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To be fair, I'm never quite sure how much influence that the Athletic Department has on these things. I mean, they do sign off on them, but I always felt that it's adidas that comes to them with all of the concepts.

That's the only way some of these could ever see the light of day.  That blue one, with all of the adidas 3-stripes everwhere is just a walking billboard for the company.  I doubt I will ever buy any adidas apparel as long as they have the contract; they just don't get the Michigan brand at all. 

Not the greatest, but follow the directions and it works:

http://www.vipbox.tv/watch/25485/1/minnesota-vs-michigan-live-stream-onl...

I read an article from the Slippery Rock athletics website that was written about the members of their team who came to the Wisconsin game last year and the article said:

"The salute to SRU was the brainchild of UM Director of Athletics Dave Brandon, who has revived the tradition of announcing Rock football scores during Michigan home games. A special hooded sweatshirt with The Rock logo emblazoned in UM's Maize and Blue colors is also on sale through one of Michigan's licensed vendors.

Brandon has also initiated discussions about The Rock returning to The Big House to play a game, according to Lueken."

The entire article is here: http://www.rockathletics.com/news/2010/11/22/FB_1122101637.aspx

Is anyone else having any problems with the CBS streaming?  Mine has been saying "loading" for at least 15 minutes.

Outside of Mattison, the difference isn't that great between what the previous assistants were making and the new staff.  Assuming Hoke gets $1.5M, the difference between the total staff salaries would probably be rather negligible.

For the record, the top 3 assistants on Rich's staff were:
C. Magee - $285k

G. Robinson - $273k

T. Gibson - 224.7k

The rest of the coaches were getting about ~$185k except for Braithwaite at $135k, but you can see these (and the rest of your favorite Athletic Department personnel) here:  http://www.umsalary.info/deptsearch.php?Dept=Athletics&Year=0&Campus=

This just reminds me of the time when George bought John Voight's car.  I'm sure Jerry spells his name with a "G" occasionally just for fun.

Guinness only counts people who showed up as spectators (people who bought a ticket and were present in the stadium on the day of the game plus a few other non-ticketed personnel, such as the band).

Michigan's attendance counts tickets sold (whether they showed up or not) plus the band, team, concessionnaires, ushers, media, etc. -- essentially everyone who would be present in the stadium.

As far as the original number, that figure was what Guinness used to initially certify that the record had been broken and to have the presentation on the field during the game.  They were still totalling up final ticket figures at that point, but they knew that a record had been broken, so they felt comfortable announcing it and having a press release that the media picked up on.  (Granted, some in the media mis-interpreted the release to be the final attendance count, but it was still a works in progress)

EDIT: Beaten by a few minutes...why do I write so much?

The high school posts are wider than the college and pro versions, so they are wider compared to what we're used to on Saturdays.

High School - 23 feet, 4 inches

College - 18 feet, 6 inches

I've also been curious how much extra distance one gets by using a tee on FG's like in the video.  So, if he can kick a 60 yarder with a tee, does that equate to a 45 or 50 yarder minus the tee?  Anyone with a kicking background know a rough estimate?

Sorry you didn't get the jist of my comment.  All I was saying is that from a financial gift standpoint, there's only so much that the university would allow you to earmark your gift for.  In this case, Braylon was (correctly or incorrectly) allowed to earmark his funds to the most finite detail, which is what has created this debate.

My point was that the university would gladly allow me to make a significant contribution, but there comes a point where goodwill and generosity turns into over-involvement and meddling with the way the organization is run (be it athletics/football or whatever).  I think Braylon getting over-involved with the way the coach runs his football team crosses the line by using his number scholarship leverage.

The last time I went (around 2004), the Michigan section was behind the endzone in the open part of the horseshoe.  Purdue was pretty decent and came in with only 1 loss and I already had tickets, but I approached a scalper by the basketball arena just to see what the market was like and he had a whole fistful of tickets and from "negotiating" with him, it was definitely a buyer's market.

