-
Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
- Thread starter ScriptOhio
- Start date
ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
You gotta give give the "many Michigan alumni and professors" some credit here for taking a stand against luxury boxes. However, my guess is that the regents will vote to add the boxes; since it's "all about the money". I found the new words to "Hail To The Victors" (story below) fairly amusing.
Finally, someone's risen up against luxury suites
Many Michigan alumni and professors don't want luxury boxes to ruin the aesthetics of the Big House
Do you get the feeling that there are really no more stadiums and arenas being built in the United States? Oh, these palaces where sports are played are flying up all over, but what they really seem to be are just a bunch of luxury boxes that happen to be attached to a few hard grandstand seats. The profit in sports comes by selling luxury boxes to expense accounts and swells.
Take me up to the lux'ry box,
Take me off from the crowd,
Give me some champagne and caviar,
I don't care if they even keep score.
Let me call, call, call for the waitress,
If she won't come, it's a pox,
For it's one, two, three kinds of wine
At the old lux'ry box.
And, boy -- have you peasants ever been in one? -- are luxury boxes wonderful. Heh, heh, heh. The booze, the fine food, the service, the private, uh, powder rooms. Best of all -- especially at a freezing cold football game -- is deigning to glance down upon the poor hoi polloi, just outside your luxury box -- their lips blue, their bodies shivering, as they look back at you with wistful, longing eyes, like poor urchins at the window of the pastry shop. It's glorious! Being in a luxury box is better even than not having to pay any estate tax.
Isn't it paradoxical, too? Sports are supposed to be for the masses, yet you will not find luxury boxes at the opera or the ballet. Even when you get a house seat on Broadway -- that's all you get: a seat. Just a place to rest your backside. Only in sports do we generally find plush, sumptuous, lavish condominium accommodations.
So can you believe it? There is actually a place in America today where humble citizens are fighting the construction of luxury boxes. Yes in Ann Arbor, Mich., home of what is called the Big House, the largest stadium in America, many alumni and professors of the University of Michigan are vigorously trying to persuade the Board of Regents not to approve the plans of the university president and athletic director to spend something like a quarter of a billion dollars to build 78 suites that would rent for up to $85,000 apiece for a mere seven college football games.
The Big House is a huge oval, and the luxury boxes -- totaling 425,000 square feet -- would do great aesthetic violence to the classic old bowl. Since the game-day pied-a-terres would cost so much to build, it's even dubious they can actually make the university any money --- and that, after all, is the whole purpose of luxury boxes.
So finally, somewhere in the Republic, the lowly common folk have risen up against the sports aristocracy. Let us, with them, give new voice to that great Michigan fight song, Hail to The Victors.
Hail! to the fat cats, dining,
Hail! to the privileged gentry
Hail, hail to the luxury box,
The poshest and the best.
Hail! to the nouveau, drinking,
Hail! to the high-hat blue bloods,
Hail! hail! to the luxury box,
The measure of success.
The Regents vote is set for this Friday.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/frank_deford/07/18/stadiums/index.html
Finally, someone's risen up against luxury suites
Many Michigan alumni and professors don't want luxury boxes to ruin the aesthetics of the Big House
Do you get the feeling that there are really no more stadiums and arenas being built in the United States? Oh, these palaces where sports are played are flying up all over, but what they really seem to be are just a bunch of luxury boxes that happen to be attached to a few hard grandstand seats. The profit in sports comes by selling luxury boxes to expense accounts and swells.
Take me up to the lux'ry box,
Take me off from the crowd,
Give me some champagne and caviar,
I don't care if they even keep score.
Let me call, call, call for the waitress,
If she won't come, it's a pox,
For it's one, two, three kinds of wine
At the old lux'ry box.
And, boy -- have you peasants ever been in one? -- are luxury boxes wonderful. Heh, heh, heh. The booze, the fine food, the service, the private, uh, powder rooms. Best of all -- especially at a freezing cold football game -- is deigning to glance down upon the poor hoi polloi, just outside your luxury box -- their lips blue, their bodies shivering, as they look back at you with wistful, longing eyes, like poor urchins at the window of the pastry shop. It's glorious! Being in a luxury box is better even than not having to pay any estate tax.
Isn't it paradoxical, too? Sports are supposed to be for the masses, yet you will not find luxury boxes at the opera or the ballet. Even when you get a house seat on Broadway -- that's all you get: a seat. Just a place to rest your backside. Only in sports do we generally find plush, sumptuous, lavish condominium accommodations.
So can you believe it? There is actually a place in America today where humble citizens are fighting the construction of luxury boxes. Yes in Ann Arbor, Mich., home of what is called the Big House, the largest stadium in America, many alumni and professors of the University of Michigan are vigorously trying to persuade the Board of Regents not to approve the plans of the university president and athletic director to spend something like a quarter of a billion dollars to build 78 suites that would rent for up to $85,000 apiece for a mere seven college football games.
The Big House is a huge oval, and the luxury boxes -- totaling 425,000 square feet -- would do great aesthetic violence to the classic old bowl. Since the game-day pied-a-terres would cost so much to build, it's even dubious they can actually make the university any money --- and that, after all, is the whole purpose of luxury boxes.
So finally, somewhere in the Republic, the lowly common folk have risen up against the sports aristocracy. Let us, with them, give new voice to that great Michigan fight song, Hail to The Victors.
Hail! to the fat cats, dining,
Hail! to the privileged gentry
Hail, hail to the luxury box,
The poshest and the best.
Hail! to the nouveau, drinking,
Hail! to the high-hat blue bloods,
Hail! hail! to the luxury box,
The measure of success.
The Regents vote is set for this Friday.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/frank_deford/07/18/stadiums/index.html
Upvote
0
hawaiianbuckeye
Where's YOUR Gold Pants?
