Night Gamez, RAWK Music, and Maize Jerzeyz, yo
Let me start off by saying, I’m not that old. I’m 24 (it feels really old compared to 2 years ago when I was graduating). Some of you might read the title and think “Get Off My Lawn” but that’s not what I’m going for. The more and more I’ve thought about the Notre Dame game this year, the more upset I get. I’ve got tickets, I’m going, I’ll love it… but it won’t feel like Michigan Football. I don’t care at all if we have a Fullback, or play a 4-3, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is the Game-day Experience. Yes, this will be the first night game, yes everyone else has night games, and yes, Prime Time exposure, etc. etc. this really seems like a net positive. But part of me thinks that with the whole thing we’ve sold out. I’m a 3rd Generation Michigan Grad, and I love that when I went to games from 2005-2009, it started just like when my mom and dad when to games in the late 70s, and when my grandparents went in the late 40s/early 50s. The Marching Band formed their block M,
the Fanfare M, they played the Victors, the team came out the Tunnel, and they looked like this:
- is that Henne? Devin? Leach?
- is that Arthur Walker, Paul Seymour, Jon Jansen, Jake Long, or Lewan?
Their seats looked like this:
Now, I can’t help but feel that we’re all of a sudden every other team in college football. We’ve got skyboxes (granted, the construction ended up looking great, and I’ve taken the tour, and they’re amazing). We’ve got Lights. We’ve got Special K and we’ve got (allegedly) Maize alternate/throwbacky/cash-grab Jerseys.
So, all the things that I (we?) have claimed to hate throughout the past few seasons we now embody.
Michigan will Take the Field and it will be OMG MAIZE JERZEYS! I CAN BUY JERZEYS?
After Michigan takes the field “I Got a Feelin’“ I know what Special K will play (I feel like every time they went to commercial in this game the damn Black Eyed Peas song played, I know that the movie has AC/DC) - Dunno if embedding is working, but Iowa 2009, when Iowa took the field: (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsHF31w8-sU&feature=related)
The Fatcats in their Skyboxes will see the numbers, the ratings, the jersey sales and think that this was successful. And what’s next? Our old scoreboards looked like this
Will our new ones look like this?
Again, I’m excited for the night game, I’m going, I’ll love it, and I hope Denard gets 503 yards and we beat ND 77-0 (with at least 1 Mike Martin Pick 6). But part of me really likes that we’re (we were?) different. I hope to really enjoy the Night Game, but come November, on a Gray Saturday afternoon I’ll bundle up, trudge through snow and slush to my seat which looks like this
to see Michigan play in The Game, hoping the sun peeks through the clouds, and our team will look like this:
And the band will play the Victors and it’ll just feel… right
I hate the RAWK. Pro sports teams started playing it because they didn't have a marching band (and because they got tired of organ music, apparently). College teams never had a need for it. It's very disorienting to hear that same old Jock Jam playlist coming out of Michigan Stadium's loudspeakers. But it seems like it's here to stay, because much of our fanbase has become thoroughly desensitized to it through regular pro-sports attendance.
I hate the piped in music, but at least I can hear that. I haven't been able to hear the band from my seats for years. I'm guessing it started whenever the director changed, but the South endzone is a dead area for being able to hear the band. That was never a problem in the 90's and early this century.
RAWK and advertising are probably my two biggest complaints (though there isn't any advertising yet, so I guess that isn't a complaint).
I'm not a big fan of a maize jersey, but if it is worn ONCE (or very infrequently, kind of like the ND green jersey) and paired with blue pants, it could be ok. I bet that thing would merchandise like crazy.
One question--would maize jerseys even be legal? You are supposed to wear dark at home. I know Georgia Tech wears a dark gold at home, but our maize isn't exactly dark.
Ahhh the sky is falling! Boo we could be wearing maize! And we have scoreboards now!
I don't get bothered by the inane and redundant OSU scandal posts. I don't get bothered by people posting SIAP before an MGoBoard post. I only get mildly bothered by the people that constantly rehash arguments about RR vs. whomever. Looking at my previous posts, I feel like I'm a pretty nice guy in MGoLand.
This really pisses me off. Different gameday experience? Go to hell. It won't feel like Michigan football? F*** you. People that think like you are the reason our new coach has to say "It's Michigan, for God's sake" at his introductory press conference.
