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If you make it to Osaka, you…

If you make it to Osaka, you should most definitely go see a Hanshin Tigers baseball game. One of my top sports experiences ever and sooo uniquely Japanese... I can't comment what it's like post-pandemic, but Koshien Stadium is a wonder (like seeing a game at Wrigley or Fenway melded with a major college football atmosphere... especially if you sit in the right field bleachers with the band and super fans that lead all the organized cheers).

If you Google "Hanshin Tigers English News" they have a very helpful write-up on how to buy tickets before you go.

Excitement should be especially high since the team just won their first championship in almost 40 years.

@amazinblu  Thanks for the…

@amazinblu  Thanks for the tip on the field hockey game! You have me contemplating doing the same this afternoon!

That's some dedication!

That's some dedication!

Serious question: did you consider saving yourself the 10 hour drive and just buy new tickets once you got to Evanston? I feel like drive time+gas prices had to make it at least close to a break-even proposition to just buy new tix

Some of the "announced"…

Some of the "announced" attendance vs. the reality is all of the tickets that universities must promise to "sell" in order to participate in the bowl but they have to eat at a loss when fans don't want to buy them.

These ticket guarantees is what has to keep some of these games afloat year after year. This is a few years old, but still relevant.

198448

198448

Less commercials (in stadium)

I think that instead of trying to find ways to shorten the game such as the running clock after 1st downs (or when players go out of bounds), they should instead find a way to make the game shorter for those who are watching it in the stadium.

Fans at the stadium aren't watching the commercials that the broadcasts are showing to those at home, so why have them at all? Instead you could make the in-stadium experience like watching a game on a DVR.

- Start the in-stadium and tv broadcast at the same time

- Every time tv takes a timeout for commercials, don't take that timeout in the stadium and just continue playing

- After the commercial break concludes, the tv wouldn't miss any of the action, they would just broadcast the game as if it were being tape delayed slightly by the length of the commercial break.

One of the benefits is that it would create a premium for going to the game (and by their rationale, increase attendance since the at home experience would be a moderately diminished product) -- you would truly be witnessing every event live while the tv action may be behind by 5 minutes by the end of the 1st quarter, 10 minutes by half, etc.

The networks may not buy it, but it's overdue for them to throw a bone to the people actually at the games.

 

 

Moya

I went down to the Dominican Republic 2 years ago for a bit of a "beisbol" expedition to see the Caribbean Series and by luck also had the chance to check out the Tigers training center outside of the baseball hotbed town of San Pedro de Macoris.

At 6'6" Moya looked like a man among boys out there with left-handed power and a great arm. The coaches down there were really high on him and thought he had the raw tools to make an impact in the majors someday. I've tracked his career a bit since...he was in Lakeland last year, but has some holes in his swing at this point (106k's in 93 games), but he's only 22 at this point, so still plenty to develop. 

I will say, if you love baseball and are a bit adventurous, a trip to a baseball-crazy country like the Dominican is worth it...you can't go too far on the island without seeing kids playing baseball with whatever they can find even if it's just a stick and bottlecap. It's fantastic!

That being said, Lakeland is also great and a must-visit for Tigers fans.

Benefits of season tickets?

I'd add that a Jerry Jones money grab is also very short sighted in that it further erodes the benefit of purchasing season tickets.

As was outlined a few weeks back when Seat "Donations" were due, many in the fanbase are at a tipping point with the price vs. value in purchasing season tickets when you take per game ticket cost + PSD's into account.

If the trend is for more premium games to be played in neutral sites like the Alabama and now Florida games...what is the benefit to me as a season ticket holder? Wouldn't you want to award your most loyal fans with a top notch game that helps to justify the costs they are paying for our seats?

It's not like our PSD's go down if we play 1 less home game...in effect it's a per-game increase in prices for us to most likely stay at home and watch Michigan and Florida on tv hundreds of miles away in a soulless pro stadium.

Fun facts:

A few interesting/fun facts around that game:

- If Minnesota had won that game (and the rest of the season played out as it did), they would have gone to the Rose Bowl by way of a 4 way tie atop the standings (M, OSU, Purdue and Minnesota all would have had 2 losses in conference).

The Gophers didn't play OSU and Purdue that year and by way of the fact that they hadn't been to the Rose Bowl the longest, they would have gone.

