Stadium Expectations for UMass
If the UConn game was about pomp, ceremony, and awesome, the UMass game is a chance for the Athletic Department to take the lessons for the first game in the newly reconfigured stadium to try and fix, mitigate, or adjust things that may not have gone so well the first game. My list of questions not related to the field will include:
- Was Dave Brandon serious when he said "Mic'ed band = less canned music"?
- Will the lines to get in to various sections, particularly in the southeast and southwest corners make more sense and more with more consistency?
- Will the bathroom lines be better?
- Will there be a chance to send texts from the game, or will the cell towers of Ann Arbor be rendered useless once more?
Your thoughts and hopes are appreciated!
September 15th, 2010 at 9:14 AM ^
Not sure the athletic department can control or improve the cell towers
September 15th, 2010 at 9:19 AM ^
I should note that I was not expecting the cell tower issue to be handled by the AD, but, for whatever reason, there always seems to be an improvement between the first and second game of the season with the cell towers.
During Western last year, I only got three texts out after dozens of attempts to resend. During Notre Dame, I sent nearly 20, all of them went out on the first attempt. I can't speak to what technology the cell phone companies employ, but it seems like it gets better, so I am hopeful.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:25 AM ^
If i'm not mistaken, you can have mobile/temporary cell towers to help alleviate the permanent towers. This makes sense for towns that don't need the infrastructure year round, but for seasonal events (e.g. Ann Arbor)
Edit: with link http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/showthread.php?t=371
September 15th, 2010 at 9:29 AM ^
certain I saw a a temporary tower on stadium near Crisler. Either that, or they were trying to communicate with Zoltan.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:41 AM ^
They put up temporary towers, and it was a definite improvement over last year, but it was still bad. I'm really not sure what they can do, though, since it's so time and place specific.
September 15th, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
I saw one the other day just north of the stadium. It was along the backside of the parking lot and it's pretty unmistakable, the big AT&T letters on it and everything. I don't know if other phone services would set up temporary towers or if they are the tower is exclusive to that one (AT&T) service.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:30 AM ^
They should sell space on the light posts (assuming approval) for cell relays
September 15th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
Our cell network was extra crappy against UConn. Normally you can text from within the stadium, although 3G and voice calls are often a long shot. Took me 10 tries to send a text message at one point.
Definitely on the AD by any stretch, but hopefully my carrier has its head out of its ass and is ready to roll.
/just bitter because Froyo bricked my phone
September 15th, 2010 at 4:07 PM ^
Ten tries? Ten Tries only? LUXURY. I think I was up to 16 before one went through. Gotta love cut and paste feature. That got quite a workout.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:15 AM ^
you cannot send texts from the game is because Fielding Yost in blocking cell phone service. He wants you to appreciat the beauty that is Michigan Football, and not be distracted.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:17 AM ^
the troughs in two weeks time?
September 15th, 2010 at 9:22 AM ^
If you've got seats in a high row, it makes sense to use the towers to the upper concourse rather than the 'old' section entrance. Use the stairs up to the FancyPeople boxes, which are an uncrowded easy climb, then down (only two steps, in the case of our row 94). The more people who discover this, the less jammed up the section entrances will be (ours is SW, Section 18).
The bathrooms and concessions on the upper concourses are clean, uncrowded, and during the UConn game almost entirely undiscovered.
Don't tell anybody heh heh....
September 15th, 2010 at 9:24 AM ^
I never had an issue with bathroom lines. I even went during halftime (which I DREAD doing), but the line in the new downstairs bathroom was more or less non-existent. Apparently there are 88 stalls and urinals in each one? Awesome.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^
I agree with you completely. The bathroom lines were bad for some of the sections, but if you walked to the next section, there was another bathroom (with a shorter line). There were tons of bathrooms (almost one next to each section). If you went over to the downstairs bathroom, there was no line at all.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:34 AM ^
Sorry guys, but my viewing experience couldn't be better. I got the club seats where they appear to have overbuilt bathrooms. In the UMass game I could leave my seat to go to the bathroom and only miss 1-2 plays. My wife, who doesn't like going to games said she would start going again because everything was so easy. And yes, they did have temporary towers for the cell phone service last home game. My ATT service is usually horrible on game days, but I could actually get texts through.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
Who won the UMass game at the Big House, Mr. Future Man?
September 15th, 2010 at 10:42 AM ^
All those northeastern schools look alike to me!
September 15th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
"pullin4blue" and stories of frequent trips to the bathroom on an internet post has me a bit creeped out
September 15th, 2010 at 10:47 AM ^
My iphone could actually send texts and access the web to check scores. This is the first time this has happened in 3 years. I don't know what they added but I hope they keep it up.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^
Once I got a text through an hour before the game. Otherwise, the AT&T service at the BH is a walking advertisement for Using the Competitor's Product. Where the heck were you sitting?
