August 12th, 2008 at 11:00 AM ^
August 12th, 2008 at 11:35 AM ^
Michigan should take a lesson from Oregon and put a "enclosure" around the top of the Big House (around the end zones to the new suites). This would bring the noise!
This would also help 1/2 my face from being burned on Saturday's, and showing up to work on Monday looking like two-face and getting a couple of weird stares!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:06 PM ^
I like the idea of covering it up for both noise and appearance purposes. However, I believe the ongoing construction in between games will be prohibitive.
Does anyone have any updated photos of the construction?
August 12th, 2008 at 12:14 PM ^
August 12th, 2008 at 1:09 PM ^
Bale, the more I think about it, I think the architecture is the driving issue, but there is a negative feedback loop going on. Given that many fans think yelling makes little difference because we have been told year after year how non-intimidating Michigan Stadium is, how quiet the fans are and that the shape of the stadium is the cause, there is less incentive for the fans to yell.
Example: In the 1980s, I remember a game that Michigan played at Minnesota in the homer dome. There was at least one penalty called against the Gophers due to the inability of Michigan to run a play due to fan noise. (I think Michael Taylor was QB at the time.) No one has confused Gopher fans with Buckeye fans, but the fact that they were able to make it difficult for the opposition to function seemed to feedback on itself, encouraging them to make more noise.
The opposite of this seems to be the case at Michigan Stadium. If someone believes that their effort has no effect, they are much less likely to continue that effort.
The idea of some form ofnoise shield is appealing, but the likely negativesfrom the perspective of visual appeal and tradition of the bowl not being covered are likely to kill the idea. Of course, as I recall the story behind the Stadium was that it was styled after the Colosseum in Roman, which had a retractiblefabric roof system.
August 12th, 2008 at 1:39 PM ^
lets hope so. but the big house can get pretty loud, and i think most michigan fans know this
August 12th, 2008 at 1:56 PM ^
August 12th, 2008 at 2:44 PM ^
well that is good news.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:28 PM ^
August 12th, 2008 at 3:45 PM ^
Under the Roman Colosseum theory, retractable cloth sections would probably be a modest improvement relative to having nothing (I liken this to a partial fabric dome -- Silverdome, Superdome, etc with a large hole in the middle).
The Autzen Stadium (Oregon) approach is some type of metal overhang that covers the seating section to a certain degree. (https://admin.xosn.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=22175) At Autzen, it is attached to the top of the press box and only covers the last 10-20 rows and runs roughly from 20 yard line to 20 yard line. From the articles I have read (I seem to recall Ivan Maisel at ESPN referencing this once or twice), much of the noise on the field is attributed to this over hang. (Writers make this attribution, not engineers.)
Looking at the picture of Autzen, I'm surprised that such a relatively small overhang would have such a dramatic impact. Maybe that bodes well for our pending East and West structures.