bamf16

August 27th, 2016 at 8:34 PM ^

That said, in my mind , sorry, there are bad seats in the Big House.  Apologies if that ruffles feathers.  It takes one hell of a homer to argue that their favorite team's stadium has no bad seats in it!

 

Now, if your argument is that the worst seat in Michigan Stadium beats the most comfortable recliner at home, I can see that, though I think that debate was had here a few days back.

1974

August 27th, 2016 at 9:27 PM ^

Parent poster wrote: "I've always said the best part about watching a game in the big house is that there's no honestly no bad seat."

I agree with that, but I think it's also true that there aren't many great seats. In most areas the bowl is (IMO, anyway) too flat. Well-designed modern stadiums have progressively steeper seats as you move away from the field. People in the upper decks are closer to the action and they have a better view than you'd get in the upper rows of Michigan Stadium.

I realize there's no accounting for taste. In Chicago, I think Wrigley is dumpy, but I understand why people like it. (I think it's cool that it's nestled in a neighborhood rather than all by itself off a highway. The pregame atmosphere is better than most in the MLB.) Cellular Field has much better sight lines, etc.

stephenrjking

August 27th, 2016 at 9:34 PM ^

I don't think this is accurate. Yes, the lower portions of the bowl are a bit shallow, and that means that it's a bit harder to see over the person in front of you. But the design of the stadium, using closely-packed bleachers, means that most fans are quite close, especially given the rows they are sitting in.

Modern Stadiums are huge physical structures that are quite a bit larger than Michigan Stadium in terms of actual occupied space. And rather than using overlapping decks that jut in toward the field, the deck structures tend to exist to give space to luxury boxes, which means that the upper deck seats are waaaaay away from the field. The upper deck seats at LSU, for example, are much further than the equivalent seats in Michigan Stadium. 

What Michigan Stadium could use a bit more of is steepness. A lot of SEC stadiums, which were little more than high school grandstands when Michigan Stadium was hosting 100,000, started steep and continue to be steep. Neyland Stadium, for one example, is much steeper than Michigan Stadium and the sightlines do benefit from that.

But Michigan Stadium isn't bad at all. And the seats that suffer from the shallowness, honestly, are the rows lower down. By row 60 or 70 the steepness has picked up, and the view is fine.

stephenrjking

August 27th, 2016 at 9:37 PM ^

(*I flip between describing the modern construction of NFL behemoths and observing the characteristics of much older, but expanded, college stadiums. I know what I mean, but I understand if people get a bit confused here. I will say that the top row seats at a place like New Mile High are further than the top seats at Michigan, to the point I was making.)

bamf16

August 28th, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^

And again, this is where "bad" is subjective.  I know a lot of people are with you in using sight lines to the field as an important part of the metric.  In that case, yes, the sightlines are pretty good the whole way around.  A few years ago I decided to pay the extra money to sit in a "better" seat, given that if I'm buying a couple tanks of gas for the 4+ hour drive, food, hotel, etc. it's worth it to spend a little extra on the seats.  

 

So to answer your question, lower row corners (in every football stadium) would be a "bad seat" in my mind since I think I miss so much of what's going on once the play crosses the 30.  I think the most memorable seat I ever had was 2011 Ohio State, where I was two rows off the field and behind one of the camera guys.  They had a flat screen TV on the side for the fans whose view might be blocked.  I was able to see over the players, so that wasn't as big a deal, but it was real nice having the ABC broadcast on the TV for replays.

 

Other than that, I was about two thirds of the way up in section 44 for the 2005 "Touchdown Manningham, Michigan wins!" game against Penn State.  

turtleboy

August 27th, 2016 at 8:01 PM ^

It could potentially sell out, its really only an hour and a half from either campus. They'll probably only do it once as well because it's such a crappy venue, and most seats are so far away from the field they'd be sitting outside of Michigan stadium by comparison of distance.

hunterjoe

August 27th, 2016 at 8:07 PM ^

Wife and her dad are going. I told them to take their binoculars. Ain't gonna be able to see shit without them. But they get to claim the largest crowd or something.




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1974

August 27th, 2016 at 9:31 PM ^

I'd rather have them (attendance records) than not have them, but the whole "You are part of the largest crowd watching a college football game today ..." announcement is right there with the reading of Slippery Rock scores. The novelty wore off many years ago.

If someone told me that Harbaugh will stay here ten years and get Michigan a couple of national championships, I'd be OK with Michigan having (say) the eleventh-largest stadium in college football.

Stashamo

August 27th, 2016 at 8:34 PM ^

I live in Memphis and several UT fans are excited to go to "Redneck Convention 2016". As they say, they're going to watch the game on the screen and be part of history. I tell them they're going to find their long lost cousin-sister.

stephenrjking

August 27th, 2016 at 8:35 PM ^

This is going to set the attendance record and that record may never be broken, except with another stunt like this.

As a one-off thing, eh, go for it. Yeah, it's really far away. You'll still be able to follow a fair amount of the action, though seeing which players are which will be impossible. Binoculars will be nice. People will get to say they were there.

I honestly don't think this is that different from playing a hockey game in a baseball stadium, and we're kind of use to that. Yeah, the hockey game is still closer, but you can follow a football a lot easier than a puck.

But it's a stunt and the fans who go will appreciate their own, rather more intimate venues.

LSAClassOf2000

August 27th, 2016 at 8:37 PM ^

I'm just intrigued by the modifications made so that football could be played here frankly. It doesn't seem like it would be so bad unless you're up high in a corner and the action is opposite your endzone and moving away from you, but even at that, I bet the people stuck with those seat probably talk more about the experience than they do about the potentially shitty view of about half the field.