Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: ANN ARBOR, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
The crowd for Saturday's noon kickoff is expected to be one of the smallest at Michigan Stadium in the past two decades.
The bad news is that it still will exceed 100,000.
It is one of the most incredible streaks in college football history. Michigan has attracted 122 consecutive crowds of more than 100,000 at the mammoth bowl.
UVa coach George Welsh surely is more concerned about the size of the Wolverines on the line of scrimmage, but those 84 rows of maize and blue must be mighty intimidating, too.
The listed capacity of 102,501 is regularly eclipsed. Last season, in six home games, Michigan set an NCAA record with an AVERAGE attendance of 106,217.
The entire population of Ann Arbor would only overflow the place by 3,000. For 21 straight seasons, Michigan had led college football in attendance. The smallest crowd in 1994 was 105,624.
By comparison, UVa could sell out Scott Stadium twice and still have more than 20,000 seats to peddle to fill Michigan Stadium once.
How imposing is this place when it overflows? Well, page 398 of the NCAA football records book has a category, ``Largest regular-season crowds for games NOT played at Michigan.''
It has two entries of more than 100,000. Those were the 1967 and '68 Army-Navy games in Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy Stadium.
That's torn down.
It hasn't yet reached the point where the Big Ten power is blase about reaching six figures on the turnstiles, but there is a pressure to remain Goliath at the box office.
``Other athletic directors cringe when I say this, but my fear is that some day, we won't fill it,'' said Joe Roberson, just finishing his second year as Michigan's athletic director. ``Some people laugh when I say I worry we'll drop one day to 95,000, but a 10 percent drop is significant, no matter what number you start with.''
Adding in Saturday's nationally telecast game, almost 31 million spectators will have watched 412 games at Michigan Stadium since it was built in 1927. The next Michigan victory will be its 300th at the big bowl.
The reason for Saturday's smaller-than-usual gathering is that most of UM's 35,000 students haven't returned to campus. Classes don't begin until after Labor Day, and the usual student ticket allotment is more than 13,000.
The Pigskin Classic, which will be moved around the nation after being a flop in five years at Anaheim Stadium, is part of the Michigan season-ticket package. It is not on the student-ticket plan, however.
The Wolverines sell about 80,000 season tickets. The alumni base certainly is there. Consider that one in every 700 Americans has a Michigan degree.
``Our football attendance is something we shouldn't take for granted,'' Roberson said. ``Other schools would love to have that stadium. We're fortunate.''
Here's why. Last year, in six home games, the Wolverines' gross ticket receipts were $13.897 million. Not bad for a facility that cost $950,000 in the '20s.
Those crowds fund lots of non-revenue sports, not to mention impress high school prospects, who see themselves running down the tunnel, under the huge ``Go, Blue'' sign and into the baking sunlight and shaking stadium.
Even when it's empty as it was Thursday afternoon, the stadium is imposing only after it surrounds you. That's because spectators enter near the top.
``People walk up to the stadium on the exterior and say, "There's no way this holds 100,000,''' said Roberson, a gracious tour guide. ``That's because of where they're entering.''
That would be Row 72. Only 12 rows are above most exits, although because of the sloping terrain on one side of the bowl, there are some steps to be negotiated to get to that height on the player tunnel side.
Is it any wonder visiting teams feel like they're buried before kickoff?
What's incredible is that it seems it's always been like this. This season marks four decades since the expansion to more than 101,001 seats. The day it opened, Michigan Stadium already had 72,000 seats.
And make no mistake, this is Michigan Stadium, a FOOTBALL stadium, period. No track. No bleachers on the field. The only posts in the place are the goal posts.
There has never been a concert in the place. Graduations rarely are held there, except the one last year at which the First Lady spoke.
``We take some flak because we don't let anyone else use it,'' Roberson said. ``But we know that once we let something else in, then everyone will want in. We play six football games here a year. That's it.''
Michigan was a football school long before anyone heard of the Fab Five freshmen or even Cazzie Russell and Bill Buntin, for that matter. This stadium helps explain why.
Virginia will play at three of the 12 largest on-campus stadiums this season, later visiting Clemson and Texas. So, this game should be a worthwhile experience.
It may only be a season opener, but in one fashion for sure, this Pigskin Classic will be huge.
by CNB