bacon has made a book that is both entertaining as well as enlightening. I finished the read in under a week and at times found myself unable to put it down, the intrigue the mystery and the great outcome. Now all we need to do is win on Saturday.
Go Blue!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2015
This book felt like forever. But it's actually really interesting for a certain segment of the population (people who read anything about sports, college football fans, the University of Michigan community, prospective athletic directors), minus one thing: the pages long football game descriptions. Look, I like football books, but those didn't feel necessary to me, in this book. We get it, they're bad. The real people in this book, their stories are what drive this car. Their stories are what makes you want to keep reading. And frankly, a paragraph description of the game would have been enough. Two paragraphs, even, I'll give you. But oh man, they just dragggggggged on. I didn't need a full picture of every tennis match to understand the tennis coach's story.
Oh wait, there's also another reason to read this: because it illustrates perfectly how much colleges/universities are NOT like businesses, and when we attempt to run them that way, they fail. BIG TIME. (Oh gosh, I just got it.)
Oh wait, there's also another reason to read this: because it illustrates perfectly how much colleges/universities are NOT like businesses, and when we attempt to run them that way, they fail. BIG TIME. (Oh gosh, I just got it.)
October 6, 2016
This was a book that had everything- extensive research, historical roots, human interest stories, game replays, and a love for Michigan football shining through. Bacon does a terrific job of presenting information from all viewpoints, but he also presents the "human" side of the legacy that is Michigan.
"The Midwest is so flat that you can see three state capitals just by standing on a bench. But the area comes with a set of beliefs recognizable to anyone who grew up here. Chief among them is community, which developed not as some quaint trait, but to ensure survival. Hard work and teamwork are encouraged."
" If you were a farmer from Fennville, or a factory worker in Flint, why would you care about the flagship university in Ann Arbor? For many Michiganders, the best reason now and then were the football, basketball, and hockey teams. In fact, fully a quarter of those who visit the Big House have never taken a class there, and only a sixth of Michigan's 2.9 million fans earned a degree at Michigan."
"The Midwest is so flat that you can see three state capitals just by standing on a bench. But the area comes with a set of beliefs recognizable to anyone who grew up here. Chief among them is community, which developed not as some quaint trait, but to ensure survival. Hard work and teamwork are encouraged."
" If you were a farmer from Fennville, or a factory worker in Flint, why would you care about the flagship university in Ann Arbor? For many Michiganders, the best reason now and then were the football, basketball, and hockey teams. In fact, fully a quarter of those who visit the Big House have never taken a class there, and only a sixth of Michigan's 2.9 million fans earned a degree at Michigan."
September 17, 2015
Despite the title, the book is really about the rise and fall of Dave Brandon in the context of Michigan athletics. Landing Harbaugh as football coach is really the result of the University of Michigan realizing how far they have drifted and how unhappy die hard fans and alumni had become. If you have a connection to the University of Michigan it is a must read. If not, it is still a fascinating look at how leadership and culture work and impact results in big time college athletics. Leadership, marketing, communications, organizational culture, etc. all play a role in how Michigan football wandered away from its values and culture. Harbaugh seems to harken a return but only time will tell.
Book did feel rushed and disjointed at times. Copy editing errors, repetition and choppiness undercut the story. Could have been shorter and more powerful, IMO.
Book did feel rushed and disjointed at times. Copy editing errors, repetition and choppiness undercut the story. Could have been shorter and more powerful, IMO.
October 2, 2015
John U. Bacon delivers a real page-turner. I learned a lot and was entertained. I was also appalled by how badly things went wrong within the U-M athletic department. I found it very fair, too. No one is demonized, which would have been very easy to do. Bacon walks a fine line. Go Blue!
The main negatives about the book are the typos, but he did write the book in a ridiculously short period of time. It's hard to catch the typos when on deadline like that (he and the publisher wanted to get the book out before the 2015 football season began). Better to sacrifice some of the time to proofreading than research and fact-checking -- important as good proofreading is.
The main negatives about the book are the typos, but he did write the book in a ridiculously short period of time. It's hard to catch the typos when on deadline like that (he and the publisher wanted to get the book out before the 2015 football season began). Better to sacrifice some of the time to proofreading than research and fact-checking -- important as good proofreading is.
October 14, 2015
Something only for Michigan fans, I think. I read and enjoyed Bacon's previous Three and Out quite a bit, but I thought the personality and travails of Rich Rodriguez made for a compelling 3-act story there. The narrative Bacon pulls at here isn't as compelling and, frankly, as someone who reads MGoBlog, little of it was brand-new to me. Still, engrossing enough for the insider-y details. Some really bizarre and obvious copy editing errors peppered the book, though. Made it all come off as overly rushed.
December 28, 2015
Only criticism was the amount of mistakes in the book. AT LEAST a dozen edits were needed. Maybe 2x that much. I would find myself stopping and going back over sentences to see if I missed something only to find that there was a missing word or a wrongfully repeated phrase. Kind of shocking.
Content was superb.
Content was superb.
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