Get the Big House More intimidating
We all need to get the Big House more intimidating as a whole. Every year the Maize-Outs get more a-MAIZE-ing. But, We prob will never get the whole staidum as a Maize out just by saying its a Maize-out. I think the only way that happens is if a company helps to help Market there company. About half the crowd wears Maize, so they would prob only need like 30-50,000 maize shirts to Market to give the stadium a full effect. I have no connections or ways for this to happen?
Another thing is, Maize Towels or Blue Towels. Imagine 90-100,000 people wearing Maize shirts/hoodies/coats and of those, 60,000 people waving BLUE towels.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:32 PM ^
This is the best post ever. No sarcasm.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:35 PM ^
all this maize-out planning is a little... corny.
YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
February 17th, 2009 at 4:36 PM ^
A buddy of mine tried to organize this last year against Ohio State and actually put quite a bit of effort into it. The main problems we ran into was with the administration (maybe if you could to Rich he would help) but they made it very clear that they did not want any companies advertising within the stadium and warned that certain companies could even violate contracts that the university has.
I think it would be awesome if it happened, but it is much more difficult than it seems like it should be.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:43 PM ^
Meaning buy a $5 towel with all proceeds going to the Childrens' Hospital? Nobody can say no to sick kids!
I'm sure Lloyd would get behind it.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:09 PM ^
I remember in some video this past summer, RR was asked about maize outs and he was like "Maize outs? Thats a great idea! Everyone wear maize", or something like that. I'm sure he could possibly help.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:40 PM ^
though, I think those are pretty good ideas and the completion of the new press box will help a great deal with the sound. maybe they could get a few businesses to throw their logos on shirts. I know businesses are going to have to get creative in this economy.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:17 PM ^
i think the 'logos on the shirts' part is where we're running into trouble. the administration (and im with them on this) is not too big on advertising within the stadium and tries to keep it to a minimum.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:24 PM ^
use some of that Adidas money they have slushing around at the end of the athletic seasons.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:41 PM ^
great idea, doubt it will happen
February 17th, 2009 at 4:41 PM ^
Let's maize out the Motor City Bowl next year
February 17th, 2009 at 4:42 PM ^
I don't we're going to get into the Motor City bowl with a 5-7 record.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:12 PM ^
but i think (and this is just me) we'll do better than 5-7
February 17th, 2009 at 6:22 PM ^
I hope so too, but after last year (and adding in the fact that we're starting a freshman again at QB), my spidey sense doesn't believe we'll be much better.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:23 PM ^
My hope lies with the soft schedule.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:14 PM ^
Tate isnt just any Freshmen though. Hes a Saint. Saint Tate. He came down from Heaven to help UofM football get back where we need to be.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:41 PM ^
State's Taint?
February 18th, 2009 at 6:32 PM ^
This gimmick has been kinda funny, but when you make it this plainly obvious that you're a gimmick, the joke loses some luster.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:13 PM ^
That was brilliant!
February 17th, 2009 at 5:18 PM ^
1). No Maize jersey. A lot of people shell out $70 for a replica jersey, and then want to wear them to the game, and will do so, regardless of the "official color" of the day.
2). No consistent Maize. My fiancee has put on a shirt, sweatshirt, hat, and pants that are officially licensed Michigan gear, and all four maizes were different shades. While the overall effect might look somewhat good, it's just not there.
3). A majority of people do not own a yellow outer jacket. With Michigan weather, as early as October, any efforts to get a Maize Out might be kiboshed by the weather. Imagine if all of the effort had gone in to making a Maize Out for the Northwestern game last season.
4). Free t-shirts need to come in larger sizes. You're asking people to put a giveaway t-shirt over what they are already wearing, you need to start at L and go to XXL, because there are a lot of people who need a more generous cut.
5). Many of the alumni, who are the season ticket holders that you're asking to do this, really don't care about an intimidating Big House. Maybe this changes when the suites open.
I'm not saying we shouldn't try, and I am not saying that it's not a good idea, but I think we need to be aware of the challenges that face this, and whether or not we want to be beholden to marketing to make the Big House an intimidating place.
3).
February 17th, 2009 at 5:48 PM ^
4) lose weight
otherwise agreed.
btw im ok with ditching the maize-outs and going with a blue(navy)-out. that would work much better since everyone has something blue, and those wearing other darker colored apparel would fit in. i thought the georgia black-out this year was really cool. doing with that with blue would be awesome.
you just don't get the maize-out effect unless its perfectly maize. its easily ruined by people wearing other colors and people who aren't blonde. with blue, you have a big margin for error and you still get the "blue" effect.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:51 PM ^
This was discussed on here last year sometime, I think it was pretty well established why a "Blue out" doesn't work. Maize is a very dominant color, meaning that you can have 20% of the people wearing white or blue and still get the effect. With blue as the dominant color anyone wearing maize stands out like a sore thumb.
