Noise makers for the Big House..Ideas?
For the past few years I have been thinking of ideas for noise makers for the big house. I went to the game a couple years ago when we played AT Oregon. It was EXTREMELY loud. All of the fans had duck calls or actual whistles decorated as ducks. It created an annoying, but effective sound that truly affected our players. I remember when USC played at Oregon a few years ago, the commentators were saying how USC had practiced hand signals all week to prepare for the deafening sound in the stadium. Why don't we do something like this? Can't someone modify a duck call to make a more "growling" sound? I think we should all work together and come up with some ideas to implement for the new era of Michigan football. New stadium. New level of loudness. Lets make it so we aren't the "quietest group of 109K people".
GO BLUE!!
Autzen only holds 54,000 but it is also designed like a bowl with no upper decks:
One of the reasons Autzen is louder is how close the fans sit to the field (it does not have a track running around like The Big House), but It is hard to believe that accounts for all of the sound difference.
The only other thing I can see is that one side of the bowl has been extended higher and an overhang juts out that likely reflects noise back down to the field. Oregon claims the overhang is for weather reasons, but I believe it also holds in the noise.
Michigan could lower the field of The Big House again (adding more rows at the bottom and eliminating the track) or add some sort of partical overhangs to the new superstructures to hold in the noise. Short of that, the only way we make the place louder is to yell harder and more often.
I could be wrong, but I believe we are unable to lower the field anymore due to water table issues.
...Greg Dooley's "Fight for the Future" in HTTV 2101 on pp. 106-07.
In June of '26, a test was performed to check the makeup of the soil at the site. They found positive results: the earth consistency was right and it showed little evidence of water. Unfortunately, the test was totally wrong. There was an overwhelming volume of water flowing beneath the property.
Yost hired the firm R.A. Mercier of Detroit to conduct the excavation later that summer, and they began the difficult dig in August. On September 2, the early signs of water issues surfaced, as the Ann Arbor News noted the discovery of an "abundantly flowing spring." By November it was a near disaster... [excerpt from The Big House regarding a major flood at the site.]
...
...Althought the gridiron is carpeted with FieldTurf these days, pumps are still required to move water away from the Big House.
legend has it that a crane sunk into the mud due to the water issues and is still, to this day, buried under the field.
...and debunked in the same article on p. 107.
I remember something about the natural grass field being watered by the spring beneath it. That, too, may be lore.
... relocate some students to "field seats" like at an NBA game. These would be temporary bleacher seats ringing the field on the track and at the same height as Row A (any lower and you cannot see over the heads of players on the sidelines). Think of it as Cameron Crazies but all around the field. The seats are put up for each game and taken down afterward.
It would improve the seating for students, not take away one premium seat from an alum, and increase the noise no matter where the line of scrimmage is. I have a feeling "The Wave" would be a bit more intimidating too!
Edit: And it would add thousands of additional seats to The Big House and likely do it relatively inexpensively.
...if we wanted to do it, it could certainly be done. I've worked on buildings with occupied floors well below the water table. The combined force of engineering talent and 6 foot wide novelty checks can accomplish almost anything.
I have been to both for huge games. Michigan Stadium (pre renovations) did not hold a candle to the volume of Autzen.
Now I have not been to a game since they added the suites. I hope this makes Michigan Statium one of the most feared places to play in any sport.
Isn't Michigan Statium where the Sparties play football when they aren't commiting felonies? The wolverines play at Michigan Stadium.
My experience at Autzen causes me to disagree with you. I do not think the fans are closer. Michigan Stadium has its fans in as close or closer proximity than any stadium in america.
There are 3 reasons Autzen is louder.
1) the huge overhangs, like at husky stadium hold in a ton of noise.
2) The stands go more up than out like at michigan stadium
3) fans scream their lungs out all game
For your reasons alone would make Husky Stadium louder than Autzen Beacuse the overhang covers the entire side of the stands where Autzen covers mainly the press box because the prevailing winds aim at the press box. I have been to Apple Cups in Husky Stadium that were quieter than some high school games I have been to.
