Taking 40 preschoolers to the Big House
I'm an adminstrator at a local preschool, and today our staff and I took all of our preschoolers on a field trip to Michigan Stadium.
The kids were very excited - some of them were up ridiculously early this morning in anticipation of the trip.
We met up with a really nice guy named Bill Austin from the AD's Events department, who took us up the east tower to see the club seats, then he took us to the west tower to see a suite and the press box, then he took us down to the locker room, and finally, the kids got to run the tunnel and play on the field. This was an amazing experience! On the way out, as is wise when dealing with preschoolers, everyone had to use the bathroom - so the kids all "went potty where the football players do!"
I have great pics of the kids on the field, but I need to get some persmission from parents before I post. In the meantime, I got a pic in front of Denard's locker.
A few interesting tidbits from our tour guide:
- The arrangement of stalls in the locker room has been changed by the current staff. Under RR the players were arranged by position. Under the Hokester the players are arranged in numerical order to send the message that they are one team, not units.
- The Hard Edge verbiage was still up in the tunnel, but it will be coming down.
Was this an official or unofficial? Are any of them on commit watch???
Seriously though, cool story. I haven't been able to take a tour of the big house yet but I really want to.
Is that like that 16 lb baby recently born in Texas? I hear Saban made an in-nursery visit.
Scoreboard progress/pics?
...here ya go:
You don't see little Billy up there hanging with a harness?
http://www.mgoblue.com/allaccess/?media=235147
Edit: Actually, the cam doesn't appear to be on right now.
Wow, definitely read that as "stalls in bathroom" since you were talking about it just before. Made for an interesting parahraph to say the least.
That really is an awesome story though, thanks for sharing.
I read it exactly like you did before I reread it.
Do we know if the Big House is still open to the public? I know it wasn't during renovations, but before it was open Sunday through Thursday to the public...I think? Didn't know if anyone has been out there yet or not.
See box on this page re: tours.
Pretty much crap that it isn't. I miss running the steps. Most insane workout ever.
You can / could just go in there? That's so awesome.
I know we are under a new regime and everything but did Hoke at least keep the slot ninja stalls in the locker room for the short guys? If he didn't I assume the boys would have a hard time going potty...
The bathroom has 4 urinals - 3 are regular height, the 4th is shorter. Yes, we counted - 40 kids, 4 bathroom stalls, and 4 urinals.
In all seriousness, the shorter one is probably required by ADA.
Can any of these kids run an awesome route? 40 times? We need stats!
Wow, a field trip with 40 preschoolers. That is herding cats. Nice work.
Nice story. I too was around preschool age the first time I saw the inside of big house and that's something you obviously never forget. (Of course, when I saw it, there was 100,000+ folks inside and Bo was storming the sidelines.)
My first time was the 1995 pigskin classic, opener, vs. Virginia. I was 8. I walked in 15 minutes before kickoff to a packed crowd and I remember standing in awe for about 45 seconds before I realized my dad had already walked 30 rows down below ahead of me. Like you said, You'll never forget it.
Question for anyone who has been in the lockeroom. Is the pic that the OP has above like a secondary lockerroom or something? I have seen pics of the lockeroom and each player stall looked alot nicer than Denard's does here. Just curious.
That looks the way I remembered it when I saw it a couple years ago. The seniors have slightly nicer ones.
game day locker room. The stalls are quite mimimalist. Here's a pic that shows more:
You're one lucky guy. A picture next to Tony Anderson's locker!!!
I literally laughed out loud to that.
The locker rooms over in Schembechler? They upgraded those, and they get used more and store stuff longer term for the players, so I remember them as being nicer. But I don't know what you've seen.
Yep, that must of been what I saw.
I'm not sure if that is an accurate representation of the correct dimensions. They are both going to be 85x47, and those look a bit too square.
For those interested, that Michigan Stadium Aerials site has photos of both the Michigan Stadium scoreboard construction and the construction of the basketball practice facility. Here's a recent one of the latter:
Also: On a previous thread, someone asked about progress on the south scoreboard versus that of the north scoreboard (the one shown on the webcam). I happened to drive past the stadium today and saw that they're working on both scoreboards but they aren't as far along on the south as the north.
That's beautiful. Here's hoping we get nice big maize block M's on the back of those bad boys. Because I'm greedy and it's July, would you mind outlining the size of the old boards on there for comparison? I would be eternally MGoGrateful. (I know someone did something similar from a different angle, but I can't get enough of this.)
Edit: Nevermind, found it:
not just for a perspective of the new boards, but it really depicts how deep the stadium sits into the ground and how high the east and west buidings rise up above the bowl.
Others in this thread were talking about the first time they walked into the stadium. Mine was in 1976 at the age of 10, entered at Section 12, right below the old south scoreboard, not long before kickoff and the stadium was nearly full. I was hooked.
Just yesterday I submitted my request for 2011 media credentials. I haven't had the itch this bad since before RR.
This is going to be a good year.
While the children were playing on the field...was there any ballhawks out there?? You can never ever have to many good safeties out there to take a few the other way.
once, after a bball game a few years ago. when the construction was in full swing. somehow, we gained access to the field. I was with my three nieces and they were able to do their school cheerleader routine in the south endzone. absolute euphoria. the place was packed with kids and fans. I ended up having to carry two of them all the way out cuz they were exhausted. I nearly had a heart attack. a great memory that always makes me smile. they are forever go blue.
ot: as we left the police were getting ready to storm/raid the field because some idiots were trying to steal bleachers.
You never took MY kids to the Big House when they were there!
I was always in the class that went to the Toledo zoo.
in their first years few years. Particularly Glenville, Massillon and Canton Mc. Will that me a recruiting violation?