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Record-breakingcrowd shows upfor hockey game

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December 16, 2010Heritage Media

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Big Chill sets bigrecords

Organizers were hopingthat the Big Chill at the BigHouse would be able to setthe record for most people inattendance for a hockey game.

On Saturday though, theBig Chill folks got more thanthey bargained for.

The old record, which wasset on May 7, 2010 at VeletinsArena in Germany when theUSA played Germany in theIIHF World Championship,was 77,803.

As expected, the Big Chill

completely shattered thatmark, setting the new recordat 113,411.

The mark was not only anew world record for peopleattending a hockey game, butit was also a new Big Houserecord.

The 113,411 hockey fansbeat the current Big Houserecord of 113,09, which wasset earlier this year when theWolverine football team tookon Connecticut. The game wasalso the rededication of therenovated Big House.

The Big Chill also set therecord for most people inattendance for any NCAAevent.

A poor homecomingfor Palmisano

Michigan State goaltenderDrew Palmisano, who is anAnn Arbor native, didnthave great luck playing in hishometown on Saturday for theBig Chill.

After receiving the CCHAGoaltender of the Week honorearlier this season, Palmisanohad a really rough time play-ing in the Big House.

The Spartans juniorgoaltender allowed five goalson 29 shots as the MichiganWolverines defeated MichiganState 5-0.

Palmisano fell to 6-8-3 inwith the loss.

Huron basketball isthe team to beat

Most basketball fansaround the area could tell youthat the Ann Arbor Huronboys basketball team is anearly favorite to win the ClassA state championship thisseason (having almost yourentire team returning fromlast seasons state runnerup will do that...). But in lastFridays edition of the DetroitFree Press, the team got apretty big vote of confidencefrom sports writer MickMcCabe.

McCabe picked Huron asthe No. 1 high school boysbasketball team in the state,leading his Top 20.

Rounding out the topfive were Lansing Eastern,Kalamazoo Central, DetroitSoutheastern and Romulus.

McCabe further honoredthe River Rats by pickingDante Williams and A.J.Mathew as two of the bestplayers in the state.

Williams was picked as theNo. 13 player and Mathew wasNo. 18 as they both crackedMcCabes list of the top 100players.

Technical fouls hauntGabriel Richard

Technical fouls are nor-mally given when a player or

a coach loses his head, buton Friday night, the GabrielRichard got not just one, buttwo technical fouls withoutanyone losing their cool.

The technical fouls weregiven because...well...techni-calities.

In the first quarter,Richards Luther Page gotTd up after he took the floorwearing No. 30 instead of No.34, which was the number theroster stated hed be wearing.

Then, late in the game, theIrish got another tech whenKamiari Davis entered thegame unaware that he hadalready fouled out of thecontest.

If looks couldBig Chill at the Big House

chillPhoto by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL

A record-breaking crowd of 113,411 packed Michigan Stadium Saturday for the Big Chill at the Big House. Michigan beat Michigan State 5-0 in the contest,which set the Guinness World Record for attendance at an outdoor hockey game.

Quickhits

Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL

Michigan goalie Bryan Hogan leads the Wolverines beneath the M Club banner and on to theice. The M Club banner is a staple at the Big House, as the football team runs beneath it andon to the field before every home game.

By Mike LarsonA2 Journal

The Germans never saw it

coming.After holding the GuinnessWorld Record for largest atten-dance at an ice hockey gamesince May, the Ger mans coulddo nothing Saturday as theirrecord was smashed like theinside of a bratwurst.

The Big Chill at the BigHouse, the hockey gamebetween Michigan andMichigan State, which wasplayed Saturday on an outdoorrink in Michigan Stadium,was expected to set the newrecord, but the amount ofpeople who showed up for thegame exceeded even the wild-est of expectations.

113,411 hockey fans showedup for the game at the BigHouse, eclipsing the old

Guinness mark of 77,803,which was set on May 7 ofthis year in Germany dur-ing the 2010 IIHF WorldChampionship game againstthe USA and Germany.

The attendance seemed toeven eclipse the actual game,which Michigan won, 5-0.

This is just amazing, tosee this many people in oneplace, said University of

Michigan sophomore GeoffWinstern. Its one thing to seehuge crowds at football games,but you expect to see the Big

House full for football. But fora hockey game? Its definitelya great experience. Ill remem-ber this forever.

