Michigan Stadium in-game changes - 2019 edition
Michigan football is back. Having gone to the games since the 1970s, it is interesting to see the changes from year-to-year at the stadium. Here are a few things that stuck out to me:
1. There was a drone flying over mid-field for a while. I'm assuming this was legit (either University/Security/TV-related).
2. The crazy chipmunk/gopher thing on the scoreboard (it said something weird and we're all supposed to repeat it). Maybe we did that once last year? I'm not sure what to say about it other than it was really unusual. I have a weird sense of humor so I didn't mind it but wonder what others think. Was it a reference to something in particular?
3. Absolutely loved that they showcased some dedicated students who've gone to so many UM sporting events this past year. 150 or something like that - how do they have time to go to school? With that said, one guy was in his pajamas so maybe he's just super-efficient in his choices.
4. The giveaway with the guys catching punts from the punt machine was sheer genius. That's really tough to do and I hope it becomes a regular feature. I think that they could further copy some of the hockey atmosphere from Yost by adding a Score-O type feature. Get a couple students and a kid to try and kick a field goal. For the kid, get them close and make a small upright for them to kick over or something. Anyway, I really appreciate the creativity.
5. The food options seem much improved. Still pricey but there seems to be a better selection (including healthier options).
Anything else new that you noticed? Any suggestions to make the experience better?
September 1st, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
I do like how they are trying to keep the energy up during the numerous breaks. Also, a shout out to the intense fans in the front row of my section, who know all the lyrics to all the songs and act/sing them passionately. It's awesome! I enjoyed the slide show with pictures from the trip to Africa and camp. There were some really excellent photos. There was also a question for the players about who is the best dancer on the team (Tarik Black, Cesar Ruiz and DPJ, as I recall). But, we need video of the best dancers if you're going to ask that question!
September 1st, 2019 at 5:32 PM ^
Well from my recliner afar, the crowd did seem more energetic and was happy to see that.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:33 PM ^
My wife was pissed because she waited in line for 20 minutes and there were no more pretzels.
Surrounded by people who know nothing about football but think they do.
All in all, a great night!
September 1st, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
Should've come to section 17. Literally 50 pretzels hanging in the warmers at end of game.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:33 PM ^
The chipmunk on the scoreboard was singing Freddie Mercury and was altered to look like a Michigan themed video
I don't feel like trying to embed but here is the original
September 1st, 2019 at 6:11 PM ^
Thank you for clearing this up! I had no idea what I was looking at.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:47 PM ^
Funny but obscure. Is this something that was a part of "Bohemian Rhapsody"? Still haven't watched it.
September 1st, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
It is shown in the movie, but this was a crowd chant Freddie did at Live Aid in front of millions of people and it a pretty famous/well known call and repeat.
If you have never watched their full Live Aid set, I recommend it to anyone. It's one of the greatest moments in music history.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:34 PM ^
I liked the Freddie Mercury chipmunk thing. Was little disappointed there was like no response from the crowd because it could have been cool.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
I'm in section 18 and we definitely had a response. Not everybody, but our section is usually pretty good about these things.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
I loved the fan punt reception challenge. The student section seemed pretty into it from where I was sitting too. My kids were with me and we all enjoy interacting with the crowd on something live like that than something prerecorded on the screen.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:03 PM ^
Hopefully we have seen the last of Lavert Hill being the punt returner as well.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:45 PM ^
I hope the drone was legit.
The chipmunk was Freddy Mercury of Queen fame. And yes, I am guessing that the crowd should sing along with it.
I liked the punt catching.
The music guy needs to stop filling every silent moment with music. The world will not end if noise is not going on for 5 seconds.
The most I have heard of the song Old Town Road and I don't know why it is a thing. I am not a rap/hip hop fan to begin with but that song sucks.
They don't need to play KISS anymore.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^
That drone probably flew in from East Lansing
September 1st, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
I didn't want to go all 'old man shakes fist at cloud', but I can't agree more about the music. It's getting so that it detracts from the game and there were more than a few times where it was almost unsportsmanlike (MTSU was on the clock and the music was still blaring).