September 15th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
Will there be a chance to send texts from the game, or will the cell towers of Ann Arbor be rendered useless once more?
Lord, I was trying to "sneak" my GF into the student section (non-student in a section near the student section) and it took us until the end of the first quarter to finally meet up within the stadium. Fucking hell cell phone shit-show in that bitch. I was getting pissed off texts from her for like an hour after the game.
New text: "Where the fuck are you? I'm wasted!"
New Text: "I hate you, I'm never coming to another game again."
New text: "Why aren't you answering my texts, asshole?"
All while she is past out on the porch an hour after the UCONN conclusion... classic.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
Cell on wells for events. The problem is you already have the students on campus + the city's normal use which is probably high. Than you add in another 50,000 users which clog up the networks.
Each tower can only hold so many users so for example when D-Rob scores a TD X number of people pick up the phone and text , call , email at the same time... Its not just A2 that has this issue its when you have X amount of people in one small area all trying at once to get on 1 maybe 2 towers and C.O.W's. Its the usage not the service.
Every carry has this issue not just at & t. They always try to bring in extra mobile towers to events but with the amount of people with smart phones today it really slows down the networks and the iphone is the biggest data hog of them all.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:59 AM ^
I sit in section 3 and the mic'ed up band sounded terrible. The sound seemed only to be coming from the scoreboard by the student section (North Endzone) it sounded as if I was listening in mono on blown speakers. It also made the actual band harder to hear. I sure hope they update the sound system when the get new video boards.
I didn't experience any problems with the bathroom lines but I didn't go between quarters or halftime.
AT&T service sucks on game days, it is a fact I have just come to accept.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^
I am shocked AT&T didn't put in cell towers in the Stadium. They did that on the west coast for Seahawks, Autzen, Husky, Beaver, and for the Cougers Stadiums. They made such a big deal about it out here that I thought it was a nationwide movement. Seahawks (Quest Field) has 5 dedicated towers in the stadium alone.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:25 AM ^
and could not make a connection. I spoke with ushers and police officers. No phones anywhere in the stadium to use. No assistance provided. Issue ????
September 15th, 2010 at 10:28 AM ^
If it makes anyone feel better the cell service at Notre Dame sucked as well, and they only have 80,000 seats....
I want to believe that last year AT&T brought in an extra tower for later games, and this helped with the issue.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^
I couldn't even text/check scores online while TAILGATING at ND, let along in the stadium. Twice during the game I got about 10 texts shot to me at once so there was a clear signal for about 3 seconds. Rather annoying...
September 15th, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
I hope they keep up the Slippery Rock tradition and that someday most of the students actually get it.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^
The only way if becomes a tradition again is if they keep doing it (although I could also see it just becoming a homecoming/special games thing), so yes, absolutely let's hope so!
September 15th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
I loved the Slippery Rock score announcement because I remembered it from some of the games I went to as a kid with my parents, and my dad telling me about Slippery Rock's home games in Ann Arbor (1979 and 1981). My dad and I seemed to be in a very small minority of people in our section who cheered the announcement, so I would love to see it become a more familiar tradition.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
I was using the bathroom outside section 21 and I noticed everytime there was a HUGE line for the handicap accessible bathroom because it was the first one people came across and they assumed it was the only one.
If you go 1 level down from the concourse level there are HUGE bathrooms with over 80 urinals each. These were nearly empty most of the time while people stood in line for the smaller handicap accessible bathrooms upstairs.
I think a lot of the bathroom complaints will vanish after people get used to this layout.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
You must have had to REALLY piss to be able to count 80 urinals while simultaneously going.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^
What do you guys think the expected attendance will be? After 113,090 for the rededication, I can't think it'll touch. 125,000. Not only is it umass, but it's also yom kippur.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
113,400
September 15th, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^
No, it'll be lower. The "extra" people are mostly media members and invited guests. We're not going to have as many for the third game of the season, against a I-AA opponent.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^
I thought that the renovation increased noise levels by 30-40%. Do we still need to mic the band?
September 15th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
Yes, volume improved, but you still have the unidirectional nature of instruments. Mic'ing the band allows it to be more focused and omnidirectional.
September 15th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
I had 5 bars but could not call out or send text. I have Alltel service. Hope they get it fixed and glad to know I wasn't the only one having this problem.
September 15th, 2010 at 2:41 PM ^
It took me about 10 tries to get a text to send with VZW.
I stopped trying after 2 successes.
September 15th, 2010 at 3:14 PM ^
I've learned that the best thing to do with my Blackberry is to go to "Mobile Network Options" under "Manage Connections". I switch the service from 3G & 2G to "2G only". I believe this is an option on the iPhone as well. I get much better service (slow data, but I'm rarely in spelling form at that point anyways) and am usually able to send messages easily. Of course, now that I've shared my secrets I suppose the 2G network is about to be crashed...Fiends!
September 15th, 2010 at 4:53 PM ^
I would expect about 110,000 in the stands for this one.