Since we posted Dave Shand’s comments on his firing from WTKA this site has been getting peppered. I think this is a testament to the loyal fan base Shand developed in the area. While there are two sides to every story you can bet without an inquiry from a legitimate media source we won’t be hearing from Bill Martin’s office. While Shand is certainly one to rattle some cages, I don’t believe anyone questions his character: he’s an unquestioned ‘Michigan Man’, a former M player, coach, NHL’er, an attorney, and of all things, on the current payroll as a lecturer on sports law within the department of Kinesiology on campus. Not convinced? Check out this piece that ran in the Michigan Daily last summer. This whole situation begs so many questions. I’ll start with Shand’s ties to the athletic department. You have to assume Shand has a strong relationship with Red Berenson. What does Coach Red think about this? I gathered from listening to the morning show that Lloyd Carr is supposedly listed as a reference on Dave’s resume – what does Carr think? Remember the kind words Coach Carr had for former WTKA afternoon host Dennis Fithian when he was let go? I’m sure Carr’s intent was also a blast at WTKA. With so many close direct ties to…
-
-
“Bill Martin Had Me Fired”
UPDATE Monday 4/30: Shand responds to MVictors questions, click here Original Post: An effort to reach out to recently fired WTKA 1050AM talk show host Dave Shand paid off. I asked Shand for his understanding of what happened. Shand replied, “Bill Martin had me fired. [Martin] did not like some of the things I said on the show and threatened to pull Michigan football if I stayed. The station caved.” I asked Shand if he had any issue with posting these comments on MVictors.com. He wrote back, “Not at all. It’s true and was confirmed by our program director.” Oh boy. I reached out to a source (which we’ll leave unnamed) from the local media to comment on the situation and whether this crosses the line of censorship. Here are the thoughts that were shared: WTKA and Michigan have a business relationship. WTKA pays Michigan for the right to broadcast Michigan sports. Michigan has the right to approve the broadcasters who do the coaches shows, as well as the play-by-play broadcasts that appear only on WTKA (such as women’s basketball, baseball, etc.) Now, that doesn’t give Martin the right to hire and fire morning hosts, but it certainly gives him leverage with station management. One could argue that Michigan sports is integral to WTKA’s very existence, which gives Martin even…
-
Kiper’s Final Mock Draft…
Has Leon Hall going #10 to the Texans, Alan Branch dropping to #21 to the Broncos.
-
Dave Shand Sacked?? WTKA Does it Again
I was working in the snake pit this week (Columbus) and on the way home I got a call that Dave Shand was let go from WTKA 1050. A call to the station confirmed it. While we don’t know the circumstances, Shand the just about the only thing of value on that tired station. From what I understand they actually got some ratings and for those who suffer through local morning radio know that Shand brought something special: a real ex-professional athlete with great stories, legit perspective on the sports world, a sense of humor and sharp opinion. So it’s a mystery right now. Ann Arbor News sports columnsit Jim Carty got in contact with Shand and got a minor reaction from the station manager: Local radio host Dave Shand was fired following Monday’s broadcast of “In The Locker Room” on WTKA (1050 AM) and, according to the station’s general manager, will be replaced by a new locally produced sport talk show to be announced later this week. “I have no idea why,” said Shand, a former University of Michigan hockey player and local attorney. “The (ratings) were stunning. Our show was No. 2 in the market in the morning.” General manager Bob Bolak said he could not discuss personnel decisions, but confirmed WTKA will be announcing a new morning…
-
Open Call for Stadium Ushers
I just caught this little ditty on mgoblue.com. Apparantly the U has an opening for Stadium workers this season and is meeting with applicants on June 2. You can read the whole story here, but in sum: The University of Michigan Athletic Department will be holding an informational meeting for anyone interested in joining the Michigan Stadium Game Operations Team at home football games. Positions open include ushers, ticket-takers, and bag-check attendants. If interested, please show up at the Junge Family Champions Center on Saturday, June 2, at 10 a.m. I suppose it would be ok to be an usher but I imagine just like seat requests, the prime usher positions are in between the end zones. I’d be interested to see how many positions open up. As far as ticket taking….I’m not sure I’d want to be the guy taking tickets from the pickled masses pouring in from campus or from the golf course. Bag-check attendants? I’m not sure if that means you’re the narc stopping people from smuggling in contraband, or you are literally checking bags somewhere in the stadium but either way it is a big no-go for me. While we’re on mgoblue.com, does anyone understand why they leave up all the old content and notices for months? Just looking at the site now, you’ve got the…
-
Ask CFN on M “Turning the Corner”
Check out this excerpt from Pete Fiutak’s Ask CFN (from collegefootballnews.com). For my variation of a question you probably get 20 times a day: How does Michigan finally turn the corner? I know you’ll want to quote stats showing how the maize and blue faithful shouldn’t be disappointed, but, come on, it’s pretty much national consensus that this team is consistently underachieving. – Matt A: (Heavy sigh) “Consistently underachieving?!” Turn what corner? Your Wolverines went 11-0, played the number one team in the nation almost dead-even on its turf, and would’ve gotten a rematch had Arkansas won the SEC title or if Florida looked lousy in the win over the Hogs. Forgetting how things turned out after the Rose Bowl, Michigan was this close to playing for the national title, and it underachieved? 116 teams, USC and LSU included, would’ve killed to have been in that spot. With that said, you are right in a way and I’ll quote stats to prove it. Since winning the 1997 national title, Michigan has gone 3-6 against Ohio State. Quick, name the three biggest wins over a non-Buckeye team since the national title? I’ll help you out: 1) The 35-34 2000 classic Orange Bowl win over Alabama, 2) the 2005 27-25 last-second win over a Penn State team that finished 11-1 with an…
-
Carr and Beilein’s journey from WVU
Check out this article on Lloyd Carr and his brief stint in Morgantown before Bo asked him to rejoin the Wolverines.
-
M Football Returns: Spring Game 2007
The gates of the Big House opened in 2007 for this year’s version of the Spring Football game. This is the first of three pre-season events leading up to the football season, the other two being the ‘Fan Day’ typically in August and of course the Appalachian State dress rehearsal on September 1. Many know that the format in year’s past was more of an organized practice with a few snaps of live action. They actually introduced more team play this year with the Blue (offense) taking on the White (defense) in real snaps just a few minutes after warming up. They created some type of scoring system for the defense as well but they failed to explain to the 10,000 on hand how the white team scoring actually worked. Anyway, I liked the format and it allowed for a lot of action as opposed to a bunch of practice drills.