Also, it would definitely have to be done earlier in the season due to weather.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:11 PM ^
I agree with you here. Blue is much more do-able. My girl and I went to the Toledo game last year with my parents. I wanted to wear maize, but I also wanted to sport my Minor jersey. My girl was sporting her #1 jersey. My parents didn't care about wearing a certain color, but ended up wearing blue, not even UM gear. I think the blue would look better than maize too.
I say BLUE OUT!!!!
February 17th, 2009 at 5:55 PM ^
Is there some sort of opposition to a "Blue Out" or am I missing something? It seems that switching the color theme would fix a majority of the problems.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:01 PM ^
blue doesnt look as good on tv. it just looks like a blob. with yellow you can see it from aerial views.
and i hate the idea of anything related to the "terible towels" . terrible towels are thee worst sports idea of all time.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:02 PM ^
and its already been done. the towels, that is
February 17th, 2009 at 6:54 PM ^
Thunderstix or whatever the Anaheim Angels invented are pretty dumb too.
my vote would be for the whole crowd to stop yelling and start snapping their fingers. confused the opponent into thinking its raining.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:02 PM ^
that was hell before we knew what hell was like.
February 18th, 2009 at 8:44 AM ^
It has been tried and it looks terrible. In 2005 the students shirts were blue and you could barely tell where the student section began and ended. And in a bad way, not a 'everyone is wearing blue it's awesome' way. Like someone said, blue doesn't stand out, it's dull. Anyone wearing Maize sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of blue, but the opposite is not true.
February 18th, 2009 at 3:44 PM ^
Every time we've had a blue-out, it's made it look like we have swaths of empty seats. It doesn't show up well from a distance. Maize is much more visually striking.
February 18th, 2009 at 5:03 PM ^
Who goes out and buys maize shirts? If you wanna have everyone involved in it, you have to make it easy for everyone. Everyone has something blue.
Anyone have any pictures of said "blue-out" from '02 or '05?
February 18th, 2009 at 6:28 PM ^
Who buys maize shirts? Evidently, quite a few people, because it's been increasingly catching on.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:25 PM ^
Speaking of inconsistent shades of maize, has anyone ever watched at a game on a high definition TV right next to an old-school CRT or projection television? What a difference. On the CRT television, the maize often looks practically orange. It's not hard to see why so many people are convinced that our shade of maize changed over the years.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:54 PM ^
I have an older Sony ED CRT set and a couple new HD's, and I really think the color is better overall on the CRT by far.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:37 AM ^
It also doesn't help that the maize on the uniforms is a completely different color than the maize on the field.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:26 PM ^
and fuddy-duddy season ticket holders don't strike me as a group of people who would want alot of noise made,while watching their beloved Wolverines.
Maybe adidas might want to get involved along with local establishments with the terrible towels.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:50 PM ^
If you asked a thousand D-1 players what makes an away stadium intimidating— the noise levels or the color of the t-shirts—do you really think they're going to say the t-shirts? A maize-out may look great on TV and makes for good school spirit, but c'mon.... it's a football game, not Project Runway. I really doubt 6'-7" 330-lb guys are intimidated by nicely-coordinated fashions displayed by the fans in the seats.
What makes a stadium intimidating is the volume of noise, and this is the primary reason I'm in favor of the addition to the stadium. I'll never set foot inside a suite, nor would I want to watch a game from one, but the addition should make for increased noise levels down on the field. Even though I'm technically an old fart at 56, I have absolutely no patience or sympathy for the older bluehairs who think they're at the goddamn symphony and the "down in front" crowd, and to be blunt fans just have to ignore them and wait for them to die. I'm hoping the noise levels are so much louder that the bluehairs just give up their season tickets to people who actually want to cheer loudly.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:34 PM ^
the coordination of so many people united against you can be intimidating. When we played crowds with larger student sections that would chant together and/or have similar things going, it can be intimidating. A crowd full of people wearing random things seems normal. A crowd with the same shirt on promotes a sense of unity and maes you tae notice.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:47 PM ^
Don, I am with you, especially the last part of this post. I probably went to about a hundred games over about thirty years while I lived up there, and was appalled at how quiet the stadium was.
What really pissed me off, though, was that every time I would yell at the "wrong" time, everyone around me would look at me like I was some ignorant hick who just fell off the haywagon.
I hate to use Daryl Rogers' words, but there are too many "arrogant asses" filling up seats that could be used by real fans who want to yell, scream, and generally raise hell at the game.
I live in the Tampa Bay area, and it seems like 35,000 watching a USF game are louder than I remember the 110,000 watching UM games to be.
And, though I am 56, too, I agree that it is the older fans who are the most guilty. It's OK if they don't want to be loud, but they really have no business trying to quiet down people who want to try and make the Big House a tougher place for opponents to play.
If they want to sit and watch the game where it's quiet, why don't they just stay home instead of ruining other fans' fun?
I think there should be a "practical exam" for all who want to buy season tickets. It should include drinking at least a six pack of beer, followed by at least an hour of cheering, hooting, hollering, and carrying on.
