I seem to remember recently that Michigan State worked with either Coke or Pepsi on a football tickets promotion which put their logo and home schedule on cans statewide. I believe it was 2007 when they played UAB. Working on finding visual backup.

My nightmare was trying to get in to Section 18. We lined up at 2:45 figuring we still had plenty of time, but it took nearly 35 minutes in line, in a line that extended back past the lines for 17, 16, or 15, to get in to Section 18. It did not make any sense, and I am worried that the sections by the four towers will now be very hard to get in to because there's just so much more traffic. I am willing to chalk this one up to first game issues, but if it keeps happening, I will definitely be letting Guest Services know.

Also, I enjoy that every photo I have ever seen, Mike Hart is making the same essential "woo" face.

The Brandon/MSC photo is giving me ideas for a CSI: Ann Arbor spinoff.

The one thing that makes me wonder about this is, let's say, for the sake of argument, this is it, and the Big Ten decides it needs a strong showing to end the season with divisional rivalry games. With this list, this gets us

East:
Michigan State-Penn State
Indiana-Purdue
Michigan-Illinois

West:
Minnesota-Wisconsin
Iowa-Nebraska
Ohio State-Northwestern

I find it absolutely stunning that this is the end game. Michigan and Ohio State trade each other for playing the Land of Lincoln rivals. Michigan-Illinois would have been a great end of season game...in 1924, but now, we're just convincing ourselves that this hollow shell is something better. Similarly, it would convince Illinois that we are their rival. I really don't like that idea.

Auburn and Alabama can never play for the SEC Championship, does that diminish the Iron Bowl? Tennessee and Florida can never play for the SEC Championship, does that diminish their September game?
Texas and Texas A&M can never play for the Big XIII title. Nor can Texas and Oklahoma, and yet somehow, the Big XII has done...OK, I would have said just fine, but, my point remains.

This just feels like the most suboptimal of any proposed alignment I have seen. Naturally it will be the one the Big Ten picks. At least put Michigan with Nebraska and Ohio State with Penn State. Blerg.

I also just saw the shields for the national championship teams inside the concourses of the stadium from my friend's Fan Day pictures, and it's clear that they really put some thought into the "heritage" celebration in the stadium. I like that.

I love the banners. They are crisp, clean, and give the right feel to Michigan's heritage about that. I would love to see those in the stadium concourses, but one thing at a time.

I have a theory, for what it is worth. Dave Brandon is test marketing this idea, just like he test marketed the new Domino's pizza. He's getting critical feedback on what matters to Michigan fans (and Ohio State fans. As I said, this may be the first thing that Michigan and Ohio State fans have ever agreed upon.) and he can take it back to the other ADs and to Jim Delany and say "Look, this is a dumb idea."

Because it's not just Michigan fans and Ohio State fans who feel this way. This is becoming an MSM thing and is being picked up by national writers. It's a trial balloon and it's savvy business. There's still time to fix this and to placate the masses by saying "We heard you!"

Also, additional benefit. Discussing this in this manner frames Michigan in a very positive long-time, big picture light. Michigan may be down at the moment, The Game may not have gone Michigan's way during the last decade, but it still matters. Brandon is focusing attention right now on Michigan, the brand, not Michigan, the 2010 football team. Given everything that has happened this week when that has been done, this is a smart CEO protecting his flagship brand.

I have no issues with this play. The Split M Michigan had been slowly moving away from a cleaner look from the 1990s to what was likely an easier to print one (seriously, I could do a blog post on it, but there's not enough time at the moment.). The Block M is a good choice. I do wonder if they're going to go with this at Yost, since it will be very hard to see a straight Maize M on the white ice.

Those are fantastic looking tickets. I can wait to have my pseudo-season package sent to me of the non-awesome tickets, but hey, I'll still have all 7 games.