Formally name the new press box in honor of Ufer
In the course of commenting on a recent thread about making noise in the stadium, I came across a photo of Kinnick Stadium. I just noticed that there are fairly large letters on the facade of their press box naming it the "Paul W. Brechler Press Box."
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Kinnick_Stadium_2007.jpg
I've read that there is some plaque honoring Ufer that was taken down before the demolition of the old press box, and that it will be reinstalled at some point. However, I think Ufer deserves far more than an interior plaque few people will see, and formally naming the press box after Ufer in the same manner that Iowa did for their guy strikes me as the way to go. What say MGoBloggers?
We can name the east side Bob Press Box and the west side Ufer Press Box, and then the two sides can argue about which one has a higher social status.
Some Michigan fans would be against it under the idea that the Michigan program is bigger than one man, name, etc.
...but if we can have a Schembechler Hall, we should have a Ufer Press Box. There will never be another Bob Ufer in college sports, let alone at Michigan.
I'm all for it. Go Blue!
I seriously don't think anyone is going to think that naming the press box after one person means we are subsuming the whole program under the name of that person. Some Michigan fans are ridiculous, but not that ridiculous.
Great suggestion Don, I would sign a petition for this.
I used the words "some people" for a reason. I'm not saying it would be the majority but there are always "those people". Same thing as having the "Karen" in your group of friends. Those fans suck and Karen sucks.
This is different than honoring a player. Ufer wasn't just here for 3-4 years. He spent most of his life associated with our athletic department, and 36 years behind the mic in the press box. He was a larger-than-life figure. This shouldn't draw any criticism.
Good idea.
This is a great idea. I'm too young to remember listening to Ufer during games, but even old footage of routine plays is fantastic. He's everything I wish local announcers would be today.
Not only was he the most beloved figure ever to cover the team, but he was a track star at Michigan. I think a proposal of some sort would be good. Most of the people in charge of making the decision are old enough to remember Ufer and his contributions, probably listening to him often on the radio in the days before cable guaranteed that almost every game would be televised.
There was a small segment of the fanbase who thought Ufer was too melodramatic, but I don't know if any announcer has ever meant more to a school than Ufer did to Michigan, or if any school ever meant more to an announcer than Michigan did to Ufer.
Discussions of Ufer always bring back the memory of watching games on TV, listening to Ufer's radio feed, and hoping they were close to being synchronized.
...is a great idea. Only problem is that the Athletic Department has a $500K price tag on it.
Either they're going to have to give up on the idea of getting $0.5M for it, or someone's going to have to pony up the cash in Ufer's name.
Shoe, thanks for digging up that info. It would seem to be a large stumbling block.
I'm all for revenue maximization, but it would be a gross miscarriage to name the press box or whatever they're calling it the "Franklin J. Richbastard Media Center" simply because Franklin has the dough and the overinflated ego to name something after himself that he has no meaningful connection to.
Do the right thing, Mr. Brandon—name it the "Bob Ufer Press Box." Letters to the AD, perhaps? I normally shy away from petitions like the plague, but this might be an instance where it's warranted.
...right approach is for the department to make it a policy that this particular naming opportunity be "The Bob Ufer Media Center Dontated by Franklin J. Richdude."
That makes everyone a winner.
When I looked over the list, I got the impression the $500k naming right was for the "writing press" room within the press box. If they are taking a $500k "donation" for the provost's suite and an elevator, I would think the naming rights to the entire "press box" (as it is now integral with the structure) would be substantially more (each tower is going for 5 million). I also noticed the home radio naming right was taken, so I would hope that Ufer was at least honored there.
If the home radio naming right goes to some rich schmoe who never set foot in the Michigan broadcasting booth, I'm gonna puke. There should be a limit to what money can buy. I'm hoping some rich Michigan fan purchased the right and will put Ufer's name on it.
I don't think this is a minor consideration, and I agree with SBK that some will raise that issue. However, if you look at Kinnick, the letters naming their box are hardly so large that it appears to be naming the entire facility. I can't believe we can't do something similar in the Big House.
I look forward to the day when people are talking about naming things after Rich Rodriguez.
name the press box after Ufer. they dont make 'em like that anymore.
and I too look forward to the day RR is held in awe. we take steps to get there this year!
I'm surprised that it wasn't proposed for the old press box after his death.