In addition to setting anew Guinness record, thegame also, perhaps even moreimpressively, set a new BigHouse record.

The 113,411 narrowly beatthe old Michigan Stadiumrecord of 113,090, which wasset at Michigans home-open-ing football game againstConnecticut earlier this sea-son. The game also marked therededication of the stadiumafter lengthy renovations.

This kind of event reallyshines a spotlight on theUniversity of Michigan andAnn Arbor, Carla Mitchem

of Ann Arbor said. I won-dered how it would work outwhen I heard about it. I knewpeople would show up for agame against Michigan andMichigan State, but I wasntsure if they would pack thestadium. I was wrong. Theplace was definitely packed.The day of the game had aunique, but familiar feel.

Irish overpowered

Richard canthandle Flint PowersBy Mike LarsonA2 Journal

Gabriel Richard basketballcoach Pete Schoch is a firmbeliever in scheduling difficultopponents.

This practice was verynoticeable Friday night in theGreen House as the FightingIrish hosted 2009s Class B statechampion, Flint Powers.

Richard never led in thegame, as the team fell to thevisiting Chargers 63-49.

Ill put our schedule up

against anyone in the state,Schoch said. We want to chal-lenge ourselves in every gamewe play. We want to play sched-ule that makes us better.

The Irish kept the game closefor the majority of the contest,but Powers pulled away late inthe game to seal the win.

I thought we did a lot ofgood things, Schoch said.Obviously we have somethings to work on, but I thoughtwe had some high notes too.

One of the things the Irishwill have to work on in the

future is free throws.Richard was just 7-of-16 from

the line, while Powers was 26-of-33.Schoch said that it was clear

his team needed to do bettershooting free throws, but thathis squad could also learn fromthe Chargers when it comes togetting to the line.

(Powers) has some experi-enced players and they knowhow to drive and draw contact,the coach said. Our guys are alittle younger, and they are stilllearning. I hope that by the timethey are seniors, they are doingthose same things too.

Powers started the game ona 7-0 run, but Richard stormedback, closing the gap to trail by

Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL

Gabriel Richards Luther Page takes the ball to the basketFriday against Flint Powers. Despite scoring 22 points, Pagecouldnt lift the Irish past the Chargers.

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Its almost like a footballSaturday in the winter,Mitchem said. Its different,but its kind of the same. Itsweird.

Ann Arbor did have a footballgame feel to it on Saturday,as fans flocked to MichiganStadium from all directions.

The parking lot at PioneerHigh School was packed withcars, ticket scalpers and park-ing attendants were out in fullforce.

The only difference was thatpeople were dressed in winterhats, thick jackets and hockeysweaters, rather than the fallattire usually designated forfootball season.

The temperature was just 41degrees when the puck dropped,making it a pretty chilly affair.

It was cold, but I didnt real-ly notice it, Winstern said. Ithink when you get that manypeople in one place, it doesntseem quite so bad.

The game also offered some-thing most hockey fans never

get to see: fireworks.After every goal scored, fire-works that were set up aroundthe field launched in a showingof brilliant color and smoke.

Then, after the game hadfinished and after the sun hadgone down, the remaining fanswere treated to a full-fledgedfireworks display set to music.

The players also checked outthe fireworks, with some kneel-ing on the ice to watch the show.

It was pretty cool, freshmandefenseman Jon Merrill said.Its something you dont get tosee every day, so we wanted tostay and watch.

Merrill got to see some fire-works earlier in the day too,when he scored a pair of goalsfor the Wolverines.

Its always great to score, hesaid. But to score in such a biggame is huge.

Huge is right.Big goals in the Big House for

the Big Chill. It doesnt get anymore huge than that.

Mike Larson can be reachedby email at Mlarson@A2Journal.

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By Mike LarsonA2 Journal

The Big Chill lived up to itsname in more than one way.

On Saturday, MichiganStadium played host to a rivalhockey team and a record-breaking crowd of over 113,000fans.

The game was big and it waschilly out, so the event, whichpicked up its moniker from a1983 movie about former U of Mstudents, was very aptly named.

That part of the games storyis obvious.