"Many Michigan alumni and professors don't want luxury boxes to ruin the aesthetics of the Big House"
Aesthetics? Are you kidding me?
HAYN
Aesthetics? Are you kidding me?
HAYN
Upvote
0
horseshoe1
All-American
Nothing short of a "BIG BIG" bomb will improve that shithouse.
I have been in all but 2 of the big ten stadiums and the shithouse is the worst by far.
But on a brighter side, in my opinion it does rank higher than it's fans.
I have been in all but 2 of the big ten stadiums and the shithouse is the worst by far.
But on a brighter side, in my opinion it does rank higher than it's fans.
Upvote
0
cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
Just to be devil's advocate here--Michigan Stadium was a reaction to Ohio Stadium. They had ten years to figure out how to get more seats into what is basically the same footprint and they did it. A bowl simply works better than a shoe. If the seating is any tighter than where I usually end up in the shoe I'd be surprised.
No one is asking, but frankly OSU could have done better than the current renovation. There was little to no attempt to bring capacity up to potential so that more alums could get tickets, but there was vast appeal (read Big Donor money) for retaining the site and shoe configuration. (and as long as the people making the decision got to sit in luxury boxes and gaze down on the peasants, who cared?)
Michigan Stadium remains one of the hallmark stadiums in the nation, bigger than the LA Coliseum, and any site in the SEC. It is a plus for the conference.
No one is asking, but frankly OSU could have done better than the current renovation. There was little to no attempt to bring capacity up to potential so that more alums could get tickets, but there was vast appeal (read Big Donor money) for retaining the site and shoe configuration. (and as long as the people making the decision got to sit in luxury boxes and gaze down on the peasants, who cared?)
Michigan Stadium remains one of the hallmark stadiums in the nation, bigger than the LA Coliseum, and any site in the SEC. It is a plus for the conference.
Upvote
0
My first trip to AA I was blown away... at how unimpressive their stadium was. Not just sound, but it was so short upon approach. Inside, there was history and tradition, but it was a very underwhelming experience.
This pressbox/etc is a huge step in the right direction, and makes it into more of a real stadium. The models look excellent and get UM closer to where it belongs as part of their tradition and The Rivalry.
This pressbox/etc is a huge step in the right direction, and makes it into more of a real stadium. The models look excellent and get UM closer to where it belongs as part of their tradition and The Rivalry.
I'd be curious how much they could consistently fill these days... as well as how many seats would be added by double/triple-decking the island seats.
Upvote
0
Buckeye86
I do not choose to discuss it
cincibuck;1187134; said:
I am no donor, much less a big donor, but I would have been super pissed if they did away with the horseshoe design in order to increase seating capacity by a few thousand seats (or for any other reason) and I imagine I am far from alone in that feeling.
Leave the squabbling about who can cram more asses into seats to Michigan and Penn State.
Upvote
0
TheIronColonel
Hall of Fame
Honestly, I'm not too thrilled that there is no longer an open end of the stadium, but they did the best they could with what they had available.
I see AA going the same way. I have yet to visit, but it kind of reminds me of what they did to Lambeau - extend the bowl upwards with luxury boxes. Assuming all the scaffolding in those pictures gets filled with press and luxury boxes (and not just that shitty little old looking box in front of the scaffolding), it might look pretty nice.
I see AA going the same way. I have yet to visit, but it kind of reminds me of what they did to Lambeau - extend the bowl upwards with luxury boxes. Assuming all the scaffolding in those pictures gets filled with press and luxury boxes (and not just that shitty little old looking box in front of the scaffolding), it might look pretty nice.
Upvote
0
HailToMichigan
Maize and Blue Wahoo
That's what that's all for - luxury boxes mostly, and a bigger press box. The press has been bitching for years about that little one. Not scaffolding - steel structure.TheIronColonel;1187288; said:
Here's a link to some more pictures of the construction:
UM Stadium Renovation - a set on Flickr
You can see arches on the outside - those will eventually be brick. Some renderings:
Personally I like it - adds some badly needed appearance of size and an overall more college-y feeling to the outside of the stadium, and should improve the acoustics as well. I've always felt like we get a bad rap for the noise, because the stadium isn't steeply angled and has nothing to contain crowd noise. I'll keep telling myself that, don't worry. But adding giant walls around the sides ought to help with that.
Downside as I see it: Blocks off future expansion. I definitely feel like there's some team out there planning to outdo Michigan Stadium. Tennessee tried that and we simply used a small portion of the already-in-place footings surrounding the stadium to toss a couple rows and a couple extra thousand. Luxury boxes will block that from now on.
Upvote
0
jimotis4heisman
Banned
you realize its on the register of national historic places/sitescincibuck;1187134; said:
they had no choice basically...
Upvote
0
TheIronColonel
Hall of Fame
HTM, thanks for the renderings. It really reminds me strongly of the Lambeau renovation that was completed in 2004 ('03?). They extended the bowl upward slightly, added more facilities to the structure, etc.
Old:
New:
At any rate, I wouldn't be too worried about adding further seating. From the appearance of those renderings, they could add upper deck seating at the end of the field with no luxury boxes. It might be fugly, but you could always cram a few more asses in there.
Alternatively, the state of Michigan could go on a diet and decrease the width of the seats. I don't see that happening, though, since drinking away your blues is quickly becoming a mitten-state past time.
Old:
New:
At any rate, I wouldn't be too worried about adding further seating. From the appearance of those renderings, they could add upper deck seating at the end of the field with no luxury boxes. It might be fugly, but you could always cram a few more asses in there.
Alternatively, the state of Michigan could go on a diet and decrease the width of the seats. I don't see that happening, though, since drinking away your blues is quickly becoming a mitten-state past time.
Upvote
0