Kids, fans have good 'Experience' before watching loss at Crisler

At 11 o'clock on a hot Saturday morning, dozens of young kids ran through the gates and into the carnival-like atmosphere of the "Michigan Experience."

These children scampered through the empty parking lot just east of the tunnel leading into Michigan Stadium. They bounced on a moonwalk and attached themselves to walls with Velcro body suits. There were even trees to provide shade for the parents.

The Experience preceded the showing of the Michigan-Notre Dame football game on Crisler Arena's newly-refitted scoreboards.

The kids' event was free and open to the public, while the showing of the game was free for students and $10 for the general public.

ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily Ypsilanti's Matt Brown (right), 12, knocks down men's gymnastics team junior Tim Dehr at the Michigan Experience outside Crisler Arena on Saturday. The Experience featured representatives from many Michigan teams.

The many student athletes present at the event thrilled the kids.

Athletes walked around and met the fans, helped out with the games or signed autographs under a large tent.

"All teams that aren't traveling are here today," Tom Brooks, the sales promotion coordinator for the athletic department, said. "It's a big P.R. vehicle. We want to create a lot of awareness for all of our sports."

With some of the high-revenue sport athletes on the road, most of the attention was centered on lesser-publicized sports and the athletes who participate in them.

Along with meeting the athletes and receiving their autographs, the kids could choose from a large assortment of free posters and schedules featuring the teams.

"It's a great experience to affiliate the sports with the fans," said Stacey Thomas, a junior on the women's basketball team. "It's a great chance to learn about the sports and the people."

Also open to the public was Michigan Stadium and children were allowed to run through the tunnel into the stadium. After a summer of construction, the University used the opportunities to show off its newly remodeled stadium to the public.

The most-anticipated features of the new stadium are the two huge scoreboards with replay screens.

In addition to the screens, the new boards will show updated stats.

The new sound system thundered away while the highlight tape from last year's national championship season was played on the video screens.

"It's very good," 6-year-old Evan Althouse from Chelsea said.

"I can't wait," said Evan's eight-year-old brother, Drew, said. The two will be going to the games this season, Drew said.

The screens used on the scoreboards are the same type of screens used to show Saturday's football game to more than 3,000 spectators watching in Crisler Arena.

The attendance wasn't the 10,000 people that the athletic department had expected, but the lack of attendance wasn't a problem. A large part of the crowd was made up of first-year students.

The spectacle of Michigan coaches giving speeches on the newly refinished basketball floor and the presence of the alumni band and the cheerleaders helped turn the event into a success.

Now, if only the football team had won ...

09-08-98