September 16th, 2023 at 11:16 PM ^
So my thoughts from the game.
1. The students who kept trying to start the wave during the injury to can get fucked.
2. The sound was fine. No issues for me.
3. The normal game lights don't need to point into the stands. Angle em all on the field so my head doesn't hurt from 8000 watts being beamed directly into my eyeballs.
4. To many stats. Condense into 2 screens, you can have a section that is relevant to the most recent play.
September 16th, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^
Also had a guy a section over trying to start a "GO BLUE" chant during the injury. A lot of the people who come out to the night games cannot handle their alcohol, it was the same way against Washington in 2021.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:55 AM ^
That guy was really starved for attention
September 16th, 2023 at 11:44 PM ^
i watched on TV and immediately hated the lights with the fire of a thousand hells
September 16th, 2023 at 11:52 PM ^
In the same way that you can’t talk about anything until Michigan beats Ohio State, I can’t talk about the stadium experience until they learn to use the $14M scoreboards effectively.
- letterboxed replays instead of full screen
- replays are infrequent
- replays have awful camera angles
- wrong stats are shown at the wrong time
- top 25 scoreboard doesn’t provide the ranking
- too much time spent on games completed, not enough on active games
- why not show a highlight or two on the video boards from other games around the country, particularly during media timeouts?
- Somebody left a light on inside the jumbotron superstructure, which you could see through the loudspeaker facade. It was annoying.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
letterboxed replays instead of full screen
They do that intentionally to signify that it's a flashback and not part of the current timeline.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
They should put replays in black and white then, a la Memento.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
And play them backwards.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:01 AM ^
Replay camera angles, YES.
If a play gets a replay, the first replay is always (literally always) from a camera in the South end zone. Even if they are replaying a touchdown scored in the North end zone, the first thing they do is show how it looked from the South end zone. Why? I assume the answer is "the people in charge of showing replays are not football fans." We would be better off with a straight feed from the TV networks.
That's it. That's what the modern stadium experience boils down to: the people in charge of the in-stadium experience don't care about--or possibly actively hate--Michigan football.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
It was my first game since 2017, lights were cool. It was more crowded than I remember, students were way drunker and more rude than normal. All in all a good experience.
edit: it did seems like they were trying to get a feel for the maize and blue lights, they used them a lot, but it didn’t make sense in some occasions. I still think they’re pretty neat.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:00 AM ^
The lights were just fine. Nothing to write home about. They flashed… and lit up the stadium blue. That about covers it.
The sound has improved a ton since week one.
The big screens are still super rough. The producer is trying to manage too many things between the replays, stats, side graphics/videos, social media posts, QR codes (totally worthless in a stadium with awful cell coverage) and more. They need to simplify things and focus on doing the basics really well instead of doing a million things poorly. It’s embarrassing.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:03 AM ^
Why does every team with this new style of lighting have the stadium go dark after a TD?
Maybe it looks cool in the stadium, but on TV, It just feels like a blackout. Doesn't look cool when Bama does it, still doesn't look good when we copy it.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:36 AM ^
It was very cool in stadium.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:16 AM ^
The Gator’s do it too in the swamp, but “quick” orange sparkling fireworks shoot up from the scoreboard and on top of the club suits right when the lights go out. Its pretty cool and lights up the stadium instead of it being a blackout.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:26 PM ^
And the blinking caused he players to look really weird on TV with one side of the face lit then the other
September 17th, 2023 at 12:03 AM ^
Is there an emcee who tells you how the Go Blue chant works still or did they get rid of that?
September 17th, 2023 at 12:05 AM ^
He's still there. He stopped telling us how to say "Go Blue" but instead he tells us "and now the Michigan cheerleaders" or something equally lame like that.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
Anthony Bellino needs to go back to Crisler - I'm waiting for them to bring him out after a field goal to say "James Turner - FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
September 17th, 2023 at 12:05 AM ^
Next up, a Mick Jagger show! Maybe KISS?