Of course it was going tobe big. It sold out MichiganStadium, for Schembechlerssake! Organizers were surethat, even if the weekendssnow storm came early, theevent more than likely shatterthe Guinness World Record forpeople watching an ice hockeygame.

As it happened, the snow held

off and the Big Chill obliteratedthe old record by more than35,000.

In other words, on Saturday,if US Census estimates are tobe relied on, Ann Arbor becamethe second biggest city inMichigan by population, trail-ing only Detroit.

The word big might noteven be enough to describe it.

But like I said, that part ofthe story was obvious.

The part of the story thatmight not be so obvious washow big this was for theUniversity of Michigan and theathletic department in particu-lar.

Sure, it was huge that thisevent, a game that received

national attention from mediaoutlets like The Wall StreetJournaland USA Today, wentoff without a hitch.

Surely, after the game, theorganizers felt some relief atmaking such a grand spectaclenot only come to fruition, butalso having made it shine inthe regional and national spot-lights.

But thats not even the big-gest positive thing that the BigChill brought those lovers ofthe gold block M.

This game, even if it wasjust for an afternoon, madeMichigan sports relevant again.

Im not saying that thenational media doesnt careabout the Wolverines in other

GENERALADMISSION

MIKE

LARSON

just a field goal, 12-10 at the endof the first quarter.

Powers jumped out toanother big lead in the secondquarter, opening the frame witha 10-0 run to take a 22-10 lead.

However, Richard would notback down.

The Irish got baskets fromLuther Page and Kamari Davisto make the score 22-16, but

Powers still managed to hold onto a 28-19 lead at the half.

The Fighting Irish had theirbest showing in the in the thirdquarter, outscoring Powers15-14.

In fact, at one point, Richardwhittled the lead down to justfour points, 37-33.

But once again, Powersrefused to give up the lead.

The Chargers, led by a hugeperformance by Division 1 col-lege prospect Javonte Hawkins,built the lead back up and neverrelinquished it.

They have a very goodteam, Schoch said. And it was

a good first game for us. Thereare things the players and thecoaches need to do to get better,but Im happy with the effort.

Richard was led by Page, whoscored a game-high 22 points.

Other Irish scorers wereDavis with nine points, RyanJenkins with eight, Evan Foshawith five, Miles Lockridge withthree and Darren Washingtonand Mike Meyers each with afree throw.

Hawkins led the way forPowers with 19 points, includ-ing a 7-for-10 stint from the free

throw line.Vince Adams had 16 points

for the Chargers while PierreBrackett added 13.

Richard had a great team,Powers coach Tim Hermansaid. They play a tough styleof basketball. No matter howhard we tried, they kept comingafter us. They are going to besuccessful this season.

With the win, Powersimproves to 2-0 on the season,while Richard falls to 0-1.

Mike Larson can be reachedby email at Mlarson@A2Journal.com.

Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL

Gabriel Richards DarrenWashington clamps down ondefense against Pierre Brackett ofFlint Powers. Powers defeated theIrish, winning the game 63-49.

Big Chill sets Big House standard

sports, but lets face the facts,Michigan hasnt been the powerit has been in recent years.

Regardless of what any hard-headed alumni, RichRod apolo-gists or Wolverine superfanswant to tell you, the Michiganfootball program is in trouble.If its not in shambles now, itwill be soon.

By the standard set afteryears and years of success, thisseason fell short.

Sure, the Wolverines aregoing to a bowl. Of course, itsa bowl nobody cares about,against a team that most casualsports fans know of only as afootnote in the Cam Newton

recruiting scandal.The Michigan football team

also become somewhat of a jokein the Big Ten. With the excep-tion of a win against Wisconsinlast season, the only conference

teams Michigan has been ableto beat are the doormats.The team has lost three

games in a row to MichiganState and they have lost 9 ofthe last 10 games to Ohio State,including the last seven in arow.

So much for rivalries, eh?But on Saturday, the

Wolverine hockey teamhad a chance to prove thatMichigan was still there, thatthe Wolverines werent goingto get rolled by a quality oppo-nent every time they played inMichigan Stadium.

The Michigan hockey teamput on a clinic against MichiganState, winning 5-0 in a gamethat featured some of the bestcollegiate hockey players in thecountry.