"They are very difficult to beat at home. The crowd is, from every report I get, from every coach I've spoken with, a real factor. You have to learn to communicate without talking, because talking doesn't do you any good."
- Lloyd Carr, Michigan HC (before playing at Autzen).
"That's the loudest stadium I've ever been in."
- Lloyd Carr, Michigan HC (after playing at Autzen).
From what understand, artificial noisemakers are against the Big Ten rules when used as a team is calling plays or while plays are run. They don't do much about cowbells because they aren't really heard over the yelling.
One other alternative they can't confiscate from you is an unopened water bottle and change. Drink water, fill the bottle with the change, shake. Extra noise.
I have seen a few people do it the last few years and I think if a lot of people joined in on it then that would be pretty affective on top of yelling. I will start doing the bottle and change trick next year!
The coins + water bottle really don't do nearly as much as screaming, so you should definitely do both. FWIW it goes more like:
Air horns > pots and pans > screaming > water bottles.
but obviously you can't bring the first two into the Big House.
There is no way that screaming is louder than the water bottle w/coins - they are so freakin' loud, plus you don't wear out your voice as much. Personally, I scream and shake the water bottle too.
Yelling is more directional, and relatively pure in pitch. Bottles with coins are omnidirectional and mostly random noise. Plus coins can't yell creative obscenities at Coach Sweatervest.
Ugh, I'm sick of the talk of our stadium's disadvantages when it comes to noise. I've sat in the students section, I've sat in the alumni sections, and I've been on the field. Students, when we're winning or in a close game...everyone else, not so much. There shouldn't be any excuse for this, but that's what happens when we consistently win for over 100 years. Hopefully this down spurt in our history is a blessing in disguise and will make people appreciate when we are a great team again and they will go crazy.
"Hopefully this down spurt in our history is a blessing in disguise and will make people appreciate when we are a great team again and they will go crazy."
I've been a Michigan fan all my life but didn't see them play at Michigan stadium until 2006. I've been going to games ever since, but I still sometimes can't believe how quiet many people are. I was at the Miami game in 2008 (an ugly game, to be fair) and I wasn't sure whether or not I was in a "no cheering" section...I love the civility of Michigan fans, sure, but one can't help but sense a certain spoiledness, or at least the attitude that it might be rude to yell before the opposing offense snaps the ball.
when you are at the top of a stadium and the noise STILL BEARS DOWN on you, it's piped in. When you could hear the noise jump 20-30 decibles as though somone hit the volume button there and nothing was going on.....ummmm it's piped in! Oregon is a farse, loud but artificially
If you are speaking about during plays, I find that hard to believe. It has to be against the rules to pipe in amplified noise to intimidate and disrupt the other team during action. I will do some research.
I checked the NCAA website and the rules on artificial noisemaking are different for each sport. This is the answer given for football in the Frequently Asked Questions:
Football: “Persons subject to the rules, including bands, shall not create any noise that prohibits a team from hearing its signals. No one in the team area or coaching box may use any artificial sound amplification to communicate with players on the field.”
Clearly, fans in the stands cannot be "[p]ersons subject to the rules ...", but the Athletic Department (or whoever technically operates the stadium) must be. Otherwise, the rule would have no meaning. Although, this arguably means the band members in the stands and the players on the sidelines cannot yell during opponents' play calling at the line.
I distinctly remember watching a Michigan vs OSU game when I was young and OSU lost a timeout because their fans were too loud. Even as a kid, I remember thinking that was a stupid rule.
I vaguely remember something like that in some game when I was a kid too, but not sure if it was a college or pro game. I have only seen it once, so either the rule was interpreted wrong or it was changed.
I remember us benefitting from that rule in Columbus - I think in 1990, but it might have been '92.
