Playing mens basketball in the Big House
What if we decided to play the new game with the Pac 12 inside the friendly confines of the Big House? We could play it in the beginning of November and try to get the world record for most people watching a basketball game in the world. That would be sweet!
December 30th, 2011 at 6:00 PM ^
I think we should start sellng out Chrisler consistently before that becomes a possibility. But it might be enough of a novelty to draw a big crowd, who knows. Another issue would be visibility, but if you can play hockey in the big house you can play basketball.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
Better yet, let's sell out Crisler consistently.
December 30th, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^
chill out
December 30th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^
This wouldn't work but you said "we should start selling out Crisler consistently before that becomes a possibility." Basketball is more popular than hockey and hockey got 100,000 people, I'm sure basketball could too. However, like you said, visibility would make this impossible.
December 30th, 2011 at 8:11 PM ^
Like you say, visability is an issue (a basketball court is 94*50, an Olympic sized rink is 200*98) but also there's something about the experience of playing in the cold. In hockey it's somewhat natural, and people shell out dollars to freeze at Winter Classics and events like the Big Chill; would people pay to watch basketball in a coat and hat? I don't think that's ever been tested before.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:01 PM ^
compared to the big chil, i dont think a basketball court is big enough to be constructed in the middle of the field and then viewed from the regular sitting.
but a nice idea i think.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
If they can configure Ford Field for basketball, I'm sure they can configure Michigan Stadium.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:32 PM ^
Underwhelming.
December 30th, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
Ford Field is much smaller. How many people can they fit in there, 40,000-50,000? It is also indoor, which helps with basketball.
December 30th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
I'm pretty sure Ford Field had 61,000 for the Lions MNF game earlier this year.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
...if I am not mistaken, the regulation court is 94 ft. x 50 ft.
If that is the case, and you're sitting, for example, in row 60 behind the south end zone, the game might as well be in Brighton. It's a problem of scale more than anything.
If you could figure out how they would get risers on the field to accommodate enough people, then it might be worth it just because of the venue. The problem I had with Ford Field is that the views, for the most part, were still bad from the stands themselves.
December 30th, 2011 at 7:20 PM ^
double the size of the court, say 188 x 100 feet, double the height and width of the hoops, go ten on ten...oh wait, is that basketball on grass?
December 30th, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
Basketballs don't bounce very well in 30-40 degree weather. Don't think a UTL would be advisable.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
You can get some pretty windy days in the fall so that might derail it as well.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:11 PM ^
One thing I was thinking of when looking around a deserted Crisler at the beginning of the year - Why don't they play the cupcakes at the beginning of the non-conference schedule at Yost? Think about a few thousand Maize Ragers crammed in there...would be a great home court advantage and would bolster the price of non-student tickets.
With McGary and Co. on the way next year, it's probably not a possibility. But a cool idea nonetheless.
December 30th, 2011 at 7:10 PM ^
We do something similar at Georgetown - a few of the early season games are played at McDonough Arena, which is a much smaller, but is actually on campus (unlike Verizon center) - makes it easier for students to get to the game and can get noisy when it fills u. For this reason I think games at Yost would be a great idea.
December 30th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^
I think that'd be cool, but financially it wouldn't make sense. We probably have more than 6,000 season ticketholders for basketball, so we'd be losing money to play at Yost. Maybe we could do it as a one-time event.
The crowds are starting coming back to Crisler, though. Yesterday's game was a sellout.
December 30th, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^
but that was a pretty quite sell out
December 30th, 2011 at 8:37 PM ^
Well, the students were on break, and the lower bowl (home of the season-ticketholders) was not entirely full. But the upper deck was 95% full.
December 30th, 2011 at 11:09 PM ^
Not to sound like a Buckeye fan or anything, but they do that in Columbus with St. John's Arena and the environment is AWESOME. I would whole-heartedly support this.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^
lol so awesome. The fedex one that was aired a few days prior was pretty good too
December 30th, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^
Besides a Big 12 game, UM-MSU in the Big House would sell some tickets. Or UM-Duke.
December 30th, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
Was this supposed to be a "what's everybody drinking tonight" thread?
December 30th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^
December 30th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^
Suck it trebek!!!
December 30th, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^
C'mon Man!
December 30th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
Which could have a double double header. A Piston-Lakers followed by Michigan-UCLA basketball in the south end odd the stadium. In the north endzone we will have the Redwings-Bruins followed by Michigan-BC. It will be epic.
December 30th, 2011 at 9:07 PM ^
Trying to get your entry into the goofiest thread of year contest? Just under the wire...
December 30th, 2011 at 9:18 PM ^
You can't play a college basketball game outside in Michigan in November. Even this year when it's been extremely warm as compared to an average November.
December 30th, 2011 at 9:43 PM ^
*never* been to an event in the Big House in November with precipitation....
December 31st, 2011 at 12:57 AM ^
Didn't we play Illinois in basketball last year at the Big House? 67-65 Right?
December 31st, 2011 at 2:46 AM ^
The record for people watching a basketball game may be difficult since the NBA had their All-Star game in Cowboy Stadium in 2010