September 1st, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
There seemed to be a lot more corporate advertising in the concourses. Every pillar was wrapped with a nice block M on 2 sides but advertising on the other 2. It may have been there last year but I think it is new.
I am concerned about how long we can keep the corporate advertisers out it the seating and field area. Last year i went to games in South Bend, Evanston, East Lansing , and the columbus. Every one has corporate advertising viewable from the seats. The worse was full blown adds on the video boards We need to keep the adds out of view from the seating area
Additionally you damm kids better stay off my lawn.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:56 PM ^
The beauty of Michigan is that we don't NEED the money from corporate advertising inside the stadium, and god-forbid sponsoring the stadium itself. My gut says if it didn't happen during the Brandon years, it likely won't, unless the university falls on significantly hard financial times.
September 1st, 2019 at 11:25 PM ^
They also don't NEED to charge $6.50 for a hot dog, but they do because the money is there I guess. Still think driving the price to the max will bite them in the ass when they lose a whole generation of fans who don't get brainwashed into it, but it seems like that's the gamble they've chosen to take.
September 1st, 2019 at 5:59 PM ^
Less shameless commercialism is better.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:18 PM ^
The ads on the pillars have been around since 2011. I remember the discussions on here when they were first spotted.
The Spring Game/Scrimmage/Practice/Thing is sponsored by PNC Bank because Dave Brandon signed a blood contract in 2010 that seemingly has no end in sight. Only time you'll see ads in the bowl.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^
MTSU fans seated right behind me where shocked that Michigan Stadium didn't have ads in the bowl. They said you don't see that in 2019.
They where trying to find the mascot. One of them asked me and I said," I hope Michigan never gets one."
September 1st, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
Did you not point out Murderwolf to them?
September 1st, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
I had friends say they saw about 8 police officers near a drone with flashlights out on the golf course towards the end of the game.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:15 PM ^
6 dollars for a bottle of water as opposed to 5.50 in years past.
September 1st, 2019 at 6:41 PM ^
Well hats off to anyone paying $6 for a bottle of water, because that must mean they're rich. Even in North Korea, water is free to anyone who is open to getting in something other than a sealed plastic bottle.
September 1st, 2019 at 8:43 PM ^
That's why I love me some free unlimited 9 oz. cups of Absopure at the Hydration Station. I also noticed that they had a refill station by Ignition Burger--a bunch of big spigots for people to refill water bottles from.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:14 PM ^
Souvenir soda went down from $7 to $6 and no straw.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:22 PM ^
No straw is better than a paper straw.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
Yea my kid was pissed about the no straw ordeal. I eventually found one, some place have them some do not.
September 1st, 2019 at 10:32 PM ^
Toughen that kid up
September 1st, 2019 at 6:41 PM ^
Apparently a couple folks were arrested for violating the drone ordinance:
This link says there were no authorized drone flights on game day:
https://news.dpss.umich.edu/2019/08/1637
September 1st, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^
The gopher was supposed to be that improv thing Freddy Mercury did with his audiences. Nobody seemed to get it though. I got a chuckle out of it.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:33 PM ^
1. The new tshirt cannon was insane, and unlike anything I've seen anywhere before. It was like a tshirt gatling gun that fired shirt after shirt into the crowd, must have been at least 30 shirts.
2. Wasn't a huge fan of "Party Up" by DMX playing during one of the media timeouts. I loved that song back in my middle school days, but it's pretty vulgar (even with the explicit words edited out), and didn't seem appropriate for any Michigan sporting event. I'd rather hear the band than a song about strippers and blowjobs. I think this will be my first official "old guy moment" where I email the athletic department about it.
September 1st, 2019 at 11:36 PM ^
I'm pretty sure the T-shirt cannon has been around before as well, though this iteratoin did seem improved over previous years. Seemed to me like more T-shirts made their way out of the cannon?
September 1st, 2019 at 11:47 PM ^
T shirt bazooka
September 1st, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
Anyone else sitting in a cloud of old lady perfume smell from really cool guys that vape?
