Biggest Sporting Event in Michigan
I got into an argument with two of my roommates last night when we were talking about The Big Chill coming up in December. Both of my roommates argued that the game was going to be the biggest sporting event for the state of Michigan in the last 10 years. While I know that it is going to be a very big deal for Michigan, I argued that there have been bigger sporting events in the state. In the past ten years, Michigan has seen a World Series (2006), an MLB All-Star game (2005), two NBA Finals series (2004 and 2005), three Stanley Cup Finals series (2002, 2008, 2009), and a Final Four that included a home state team (unfortunately) (2009). I am sure that I am missing a few other big events but these are the ones that I could come up with off of the top of my head.
While I know that the Big Chill is going to be great for the state, I simply cannot believe that it is going to be bigger than some of these other events. While hockey is a huge sport in the state and we all love to root for UofM, I just cannot see how a college hockey game can compare to a Final Four. Even when just talking about Michiganders, college basketball is so much of a bigger market than college hockey that having little brother in the game was a huge deal for the state.
Anyways, I was just wondering what the mgocommunity thought about the debate.
Every other year. Always and forever.
UM/OSU 100th game?!
Super Bowl XL?
would you put it above "The Game"?
After it's over, it will be another Dec 11 hockey game.
If in 2000, you had to choose between the 2003 Mich-Ohio State game and the Big Chill, which would you choose to see?
I'd say it's probably bigger than all of those things except the Final Four, the Super Bowl, and maybe the World Series, but that one's a stretch.
Wrestlemania 23
Yeah I said it. >_>
I am a professional wrestling fan myself, but it's not a sport. Yes it takes athletic ability, but it's not a competition. It's entertainment, not a sport.
Are you serious? Pro wrestling is not a sport????
Next you're going to tell me there's no Santa Claus!!!!
your roommates are clueless
If they were Sparty fans they would be cellmates.
April 26th, 2010 at 12:48 AM ^
welcome to 1000
Is almost as big as the monster truck shows at the old Silverdome on any SUNDAY! Sunday! sunday!
I'm just kidding. I was trying to find a reason to bring up SUNDAY! Sunday! sunday!
... it's the game itself
The Final Four @ Ford Field sucked, it was over in 5 minutes. You knew the result before the initial tip because the Tar Heels bitch-slapped Little Brother earlier in the year.
The final game in March Madness is rarely the best. Heck, UM-Seton Hall is in the top 3 in the last 25 years.
The Big Chill is an event, nothing really at stake.
UM/tOSU 100 was great, seeing with my son while he's a UM student made it really special. But UM/MSU in 2004 was without a doubt the best college football game I've ever seen. My son wanted to leave, when it was 27-10 Sparty, with 8:43 mins left. I could see some of the Sparty players starting to celebrate, and I said hell no we can win this thing.
And due to the 3OTs, it's hard to see how it will be equaled any time soon. So many people left in the fourth quarter that I swear there were only about 60,000+ people there at the end.
Walking out of Michigan Stadium in the dark (there are no lights outside save for the TV lights) and into the cool night was the greatest.
So to me, it's not just what a game is, it's what happens.
What's your metric?
~Largest attendance?
~Largest national/international television viewing audience?
~Most important game in determining a national/international champion of some kind?
~Largest regional revenue-generator?
If you combined all of the above, I suspect that the winner (in something of an unfair comparison) would be the 3-4 days of the 2004 Ryder Cup Matches at Oakland Hills Country Club.
I completely agree. The international attention that the Ryder Cup brought to Michigan was enormous. Sadly the "chill" is merely a spectacle that probably won't get too much attention outside of the Michigan and a few other hockey following states. Hockey just isn't a big enough sport for it to compete
... any event that is defined by Colin "Mrs. Doubtfire" Montgomerie isn't really a sporting event.
I'd say the Super Bowl was a bigger deal.
The biggest sporting event for the State of Michigan in the last 10 years was the 2006 Michigan/Ohio State game.
The biggest sporting event held in the State of Michigan in the last 10 years? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's the AL Wild Card series with the Yankees. New York came into Detroit tied 1-1 and Kenny Rogers was going against Randy Johnson. That Yankees team was one of the best they ever had.
If the Tigers lose that game, I see the Yankees going all the way. That was the turnaround, and the springboard for the World Series.
I was at that game, and it was one of the greatest atmospheres i've ever been to. Of course my BAC was higher than ARods batting average during the game but....
i, too, was at that game and it is one of my greatest sports memories. i will always say that Kenny Rogers' playoff performance was one of the best i have ever seen. (note: his run-in with the cameraman in texas did not occur during the playoffs.)
...from a mile up.
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I had tickets, but then I bought a ticket to Paris and was flying over rather than sailing inside.
It's my "had to go see about a girl" story, except unlike Robin Williams, I didn't get the girl.
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I had tickets, but then I bought a ticket to Paris and was flying over rather than sailing inside.
It's my "had to go see about a girl" story, except unlike Robin Williams, I didn't get the girl.Your honeymoon.
Trust me.
i hear Michigan is a popular destination for a honeymoon
That's like playong the same golf hole over and over and over...
forever.
may not have met that camera man but he did meet the dirt-ish mixture on his palm. I'm a huge Tiger fan but that was pretty embarrassing.
I do agree that the World Series appearance has to be right up there, if not at the top of a list.
For Pete's sake, it's da deer opener every year!
Seriously, I think something like one million people take to the woods every year for the opener.
back home in the UP we would get school off every deer day.
The Big Chill is cool, but it doesn't bring national attention or a ton of tourist dollars.
For my money, I vote for the 2006 OSU game, but I'm biased. Odds are it was the Super Bowl, because it brought so much tourist money into the state.
Blasphemy :-(