Formally name the new press box in honor of Ufer

Submitted by Don on

In the course of commenting on a recent thread about making noise in the stadium, I came across a photo of Kinnick Stadium. I just noticed that there are fairly large letters on the facade of their press box naming it the "Paul W. Brechler Press Box."

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Kinnick_Stadium_2007.jpg

I've read that there is some plaque honoring Ufer that was taken down before the demolition of the old press box, and that it will be reinstalled at some point. However, I think Ufer deserves far more than an interior plaque few people will see, and formally naming the press box after Ufer in the same manner that Iowa did for their guy strikes me as the way to go. What say MGoBloggers?

RockinLoud

July 18th, 2010 at 6:58 PM ^

We can name the east side Bob Press Box and the west side Ufer Press Box, and then the two sides can argue about which one has a higher social status.

SportsBrewKings

July 18th, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^

Some Michigan fans would be against it under the idea that the Michigan program is bigger than one man, name, etc.

...but if we can have a Schembechler Hall, we should have a Ufer Press Box. There will never be another Bob Ufer in college sports, let alone at Michigan.

I'm all for it. Go Blue!

jmblue

July 18th, 2010 at 8:55 PM ^

This is different than honoring a player.  Ufer wasn't just here for 3-4 years.  He spent most of his life associated with our athletic department, and 36 years behind the mic in the press box.  He was a larger-than-life figure.  This shouldn't draw any criticism. 

Zone Left

July 18th, 2010 at 6:27 PM ^

This is a great idea.  I'm too young to remember listening to Ufer during games, but even old footage of routine plays is fantastic.  He's everything I wish local announcers would be today.    

Tater

July 18th, 2010 at 6:34 PM ^

Not only was he the most beloved figure ever to cover the team, but he was a track star at Michigan.  I think a proposal of some sort would be good.  Most of the people in charge of making the decision are old enough to remember Ufer and his contributions, probably listening to him often on the radio in the days before cable guaranteed that almost every game would be televised. 

There was a small segment of the fanbase who thought Ufer was too melodramatic, but I don't know if any announcer has ever meant more to a school than Ufer did to Michigan, or if any school ever meant more to an announcer than Michigan did to Ufer. 

Discussions of Ufer always bring back the memory of watching games on TV, listening to Ufer's radio feed, and hoping they were close to being synchronized. 

Don

July 18th, 2010 at 6:47 PM ^

Shoe, thanks for digging up that info. It would seem to be a large stumbling block.

I'm all for revenue maximization, but it would be a gross miscarriage to name the press box or whatever they're calling it the "Franklin J. Richbastard Media Center" simply because Franklin has the dough and the overinflated ego to name something after himself that he has no meaningful connection to.

Do the right thing, Mr. Brandon—name it the "Bob Ufer Press Box." Letters to the AD, perhaps? I normally shy away from petitions like the plague, but this might be an instance where it's warranted.

UM2k1

July 18th, 2010 at 8:07 PM ^

When I looked over the list, I got the impression the $500k naming right was for the "writing press" room within the press box.  If they are taking a $500k "donation" for the provost's suite and an elevator, I would think the naming rights to the entire "press box" (as it is now integral with the structure) would be substantially more (each tower is going for 5 million).  I also noticed the home radio naming right was taken, so I would hope that Ufer was at least honored there.

Don

July 18th, 2010 at 8:47 PM ^

If the home radio naming right goes to some rich schmoe who never set foot in the Michigan broadcasting booth, I'm gonna puke. There should be a limit to what money can buy. I'm hoping some rich Michigan fan purchased the right and will put Ufer's name on it.

Don

July 18th, 2010 at 6:49 PM ^

I don't think this is a minor consideration, and I agree with SBK that some will raise that issue. However, if you look at Kinnick, the letters naming their box are hardly so large that it appears to be naming the entire facility. I can't believe we can't do something similar in the Big House.