Fast-forward to today: both teams aren't as good as they were back then, so, I doubt the game sells out (especially with an early kick time).  Worst case you should be able to buy them for face at the box office if you can't negotiate your way in for less.

It's interesting because a number of these shirts have been up for quite some time...and it's not like they're much different than the guys with the stands on the street who have ripped off a number of the designs for their own profit.

I wonder if this has more to do with who is selling them and their relationship to the University as opposed to what is being sold.  To my knowledge, before buying Moe's, Underground Printing would produce t-shirts angled toward Michigan (like the MGoShirts), but never use any University trademarks.  Now that they run Moe's and sell licensed material, the University has more control to threaten UGP with revoking their agreement to sell licensed product like jerseys, hats, etc.  Perhaps a lawyer can speak to this more, but unless they go on a major cease and desist binge and shut down the shady push carts, then I think it's a targeted threat at a licensed retailer.

FA, you are my hero for bringing up the Polo Grounds.  I wish that park was still around because there definitely needs to be a stadium with a small cutout that makes it 485' to center.

As for the L.A. Coliseum, they did host a Dodgers exhibition game a few years ago (attended by 115,300 people) in commemoration of the team's 50th Anniversary of their move to the west coast. (Note the giant net in left field to eliminate on the 200+ foot home run).

And to think, I read the thread title and figured that maybe the Michigan Theater was having a "Joe Friday Night" and Judge Smails was a big fan of classic tv.

There is no doubt in my mind that the powers that be colluded to match TCU and Boise together in the same bowl.

Look at it this way: as the current system stands, the BCS is set up to create a monopoly between the 6 major conferences and the power brokers at the 4 major bowls.

A playoff would a) force the revenue from these major bowl games to be more equitably distributed amongst all conferences instead of just the 6 BCS conferences and b) essentially reduce or eliminate the power wielded -and financial windfall- from the various bowl committees of these 4 major bowls.

Because of this, anything that could possibly spark an even more heated debate of a playoff is bad for the bowl committees, who are the ones who select the matchup.

Interestingly, the BCS could have had matchups of 1 vs. 2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 and 9/10 if they went Cincy/TCU and Florida/Boise. However, if (God forbid) both of the non-BCS schools won against major conferences, the push for a playoff would be heightened even more and the playoff drum would keep beating louder, which is obviously bad for the bowl games.

Instead, the Fiesta Bowl colluded with the other bowls to essentially eliminate the possibility of embarrassment faced by Oklahoma and Alabama from previous season, so they selected both Boise and TCU. Now we'll never know how good those two teams are because the bowl collusion forced them to play each other instead of major conference teams.

Again, well done BCS.

Now that we've moved on to a discussion of the best mascots, I think Dartmouth's "unofficial" mascot deserves special mention...I mean, he has his own Wikipedia page! -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keggy_the_Keg

According to MGoBlue.com, Michigan is 22-10 in night games all time (19-4 playing on the road and 3-6 at a neutral site).

Page 4 of this week's game notes includes a list of all the games played through the years and their results. It can be found here:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/mich/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/fbl-we...

Also of note, this weekend will be Michigan's 400th televised game.

Iowa also did a throwback game a few years ago for the 75th Anniversary of Kinnick Stadium, but it wasn't just the team:

"The student-athletes for the University of Iowa and Kent State, the game officials, the sideline "Chain Gang," the UI cheerleaders, the UI Dance Squad and even the program vendors all will be outfitted with uniforms reminiscent of the 1930s."

More details can be found here:

http://www.hawkeyesports.com/kinnick-renovation/throwback-game.html

...and game pictures:

http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090504aaa.html

I'm not sure how helpful this is, but here are a few of my thoughts to your question:

I think a player's legend grows the further they're removed from the game, so although each of the players you listed were stars in their own right while at UM, the older players end up becoming more revered at this point in time.

Some of that may be due to the target audience of a $100-ish auction. I think it's natural that as you get older (and have more disposable income to put in an auction) that you get nostalgic for the "old days", so maybe seeing a Ron Johnson or Bob Chappius item rekindles that era you grew up a fan.

