Saturday Attendance Fearmongering
Is the 100,000 attendance really at risk or is this a theme we will hear each week?
A 3:30 game in September albeit cooler than average with a chance of rain shouldn't keep too many away. Plus the secondary market is always terrible for these MACrifice games.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
unless there's some kind of freak weather event. There's still reason for optimism this year, people still want to see Funchess and Peppers, and we're still 20-2 at home. I'd go if I was in town.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^
Saw a tweet that Funchess is walking around campus in a boot and who knows about Peppers
September 11th, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^
I can confirm that Funchess is in a walking boot. I saw him in Angell Hall this morning, about half an hour ago. Who knows how serious it is, though. These things are often precautionary.
September 11th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^
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September 11th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 6:39 PM ^
That's supposed to be in CAPS.
September 11th, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^
I'm going FWIW, I suspect many will too. It's a nice time of year to catch the football game and this is like the game on the schedule to go see a non-descript baby seal get (hopefully) clubbed for not a lot of money. App St had the "revenge of the Horror" aspect, Utah is actually decent, then it's B1G play. This game is going for ~$25 bucks, that's cheap entertainment and I think a lot of casual, "go to a game once in a while" type fans will take the opportunity to just get the Michigan Football experience (tm) without caring too much about the match-up.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:01 AM ^
Well, I got an email from Adidas offering customized "Big House" sneakers and offering $50 tickets for the games against Miami, Utah and Minnesota. Yes, Adidas is now selling discounted Michigan tickets. I really don't like Dave Brandon who had the "foresight" to understand that building a team takes time, but not the vision to realize that you shouldn't jack ticket prices until that team is built.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
There are 2 things that are not going to happen during this year, that (unfortunately) going to get all the press until the play of the field improves.
1. The 100k attendence record is not going to come to an end. Brandon will simply not let that happen. That would be a major embarrsment to him and his ego. They will do everyhting, and I mean everything, to make sure that does not happen. If it is even close, they will fudge the numbers or sell thousands of tickets to businesses for $2 a piece.
2. Hoke will not be fired mid-season. It is not going to happen. I wish the media would stop hammering that story. It hurts the program if the impression is he is "dead man walking". If you don't think other schools that are competing for recruits (Urban especiallly) aren't already using this as a tool, you are kidding yourself.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
that Hoke will be fired mid-season? I had not gotten wind of that.
I'm just praying that Brandon is not so completely wedded to Hoke that he won't let him go when and if it becomes obvious that's what should happen. Seems pretty likely to me now that ten more games will probably be long enough to make a good, informed judgement. Obviously, the availability of other coaches could play a role, but there will be more of them to choose from down the road as well. . .
September 11th, 2014 at 10:34 AM ^
1. The 100,000 attendance record has likely already been fudged once or twice in the past few years to begin with. Look at pictures of the student section alone at some games. The stated capacity of Michigan Stadium is 109,901. The 114,000 number often cited includes vendors, persons on the field, etc. There have definitely been game days on which 10,000 people did not show up, or if they did, only after the first quarter (looking at you students).
During the national anthem, on homecoming, versus Purdue. A better team than we'll see Saturday: http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2011/11/michigan-student-section-fail…
2. Look at USC. Fired Kiffin after a 3-2 start and a blowout loss at ASU (hint hint... and USC even managed to score - 41 points). USC finished 10-4 with a bowl win vs. the #20 team in the country. Simply throwing out knee-jerk, populist views of mid-season firings limit teams' real optiions and result in outcomes like the post-RR coaching search... a team like Michigan can wind up with a MAC-level, losing-record D-Line coach with only a loose grasp of the English language and a complete inability to motivate his team.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
and has been so much nonsense written about this football program for the last 8 years.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:44 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 10:24 AM ^
There is no question the 100,000 streak will not end, as undoubtedly "paid attendance" will end up over this threshold.
There is also little question there's no way 100,000 butts will be in seats this weekend in Ann Arbor.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^
1. There will be 100,000 (the announced attendance seemed quite low for how filled out the stadium seemed).
2. I will have lots of beers in my belly before I head to the stadium.
September 11th, 2014 at 10:50 AM ^
I'm not really worried about it. There's only a few chances every year to see a game in Michigan Stadium.
The only thing that would worry me is a home game against sparty, ohio, or even nebraska later in the year. Say we're sub .500 against one of those teams and the stadium looks like the Cowboys game. That'd be tough to see. We don't play anybody with that type of fanbase besides PSU, but our fans will fill it up for a night game.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
Sad state of affairs for a once national powerhouse
September 11th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
I get that you're fed up, but this concept has been beat to death. It won't make a difference. This team is 1-1, in case you decide you actually like cheering for Michigan despite your frustration.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
Because NFW anyone would simply slide over to give themselves more room.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
and I fully expect to scalp a student ticket for $5, at most $10, on game day.
They will announce a piad attendance over 100K
I do not understand why you would pay $50 for a ticket though.
September 11th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
I have no doubt UM will win by 30+ points and we will learn nothing from this game. Would like to see Funchess heal and not play at all and also sit Gardner mid way through the second quarter. Still shaking my head at playing them when we were down 31 points last week ....
September 11th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
The only record I can think of that counts is the one on the field.
And recently that record stinks.
If the media want to conjure up a disaster of some kind because we can't pull 100k into the stadium, that's because conjuring up 'disasters' in an attempt to shape public opinion is what they do.
Here are the real disasters: 7 out of the last ten games have been losses. David Brandon is in charge of our athletic department. Brady Hoke isn't a great coach.
September 11th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
BUT how many TRUE fans? /s
September 11th, 2014 at 12:20 PM ^
September 11th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
For those who are there, any recommendations for somewhere a few out of towners bringing beer can tailgate? Full discretion, we're Miami (NTM) alums but are diehard UM fans.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
be on the golf course at 7am - you are more than welcome to stop by. I can give you better details on how to find if you are interested.
September 11th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
This week Pete Fiutak and his CFN Staff friends bash all Michigan grads. Read it and then don't ever go on their lousy website ever again.
September 11th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
I'd completly forgotten about that rag. I suggest you do the same.