If someone dies during the test, call it natural selection. And sell their tickets to someone who won't sit there like a stiff.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:43 PM ^
hahahaha the two of you have completely changed any preconceived notions I had about 50-somethings. By far the two best posts in this thread.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:52 PM ^
with your use of the English language.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:46 PM ^
AWESOME. i agree.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:56 PM ^
what about a maize AND blue out?
February 17th, 2009 at 8:11 PM ^
im down for anything as long as we get rid of the "key" down stuff. am i the only one that thinks thats really lame, plus its a lot quieter because for some reason everyone stops yelling wen ther jingling ther keys.
also i dont no y a blue-out wood be any worse than a black out. and the blackout is pretty sick from wut iv seen.
but in all honesty, i dont think the big house will every be especially intimidating. the press boxes wont make the stadium all that louder. aside from the shape of the stadium, the equally big problem is that the non-students (and even some of the students) are just not that loud. its not all that unusual to expect OSU alums who are all truck drivers and gas pumpers and burger flippers to get drunk off ther ass and yell till ther red. but dr smith the UM alum is not gonna get all crazied out
February 17th, 2009 at 8:13 PM ^
I think you have to look at the Michigan Stadium experience on its own terms. It isn't honest to compare Michigan's traditions to those of others schools hoping to come out with a break-even rubric. If it was all about noise, 'white-outs', and 'jump-around', the heirarchy of college football fandom (and 'intimidation') in the Big Ten securely has its leaders.
However, when you think about it, you'll notice that's not remotely the case. Noise is nice, loud is good, and I'm all about drunken high-fives and back-slapping when it's appropriate. But that's not what Michigan Stadium is about.
Michigan has "the Victors". Only a handful of schools have such a storied and inspired/inspiring fight song, and even less with a band talented enough to do it justice. Michigan has the "Let's Go Blue" bell, Temptation and the Hawaiian War Chant. There won't be any jock-jams, amplified synthetic noise, or corporate pageantry at Michigan Stadium. The focus will be on the field, on the Band, and on Tradition. (Having said this, I'm not against amplifying a "Let's Go Blue" bell, Michigan fanfare, or the sound of keys jangling over the PA if it will get the whole stadium clapping and cheering together. PA prompts to cheer are OK with me so long as they don't overwhelm focus off the field).
On the scoreboard, Michigan Stadium proudly lists the years for all 42 conference titles, 11 claimed national titles. Michigan has had 150 All-Americans, 3 Heisman winners, and over 870 overall wins (leading the NCAA). These are the stats that each of the 107,501 Michigan faithful exude en masse every game-day; some express the Michigan tradition with facepaint, maize shirts, blue shirts, no shirts... and for many, in no Michigan apparel at all. And I think we should be OK with that. Because to me, having a grandpa at the game who sits quietly and watches his 100th, 150th or 200th win at U-M with little to no fanfare of his own making doesn't take away from my game experience but has a hand in making it.
When the new additions are completed, Michigan Stadium will draw over 108,000 people (young, old, alums, students), and we can rest assured it will be a classy crowd: folks who've come to watch a game played the Michigan way, and chances are they'll see the other team lose.
Conversely, every time an opposing team comes to the Big House, chances are slim they're coming away with a win. Michigan's all-time wins: 872–294–36 (.740); it's in the numbers. That's a level of intimidation that a bunch of idiots in white t-shirts, or dancing around to music that wasn't even cool in 1992, can only dream to achieve. What more do you really want?
February 17th, 2009 at 9:19 PM ^
is that I have been to over 40 games in total and 3 bowls (including the 97 Rose), and, the Michigan fans are pretty much boring. This year I went to the Georgia Tech and LSU game, LSU shows up. Their band is incredible and the fans live and die with every play.
It is an extremely exciting three or so hours. I am all for tradition, but then again I am all for a party also.
February 18th, 2009 at 6:54 AM ^
maybe this will just label me as a dickhead but I feel the need to say it. If we want the Big House to be more intimidating we need to stop shutting up when our beloved blue are not playing well. I think it is disgusting to have the team that we came to see be the same team that we are shouting boos at. I hear all of the time how a team needs to make a few big plays and get the crowd into it but why cant the crowd be the one to get the team into it. Does anybody out there think that it is intimidationg to another team when we are booing the team that they are playing against. When you take our cheers out of the equation it might as well be a game played on a neutral field. I do not want to see a game on a neutral field I want to see it on my teams field where I can shout hoot and hollar and cheer them on. What if the tradition of winning started again, but because of the crowd and not in spite of it.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:21 AM ^
Not even being a M fan I really like the idea of the 'terrible towel'.
I do think the 'x' out thing is getting old. I mean Penn State seems to have it down but Ohio State tried this during the game against Penn State and called it Scarlet Fever ... just doesn't look the same and I am not convinced there is a real psychological effect.