Hindsight: Stadium construction/expansion
Had a random thought earlier as I driving past the Big House. I remembered back to the mid-2000s when talk about adding suites and changing the stadium was in full force. A lot of people didn't want to see the stadium changed from it's iconic simplicity. I remember a lot of friends and alums were joining groups on Facebook like "Say no to changing the Big House" and things like that. So I thought it would be interesting to check back in and see where people stood now. How did you feel back then? Now that we see the final product (or close the final product if future plans are any indication), how do you feel about what has been done? Has your mind been changed?
I guess I took kind of a business approach to it back then and saw how many other stadiums were adding them and thought we should. It could be a way to bring in a lot of money. Where things stand now, I think it was definitely the right decision. The stadium has never looked better (or been louder!) in my mind and I'm really happy things came out the way they did.
It's funny how all of the sudden these new trends evolve in college football, and Michigan fans get an inferiority complex like we can't recruit without bumblebee uniformz and iPads in the football lockers.
Michigan is Michigan. If a kid won't go to a school because the locker room isn't flashy enough or the stadium doesn't have luxury boxes, it's obvious they don't value the bigger picture of what Michigan has to offer. It's time we stop reducing everything to "it helps recruiting."
Three schools that have resisted all recent trends to trot out gimmick uniformz:
- Alabama
- USC
- Penn State
Three schools that have enjoyed inordinate recruiting success, beyond even what their historical successes might warrant:
- Alabama
- USC
- Penn State
+1, Bando. I rest my case.
I was one of those that signed the petition not to change it (or there was an alternative plan or something). I do miss the old stadium, but it's only nostalgia. After seeing the finished product, I've been a big fan of the change ever since. I think they did a fabulous job. Not just with the stadium either, the renovations to the entire athletic campus and even the greater campus really tied everything together under a coherent, classy, and timeless theme. The place has a huge WOW factor, especially driving in from Main St and seeing the huge scoreboard from over a mile away.
I miss the pee troughs.
The pee troughs were genius. It was like pissing on a wall in an alley. Impossible to miss your target unless you pass out mid-stream.
Not to mention the fact that they cycle people through WAY faster than urinals do. That's especially important in football, where there aren't 17 different half innings to take a pee during. More people trying to pee during the same break=longer lines
I have a good friend who used the "pee on the wall" MO of the old bathrooms (mens only I assume) as an example of superior customer service in a business situation. You could walk in, barely break stride, and be back to your seat before the commercial break was over.
Now you're in for a 20+ minute adventure if you're lucky. I guess that's why they're renting the portable media displays...
I really miss the trough.
Back in the day, engineer Gustave Eiffel won a competition to build a 1000-foot tower for the 1889 Paris Exposition. The tower was to demonstrate the boundless possibilities of structural iron and of course, French engineering genius. The originial intention was that the tower remain on site for the 6-month duration of the Exposition, then be torn down.
Perhaps the main reason why the tower stands today is that the more Parisians and visitors looked at it, the more they liked it. The tower's proportions --- its relation of base to height --- and its graceful network of trusses were very pleasing to the eye. Eiffel was principally concerned with sound engineering, but he ended up producing a timeless work of art.
No, the expanded Michigan Stadium might not rank with the Eiffel Tower as one of the world's iconic structures. But the effect the expansion architects achieved is similar to Eiffel's Tower. That is, the size of the east and west additions are wholly in sync with the size of the original bowl. The total effect is one of balance and yes, harmony. Both inside and out, the expanded stadium is pleasing to the eye, and will remain so for many years to come.
I was in favor of the expansion when it was announced. And now that it's done, the more I look at it, the more I like it.
What actually saved the Eiffel Tower was that people saw its potential as a radio broadcast tower.
but after seeing the design and finished product, they did a great job of using brink and mortar for a classic upgrade.
if only soldier field designers would have done something similar. they did a horrible job of blending the old with the new.
I was in favor beforehand, and it has lived up to my expectations. My only complaint (nitpick, really) is with the scoreboard - as mentioned above, there really should be part of the board that displays the score at all times.