The football team is going to run out of the tunnel versus Notre Dame wearing the winged helmet and represent the University of Michigan. People are going to tailgate all day and come to Michigan Stadium to watch football. People will visit with friends, old classmates, and family in a place they love to spend Saturdays in the fall.
So it will be dark outside after the first quarter. I'm 25 and graduated a year ahead of you in 2008, so maybe you weren't at this game. Basically we're bitching that the game could feel like the 2004 MSU game that started at 3:30, got dark in the third/fourth quarter-ish, and then played three overtimes in the dark in what is probably the most electrifying atmosphere that I've ever experienced at Michigan Stadium? Or it will feel like 2005 PSU when we won in the dark on a last second Henne to Manningham TD? Or it will feel like pretty much any other 3:30 game that has been played in October for the past 30 years, except it will be the headlining game in primetime against one of our hated rivals with 115k people ready to explode? And yeah, damn, those huge scoreboards giving you an awesome view of a standout play down on the field? That's just destroying what we stand for at Michigan.../s
What is this? We don't have non-Michigan Men to bitch about anymore so we have to complain about the freakin' awesome night game? If you KNOW it isn't going to feel the same, then stay home. I hate you so much right now. Gimme a Goddamned break.
Not sure what I ever did to you, but yeah, I'd rather not have piped in music, fake jerseys and Ads on the scoreboards.
What you did to me? You hate on a great opportunity for Michigan and your reasons are baseless:
- The music has been piped-in for several years. It's not changing for the night game. Sure, it could be better. I bet you're the guy that has a bad time at the bar because they happen to be playing top-40, too. Music and the night game are independent of each other; it's going to happen during the noon games, too.
- Fake jerseys? You don't know what they look like yet so if jersey color is your problem then you wrote an entire post based on pure speculation totally trashing the first ever night game at Michigan Stadium. Over jersey color. Let me repeat that again: you hate the experience of a night game because of jersey color and lights, and also music that they play in all the other games.
- And yeah, considering that it has been repeatedly stated by Dave Brandon, Brian and every other single reporter that has covered the topic that advertising will not be a part of Michigan Stadium football events or the new scoreboards as long as DB is in charge, it makes sense to post something totally different and patently false about them.
What you did to me was serve as an example of the Michigan fan that I hate:
- The "fans" that bitched about Michigan Stadium losing it's soul when the renovations were first released, then subsequently admit they loved it.
- The "fans" that will tell me to sit down when I'm cheering before an important play but have no problem touting how great of a fan you are because you're a third-generation graduate.
- The "fans" that complained about needing Lloyd to change with the times but freaked out when we hired RR and we started playing tiny players that have no toughness.
- The "fans" that said "I'm SOOO happy we're getting back to real football with two tight end sets and a fullback" and then create posts pontificating about how that's not what it's REALLY about; it's about jersey color, lights, and music.
- The "fans" that resist any change and automatically see it in a negative light. Get real: Our jerseys have changed repeatedly in the past fifty years. They've been blue, but we've had Nike branding, Adidas branding, M on the soulders, M on the sleeve, numbers on the sleeve, no numbers on the sleeve, Maize piping coming from the armpits and arching around the lower back, numbers on the helmets, we've had yellowish pants, maize-ish pants, and orangeish-yellow pants. It's a jersey, not a program.
It's a great opportunity and showcase for the University of Michigan, our football team, and the community at large. If you have a problem with that, I have a problem with you. You're a hypocrite and come off as phony.
The music has been piped-in for several yearsTry two years. We never had it before 2009, unless you're counting pregame warmups, before the band had taken the field.
My apologies, music has been piped in for a couple years as opposed to several. Does it change the point of my argument about the OP? He states in response to you:
"I'm less worried about the start time, and more worried about the Jerseys and Special K... "
Soooo the night game is a bad idea because of jerseys and music (that plays in all the other games...). The original post isn't about anything other than a nostalgic fantasy about what Michigan football was and currently is.
Dave Brandon also promised a national search for the new head coach and to pay elite money for said coach.
This is not in any way meant as a knock against Hoke, but I do think it indicates that DB tells the fanbase what they want to hear, then does what he wants.
That's a valid point if you don't believe DB conducted a national search and I completely understand if you feel that way. Maybe I'm giving him too much benefit of the doubt, but I believe a national search was conducted and DB chose who he thought was the best candidate.
