Want to Watch the Michigan Spring Game?

March 29, 2008 /

UPDATE 4/12/08: Full Spring Game 2008 coverage, click here

Of course you do. There’s still no word from Michigan’s official site, but the Saline Reporter is confirming that the 2008 Michigan Spring football game will indeed be played on April 12th at 1:30pm at Saline High School. The game is closed to the public as at best 10,000 fans could squeeze into the site and you’d have to expect crazy demand to get a peek at Coach Rod’s new offense and defense.

It looks like it will be televised on the Big Ten Network, but some folks will get a first hand view of the goings on. Per the Reporter:

While many members of the Saline athletic department, school system and athletics teams will be able to attend, White said that attendance issues would ultimately be left up to Michigan and the U of M athletic department.

Many of you have already racked your noggin on how to get in, perhaps calling in favors with friends in Saline or within the athletic department. Forget any ideas of sneaking in with the equipment truck or waving a clip board as security will be tight.

To save you some effort, I took a trip up to Saline and cased the joint. It’ll be interesting to see how the University manages the flow of traffic in and around the high school, but the Saline campus is a big place. I doubt they’ll shut down any unauthorized traffic into the campus but even if they do, there’s way too many ways to get close to prevent a wily fan from getting a good look. Here’s a breakdown of the best options:

A. North Treeline:

The fence protecting the north end is twenty feet above the field and is lined with tall trees. If you weasel back there you can get a good look at the game from the fence, or, if you’re a good outdoorsman you can rig up a tree stand and really get a good look.

B. Climbing Wall:

The school put in a big time climbing structure on the east side of the field, the shape of which was no doubt inspired by a Stars Wars jawa sandcrawler. If you are man enough to a) hop the fence surrounding the structure, b) climb to the top, well friend…you’ve got yourself a great seat atop the 50 foot box. If you can’t make it you might find a good deal on a R2 unit. Can’t wait until Barwis gets a look at this thing.

C. East Fence:

Between the climbing wall and the field is the east fence. You can get a great look from here from just outside one of the ticket booths.

D. South Fence:

Probably my favorite spot, just beyond the small parking lot on the south side of the field is a fence that provides a great vantage point to the action. Like the east side, this view is just outside a ticket booth so will also likely be considered fair game for eager fans.

Option X: The Water Tower:

While not shown on the map, if you’ve got the stones to scale the Saline water tower you just might get a look at the game. Bring your binoculars and have your lawyer on speed dial, because you’ll be off to the clink after the cops force you to come down. But at least you’ll have had a taste of the sweet, succulent nectar of forbidden fruit.

Related:
* Spring Game 2007 recap and photos
* Watch the game with Charter!

 

 

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5 Comments

  • Tim

    March 30, 2008 at 9:24 am

    I don’t think they’ll be militant about making sure fans can’t see, but the Michigan AD just wants to not have to deal with overcapacity crowds actually in the stadium, what to do with revenue from selling tickets (lots of NCAA red tape since it’s at a high school), etc.

    Also, I bet they’re hoping that telling fans it isn’t opened to the public will stop a lot of people from even trying to watch, smoothing out the traffic, crowd, and other such issues.

  • Scott

    April 2, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    Those were my thoughts as well, Tim. That said, I’m still very tempted to make the 10 minute trek down from A2.

  • anon

    April 8, 2008 at 2:29 pm

    This is from an e-mail I got from BTN concerning the Spring Game:

    Hi ******,

    We will not be airing Michigan’s spring football practice/scrimmage on April 12th in entirety. The practice is taking place a local high school field and though we would love to be able to air or stream the event, we will not be able to do so.

    However, our crews will be there and Big Ten Tonight will broadcast highlights and interviews from the event.

    Thanks for your interest in BTN!

    –Big Ten Network

  • mike

    April 18, 2010 at 3:36 pm

    What was the final score of the game? I’m kind of a Michigan football junkie and like to write down the spring game scores.