The specific item can also be a drawing card, depending on its uniqueness and perceived rarity. An 8x10 of Chad Henne is more standard than say, a game program of a memorable Henne game, just like an autographed replica jersey is viewed as less "valuable" than a game-used one.

However, it's impossible to please everyone and difficult in memorabilia to know what will strike a chord with a certain group of people. Sometimes it's a surprise what ends up getting bid up and what doesn't, but I guess just live and learn and adjust accordingly.

Good Luck!

You should be able to get streaming radio via MGoBlue.com. Ever since UM and WJR parted ways, the Athletic Department has been offering the Beckmann/Brandstatter audio free of charge.

I think picking the spread adds a little more intrigue...especially for all of these lopsided games. (Besides, don't we all want to go head to head with jamiemac?)

Jackson may have been the biggest badass ever.

Besides being the only President to ever pay off the national debt, he also wanted strict term limits on politicians to curb corruption.

Jackson was the first President to be part of an assassination attempt being fired at twice at point blank range. Jackson then proceeded to run the guy down and beat the crap out of him with his cane.

Furthermore, Jackson dueled with a man (Charles Dickinson) who made some unflattering remarks about his wife. Dickinson took the first shot and wounded Jackson. Not flinching, Jackson fired back, killing Dickinson. The bullet that wounded Jackson was lodged within inches of his heart. He carried that bullet in his chest for the rest of his life.

He was an everyman who invited anyone to his public parties at the White House and once set out a 1,400lb block of cheese for the people.

Yeah, he did displace the Indians, but in a great moment in American history, at Jackson's own funeral, his pet parrot started swearing and had to be removed from the ceremony.

I find that to be a more exciting life than T.R., as he was the original Chuck Norris.

I really like the ideas of historical photos, retired numbers, etc. integrated as part of the new concourses. As long as they're understated and tastefully done, I think that it could really be effective in channeling the history of Michigan football that we know, but has really been lacking from the stadium itself. But, as others have said above, taking it slow and gauging fan reaction is important after the halo and such.

I also think that it would be very cool and collegiate to grow ivy on the brick facade tying the stadium into the likes of the Michigan Union, Law Quad, etc. In addition, it would integrate in with the trees and grass already within the stadium gates that makes Michigan Stadium a unique venue.

While I'm not holding out too much hope that the game would be played at the Yale Bowl, it would be fantastic if that ended up being the case, especially given that the Yale's sunken bowl design was the inspiration for the Rose Bowl as well as our very own Michigan Stadium. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:YaleBowl-Field1a.JPG)

Yale Bowl's seating capacity of 64,000+ would also be considerably larger than the 40,000 at Rentschler, although you pretty much have to drive through Hartford on your way to New Haven if you were coming from Storrs (so it would be even less of a home field if that were the case).

It is interesting that there hasn't been an "official" announcement from either school, especially given that the news broke a few weeks ago, so maybe something more considerable is being worked out.

EDIT: Also of note, the last time Michigan played at Yale (and, by extension, in the state of Connecticut) was 1938, a 15-13 Wolverine victory.

I definitely think it was a missed opportunity with the stadium renovation to not include a Michigan Football museum on the grounds...maybe as part of the build-out into the Crisler lot when they took down a lot of that hill.

It would have been a great opportunity for fans going to the games to take a walk through and further see and feel the great history of Michigan Football.

Right now, all of that stuff is kind of locked away and hidden from view, but it would be pretty sweet to be able to walk by the Brown Jug or get your picture next to the national championship trophy, etc...

EDIT: On an unrelated note, if you're ever at the University of Chicago, their student recreation building has the first Heisman Trophy on display (awarded to Jay Berwanger) as well as old footballs and write-ups from games played against Michigan and a feature on U of C Alum Fritz Crisler. It's kind of cool to see some of the history from one of the charter members of the Big Ten (and its precursor the Western Conference) and realize how important of piece that the University of Chicago played in the Michigan tradition as its 1898 victory inspired the writing of "The Victors" and they were Michigan's chief rival of the time.

