Night Gamez, RAWK Music, and Maize Jerzeyz, yo

...I'm really glad that the OP +/- is not capped at five.

that the "throwback" jerseys aren't really throwback jerseys, and that for this "old-fashioned-rivalry" game we'll play our first ever (intended) night game. Feels a tad bi-polar.

I agree with this.  Game Day is absolutely an experience unlike any other.  That's why I always try to make it to two a year.  Sure, the night game will be AN experience, but it won't be the same experience.  I suppose I wouldn't argue with one a season, but there's something to be said for trekking down to the stadium at 10am, and all the paraphernalia that already comes with game day.  I know they call it modernizing, and to some extent it was necessary, but it's all starting to feel a little bit like selling out.

I remember when my dad complained about us going away from natural grass to the turf grass. Said real football was played on grass (even though we played on astro turf in the past). I told him it would be fine and he would get used to it. He now loves the stuff because it doesn't come up in 12" sections and we don't have people out on the field stomping down divets during timeouts. Just like that, this will be fine.

I have no interest in seeing the uniforms messed with... And the "hype music" is lame.

Just about everything else mentioned is awesome IMO.

Night games (and lights)

Skyboxes

New scoreboard (although hope it isn't overused on ads)

I wish everyone would get their panties in a bunch about wearing an alternate/throwback jersey for ONE GAME.  I really don't think it's that big of a deal and we'll be back to our regulars the next week.  We are not Oregon or Boise State with those Nike monstrosities every week.  Relax everyone.

I am a fan of all the michigan tradition I really am.  But for everyone who bashes oregon (yes I agree its stupid too) they are winning.  Kids are looking at and going to oregon because of the jerseys.  Recruits like prime time, they like night games and higher ratings mean more national exposure.  All of these things help winning.  Maybe I am a sell out, but I'll suffer through what should be an awesome experience in the night game if it means trading in a small bit of tradition for winning because at the end of the day isn't winning michigans most important tradition?

I would like to see 1 night game a year.

veto the stadium music and smoke machines. The Iowa video made me smh. Me no likey. I'm fine without a goofy foam mascot and the team running out of a giant inflatable moon bounce.

I agree to an extent.  It will be weird having a game at night, instead of during the day.  Having said that, some of the traditions you allude to aren't as old as you think.  I believe the "M Fanfare" has only been played as part of the pregame show for about 20 years, for instance.  Likewise, the "Temptation" teaser did not become the third-down defensive stop song until about the mid-'90s, and "Let's Go Blue!" was written in the '70s (and was originally just played at hockey games).  So for the first century of our football program's existence, these were not part of the gameday experience.  They are late-20th century innovations.

Also, while many forget this, the traditional kickoff time for Michigan games was not noon, but 1:00 p.m.  The 12:00 and 3:30 kickoff times were a TV innovation.  As recently as the 1980s, when not all of our games were televised, we still played a lot of 1:00 games.  Even beyond that, we sometimes played OSU at 1:00.  The introduction of 3:30 kickoffs was itself a major departure from tradition, with games ending in darkness; the new night games are simply pushing that further. 

I understand this argument I really do but you have to think outside the box on this. whats tradition if most the country cant watch our games? If your not in the EST then chances are you may not be up in time for Michigan games especially high school students on the west coast. Alot of people in the football world do not believe Michigan is the school it once was. We have to shake it up, Im not suggesting we play all night games but once a year one home game why not? I might get alot of negative feedback on this but so what Im tired of people saying this kind of stuff or stuff like is Hoke a michigan man because he doesnt wear a hat on the sidelines? Les Miles does and he choose not to come back to Michigan twice. I believe all this crying is doing is creating negative vibes through out our great university, how about from now on we support Michigan no matter what and not bitch about it.

I understand the desire for tradition.  But I don't think this one game will make such a dramatic change that we see nothing but night games and crappy throwback jerserys that were never worn in the first place. 

I've always dreamed of a night game at the big house.  On TV, I watch all other college football teams across the country have night games and the atmosphere and excitement among the fans looks incredible.  Our fans deserve to experience that too in the biggest and most beautiful stadium in America. 

I've lost count of how many of our opponents have chosen or worked to get us as their night game.  Nearly every team in the Big Ten has done that this past decade.  Northwestern once scheduled us for a night game despite the fact it was their Homecoming!  It adds to your home field advantage. 

And the fact that it's against Notre Dame?  Perfection.  A hated rival with a fan base that still spends the majority of their time kissing their own asses despite the fact their progam hasn't been relevant since 1993.  Notre Dame scheduled their first ever night game against us in 1982.  They were a crappy team led by a crappy coach, Jerry Faust.  This is a man who could easily get outcoached by Charlie Weis.  (ND was the only school in the country arrogant enough to hire him based on the fact that he was a dominant HIGH SCHOOL coach.)  On that night, they beat us 23-17.  I think it's only fitting that we get a little long overdue payback.

My advice to you is to stop thinking too much. Go to the game and just see how it feels to watch the band form the block M and watch the team run under the banner under a night sky.  I'm positive you'll feel the same goosebumps you do for a regular day game.  And embrace the fact that you'll be a part of history. 

I personally would sell my soul to go to this game.  I have a few connections that might be able to hook me up with tickets but seeing that they're going to cost a fortune, I just can't afford it.  So I need you to scream extra loud for me.  And don't stress out about the tradition changing.  Michigan will still be Michigan after this game. 

