Big Chill Final Count: 104,073
January 7th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^
January 7th, 2011 at 7:02 PM ^
The Free Press has nothing to retract here. It was Guinness itself that had released the original figure of 85,451, and numerous sites ran stories citing that figure. Guinness made it clear at the time the figure was a preliminary one and that a final number would be released at a later date.
January 7th, 2011 at 8:43 PM ^
Guinness made it clear at the time the figure was a preliminary one and that a final number would be released at a later date.Indeed they did, but the Free Press did not. I quote from last Sunday's paper:
85,451: Attendance for the Big Chill at the Big House - the Michigan-Michigan State hockey game - as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.Odds of seeing the actual number confirmed by Guinness printed in the Free Press: Zero.
January 7th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^
The Free Press ran a story in mid-December that included the following:
A Guinness spokesperson e-mailed the Free Press that, "We are still waiting to review ticket counts but (85,451) should be the final number." The spokesperson later emphasized that the figure remains subject to change.
The Free Press ran a story today titled "Final Big Chill at the Big House attendance figure: 104,073"
It took a month, but the official attendance figure for the Big Chill at the Big House hockey game between Michigan and Michigan State at Michigan Stadium has grown to 104,073, Guinness World Records said today.
The announced attendance at the Dec. 11 game in Ann Arbor was 113,411, but Guinness originally only verified an attendance of 85,451. That was still good enough to set the world record for hockey attendance, which had been 77,000-plus.
January 7th, 2011 at 9:44 PM ^
January 7th, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^
at least we got that going for us... which is nice.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^
I cant wait to kick states ass tonight at the munn garbage compound
January 7th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
Now,
104,073 bitches 104,073
January 7th, 2011 at 7:18 PM ^
That would be the most annoying crowd ever.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
That leaves me a bit confused. My understanding is Guinness only include people who swiped a ticket. If that's the case, Guinness is basically saying there were approximately 9,000 people there who didn't buy a ticket (113,000-104,000). That seems awfully high. Given the 2003 OSU game set the pre-renovation record at around 112,000, does that mean there was only 4,499 or so non-ticket holders at that game (112,000-107,501)? I must be missing something in how the University determines attendance.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:49 PM ^
Guinness did it based upon real attendance, not ticket sales. if 113,000 is capacity, they're saying 9,000 tickets went unused
January 7th, 2011 at 5:52 PM ^
That's what I was missing. The University must count ticket sales, not ticket scans.
University Math:
Ticket sales + players + coaches + event staff + media = ~113,000
Guinnes Math:
Ticket scans = 104,073
Still way better than 85,000
January 7th, 2011 at 9:02 PM ^
That has been the case for a long time. 1995 Purdue had nowhere near 100K in the stands.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
Guinness only counts people who showed up as spectators (people who bought a ticket and were present in the stadium on the day of the game plus a few other non-ticketed personnel, such as the band).
Michigan's attendance counts tickets sold (whether they showed up or not) plus the band, team, concessionnaires, ushers, media, etc. -- essentially everyone who would be present in the stadium.
As far as the original number, that figure was what Guinness used to initially certify that the record had been broken and to have the presentation on the field during the game. They were still totalling up final ticket figures at that point, but they knew that a record had been broken, so they felt comfortable announcing it and having a press release that the media picked up on. (Granted, some in the media mis-interpreted the release to be the final attendance count, but it was still a works in progress)
EDIT: Beaten by a few minutes...why do I write so much?
January 7th, 2011 at 6:49 PM ^
Nope!! Your summary is excellent. Thank you for writing so much.
104,000>85,000. I knew there was something fishy going on with 85,000 because I was there and there damn sure weren't 30,000 empty seats and/or non-paid attendees!!
January 7th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
Great to hear! 85,000 didn't sound close at all
January 7th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
Although it still seems a little low, i agree its way better than what the prelim numbers were, and did anyone think that if the freep had the truth smashing it in the face with a hammer, that they would report it?
January 7th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
re: freep: no.
The number sounds right to me given a. the Guinness Book only counts fans and not all bodies in the stadium, and b. a lot of the top 15ish rows in the corner of the student section were empty.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
JIM HARBAUGH IS NOT COMING TO MICHIGAN EVERYBONDY PANIC ALL IS LOST THE END IS NEAR WOE IS ME WINTER OF OUR DISCOUNT TENT
January 7th, 2011 at 7:18 PM ^
ZACTLY what I am going to do is live out the rest of this LIVING HELL of a year in DISCOUNT TENT
January 7th, 2011 at 11:57 PM ^
but the "year of our discount tent" has me laughing so hard I can barely type. I dont know why. I kinda doubt that you meant to do that, but thanks. I needed the laugh.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
I actually got 104,085 but hey, close enough.
January 7th, 2011 at 6:12 PM ^
Where's the +1 thing when you need it?
January 7th, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
I forgot what that even means. But this is a nice change of pace from the "ARGH HARBAUGH!" talk.
January 7th, 2011 at 7:54 PM ^
You'd have to be tripping to think that there were only 85,000 fans in the stadium that day, even going by ticket scans alone.
January 7th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
There were a few pockets of empty seats, but not enough to account for a 25,000+ discrepancy. This makes a lot more sense.
January 7th, 2011 at 9:03 PM ^
The preliminary figure was disappointing. Now, the question: should we still consider it the most-attended U-M sporting event in history? Or should we just report the Guiness figure?
January 7th, 2011 at 9:20 PM ^
January 8th, 2011 at 1:02 AM ^
Good news.
Next question: Who has the best shot at beating it (aside from Michiagain) haha GET IT??? Thank you, you're all too kind.