- Although the game was moved to Friday to accommodate the Twins potential ALCS games, the Twins were eliminated earlier in the week in the ALDS, but of course, tv and travel had already been set, so the dome would have been available on Saturday after all.

- I believe MVictors had this a few years back, but Bill Martin was so upset that they had to move the game to Friday night that he wrote the Minnesota AD a check for them to build an on-campus stadium.

39 = 27?

This is well said and exactly what I was thinking.  Beyond that, OSU needs more money because they have an incredible 39(!) varsity sports compared to Michigan's 27, so OSU needs to rely a lot more heavily on its football (and basketball) ticket revenue to fund the 12 extra sports budgets, scholarships, coaches salaries, etc.

This is not a 1:1 correlation and Brandon is just searching for an excuse to raise prices again once another "premium" football season comes along next year with ND, Nebraska and OSU come to town.

Regardless, I have resigned myself that college and pro sports are working their way to pricing fans out...it just depends on when the tipping point happens, but it's just dangerous to keep pushing yourself until you find out when you get there.

To be fair, I'm never quite

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. 

It's Alabama...

I figured they banned it because the name hit a little too close to home for most people

Video

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

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

I have a family friend who

I have a family friend who had a son that decided to go to MSU and the Dad refused to write the checks to the school out of principle. 

I figure that you have to appreciate someone who has such an unwavering moral compass that he is able to stand up for what he believes in regardless of the circumstances.

As of 2010- "In discussions" to return...

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

well, if it's anything like

well, if it's anything like football, they'll just name it the Mason-Berenson Cup.

Is anyone else having any

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

As it is, we are at the

As it is, we are at the critical mass of bowl games where there are barely enough eligible teams to meet the number of slots.

Last year, only 2 schools (Temple and Western Michigan) were bowl eligible, but weren't invited to a game (Western, probably because of their poor attendance figures the previous year as Brian had mentioned).  All it would have taken would be for 3 schools to decline an invite based on financial considerations and these ridiculous ticket limits would have been front and center as one bowl would either have to back off on its ticket/hotel guarantees, or force the prospect of folding a few weeks before the game.

As Zone Left noted, the real issue is that the power conferences need to take a stand and prior to signing agreements with these games, they need to force a removal of these guarantees.  As expansion consolidates more power to a few major conferences, one would think that a greater degree of leverage would follow because the drawing power of Big Ten bowl slot #5 is far greater than most of what the ACC, Big East, etc. can bring to the table.

Old v. New

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=

Did anyone else notice how

Did anyone else notice how Groupon incorrectly lists the gametime as 5:30 instead of 6:30?  Of course for Groupon HQ and other fellow Chicagoans like myself the tip is 5:30 Central, but last I checked Ann Arbor didn't fall into the CST.

Looks like the new CMO is at work trying to look for creative ways to fill up Crisler.  As mentioned above, it's the same deal through the AD, but it does hit a different demographic of people not privvy to the Athletic Department's original messaging.

This just reminds me of the

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.

RE: Michigan Replay Music

I remember seeing an old Michigan Replay from the early 80s on WOLV-tv that used the Across 110th Street intro, but then I believe they went away from it for a number of years before bringing it back sometime into the Carr years.  This has to be a matter of public record.  We really need the Athletic Department to start putting up old Michigan Replay's on mgoblue.com for our viewing pleasure. 

Guinness only counts people

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?

Even if Patterson was

Even if Patterson was contacted, would he really have informed anyone, let alone some random radio station?  He's trying to keep his own recruiting class in place, not lose goodwill with TCU, etc. so unless an offer is in hand, no potential candidate is going to say to the media "hey, Michigan called."

H.S. vs. College

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?

Looks like Brian may need

Looks like Brian may need to increase the MGoPoint threshhold for starting a thread again.

Sorry you didn't get the jist

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.

Scholarship endowments

For the record, the endowment for a scholarship is not $500k/year.  It's a one time $500k donation that because of the University investing the money and interest on that investment allows the scholarship to continue forever.

The problem really lies with the Michigan Athletic Department allowing Braylon to stipulate to such a specific degree who would get his scholarship and essentially giving too much of a voice in the activities of a coach running a football program.  Instead, the AD should have allowed the scholarship go to a Wide Receiver (and it could have even gone to a WR of the choosing of his Foundation), but letting him tie it to a specific number goes too far.  I'm sure the university wouldn't let me endow a scholarship for the person who resides in my old dorm room and then get upset when the housing office selects someone who I don't deem "worthy" of the honor of residing in the hallowed halls of 5th Hamilton.

