Remembering the Halo
I'm posting this because I just came across a great aerial photo of the ugliest-ass thing in Michigan Stadium history.
In the wake of our national championship, the Halo was only around for two seasons - 1998 and 1999. U-M President Lee Bolinger announced in January of 2000 that they were tearing it down. Daily story HERE.
The Halo certainly ranks up there with the hires of Brian Ellerbe and Rich Rod as the worst decisions in U-M athletic history.
But as we wait for the boys to kick it off on Saturday night, for one last time, behold the Halo!
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
if you go to this website: http://football.ballparks.com/NCAA/Michigan/index.htm they still have a picture of the stadium with the halo...
back when the person who ran the website was actually still keeping it up to date i emailed him asking him to change the photo because the halo was long gone and the towers had been built... the guy responded back with a snarky email and even said that he couldn't find a better photo than that one...
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:10 PM ^
this is, honestly and truly, not a hot take...as an architect? i didn't hate the idea. it was done quite poorly.
(ducks, cautiously raises head)
i'd also like to remind everyone that there's an element of the fanbase that hates the giant scoreboards (i'd put myself in that category), the lighting (love it) and the skyboxes (love them).
there's an honest, not-crazy case to be made that the original, unardorned-in-any-way stadium is the best version.
also? i honestly think that part of the reason we hate it so much in retrospect is because we tore it off so quickly. it was such a departure...but if we'd had a few more years to get used to it? i dunno, man.
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
I was part of a letter writing campaign at the start of the 1999 season to get the halo removed. It really was an eye sore. I never knew a single fan that liked that thing.
When we played MSU at the big house in 1998, the ABC cameras showed shots of the halo waaaay too often throughout the game, even after an A-Train touchdown.
October 22nd, 2020 at 1:29 PM ^
Just a reminder that the halo was the "topping off" of the stadium expansion that occurred between the 1997 and 1998 seasons. That doesn't make it any better--but it wasn't like they just suddenly put up a halo. Tennessee expanded its stadium for the 1997 season. So, ironically, the season we won the National Championship was the only year we didn't lead the nation in attendance in 50+ years! So we expanded by 5,000 (a few extra rows at the top) and put up the halo before the 1998 season began.
October 22nd, 2020 at 1:34 PM ^
Thanks Carl! ( from another Carl who’s been at a few functions with you).
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:41 PM ^
As a teenager, I remember reading online how ticked off Tennessee was that we were going to have the biggest stadium again so they published an article about possibly flying a blimp over Neyland Stadium during the game and counting that as attendance in order to keep us #2.
So many questions come to mind.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:15 PM ^
I'd take the halo back if we could get rid of the infolinks bullshit at the bottom of this page.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:15 PM ^
Halo burgers..... not bad
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:22 PM ^
Everything about the Halo is a visual disaster—If I had proposed this design in my senior graphic design classes at U-M, it would have gotten a robust and well-deserved thumbs-down from my design professors.
The letterforms are needlessly complex, with three visual outlines around the main dark blue characters. The background surface behind these busy letters is also visually active, with a corrugated siding appearance compounded with separate blue and white stripes. On top of that, the letters project below the bottom of the siding, as though the architects fucked up the dimensions of the letters but just decided to slap them up there anyhow. Seen from an acute angle, the letters are quite flat in thickness, which accentuates their cheesy inartfulness.
I've got a diary post up that goes into the architectural background of the Halo.
October 22nd, 2020 at 3:58 PM ^
I have miniature Michigan Stadium with the halo. It is in a closet somewhere. I should try and find it.