The Big House & Big Mac

Michigan Icons

A few astute readers of Wolverine Café noticed that the photo of Michigan Stadium on the about me page is out of date. The photo has the Big House with the yellow ring, affectionately known as the halo, around the top of the stadium.

The halo was added in 1998 but was not very popular among Michigan fans. It was wisely removed from the stadium in 2000. See this link for a brief history of the stadium, as well as some old photos.

If anyone has a more recent aerial photo of the stadium, please send it to me or send me a link. I would be delighted to update the photo. I understand, though, that an updated aerial photo, taken on game day, may be difficult. Post 9/11 rules limit flights over stadiums.

I’ve also been asked about the design of the page. It should be obvious that I do not have a good eye for design, but there are a couple of themes I wanted to incorporate into the web page.

One theme is that I am, and always will be, a wolverine in both senses of the word. I have my degrees from the University of Michigan and, as Bob Ufer used to say, I bleed maize and blue.

I have also lived virtually all of my life in the State of Michigan. While my Spartan friends do not wish to admit it, Michigan is the Wolverine State.

But to avoid offending the Spartans, I chose a more generic, non-university icon for this web site. The Mackinac Bridge may be the state’s most widely recognized and accepted icon. Check out the bridge’s website for some beautiful photos of Big Mac, from all angles and during all seasons.