Stadium seat cushion promotion for 2011; Colors!
When the IMG stadium seat cushion program was announced a couple of weeks ago, someone asked if the blue cushions, as pictured in the flyer accompanying the ticket renewal forms, would clutter up the painted Block M inside the Stadium. Brian wondered about the same thing. I got an answer from the vendor; there will be two colors, to match the color-pattern of the benches on the east side of the stadium.
The online promotional page:
https://www.ispstadiumseating.com/wolverineseats/
(The online page was changed, to reflect the "color" issue, after I emailed IMG and Joe Parker. We get action!)
Your favorite place on Earth:
They're still going to look stupid.
On my gigantic list of all the things I care about, how the stadium looks with seat cushions is at the bottom along with what the captions are on the birthday cards I get.
It's the opposite. I, for some reason, really take issue with how the stadium is going to look with the cusions.
It's all preference
I'm not as ambivalent as Block M, but OTOH the stadium is empty three hundred and fifty something days of the year. It's not like you'll see more than a picture or two of the stadium empty with seat cushions in it, or that there will be mass sections devoid of people with ugly, miscolored seats during games.
I don't know what to think about the promotion. But it's here, and there's a signed deal with IMG whether we like it or not. (I'll keep an open mind, out of respect to the capable guys leading our Athleitc Department.)
I'm not sure that IMG and/or the Athletic Department had thought about this. It took them a full week to get back to me. But they did, and they just changed the website to comport with the email they sent me.
If this is to be what it is, I am at least glad that something was said, before IMG delivered about 20,000 blue seat cushions in late August, many of them for installation on the Maize Block M. It does tell me that people in the Athletic Department are listening, and that they care about the aesthetics beyond just raking in a few extra bucks off the cushion licenses. And it tells me that as a contractor, IMG cares about their client and putting out a good product that respects the Stadium.
I don't get it though. Aren't people going to be covering up those cushions?
But for some reason empty stadiums look terrible with the cusions. Bryant Denny always sticks out in my mind. I would embed but the pictures are all huge for some reason
Granted, these are chairbacks, but that is probably not far off
http://dailybamablog.com/2010/09/11/live-from-bryant-denny-stadium/
I've seen Camp Randall and Ohio Stadium empty, during football season. They look like they need cleaning, with the empty floppy chairbacks. But it seems like just about everybody is doing it now. As I mentioned, it is an IMG-contract promotion.
btw; if you look at other similar stadium promotions, the cushions are usually clustered between the 30's, probably corresponding to the "prime" seatholders. And in our case, it would probably look particularly bad if that was done to the Block M.
In this pic, you can see the cushions sprinkled along the sideline and endzone....
Now imagine this picture if all those red seats were gray instead. You'd hardly notice them.
It's hardly as easy to notice if the cushions are the same color as the seats. Not sure what they were thinking in that Stadium.
How much thinking actually takes place down south?
That pic is of Camp Randall.
Pretty sure it's 'Bama.
The large script "A's" seen on the video boards...
The pic below is Bama, the one above sure looks like Wisky to me...
If you take that point of view, what's the point of painting the block 'M' in the stands?
If you're going to paint the 'M' in the stands, you should probably make an effort to not have it littered with blue splotches from cushions. As far as inane Section 1 threads go, this is actually an interesting tidbit of information a least a few people besides him were curious about.
I am trying to improve the inanity of my threads all the time. Have a nice day!
That's fair. To clarify: I do think it would look dumb if they had blue seat cushions on the maize block M that's painted on the stands. I just don't think it will ruin the view if there are some seat cushions scattered about that match the color of the stands.
Another question, would they leave these in permanently year round? Obviously they'll be affixed throughout the season, but I'm assuming you'd have to reorder each year, so they'd probably take them off to clean/repair/replace them between seasons. That would allow for "pristine" pictures to be taken of the stadium without them for those who have a problem with them.
I think the plan is to remove/reapply them each year.
You may start a lot of questionable threads, Section 1, but don't let anyone ever accuse you of not going the extra mile to actually do your due diligence.
Personally, this is one of those things that I wasn't too worried about, but do appreciate that they're going the extra mile to maintain the "M."
Good lookin' out, Section 1. I don't often agree with your takes, but you usually have the best interests of U-M at heart.
And while this one isn't the end of the world either, it is a legitimate inquiry and issue. So good work.
How many of the season ticket holders are getting cushions or not? I can't decide if I want them. Thanks!
They should guarantee you get all your seat space. I was talking with a Sparty season ticket holder when I went to M/MSU two years ago (they have chairbacks) and that was their primary reason for getting them.
when did Michigan Stadium turn into a square???
You didn't see the latest renovations? Had to have room to fit those scoreboards in somewhere...
Aside from the color scheme, what about the effect of fans in the neighboring seats? Some have mentioned that the cushion will allow them to preserve their territory for their seat. That's nice. What about the guy next door who doesn't need or want a cushion (or want to pay for it), but then gets jammed into the side of his neighbor's cushion when the entire row fills up from the other direction?
I think these cushions will encourage selfish behavior. I think they also ignore an overriding problem: the seat numbers are too close together, even for normal-sized rear ends. People stand up, sit down, shift, etc. The suggestion that we are all sitting nicely in the precise 16.5 inches accorded us (or whatever size the seats are) is crazy. Some weeks we might have to shift left; others right. Etc. Now we will be stuck with people with inflated senses of entitlement regarding their territory.
What do the rest of you think? Am I alone in this concern?
Also, are these things going to sit in the rain and snow all season? Are they going to be soaked when we arrive for the game? You can dry off a bench and bring your own blanket. I think these cushions will be moldy messes.
Discuss.
Part of the renovation project is to widen the seats. For that reason, capacity is going to drop by about 1,500 (though it will still be larger than it was pre-2008.)
I believe the cushions are not going to take up the entire width of a seat. There should be something like an extra inch on each side. As far as the effect on neighboring fans goes, I'm not sure. It might actually be better for the non-cushion people to be seated next to a cushion - having some fans' rear ends elevated off the bench might cause neighbors to be less squashed. (Up until now, having everyone seated on the same level hasn't worked too well.)
As for your last point, the cushions are supposed to be vinyl-covered, so they shouldn't be too damp.
You know its the offseason when we're debating about cushions. 4 months...
You know it's MGoBlog when we're debating about seat cushions.
In all of this is - will the seat cushions have seat numbers on them?
I would hate to be the person to put them inplace if they are numbered as I would assume they would be seat numbe only and not section/seat numbered.
Damnit Billy I told you these were for the sec 29, not sec 28!
not aesthetics. I have taken in my M seat cushions for the last 6 years or so. It does help mark your seat area, but the main reason is so your butt isn't sitting on a frozen, wet, or a burning hot bench. I doubt they give a rip how it looks when the stadium is empty.
The "carry" version of the seat cushion also allows me to take it on the road ... which the plans this year are at Northwestern and, at Iowa.
Go Blue !