It's obviously wayyyyy too early to decide whether Hoke's hire has been successful (and we need 3-5 years to make that decision), but I'm elated about the way the first four months have gone with respect to him getting current players to buy into his system, his choice of assistant coaches, his uniting of former players, and his recruiting success thus far.
I will say that we have opened the checkbook for our assistant coaches like never before, doling out record assistant coach salaries for Michigan.
The previous coaching staff made the following:
RR - $2.5m (something like 250 base and 2.25 supplemental)
Calvin McGee - $275,000
Greg Robinson - $270,000
Other Assistants - $125-225k
Current Staff:
Hoke - $2m (300k base and 1.7m supplemental)
Greg Mattison - $750,000
Al Borges - $350,000
Other Assistants - $200-240k
I believe Hoke, for never having been a BCS-level coach, was given what Brandon referred to as "fair market value" for his services. I also believe having top-flight assistants has a much greater impact on on-field performance (see hiring GERG over more expensive candidates), so I am very excited about having the ability to hire guys that will get it done.
I can't say definitively that DB hired who he thought was the best candidate rather than the value pick, but at this point without proof otherwise, I choose to believe he hired the best candidate.
...Jeepin Ben is coming from, but it's fascinating to me that seemingly the folks most upset by some of the recent changes are recent alumni and current students. It seems like folks of my vintage (class of '89) and earlier have a better persective on how things have actually improved over the years.
Sometimes Michigan gets it right (the latest stadium renovation, permanent lights, presumably the new scoreboards) and sometimes they get it horribly wrong (halo, RAWK music). Eventually they figure it out.
I started going to games again in the early 2000s (1-3 per year) and I was struck by how little had changed since my student seasons (85 - 88). While things were essentially the same, they weren't exactly the same. It seems that each of us has one or two rituals or traditions that we think are incredibly important but are unknown or unimportant to others.
When I was a student and NROTC midshipman, I was in the Tri-Service Color Guard. So for me, the portion of the pre- and post-game that involves the colors is very special. In the 80s when the field was AstroTurf, we marched in formation along the 30 yard line from the visitor's sideline to the flagpole then executed a column left and marched to the end zone. When the grass field was installed, they eliminated this and now the color guard simply marches from the southwest corner to the flagpole. I don't like how it's done now but I'm not going to let that ruin my fun.
Back then, the band would break up into small groups and play all around the stadium. I still see this happening, but it's seemingly a much smaller effort than it was (at least in my memory). I think that the Rocky and Bullwinkle Theme was a much bigger deal then than it is now. We used to throw toilet paper rolls from the student section onto the field after a score. That was replaced by marshmallows and then that finally went away (hooray for progress). The last couple of games I've been to, the ushers in the south end have been intent on intercepting footballs that are being passed to the top of the stadium. I get why, but it still sucks. Hell, they've even changed the two part stadium wide GO...BLUE chant to a three part LET'S...GO...BLUE chant. Remember when people brought in 30 foot tall flag poles? Can't do that anymore. I bet someone's pissed about that (or they were for a few years until they got over it). I'm not a huge fan of the piped in music, but from where I've been sitting the last few years (AAUM ticket block low in the south end zone), I can't hear the band anyhow. Back then, ABC would bring in temporary lights for late afternoon games that ended IN THE DARK.
Whining about fat cats in luxury boxes is pretty damn shortsighted. It takes a hell of a lot of money to keep a stadium designed and built almost ninety years ago in proper shape. The new stadium is so much more imposing than when it was only a bowl and the facilities are so vastly superior to what they were.
Here's the other thing. Much of this seems to be about the certainty that many have that Dave Brandon is going to turn Michigan Stadium into a huge advertisement. They point to the Arby's sponsorhip of The Big Chill at The Big House and the ads on the boards. They point to sponsor tie ins like Tim Horton's and Arbys and turning over the official M Store to Jerry Jones' company (a decision since rescinded). They point to the rumor of striped sleeves and maize jerseys on a one off throwback jersey. But mostly, they point to "The Process" as some sort of overwrought effort that ended up with the hiring of a seemingly underqualified coach who was hired mostly because he's the embodiment of the anti-RichRod.
I get it. You don't like Dave Brandon. You don't trust his corporate background and vow to market Michigan and build its brand. You think he's selling Michigan's soul to the devil of commercialism.