So it's essentially the rivalry version of last year's "Who's Now" 'competition'. Great, saved me from reading a pointless article.

I know it's summer and all, but there really has to be more to write about than which rivalry is more "now". Otherwise, take some vacation days, dude.

bsb2002 is the winner of the day. Having been to my share of new stadiums and arenas, once you get beyond the "retro" facade and more bathrooms, they do generally suck.

You're further away from the action (i.e. the closest seat in Comerica's upper deck is equal in distance to the furthest seat in the Tiger Stadium upper deck), ticket prices are higher, the place caters to the uber rich, oh and taxpayers end up footing the bill. And then when a team gets sick of it, they move on to something else.

Look at Memphis. The Pyramid Arena was built in 1991. It hosted the Grizzlies from 2001-2004 before the FedEx Forum opened, with more luxury boxes. Eventually, the team will move because they're awful and attendance is atrocious and the city will be left holding the bag for 2 arenas with no other use that they're still paying down debt on.

There's a Comerica Park or Ford Field or new hockey arena in every city in America now and they all look the same, mostly because they're all built by the same 1-2 architecture firms.

Since Baltimore's Camden Yards opened in 1992, how many baseball teams have new stadiums? 19 of 32 (and 12 in the 2000s). The Twins open a new stadium next year, the Marlins in 2012, the Rays are working on their own new facility.

The Palace, built in 1988 is now one of the oldest NBA arenas! Though I give the Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment a ton of credit, since it is one of the only completely privately financed professional venues in the country, and I believe the most successful venue of its kind with all the events that go on there.

Anyway, back to the Joe, if Ilitch wants to replace the arena and asks for even a dime of public money (outside infrastructure/road improvements to the area) it would be ridiculous, especially given how much in the poor house that Detroit and the region is in right now.

Only time will tell what happens.

Right now, the price of tickets is already variable. The athletic department has 2 "premium" priced games per year, so the OSU game's face value is say $65/ticket and the Eastern game is maybe $50/ticket.

As was said above, the majority of the seats are sold on a season ticket basis, so very few of the premium game tickets would get sold on a game by game basis.

If you're saying that they should raise the value of the OSU ticket so it's consistent with the street value of said ticket to cut out scalper profits, maybe that's an option knowing demand is high.

The Cubs have variable pricing based upon opponent or time of the season and set their prices accordingly based upon what they perceive people would be willing to pay. (yet the scalper culture still infests itself around Wrigley)

However, since your proposal doesn't raise the actual season ticket price any, very little additional revenue is realized. On top of that, part of the reason the AD schedules low level schools is that their "appearance fee" is lower, so it may take $400k to attract Eastern to come down the road, but it would cost far more to bring in a bigger name opponent, or if you had to make a return trip to say, Oklahoma, the total revenue is far less than scheduling Eastern 2x.

I agree that the bricks look comparatively cheap, and honestly, there is too much brick...or at the least, the new facade is way too plain.

They should have used some of the detailing from the original brickwork (http://krullconstruction.net/images/470_MICHIGAN_STADIUM_ROOF_POUR.JPG) with some of the flourishes above the arches and the stone/concrete/whatever trim to tie together the old with the new.

I also would have put ornate Michigan Union-style towers on each end (similar to what they have at Illinois and Northwestern).

Finally, I want to see them grow ivy in the brick walls, since not only does ivy provide a very collegiate feel and tie-in to the rest of campus, but with Ann Arbor being a tree city, having some greenery, especially on the Main Street side that towers over a block of low-rise buildings would be nice to see. (oh, and we can then watch it change color as we go through the fall).

I'd tend to say that many of the sportswriters are covering their own beat at one of the games which is a day long job in and of itself between watching the game, post game interviews and writing a story up before deadline.

Unless you're some guy sitting in a studio all day with a million channels all showing games (and even then, how many can you actually pay attention to besides highlight footage).

