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10B- Kickoff - Friday, September 5, 2008
Michigan
130hSeasonQ Depth Chart
Gt50% Off Ticket~s vs.
for the exdusive US presentation oftheworkthat Miami (Ohio)
Friday, September 5, 2008 - Kickoff - 3B
Big House fans can take comfort
in story ofBrazils Maracana
DEFENSE
DE
NT
1. B. Graham
2. R. Van Bergen
1. T. Taylor
2. M. Martin
IW.Johnson
2 R Sagesse
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Michigan Sta-
dium is The Big House. It's a fitting title for the
now106,201-seat cathedral of college football.
Double that capacity, and you have the Mara-
cana.
Rio's stadium once held more than 200,000
fans, but renovations to fit standards for inter-
national competition have eliminated a Michi-
gan Stadium worth of fans.
The most recent construc
tion, which ended in 2007,
dropped the capacity to
95,000. Wolverine fans,
with their similarly iconic
stadium under construe-
tion,musttoofacethe pres-
sures of modern athletics.
The capacity constraints IAN
haven't bothered soccer ROBINSON,
fans in Rio. They still act as
if their stadium is the big-
gest and best in the world, speaking about it the
same way they recall their first love - and for
many, theyare one and the same.
"Even if it isn't the biggest anymore, it was
once," said Adriano Albuquerque, a sports writ-
er in Rio. "And since most of the structure is still
the same, fans still feel like, if we just squeezed
everybody in it, we could probably get 200,000
inside again. The way it echoes and rocks when
at full capacity also makes Brazilians feel like it
couldn't happen like that in any other stadium
in the world."
Brazil, the world's fifth-largest country, is
famous for samba, beaches and Carnival. But
nothing unites Brazilians like soccer. And the
most famous and beloved shrine of the game is
Maracana. Originally built fox the 1950 World
Cup final and set to host the final again in 2014,
it has hosted Pele, Pope John Paul II, Paul
Mceartney and The Police - and those are just
the Ps.
Before the modernizations, every seat at
Maracana was a bleacher. In a country with
some of the widest economic inequality in the
world, soccer fans were proud of the equality
they represented.
"It is the most democratic place in the city,"
Albuquerque said. "You'll find a wide range of
characters, from rich guys, to the poorest men,
to women, to children in the bleachers."
Now, backed seats have replaced all the
bleachers. Suites circle the top of the stadium. 5, R
A massive press box dominates one side of the
field. And the areas behind the goals, where
hooligans essentially had free reign, have been
removed.
Though other stadiums have knocked Mara-
cana from its place as the largest stadium in the
world,"they haven't altered how Brazilians think
of their stadium.
Albuquerque remembers when, as a 10-year
old, he had the opportunity to walk on to the
field before a game. It was the first time he saw
it full.
"The crowd partying loudly as the team
walked toward midfield to salute the fans, it
was wild," he said. "Heart racing, the green-
est of grass, sun in the sky, lots of cut-up paper
and rolls of paper being thrown to the air in
the stands, lots of flags waving, colored smoke.
I could barely look at the camera of my mom's
friend as he tried to register the moment in pho-
tos. And that stadium, from the ground, looks
even more gigantic - imagine from the per-
spective of aio-year old." TOP: COURTE$Y OF GUIGO VILHENA, BOTTOM: IAN ROBINSON/Daily
Michigan Stadium holdsa similar place in Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil used to pack in 200,000 people. Now, it
See ROBINSON, Page 9B holds just 95,000. Even with the changes, the atmosphere and status haven't changed.
DE 1. T. Jamison
2. G. Banks
1. J. Mouton .
WL 2. M. Evans
M L B 1. 0. Ezeh
2. J. Thompson
SLB
LCB
FS
1. J. Thompson
or M. Evans
1. M. Trent
2. T. Woolfolk
1. S. Brown
2. M. Williams
. Threet 1. B. Harrison
4. Sheridan . 2. C. Stewart
McGuffie RCB 1 D. Waren
A. Shaw 2. B. Cissoko
. Minor
. Grady
. Brown
SPECIAL TEAMS
P KR PR
1. Z. Mesko 1. B. Harrison 1. D. Warren
2. B. Wright or M. Shaw 2. M. Odoms
or D. Stonum
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MONDAY, SEPT. 8
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Note: Depth chart as predicted by Daily football writers.