But look at what's really happened. We have a beautifully renovated stadium that's better then it's ever been. We're going to have incredibly improved scoreboards without ads, there are no plans to put up ads throughout the stadium, the MMB still plays the whole M repertoire and marches in the Block M across the field, the flag is still raised by the Tri-Service Color Guard to the strains of the Star Spangled Banner played by the MMB, and the team still enters the field from the tunnel and touches the banner.
One or two night games a year and a one off throwback jersey just don't seem like the end of the world to me. And while it's clear that Dave Brandon is working hard to maximize the athletic department's revenue stream, I just don't think that means that Michigan has lost its Difference. I'm sure it's still intact and just as strong as ever.
Very well put and with much more tact and finesse than my previous post. I completely agree. Change can be for the better or for the worse, but change is going to happen. You can complain and moan, wait and then decide, or get excited for what could be a great new opportunity. I choose the latter.
I think it's funny what people have Michigan football built up to be in their own minds. You point out some excellent examples that oftentimes perception and reality are much different.
I've been going to games off and on for a long time. I've gone to games in the 70's, 80's, 90's and the aught's. I can live with one off maize jersey(as long as it's really maize and isn't paired with maize pants). Night games are a great idea and will help the rest of the country see more Michigan games. But please let the Rawk go away. I don't want to sound like every other stadium in the country. I want to sound like a college game, our college game, not the NBA, or the NFL, or Louisville.
Oh, and get off my damn lawn!
but all I care about is getting a W. If its at night or at noon, I just want to win. Don't matter the jersey or the time.
I love night games. One or two a year is fine with me. Im not really opposed to piped in music even though I do enjoy the MMB, but they arent going anywhere. Throwback jerseys? Eh it doesnt bother me too much.
Michigan will maintain tradition however some traditions will evolve and some will remain ever so slightly altered. Im sure 2003 Michigan football compared to 1903 is hardly the same and 2003 vs 2073 wont be the same but there will be Michigan Stadium, will be MMB, and will be the winged helmet.
But I am really excited for night games. I love getting everything done Friday so Saturday I can watch a game at noon, at 3, and then a primetime game at 8pm. For once I'll be able to see Michigan on at 8. Cant wait.
I felt like you were going to end this with a plea for donations to the Buggy Whip Makers Benevolent Fund.
Night games are, in addition to more fun, more intimidating for the visiting team. Games that start at noon are sleepers -- total blue-hair dreams. I've always hated them and think they should be eliminated. The later, the better.
went to UM either, and that changed. So why is updated the current scoreboard bad?
Seriously, disliking change for the sake of disliking change has no merit. If there is something in particular that will result because of a change, that argument has merit.
I get that making up new maize jerseys is stupid, and I think it is, and I don't want to have all night games because I don't want the Big House to turn into the Drunk Tank (LSU), but there have to be reasons for disliking change.
Just to be antagonistic, I'm a six generation legacy here. I'm also in the band, bleed maize and blue, [insert Michigan cliche' here], yadda yadda.
I can agree with some of your points, and by that I mean one. 'RAWK'. GOOD GRAVY. DOWN WITH CANNED MUSIC. Seriously, I didn't go to Penn State. Ugh.
Howeveer, I'm going to call you out on being hesitant towards change. Yes, there will be a band, there will be a rousing chorus of The Victors (or 3948713), there will be block Ms abound, and there will be people in the club boxes.
You can throw in as many pictures as you'd like (including the one of ProTouch uniforms of that school down south, yuck) but this too shall pass. I don't remember too many people griping about The Big Chill, another situation that called for novelty jerseys and piped-in canned music. It's an event.
I, for one, am pretty excited to get some national coverage...
"Mom, that's me! In the hat! With the blue and yellow thing on top! Yeah!"
...and I'm sure we'll all enjoy. Now calm the h*** down.
Edit:
Clarification - NO ONE, I guarantee you, NO ONE in the band or those involved with the program has ever voted for, appreciated, or condoned that damn canned rock music in the stadium. I mean, if they did, I'd kick their butt. I don't always put words in other people's mouths, but when I do, I guess... I do. I'm not sure of whose executive decision that was, but we work with the conditions we have. Seriously! We can play "Don't Stop Believin'" too. Ugh.
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