That's why you just need a group of people that all they do for a job is watch games, both as live action all day Saturday and the ones they miss they can watch during the week since it is, after all, their job.

But, it's the BCS, so the things that make the most sense never actually happen.

What isn't being taken into account is that for conference games, the Big Ten has a revenue sharing plan where a portion of gate receipts are thrown into a pot and re-distributed. Since Michigan Stadium is so big, the Athletic Department would be throwing a disproportionate amount of revenue into the pot than say Northwestern and Indiana.

The same goes for non-conference games where those teams get a paycheck for showing up.

I find it funny that so many of the comments blame RichRod for these supposed changes. I'm pretty sure he worries more about the team than whether they play music or not.

The true venom should be spewed at Athletic Administration and the Marketing Department...they're the ones who think "atmosphere" comes in the form of free pizza.

Yes, I vividly remember the early '90s Final Countdown at Pistons games and even then as a young kid, it gave me chills - especially with Ken Calvert announcing Joe Duuuuumars.

They then went away from Final Countdown for at least a few years during those awful teal unis.

I can't find an original vid, but here's Calvert introducing the "Bad Boys" at a recent reunion:

http://www.theworldofisaac.com/2008/04/video-pistons-ceremony-for-all-ti...

MGoBlue.com live blogged yesterday's game, too. I didn't read any of it, but it happened. FWIW.

edit: ugh. 3rd place only wins you a bronze in the Olympics.

Nice Cape Girardeau name drop in there. The SE MO ST team may suck, but the Cape is a pretty cool small town.

Is there anything better to describe Tommy Amaker's tenure at UM than that Courtney Sims missed dunk? I still can't believe that Sims has actually set foot on an NBA court as a player.

Is J.C. Mathis still playing in the NBDL?

the athletic department should never have let Braylon tie his scholarship to the #1. His foundation could have put other qualifiers in there (such as the scholarship must be given to a WR, or they must have exhibited certain traits), but essentially this becomes an issue of a former player meddling into the business of the current coach and team, which is completely inappropriate.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's fantastic that Braylon wants to give back. More former players who make the big time should give back to their respective universities like he has, and endowing a scholarship is a fantastic idea. It just never should have been allowed to be tied to a jersey number.

As was said above, it seems like it's only Braylon that particularly "coveted" the number. Now after getting ripped in the media, Rodriguez will either a) never give out the number, or b) feel like he has to ask Braylon's permission and get his blessing before he passes it out to anyone.

Pretty silly, if you ask me.

What? Illinois took a kid who committed to Ohio State? Wisconsin got a guy who committed to Illinois?

What ever happened to the so-called "Gentleman's Agreement"?

I'm sure the media will pick up on that one.

<>

John Kass of the Chicago Tribune calls the phenomenon "Hopium". I mean, I wish Obama all the luck in the world, but no politician is the second coming and the media just seems to always be there to toot the horn of what is an incredibly well-run marketing machine.

It's all marketing. Like other things football, the Athletic Department's marketing staff takes a hands-off approach and does almost nothing to promote the major revenue sports (or what they do, they don't do well). Bill Martin should be out there looking for the next Don Canham to spread the word.

Certainly things may change some now in the Rodriguez era that just would never happen under Carr, but I just don't see the marketing department ever doing enough to make the Spring Game a true "event".

The other thing to consider is the weather, which is always an iffy proposition when you're talking about early to mid April in Michigan...I have a lifetime of memories of going to early season Tigers games that were absolutely frigid.

If you don't get BTN, there's always the live audio stream available on mgoblue.com

no, this is far worse. Here's the write-up and lyrics from the Oklahoma website. Pretty "inventive" stuff:

In 1905, Arthur M. Alden, a student in history and physiology whose father was a Norman jeweler, wrote the lyrics to the fight song, borrowing the tune from Yale University's 'Boola Boola' but improvising the words. A year later, an addition was made to it from North Carolina's 'I'm a Tarheel Born' and the two combined to form the university's fight song today. One of the most recognizable college fight songs in the country, 'Boomer Sooner' immediately evokes enthusiasm from OU fans and sends chills down the spines of those who dare to oppose them.

Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner
Boomer Sooner, OK U!
Oklahoma, Oklahoma
Oklahoma, Oklahoma
Oklahoma, Oklahoma
Oklahoma, OK U!
I'm a Sooner born and Sooner bred
and when I die, I'll be Sooner dead
Rah Oklahoma, Rah Oklahoma
Rah Oklahoma, OK U!

any way we can get a compilation of the Mangino posts?

FYI: For the Norfolk State game, if you bring 2 canned good items to Crisler your ticket is only $1.

Let's also not forget that Butler is a false start machine on offense.

it is my understanding that the practice facility will be built into the hill on the east side of Crisler where the commuter bus stop is right now.

As for renovating the arena itself, there's no reason why it couldn't be phased in over the course of a few years like the current Michigan Stadium project is now. The only issue with that would be if they wanted to gut the bowl and completely re-structure the upper Yellow seats into an upper deck that overhangs the lower bowl. (though I doubt that to be feasible).

Don't quote me on this, since it's not like I horde Athletic Department marketing materials, but I feel like they tried to do this at Crisler for select away games in the past (maybe late '90s?), but I could be wrong...

ok, north campus may be a little excessive, but if you don't plan on tailgating and just want to ditch your car somewhere, I suggest the Maynard Street parking structure right across the street from Borders. At 80-cents/hour, it would take you a long time to get up to $25 there, plus easy access to 23 and you can walk through campus if you so choose.

I still say the best way to increase the "atmosphere" for games is to:

1) start a student football group like the Maize Rage that all sit together and are the ones to start all cheers. They can then work with the band, cheerleaders, etc. to make sure no one is stepping on each other's toes. This group would all sit together in the stadium in a reserved block of seats. In order to make it somewhat exclusive so that cell phone talking sorority girls can't show up midway through the first quarter and claim they're part of this "Maize Rage", there has to be some sort of membership requirement like attending meetings, camping out overnight at the stadium, etc.

2) all other students will sit general admission on a first come, first served basis. If other schools can use vouchers and then assign seat numbers when you walk into the stadium, we should be able to as well. This keeps all the latecomers and people who only go to games because "it's the cool thing to do" up at the top of the stadium and the people who actually know what's going on more in the action.

Since the students are the loudest part of the stadium and the Athletic Department has done little besides the phony "student" t-shirt contest to reach out to them, I say that's the first thing that needs to happen in order to really improve the atmosphere.

P.S. why does this look like one long run-on sentence? I tried to make paragraphs! Ugh.

do these numbers from '02-04 include Miami, VaTech and Boston College before they moved to the ACC? (though BC actually moved in '05, a year after Miami and VT)

I think you almost have to split the Big East analysis into 2002-04 and 2005-Present since it's kind of comparing apples to oranges when you suddenly lose some of your top football teams.

EDIT: looks like my thought process was beaten by a few posts, but I guess the point still stands... 

Thanks for taking the time to share the story. However, I actually think that Michigan and the Athletic Department do their part in writing about the history of the Winged Helmet (see this webpage I linked to last week from Michigan's Bentley Library: http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/helmet/mhelmet.htm)

Here's an excerpt: "Some accounts of the actual design of the new helmet have suggested Crisler came up with the idea out of whole cloth. In fact, Crisler had introduced a helmet at Princeton in 1935 that should look remarkably familiar to Wolverine fans. The winged design simply took advantage of features of a helmet the Spalding sporting goods company and advertised in the 1937 edition the Official Intercollegiate Football Guide. Crisler's 1938 innovation at Michigan was to paint the helmet maize and blue."

I just think it's a common mis-perception that people have that Michigan "invented" the winged helmet, kind of like how people don't realize that the lines "Champions of the West" in 'The Victors' is actually because of Michigan originally being in the Western Conference, the precursor to the Big Ten.

Thanks for your insight!