...in the '80s (don't know when it was repealed - I guess mid-90s based on the posts above) that the QB could claim he couldn't hear and the refs would stop play and direct a PA announcement to the spectators to quiet down. If after that warning the QB made another claim that the refs allowed, it would result in the loss of a TO for the home team.
I distinctly recall Michigan quarterbacks using this during games in the Metrodome. Needless to say, visiting teams never got away with this in Michigan Stadium -- it just wasn't loud enough to make their claims believable.
not an NCAA rule.
And thank God for such a rule. It is all so fucking obnoxious; vuvuzelas, horns, cowbells, Queen, Journey, plus the guy who sits four rows behind me and yells at the coaches, as if anyone cares, and as if it means something to anyone but him.
Yeah, the Big Ten is pretty strict about noise makers. In fact, they've preemptively banned vuvuzelas -- http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2010/6/22/1530257/big-ten-will-…
My solution, retractable video projection screens. Make them as long as the stadium and span from the top of the new boxes to mid field to create a giant triangle reflecting all sound right back into the center of the field.
As my friend suggested, dishes that swivel to focus the sound at the opposing quarterback.
... aimed at opponents' QBs (or at least TP):
it just might work...
Easy solution: In game flyovers
...awesome.
One of the labs at my job is taking apart a Warthog rivet by rivet to see what fails after 10,000 simulated flights so they can update the rest of the ones still in service, which they hope to keep in service for about 20 more years. The one they had in before this one was Major Campbell's: 
which she successfully landed manually after taking fire over Iraq and losing the hydraulic system.
/random fact of the day
...aircraft. The A-10 Lightning II (Warthog is the unofficial nickname) was originially designed as the Air Force's primary close air support aircraft for the Central European theater. They would be tank and BMP killers when the Soviet hordes came through the Fulda Gap. When I was in HS in Germany I used to watch them on their training missions and was always amazed at how they seemingly turned on a dime at such slow speeds and low altitudes.
The Air Force has tried to rid themselves of their close air support mission so many times over the past three decades and have always been foiled by the incredible combat effectiveness the A-10 has had in the Gulf War, Bosna, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Glad to see you're working on the SLEP project. They'll be needed again and they like all of our TACAIR has logged such a large number of flight hours over the last decade.
Yea it's crazy how long they've been in service, especially if they make it to 2028 as planned. I'm not personally working on that project, but I got a tour and some info since it's going on in the same shop where our SE for the Growler is assembled. Not sure if you've heard or seen this, but those engines are attached with an impressively small number of bolts, so small I thought I'd misheard. I also got a tour of our E2D lab the other day, only one box of electronics from the E2C wasn't upgraded. We also have an actual cockpit set up as a flight simulator, but we didn't have enough time to run it.
...is a retired E-2C squadron CO and NFO Captain. His Steeljaw Scribe blog covers a ton of territory on naval aviation and other topics. If you need any info on the history of AEW aircraft and the E-2 in particular, he's your man. Tell him MGoShoe sent you.
It is terrifying to watch them work, even when you know they are on your side, and they aren't shooting at you.
To know that they think you're one of the bad guys, and they are hunting you... I can't imagine.
FWIW, I've been told that the Iraqi's refer to the A-10's as "Silent Death"... or maybe it was our soldiers serving in Iraq that call it that. Either way...
Thanks for the link
...the U-M NROTCU PNS, CAPT Rick "Hoover" Vanden Heuvel is also a former E-2C squadron CO. When you get back to school he could be a great resource for you. Check him out on LinkedIn including the U-M NROTCU group page that he moderates.
Those videos literally gave me chills down my spine, can't wait for this season!!!!
What does make a lot of noise is coins in an empty water bottle. Last year my group brought in unopened water bottles, drank the water, then filled it with a few coins and shook away. It was a great noise maker when the opposiiton offense was on the field.
This is what we need mounted on the stadium and aimed towards the field
If the entire student section brings Vuvuzuelas and waits until the first 3rd down to break them out the opposing QB will shit himself when they first come out. Personally I think that we should wait until the MSU game to do this though.