September 1st, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Forgot about that - tons of vaping going on - even if not immediately visible from where you were sitting, you could definitely smell it.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
M-Live (Ann Arbor News) reports 2 people were reported for violating the "drone ordinance."
So maybe that drone was not legit.
EDIT - Never mind, already reported.
September 1st, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
I kinda liked the idea of getting the crowd to sing along with Freddie Mercury, but I wish they had just put footage of Queen's Live Aid performance (pretty sure that's the audio they used) to encourage the crowd participation. That will likely catch on after a couple times playing. The t-shirt machine gun was insane (in a good way). The montage of pictures from the team trip and training camp was outstanding and the "spectator tries to catch punts" thing was cool too. All of their "direct your attention to the north endzone" moments are great. What a nice crowd experience...if only the parking weren't so difficult...LOL
September 1st, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
I know I'm a curmudgeon, and it isn't that new, but holy god I hate the "you suck" chant
September 1st, 2019 at 9:33 PM ^
Me too, it’s not in the least bit funny and completely unnecessary. I’m sure it really phases a bunch of 18-22 year old kids (/s obviously). I hope it goes away.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:53 PM ^
Was it just me or was dick added to the you suck chant and is that new this year? I am old now but I do not approve.
I felt the same about DMX. Fire in the late 90’s but not appropriate at a Michigan football game.
September 1st, 2019 at 10:29 PM ^
There is definitely a "dick" at the end of the temptation chant, it's been that way for a few years at least.
September 3rd, 2019 at 6:47 PM ^
I believe it's actually "bitch" not "dick" at the end of the You Suck chant
September 1st, 2019 at 11:22 PM ^
Yeah, I cringe at that and typically yell "Go Blue" instead. But for full disclosure, against some of our more asinine opponents, I will scream "You suck" because it is the truth and the only other words I would choose are more vile.
September 2nd, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
I complained about that on this board a few years ago, but you would've thought I was asking to change what our helmets looked like. And I'm a foul-mouthed person - I just cringe when I hear it.
September 1st, 2019 at 8:41 PM ^
Delirium. Fans going nuts, having great time, including the body language by the coaches and players. That'd be a good start.
September 1st, 2019 at 8:52 PM ^
I know that opinions and expectations were mixed in the earlier thread about new food offerings at the stadium, but I had one of those new brisket burgers at Ignition Burger. A few things to say about it:
1. It was really delicious. And at $11 for a decent sized premium burger, with good brisket, cheese, and cole slaw on top, and fries, I did not feel ripped off. The Block M seared into the top bun was cute. I am a "but cheap hot dogs outside the stadium" kind of guy, but this has me rethinking that.
2. It was extremely messy. Good in that when I finished the burger so much stuff had fallen out onto my fries that it made the fries extra good. But I had to wash my hands afterwards; napkins wouldn't do. I was at the stadium an hour before game time, eating it sitting out on the concourse; I don't think carrying it to my seat and eating it there would have gone well. In fact, I saw that someone in my aisle dropped one and it made an unholy mess.
3. Service was very slow. Not sure if it's a learning curve thing or if it will always be slow, but it took forever.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:04 PM ^
The animal doing the Freddy Mercury thing is a pika, and the drunks and kids in my section loved it. I bet that catches on. I could use more fan participation gimmicks like the punt catching, that stuff is always hilarious and some lucky kid usually wins a few bucks or makes a royal fool of themselves. There was a midnight madness during the Steve Fisher days when a student sank a half court shot and won something like $10,000, the place went bonkers.
And the old man in me is really just over the LAF music and trying to explain to an 8 year old what word was bleeped after the man sang "suck my." Special K needs to save that for the afterparty. It probably doesn't register for a student but when you got your little kids at the game it is unnecessary.
September 1st, 2019 at 9:40 PM ^
I agree, Is it really necessary to blast music with curse words in it? It really annoys parents of young kids when you have to explain what something “inappropriate” means, it changes the experience. There are MANY songs out there, a song that says “suck my dick” does not need to be one of them played (amongst others).