Keep in mind that the traditions you refer to needed to start somewhere.  Yes, I agree that the hype music is annoying at best.  But trust me, we don't want to have the stadium/scoreboards from 1887.  People don't like change, but what they don't realize is that the things they loved before the changes were things that replaced other, older things. 

can wring your hands if  you want, but I'm pretty sure a night game at Michigan Stadium will be awesome.

I'm not an undergrad now, or anywhere near it. (class of 94) But one thing I do remember from those days is that rather than having games that were geared toward the students, a lot of the experience was oriented to alums, and older people in general. While that is nice in one way, it is less positive in others. I remember we (students) were always aggravated that our vigorous "waves" always screeched to a halt at the alumni section, or that they were silently sitting on their hands during pivotal third downs. 

Most of the games are still going to be conducted in such a way as to appease the old folks. That being said, what is wrong with a night game or two, where the students and younger generation really get to have a little fun? You know they are going to come in, rowdy as can be, and make some serious noise, and really try and get after the opposition. Before knocking this modest deviation from tradition, let's wait and see. I am thinking this is going to be the loudest game in the history of Michigan Stadium. The young people are really going to let ND have it, and the success might even lead to a new tradition of ND beatdowns in the evening.

Tradition!

I hate to break this news, but change is a constant, even at Michigan. Even at Stadium and Main.

When I was at Michigan, women weren't allowed on the field. We had an all-male cheerleading squad. We had an all-male band. That changed in the early 70s.

The scoreboards had no video. Hand-operated light bulbs lit up in various ways. Sometimes they'd get it wrong. That's changed.

The yellow color on the uniforms and helmets was a slightly different shade. It had a little more orange in it. That's changed.

Michigan played a variation of the single wing when I was a little kid. The players jumped into position after motion. There were no face masks. The starters played both ways, offense and defense.

Later on, Bo ran the wishbone. He introduced helmet stickers. These things have changed.

When I first saw the Michigan Marching band as a child in the 50s, the band uniforms were different. They were more military, and they didn't have the same shako hats. The hats were more like OSU's hats. The band uniforms didn't have the same colors or trim; they were midnight blue with tan fronts. The little capes were different, too. There were no people running around with flags. That's all changed.

I was a freshman in the fall of 1967. There were womens' sides to dorms and mens' sides to dorms and ne'er the twain did meet. If you had a member of the opposite sex in the room, you had to keep the door open and at least 3 feet had to be on the floor. And they checked (we still got away with sneaking as much sex as possible, but hey, that's kind of hard to do with an open door). Anyway, that's all changed.

On Sundays we were required to wear a jacket and tie to dinner. That was no big deal, because on Friday and Saturday nights when Michigan Men went out, we always wore jackets and ties. Jeans weren't happening on campus in a big way until 1968, The Year All Hell Broke Loose Everywhere. Great year, by the way. Well, obviously that changed, too.

North Campus was new. No one went there except music students and guys in one fraternity that built its house there. There were much smaller buildings. The hospital was about a tenth the size it is now.  I didn't know a single person in the business school. No one wanted to be in business.

I would like to point out that in 1967-8, at MSU, the men even wore jackets and ties to football games. We didn't. So they were even dweebier than we were. We called them Moo U. We felt infinitely superior. I guess that hasn't changed.

My point is that traditions change. No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, things aren't going to stay the same. That's just the simple truth. Sometimes it's hard to accept.

get to us.  If indeed the ND game jerseys are Maize...so what?  Enjoy them, embrace them.  Go buy one if you wish.  I think they will look great!  Worried about breaking tradition?  Maize jerseys have been worn before...1964? maybe?  As far as the Rawk music.....turn to page 259-260 of "Bo's Lasting Lessons" about the South Carolina Gamecocks entering the stadium to the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  His exact quote : "  That is how you take the field.  THAT is college football!  All will be well people.

I can deal with the skyboxes; they helped pay for the amazing renovations.  I can deal with throwback jerseys once a year; god knows I'm gonna buy one.  To not love the new scoreboards is, in my humble opinion, joyless and get-off-my-lawny.

But I would rather make a tragic mistake with my zipper than listen to Seven Nation Army again in Michigan Stadium.

get to us.  If indeed the ND game jerseys are Maize...so what?  Enjoy them, embrace them.  Go buy one if you wish.  I think they will look great!  Worried about breaking tradition?  Maize jerseys have been worn before...1964? maybe?  As far as the Rawk music.....turn to page 259-260 of "Bo's Lasting Lessons" about the South Carolina Gamecocks entering the stadium to the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  His exact quote : "  That is how you take the field.  THAT is college football!  All will be well people.

I can pretty much get on board with most anything at Michigan Stadium except advertising and RAWK.  Those two things drive me absolutely up the wall.

I'm not going to like maize jerseys, but I can live with it.  I like the idea of a night game, as long as it isn't more than once per season, and isn't some throwaway nonconference game or against a lesser conference school like Northwestern or Indiana.  I dig helmet stickers.  I'm all for the most technologically awesome scoreboard we can find, after all, Michigan Stadium was the first collegiate stadium in the country with an electronic scoreboard.

But I swear, if I have to sit there at a night game seeing advertisements from Bank of Ann Arbor and Absopure to the sounds of ACDC and Bob Seger, that's too much for me.  

A big piece of Michigan Stadium died for me when the RAWK thing started.  It pisses me off, not just as a former MMB member, but also because I always felt like there were little things that set our stadium apart from the others.  You could come to Michigan Stadium and watch the game, listen to the bands, the sounds of the stadium, feel like you're at a college football game.  There are certain things about our stadium that should be timeless, other things that can change . The in-game atmosphere is one of the former, not the latter.