Pictures of Michigan Stadium, early 2000s-ish
The other day I started looking through my old rolls of film from back when I shot film, and on the tail end of one roll I found a set of photos of Michigan Stadium on what seems to be just a random spring afternoon with people running around on the grass. I don't know the exact date because I didn't keep detailed records, but I'm pretty sure it's early 2000s.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
Not going to lie..... I kinda miss it looking that way.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
Yep, this. The new-look stadium just doesn't feel like, well, the stadium.
I'll also admit a bit of a laugh this week when I got hit with an ad for a contest to win a flag football game for you and your friends at the stadium. That's basically what people did on the real grass surface for years, without having to do anything else but walk in the gate. What a time to be alive.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
Yep, and the sad thing is there is absolutely no reason why it can't be that way now. Open the damn gates during the day. Nothing bad is going to happen.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:25 PM ^
So long as that field poopin' HS principal from NJ is still in jail.
September 21st, 2018 at 5:22 PM ^
Don't leave any coolers by the field either, in case of rivalry visitors...
September 21st, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
Missin' u, stair workouts. Well, maybe my knees don't miss them. But I do.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
The one time I was in Nebraska one summer, I had to check out Memorial Stadium. They had an awesome spot where you could basically walk from the street to a lookout point in one corner of the field.
It was awesome to be able to practically be in the stadium on a random day in the summer with no trouble.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:10 PM ^
I got to do the same at Univ of Illinois one summer back in the early 90's when I was there for a seminar. I thought it was really cool just to be able to stroll in the open gates. Beautiful campus too by the way, even though it is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by corn and more corn.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:31 PM ^
I spent three years there for law school, and, well, maybe beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
I am currently a law student at Illinois, and after attending undergrad at Wisconsin, I certainly share your sentiments.
September 21st, 2018 at 5:01 PM ^
Then the AD can’t charge for tours. Where will they ever make up that revenue?
September 21st, 2018 at 7:02 PM ^
Agree and disagree. Inside the stadium it feels different (not necessarily worse, just different). But the exterior of the stadium now is vastly improved. I love the brick.
September 21st, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^
I remember back in '97, on the day that Charles Woodson won the Heisman, Michigan Basketball also happened to upset top-ranked Duke at Crisler. My buddy and I went to that game, and after we rushed the court, we went over to the stadium and ran around on the field. We threw around a football we found and made snow angels. There were no locked gates and no security guards. Good times.
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:49 AM ^
In the 2000-2001 academic year I lived Brown Street about 3 blocks north of the stadium and we went into the stadium and right on the field multiple times. Played catch on the field, kicked extra points. I know security has to be good after 9-11, but it is sad that it is lost.
September 22nd, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
No, security doesn't have to exist at all for an empty stadium. Any "threat" would be on game day and they're doing everything they can in that regard already.
September 21st, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
Like the grass
September 21st, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
Well, they installed FieldTurf in 2003, replacing the natural grass. And since there are people allowed into the stadium and the gates are open, I would guess this is pre-9/11. I think it was after 9/11 that they pretty much closed it off to visitors outside of events.
The upgraded scoreboards and additional rows of seating at the top were installed for the 1998 season. Based on these I would say these were taken between '99 and '01 (pre-9/11).
I also have a bunch of photos of Michigan Stadium from the time when it was pretty much open for anyone to come in and walk around. I miss those days.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
I seem to remember that post-9/11, they kept the stadium open until Thursday afternoon, and Friday was prep/bomb dog day. This has to be 99-02 for sure.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^
The rest of the year, they always kept one gate open.
In summer of 2003, I went inside the stadium and the only other people inside was a father playing catch with his 5 year old son. They left after 10 minutes and I had the entire stadium to myself, which was so awesome.
The field turf had just been installed but the end zone letters had not been sewn in yet. This was when the stadium cam was popular on mgoblue.com, and the athletic department got about a hundred phone calls from fans saying the N was backwards in the south end zone and they had to keep telling the fans the letters weren't sewn yet.
I'm very much a traditionalist but I've grown to kind of like the boxes. And I kind of thought the old press box was an eye sore. Plus, they blocked the sight lines of half the field for the poor souls sitting on either side.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:53 PM ^
The webcam during the turf install was nuts. Didn’t the workers lay the midfield M in one end zone and everyone freaked as well?
September 21st, 2018 at 7:08 PM ^
I believe so.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:14 PM ^
I used to go run the steps in the stadium when I was a freshman and sophomore ('02-'04). It was regularly left open then, so no reason these need to be pre-9/11. I think they started regularly locking the gates in '04 or '05.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
This sounds right. I seem to remember the Friday lockdowns started right around 2004-5, definitely wasn't immediately after 9/11. I know they definitely started locking the gates overnight, too, had friends who sometimes beat the security guard there early in the morning and got in some trouble for jumping the fence instead of waiting like 10 minutes.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:55 PM ^
I ran the stairs most mornings in 2005. I believe by the next year, they stopped opening the gates, but it could have been 2007 instead. I can't remember when the new towers began construction, but closing the gates may have coincided with it.