Purdue tix

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.

Expansion

Since it sounds like you have the data, I'm curious...what are the numbers since State joined the Big Ten in the '50s?  No doubt that across the board, Michigan Athletics have been more dominant historically than MSU, but it'd be interesting to see a more apples to apples comparison.

Licensed retailer

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.

n/a

It's a video like this that truly captures the greatness of sport, and the reason why so many of us keep coming back. 

Yes, sports may occasionally cause us agony and heartbreak, but that moment of euphoria shared with our friends and family, or complete strangers from far and wide is a thing of beauty and will never get old.

Stadium configurations

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).


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Mike Stevenson is the consummate professional.

When I heard that they were replacing the Oosterbaan astroturf back in '01, I went to him with the outlandish idea that I wanted to see if they could cut me off a piece to use as "carpet" for my dorm room. He was more than accommodating, asking for the desired dimensions we needed and even giving us the '4' from the 40 yard line as part of our piece.

Hopefully he has a happy phased-in retirement...and if he needs some turf for a dorm-sized room in his house, he knows who to call.

Just the Facts ma'am

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.

n/a

Keggy is the best mascot ever and it's disappointing to hear that he didn't make an appearance at such a crucial in-conference squash match, yet a man-parrot and a cartoon bear showed up to cheer on the team instead.

BCS = Collusion

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.

n/a

What the heck FA? I go into the final weekend tied with you for 3rd with 138 points and I don't even make the chart?!?...oh, it's on now! :)

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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

"Walking Taco"

Brian apparently never partook in the legend that is the Gordon Food Service supplied elementary school cafeteria. I found the Walking Taco to be halfway decent as far as school lunch food went (though can't say I've ever seen or heard of it being served at an actual bar/restaurant), but just don't ask me to touch the radioactive-looking Fiestada.

22-10 in Night Games

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-w…

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

In the future, I think you

In the future, I think you have to get the funky organ solo (at about 1:45 in the song) from the theme in there somewhere during the podcast (maybe between guests, since that's when Michigan Replay would use it is after breaks).

Bottom line: the more Across 110th Street (Instrumental) Theme, the better!

Besides the minor tweak, great job as always, guys!

Throwbacks

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

Lineups

I agree with Mark that announcing the lineups was one of my favorite things leading up to the start of the game and I don't buy the reasoning that they simply don't have time.

If so, they should simply go back to announcing either the defense or offense and just switch it every other game.

Why would you want to diminish atmosphere by having people NOT cheer for their own team and favorite players/Coach Rod when they're announced?

n/a

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!

Wave

I'm not a fan of the wave, but back in my youth, I seem to remember the wave being far more innovative --

after the students split the wave, the next phase was to speed up and slow down the split wave, so you'd have a fast wave going in one direction and a slow wave going in the other, or two slow waves traveling in opposite directions. It really added a new dimension when they overlapped.

Other things left behind:
- Toilet paper streamers
- Throwing marshmallows
- Student crowd surfing up sections
- Miller Lite Less Filling/Tastes Great call and response "cheer"

Can anyone think of any other old student section "traditions" that have disappeared over the years?

MGoBlue.com

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.

Don't worry, I got the same

Don't worry, I got the same form letter response from both Joe Parker and Marty Bodnar, so I don't think your e-mail is in vain. They probably have a tally board on the number of complaints they get for certain things within the stadium, so maybe when it reaches a certain level, then they actually address it.

It just seems like such a cop-out to me to "address" the problem by playing canned music instead of working to find more innovative ways to improve the atmosphere that actually uses the band to create positive change.

Sure, Michigan Stadium poses some unique challenges, but the atmosphere at Yost is great, and much of that comes from interplay between the band and students, so I'd think if some effort was put in to do similar for football (i.e. a "Maize Rage" type student group that create their own cheers and integrate it with what the band, cheer team, etc. are doing) then the atmosphere would instantly improve.

Agreed

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?)

formerlyanonymous...

I'm surprised you didn't select Taft. He did, after all, begin the tradition of Presidential Ceremonial First Pitches (and as legend has it, the 7th inning stretch).

His rotund figure is a downer, though.