The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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have a new band director, John Pasquale, who has been the hockey band director for years and moved up to the head football director this year. "He's got some fantastic ideas that we're going to be executing, starting with the home opener on Aug. 31. I think our fans are really going to notice a change in the band performance, at halftime in particular, but throughout the game as well. It's his show now." Short of giving out a playlist, Lochmann is very interested in sending out a heads-up to music-oriented football fans. "Be prepared for a fun and different halftime show," he promised. Plenty of anticipation surrounds Michigan's Sept. 6 night game against Notre Dame. The Wolverines set the bar pretty high the last time around, scoring 28 fourth-quarter points in racing back to a 35-31 win, capped by a game-winning touchdown pass from Denard Robinson to Roy Roundtree with two seconds remaining. That electric game-end scenario set an NCAA-record crowd of 114,804 ablaze, igniting a celebration that carried far into the night. Brady Hoke doesn't want the Wolverines to wait around that long to score points again, but game promoters wouldn't mind a repeat of the fireworks in some fashion. Lochmann noted U-M has many giveaways planned for the game, including the pom-pons that "looked so majestic" two years ago, but is adding an LED bracelet to help light up the night. "Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is helping to fund that night, so you're going to have almost the entire stadium with those lit-up LED bracelets," he said. "It's going to create a really neat atmosphere." The game itself can obviously help in that vein, he noted. But he believes Michigan-Notre Dame 2011 doesn't have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "I feel pretty confident that not only are we going to match it, we're going to exceed it," he said. "The game in 2011 completely cooperated. That was one of the top moments of my career. It was just so much fun to be a part of that. "But honoring Tom Harmon as a legend that night will be incredibly special. His is the last number that we're honoring as a legend for the foreseeable future. It's going to be something, everything that's lined up for him. "I can't give away too much, but there are a lot of bells and whistles planned for that game. It's going to be a special night." Meanwhile, the federal government sequester issues are going to curtail significantly Michigan's ability to bring military flyovers to the stadium atmosphere. They won't be eliminated, but they'll be scaled back, according to Lochmann. Oh, and as for "Rocket Man," Lochmann didn't promise a return, but acknowledged that sort of display as an example of the high-flying entertainment that could always appear at the stadium. "That was awesome," he said. "I