The team rose to the chal-lenge of playing not onlyagainst a big rival, but a bigrival that was actually good.

Sure, there are detractorsout there that will go on and onabout how, hockey isnt a big

deal, and that, hockey doesntcount, or it, isnt one of thebig sports.

Whatever. Losers say a lot ofthings in order to justify losing.Wolverine fans know that better

than anyone these days.But those detractors are

wrong. Hockey is a big deal, andit was a huge deal on Saturday.

That hockey team provedto the 113,000 plus fans thatshowed up in the freezing cold,that there was still a reason tocheer for the maize and blueand to sing The Victors asloud as possible.

For an afternoon, theMichigan Wolverines and theirfans got to experience greatnessin the Big House once again.

Lets all hope that the experi-ence wasnt a one-time onlything.

Lets hope that an ice rinkdoesnt have to be erected inMichigan Stadium in order for

the Wolverine faithful to walkout of the building satisfied.The Big Chill was a big deal.

But Michigans ascension backto glory off of the ice would beso much bigger.

Mike Larson can be reachedby email at Mlarson@A2Journal.com.

Photo by Greg Shamus/A2 JOURNAL

Michigan hockey player celebrate after a goal, while the crowd of over 113,000 looks on.

Photo by Greg Shamus/A2

JOURNAL

A Michigan hockey playerjumps to touch the M Clubbanner Saturday at the BigChill.

Huron rocksSalem, FGR falls

GIRLS BASKETBALL

By Mike LarsonA2 Journal

Its always nice when an

underclassman can show hermettle.

The Huron girls basketballteam got to witness that first-hand Friday night when theytook on Plymouth Salem.

Sophomor Sara Golidayscored 14 points and grabbednine rebounds and the RiverRats bested the Rocks in AnnArbor.

In addition to Golidayscareer night, Kelcy Barottalso had a good game. Barottscored 18 points, snatchednine rebounds and swiped fivesteals.

Devin Talley added 13 pointsfor the Rats to round out

Hurons double digit scorers.Salem had a slim 23-20 edgeat the halftime break, butHuron outscored the Rocks 17-10 in the third quarter to takethe lead.

Brianna Berberdt added 21

points to lead the Rocks.Huron is now 2-1 on the sea-

son.

Warren Regina 58Gabriel Richard 42

After a hot start, the GabrielRichard Fighting Irish couldntkeep up their momentumagainst Warren Regina Fridaynight on the road.

Richard took a 14-8 lead atthe end of the first quarter, butRegina marched right back inthe Catholic League contest.

In the end, Regina took thegame 58-42.

Sarah Falvey added 20 pointsfor the Irish, but it just wasntenough as the Gabriel Richardteam struggled on defense.

Other Irish scorers wereAngela Broggi with eight,

Maura Dunleavy with four,Mary Yocum and AlyssaRawski each with three andJessica Jenkins and TaylorHinkson each with two.

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Pioneer stuns Holt,Skyline falls flat

BOYS BASKETBALL

By Mike LarsonA2 Journal

The Pioneer basketball team

brought the defense on Fridaynight when the team faced offagainst Holt.

The Pioneers held the Ramsto just 31 percent shooting fromthe floor in a 60-44 win in AnnArbor.

Holt jumped out to a slimlead in the first quarter, takinga 10-8 advantage.

However, in the secondquarter, Pioneer started to pullaway, outscoring the visitingRams 19-10 to take a 27-20 leadat halftime.

In the second half, thePioneers continued to play well,breaking out to win the game60-44.

Jeremiah Strode scored agame-high 15 points to lead

the Pioneers, while AnthonyHugan added 14.

Holt was led by Tim Scottwith 13 points and Daniel

Middleton with 12.With the win, Pioneerimproves to 2-0 on the season.

Plymouth 62Skyline 46

The Skyline Eagles kept thegame close for awhile in theirFriday night home openeragainst Plymouth, but in theend, the Wildcats were just toomuch.

After Skyline closed the firsthalf with a 23-19 lead, Plymouthused an 18-7 run in the thirdquarter to break away.

The Eagles were never able torecover, as the Wildcats nevergave up the lead after that.

Theron Wilson had 18 points

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