I kid. I kid.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:37 AM ^
1. Audio was ok.
2. Scoreboard was OK - reconciled to the stats.Wished the basiic stats would cycle more often. E.g.passing: completions - attempts - yds, rushing: carries - yards, number of first downs.
3. Appreciated that during the night game the stadium event people wanted to show off the lights. BUT the sudden blacking out of the lights and restarting them is probably not ideal for night vision or low light vision, and for people trying to do things on the sideline like tending to the injured or coaching using a whiteboard, this can be very disruptive and annoying. This is NOT a Broadway play, so let's STOP blacking out the lights during game time. Do anything and everything during halftime but NOT during game time.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:13 AM ^
And ironically they didn’t cut the lights at halftime! The halftime show left me scratching my head… lights on, and the musical selection of Disney music while my young kids were at home, asleep. Do Disney for a noon start!
September 17th, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
Ha! You're totally right about music choice.
The video selection of the band during the halftime show was awful. They did a witch thing riding across the field and we were shown a close up of a girl not apart if it just standing around. Always wondered why they apparently don't get a list of the giant band formations to show on the big screens...? Coordinate that better.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:56 AM ^
The dance team danced to AC/DC! Awesome
With the flashing lights, a very stoned lady next to me was looked at me and said she was scared
The flashing lights were fine. I don’t know how other stadiums handle it. So I don’t know if Michigan over did it
A media timeout with 11 seconds left in the game was fantastic! Just the best thing ever!
September 18th, 2023 at 11:48 AM ^
They were contractually obligated I suppose.
The TVs must hate Michigan for running the ball more than others. Moar passing will lead to more stoppages and more ads.
Or Michigan could just score more and often.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:57 AM ^
I thought the flashing lights were incredibly stupid the few times I've seen them on TV...thought it was kind of cool in person.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:52 AM ^
I was there last night, and I thought the lights were stupid, and added nothing (for me) to the fan experience.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:26 PM ^
Agree. I was there too. I thought the lights were cool technology but not terribly entertaining or purposeful.
September 17th, 2023 at 1:22 AM ^
The lights are awful. The only thing worse was the total blackout after touchdowns, or whenever someone decided it would be fun. Those blackouts could be dangerous for someone in the stands climbing stairs, or a real hassle on the field trying to diagram a play or take care of an injury. The really ironic thing is that the lights were NOT part of the halftime show! The one time when they could get creative, integrating light and sound, and nothing.
I agree with the comments from others on the scoreboard stats. Go look at last year's format and use that as the template.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:00 AM ^
Loved the lights, when used correctly they added to the excitement but can understand how they may not be appealing to everyone.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:07 AM ^
The video boards are still not utilized well. The live feed of the game doesn't seem any bigger than the old boards, and too much of the screen is taken up by the stats and out-of-town scores. I don't need to constantly see the score of a game that was played yesterday. I don't need to see how many of the other team's rushing attempts have produced negative yards.
The on-field emcee needs to go back to Crisler. The DJ needs to disappear. I like the Frisbee dog, but I didn't like they brought him out during the cheer team's "form M-I-C-H-I-G-A-N with our bodies" routine. It was hard to pay attention to both.
And the choice of honorary captains was... interesting. It's one thing to have Ann Arbor's congresswoman there, it's another to have two other congresspeople who are the antithesis of everything the university stands for. I don't recall seeing honorary captains booed like that before.
The long injury timeout was really scary. But a great aspect of it was that the DJ wasn't allowed to play. For a few sweet minutes, you could talk to the person next to you without shouting.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:17 AM ^
Speaking of the cheerleaders, for the older folks… when did the cheerleaders stop lining up in the northwest corner, and having a competition to see who could “walk on their hands” across the north end zone to the northeast corner?
As a younger child I thought that was pretty cool, but I think it’s been a good 15-20 years since they did that.
