bluebyyou

October 12th, 2014 at 6:44 AM ^

It was a very neat halftime show and in my opinion fit the evening perfectly.  Very cool and not overdone.  

Kudos to the MMB and all they do to make gameday at the Big House so much fun.

Appleseed

October 12th, 2014 at 8:23 AM ^

Not to distract from the coolness of the band performance but can we all stop it with the "UTL" stuff? It's just a night game. For all the complaining on the board about Dave Brandon's various marketing/branding initiatives, it's amazing to me how many people have internalized the biggest and most obvious one.

bluebyyou

October 12th, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^

To continue the discussion of last night, several of us were talking about how Michigan Stadium is a jewel at night....simply a beautiful venue to watch a game.  I have been at all thre UTL's and I always feel fortunate to have been there

Is there any reason anyone can come up with why we have to limit ourselves to one night game a year, assuming we do even one?  3:30 games, in essence end up as night games later in the season.  September and October are perfect for night football.    

 

 

maizemama

October 12th, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^

For me, it's an issue of bedtimes for my kids. When it is a night game, my young kids can not stay up until the end of the game without being extremely grumpy, which means that none of us have a good time. So, I have to get a sitter that doesn't mind missing the game. For 3:30 games, we can get errands done, soccer games done, kids can come to the game and enjoy it and we all get home before we turn into exhausted monsters. Now in a few years, when they are older, we won't mind, but it will be an issue for other families. For A2, though, I think it is great for business. I was downtown yesterday for some kids stuff and it was packed with people wearing game gear. Blimpy Burger had a huge line and stores were crowded, so I would think the town would support it. Maybe not the direct neighbors of the stadium.

Moonlight Graham

October 12th, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^

Michigan Stadium has an 80 year history and is the most famous and revered football venue in here country, and until just recently never had lights. Now, we do one per year, it's still special and will be for a while, as long as we keep it to just one. You may be referring to not having apparel and a Roman numeral for every one (UTL XIV!!!) so I agree that can probably taper that off. But I don't see a problem with a little marketing for "UTL 2016: Michigan vs. Wisconsin" to hype the game a bit more.

Umich97

October 12th, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^

...at first I was annoyed, because I'm just tired of all the gimmicks, that feel a little like begging people to come to the game, or at a minimum getting people to come for a reason other than the product on the field.



However, the more I thought about it, I'm ok with it. ...and for one reason: it was our band, not some outside group or famous singer, etc. Thus, I think it's pretty cool for the kids in the band. However, if we start having Katy Perry at halftime, then it's just tacky.

M-Dog

October 12th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^

Yes, I have no problem with new and innovative things that are indigenous to Michigan.  it does not have to always be the same thing over and over.  You are not betraying Michigan traditions if Michigan kids come up with something new and interesting.  That's how traditions start.

So if Beyonce has some real connection to Michigan and she wants to say "Hi" on the scoreboard, fine.  If her face is going to show up on 20 other scoreboards across the country, then no thanks.  We don't need to rent our traditions. 

Njia

October 12th, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^

Best MMB show I've seen in a long time. College bands are trying to innovate and I'm okay with it.

And I will take MMB with lights on their heads over Beyoncé live any day.

You Only Live Twice

October 12th, 2014 at 10:46 AM ^

Weather was cooperative, the atmosphere in the stadium electric and as noted above, innovative show, just a delight to watch.  The PSU fans scattered nearby seemed to enjoy as well and applauded both bands.

I dumped the Dope

October 12th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^

The MMB seems to have attained regular perfection in field placement, formation, and route running....err...walking....maybe they should have a place on the Team

/jk

But a really great job, I can only wonder about how much practice, planning and innovation it took to make this look as awesome as it did.  Kudos to the MMB!

AMazinBlue

October 12th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^

before the game and the halftime show.  That is TRUE College football.  I pray for the days when we just have college football again.

The band and coreography and presentation was great.  I didn't know any of the songs, but that's okay, I turned 50 on Friday and didn't expect to.

Way to go MMB!!!  GO BLUE!!!

rob f

October 12th, 2014 at 11:30 AM ^

what our MMB is capable of doing!  Well prepared, well executed, nearly mistake-free, just a joy to watch last night.  (Just to clarify, I was talking about the MMB, but the same description obviously applied to the Michigan defense vs PSU) .

That energy the band brought last night should have not then have been drowned out late in the game by RAWK.  I was fine with the mix between piped-in 'rawk' and the MMB most of the game until the last 5 minutes or so, but it seemed like a non-stop assault over the last several minutes, as if the guy at the controls thought HE was the source of the energy and spirit in The Big House.  That part should definitely belong to the MMB and the crowd, not technology!

Livonia Wolverine

October 12th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^

Does anyone esle get annoyed when the visiting teams band plays? I can't stand it. No one came to see the Penn State band. THIS IS MICHIGAN FERGODSAKES!

JamieH

October 12th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^

I understood when they branded the first one, because it was a big deal.  Kind of like the first night game at Wrigley

 

But at some point, we are just playing a night game, like tons of other colleges, and thousands of high schools do,  EVERY WEEK.  It's just a night game.

 

Maybe Brandon can rebrand our day games UTBS. Under the Burning Sphere. 

CompleteLunacy

October 12th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^

So now we're criticizing Brandon for not creating an evironment like every other stadium?

Look, I want DB fired ASAP. He's done more harm than good. But I can also recognize real success in the UTL productions...So far UTL has been a great thing for Michigan. I don't know of any other teams in the country who do halftime marching band light shows. 

I don't know how long these yearly UTL things can last, but this was only its third time ever in Michigan's long history. I'm not going to fault DB for something like that. In fact, DB actualy deserves quite a lot of credit for making UTL happen, considering Michigan had stubbornly refused to do any night games until 2012.

JamieH

October 12th, 2014 at 6:47 PM ^

As if we are somehow special for playing games at night, unlike the thousands of high schools wo do it every week and colleges from all over the country who have been doing it for decades. 

 

It's a night game.  Yeah, it's unique for the stadium.  For the rest of the country, it's pretty much "Welcome to 1980". 

JamieH

October 12th, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^

I don't have any direct contact with the band now, but having been a part of the band back when I was in school, I would question Dave Brandon's influence in the marching band's show prep.  In the time I was there, about the only time the athletic dept. was involved with the band was when they had to decide if and when they were taking us to away games.

 

As for Brandon "getting credit" for UTL, it was Martin who put the lights on Michigan Stadium.  Any AD we had now would be kind of an idiot to not use them.  Otherwise why did we spend so much $$$ to put them up?