September 21st, 2018 at 6:09 PM ^
Pretty sure I was running stairs through 2007. Construction started before the 2008 season.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
The field turf was ready by band week 2003, so maybe this was earlier that year?
September 21st, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
My childhood tradition was to go kick field goals and run plays in the dark cold with friends after a basketball game. The terrorists have won.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
I forgot how sketchy the natural grass was. There were many explanations, but it never really took.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
Mostly due to heavy clay soils and poor drainage. That hole is pretty deep and the field is actually pretty close to the water table. Made it nearly impossible to grow a good natural grass field that would stand up to 300 pound dudes.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^
The good old days.
The place felt much bigger back then. I dunno, those boxes have made things feel boxed in and smaller. Louder but I miss the old stadium that I walked into as a kid.
This picture was taken sometime between 2000-2002. Grass field was removed in 2003 and the halo was removed after the 1999 season.
On second look it kind of looks like the halo is still there. So sometime between 1998-2002.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:50 PM ^
The stadium used to be great.
Now it is even greater. The superstructure only adds to how large the stadium is.
September 21st, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
And now the blue end zones are the perfect addition.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^
Actually, if you ask me, it feels a lot bigger now in some respects than it did before, especially from the outside. Being mostly below grade, it actually used to not look like quite so much from the street, and you were immediately struck by its size when you entered. Now, I think the outside matches the inside in terms of scale, if that makes sense.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
I remember participating in a email writing campaign to get rid of that hideous halo around the stadium during the 99 season.
Looking back, I could have written a thousand emails or none and that thing was coming down regardless. It was universally loathed right out of the gate.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:13 PM ^
I was in the 8th grade when I wrote a letter to Tom Goss asking him to take down the Victors letters and Halo. So yeah, universally loathed is right
September 21st, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^
Actually, it doesn't look bigger without the boxes. That's physically impossible.
September 21st, 2018 at 7:00 PM ^
The halo was on the outside. Inside the stadium you couldn't really see it.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
Great pics... thanks for sharing them. I made a lot of visits to The Big House prior to that time and have been making more now again with my grandkids. It’s a magical place for sure - back then & now! Go Blue!
September 21st, 2018 at 3:25 PM ^
Those are great pictures OP. I've been thinking of switching back to a 35mm camera for special occasions.
And I agree with WD, the stadium did used to feel bigger. I was completely awestruck the first time I walked in. I don't think my son felt the same way.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:35 PM ^
All of that construction for a net gain of 100 seats.
Pre-renovation seating was 107,501. Increased to 109,901 when it was completed and then was decreased to 107,601 before 2015 due to handrails being added everywhere.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:46 PM ^
Well yeah, but now the really rich people don't have to sit next to us (or in the rain). And I think everyone can agree that's what's really important.
September 21st, 2018 at 7:05 PM ^
Don't bag on people just because they are rich.
I'm rich, and I would love to plunk down next to you in the bleachers. I'll never pay for luxury box seats.
September 21st, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
I'm not talking about you Walter. I'm talking about those other assholes.
You know the ones.
September 22nd, 2018 at 12:49 AM ^
You got rich running a security business out of a mini-mall? I’m impressed.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
My first season tickets were on an aisle prior to the handrails. There were at least 3 falls per game going up and down without them...and that was just where I could see them.
September 21st, 2018 at 6:34 PM ^
The noise level is far superior now, because the luxury boxes reflect sound back onto the field. Makes a big difference. Visiting teams used to comment about how quiet the Big House was.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^
I'll never forget one day, early '00s, I was in there running the steps. On the way out, I ran into some folks in OSU gear who wanted to see the stadium. I hung back a bit to see how they reacted. Walking through the tunnel into the bowl, you could see their jaw drop when they realized how big it looked. They were blown away. That would happen just about every time I was in there.
I know it's a little and inconsequential thing, but that element of surprise, that difference between just seeing the top of the bowl and seeing the whole vista of the place once you got inside, was one of the really special things about the stadium.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^
Yes! My jaw dropped the first time I walked in for a game on 1987.
September 21st, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^
I took my 10 year old daughter to her first game last week and she couldn't stop talking about how huge it was and how awesome and fun the game was (and she has no interest in sports generally). I get that it seemed bigger and more fun when the stadium was simple and things were less jaded, but I think a lot of that (Brian's SMU game column included) is more of a reflection of us getting older and jaded. It's still pretty bad ass to a kid.
September 21st, 2018 at 4:58 PM ^
Stadium is badass now, but in a different way. There was something really awe inspiring when you walked through the section tunnels for the first time. From the street the stadium didn’t look like much, then it opened into something jaw dropping.
Now you can see the scoreboards from M-14. So, it is big and imposing, but you don’t get that shock when you first walk in.