I wish they would bring back the Victors Waltz at the end of the game after victories.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:35 AM ^
At first I thought they were heartily booing Rep. McClain but then I noticed that the BGSU players were coming out onto the field and the crowd was booing them. Confirming this was that there was no such chorus of boos for Rep. James.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
The booing around me was definitely for the honorary captains. It was really a cringe moment. Also, had people around me yelling FJB right after the national anthem and during the announcement of the honorary captains. Really wish people could leave that kind of stuff out of sporting events.
Also, this was the game when all the drunk morons decided to buy tickets. Had a guy in front of my wife and daughter who kept using his vape every 5 minutes and the smoke would go directly into their face. Thankfully he arrived late and was gone by early 3rd quarter.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:56 AM ^
What is FJB?
September 17th, 2023 at 4:00 AM ^
One of my daughters has epilepsy; fortunately she seems to have outgrown the seizures. She is not photosensitive but has a friend who is: flashing lights can cause her to have a seizure. I wasn't in the stadium so don't know what it was like in person, but I do wonder if the lights could lead to photosensitive epileptics having seizures.
Fortunately, photosensitive epilepsy is quite rare, but I wonder if there were any messages sent to ticket holders to give a heads up about the nature of the light show.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:40 AM ^
Ended up going to the game at the last minute. The lights were fine but hard to really get excited about anything at this game. It will be better at a big game. The sound was good.
Kind of strange that they went full maga for the game honorary captains. John James definitely approved of the pregame music and was dancing in front of me the sidelines.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:44 AM ^
Two Simpsons references to describe the stadium experience:
I kept rehashing the Battling Seizure Robots scene whenever the lights started doing their thing.
The scoreboard reminded me of Homer’s web page that was overloaded with wacky animations.
That being said, I had fun overall and my fajitas turned out well at the tailgate, so it was a good day.
September 17th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
I thought the new rules were designed to shorten games. What I saw was less football and more commercials. Game was as long or longer than usual. I have gone to my last home cupcake night game. I got to bed at 1:00 am, and I left after 3rd qtr. If I had stayed til end, it would have been 2:00am,
September 17th, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
It was brutal. I left mid 3rd quarter.
September 18th, 2023 at 7:54 AM ^
That media timeout red LED clock on the field is so deflating. Just don't have that on the field. The whole stadium is standing until they see the red sign and then it's like oh.
And seriously man, i spend 75$ a ticket and they still need more money for ads.
Here's a brilliant idea, get rid of media timeouts and they can broadcast the game slightly delayed with commercials! It's just total bullshit, it actually changes the sport to have more breaks, physical stamina becomes less of a factor. (Maybe mental stamina becomes more of a factor?)
September 18th, 2023 at 7:54 AM ^
I attended the game on Saturday night. It was my first Michigan football game since 2008, and only my second one. I brought along my three boys (11,13,16) for their first ever Michigan football game.
All of the folks around us were friendly and respectful, but the guy in front of us was probably a good 6'4" which made it slightly difficult for my kids to see. I let them stand on their bleacher unless it seemed like they were blocking the view of those behind them. With all of that said, between it being somewhat difficult for the younger two to see the field, and Michigan's poor offensive play in the first half, the sweet-ass light shows definitely helped the boys enjoy the experience and was a really cool thing IMO.
Not new to many of you guys, but the Mr. Brightside was incredibly cool as well. The frisbee catching dog was really neat. Perhaps they could work in some more diversity, though, on the "media timeout" entertainment.
Overall we had a fantastic time and while I'm sure there are things they could work on, i thought the stadium was electric for 3 quarters and all the "pizzazz" really added to our overall experience. Thanks again to mgoblog user Double-D for the tickets!
September 18th, 2023 at 11:56 AM ^
Great to hear that you and your kids had a great time. Hopefully, this will help them push toward Michigan and Ann Arbor over other schools.
September 18th, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
Glad I'll never go to a night game. Looked awful. Went to Rutgers last year and didn't think any football game at Michigan Stadium would be worse. I was wrong.