Recently, there has been an uproar of sorts in the Michigan community about the proposed addition of skyboxes to Michigan Stadium. Why this has suddenly become a big deal now, rather than when renovations were announced, is beyond me. Regardless, here are links to a couple of articles explaining the new debate.

Michigan Daily
Daily editorial supporting letter
Ann Arbor News
AAN editorial supporting skyboxes

First things first, let me say that, in the beginning, I was adamantly opposed to skyboxes. The Michigan tradition, etc. and so on. However, my opinion on the matter changed (and fairly quickly). However, my reasons for supporting the new construction are not the same as those from the AAN editorial, but rather THE EXACT opposite of the reasons that the writers of the letter (and the idiots at the Daily) oppose it.

Lee Bollinger, I respect you for having a keg party after we beat Penn State while you were president of the University, but you are just dead wrong on this issue. For those of you too lazy to click on the link(s), the general argument raised by this group is that building pressboxes will essentially separate bourgeoisie from proletariat fans (yes, it’s all about the left-wing politics here).

Allow me to raise a counter-argument here. The two groups are already separated. The alumni and wealthy donators are the only ones who can afford to sit within the 25-yeard lines, much less right on the fifty. Aside from the student section, I’d be willing to wager that the seating arrangements throughout the bowl of Michigan Stadium are already pretty much arranged by wealth.

Since the alumni feel the need to have great seats, in addition to making sure that they are not contributing to the noise level in the stadium (one of my pet peeves, in case you haven’t noticed), we might as well get them the hell out of the main bowl, and give their seats to the next in line in class status, making more availability for the fans with less monetary means.

Ever the pragmatist, I support essentially any reasonable measure to increase the noise level in the stadium. Building skyboxes will help this situation in two ways, by getting the silent old rich people out of a spot where they could be helping the atmoshpere by making noise, as well as increasing the angle at which the stadium rises, trapping more sound (though I doubt this effect would be very significant).

While the counterargument of funding is indeed a great point supporting the skyboxes, it is certainly not the only one. However, if that argument is what it takes to get this project approved, theen I’m all for it. (But why does the second most profitable athletic department in the country need more monetary assistance?)

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The video on the website for The Braylon Edwards Foundation is really cool. It’s a bunch of Braylon clips playing mirrored with Anthony Carter clips that are super similar. Tim approves, even if it takes about 7 months for the video to load.

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Enjoy this highlight

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I know I rarely post about basketball, but I think this is relevant to this year’s football season as well.

It is easy to be a fan when a team is doing well. The true fans come out when their team isn’t doing so hot. It was despicable when Indiana “fans” were cheering against their own team, just so Mike Davis would get fired (or resign, as he eventually did). It is no less despicable for Michigan fans to do the same thing to try to get rid of Amaker.

Amaker isn’t going anywhere for a long time. Deal with it. You don’t have to agree with how he coaches, or the effort he seems to get from his players sometimes, but that should by no means mean that you support the team any less.

Yes, I wanted the team to go to the NCAA tournament, and no, it didn’t happen. Well, they’re still playing basketball folks. If you forget about them now, then maybe you aren’t the true fan you thought you were to begin with.

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The votes are in. Barring a recount, the winner is option #2. Along with the back, the shirt will look like this:

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EDIT 3-15: If you were linked to this post, check out The main page to see which shirt was selected. In case it’s been pushed off the main page, the post of interest is right here.

Here are the possibilities that students have the choice to vote on for the front of the 2006 student section T-shirt:

#1:

#2:

#3:

I forgot to save the images of the potential backs (oops), so I’ll have to wait until the design is officially released to post it. Both options were something along the lines of “107,501 fans, 40,000+ living alumni, 11 National Titles, One Voice GO BLUE.” I forget exactly what it was, but that was the general idea.

As for my editorial comments on the designs, I think all three front designs are pretty ugly. If the Athletic Department want people to wear the shirt (and I think they should actively pursue it, in case I haven’t made my position on the issue clear enough yet), they shoujld at least try to come up with something that’s a little aesthetically pleasing. At least they are returning to the yellow shirt, recovering from what was a huge mistake last year (in my opinion).

The shirts still aren’t “free” with season tickets, which is what I think they should be. (i.e. not actually free, but you don’t have the option to not pay for it). That way, more people will have the shirt, and thus more people will be able to wear it.

I’m not exactly sure that I posted the pictures right, because I have yet to master mfile. If anyone has trouble seeing them (even when you click), leave me a message and I’ll fix it.

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“Money” is the name of an IM basketball team made up of UM football players (and captained by Steve Breaston). I went to their game on Monday to check some of the players out. It was the second game of theirs that I’ve been to. This time, they put more effort into it, seeing as how it was a playoff game. Unfotunately, however, they lost. Even worse, they pretty much had the game taken from them by the refs (but at least they’re used to that).

Adrian Arrington looks a lot lik Vince Young. He is not as tall as I thought he was, but was still usually the tallest guy on the court. He jumped to block one shot, and ended up with his hand more than halfway up the backboard. He was rocking a pair of ankle braces.

Steve Breaston is actually more built than he looks on the football field. He also can jump and grab the rim with pretty much no effort, despite being not particularly tall.

Leon Hall is a lefty with a good outside shot. He was about high middle of the pack in terms of athleticism.

Mike Hart was moving really well, though he stills sports one ankle brace.

Charles Stewart was a more physical basketball player than I would have expected. Hopefully he brings some of his intensity to the field next year, too.

Johnny Sears Jr. is the man that everyone has been asking about for next year. Will he start at #2 corner? Well, here’s a brief rundown of the observations I made on him. First, he didn’t seems that fast (i.e. not as fast as Breaston, but who really is?), though he seemed very very quick. He also had some ups. Right now, he is sporting an amazing russet-colored afro (it was pulled back in a ponytail for the game). He was also inexplicably wearing one of Jamar Adams’s football practice tank tops, complete with name and number (Adams was present at the game as a spectator).

If you have any question about these guys, I may be able to answer a couple of them, so don’t be scared to ask.

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From yesterday’s Ann Arbor News

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…because they SUCK at basketball.

OK, so maybe I’m being a little harsh, but for the most part, it’s true. While Obi Oluigbo can nail the outside shot, when he misses, it’s not even close. Rondell Biggs is a good inside presence, but he has terrible hands, and can’t rebound or receive passes. Mike Hart isn’t bad, and is actually a pretty good defender. He’s just so damn small. I can see Steve Breaston being a dominant high school player. He is fast, and just beats everyone down the court (even if they’re in front of him). He can probably jump high enough to dunk, but I didn’t see him do it at all. I was actually somewhat surprised at how big (muscular) he seemed. I wish Adrian Arrington would have put in some effort, since we didn’t get to see him on the football field this year, I’d like to have a gauge of his athleticism. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to care that much, so that’s still somewhat of a mystery.

Mike Hart rocks a brace on the ankle. Steve Breaston had some sort of weird brace on his entire right calf, but I don’t know what it was for.

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Well, apparently some of them play IM Basketball. Various players (including Adrian Arrington and Mike Hart) are on an IM team organized by none other than Steve Breaston. I’m actually pretty surprised that their coaches let them play, especially considering that some of them were injured during the year. I wouldn’t want some freak ACL tear to happen to one of my players in the off-season.

Just though I’d keep you up to date on off-season happenings.

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