Mike Alexander stands with his football helmet collection, worth between $4,000 and $5,000 dollars, outside Pioneer High School.
Ben Freed | AnnArbor.com
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On a football Saturday in Ann Arbor, tailgaters gather from all over the state, the region, the country and the world.
Spread out across neighborhoods, golf courses, and the Pioneer High School parking lot, partiers gather with food, drinks, music and televisions to celebrate Michigan football. AnnArbor.com capture these vignettes before Saturday's home opener against Central Michigan University.
Helmets galore:
Mike Alexander’s helmet collection looks like it would be more at home in a museum than at a tailgate.
“I started bringing the helmets down two years ago, and we’re undefeated at home since then, so I’ll keep bringing ‘em until they lose,” he said.
Alexander, from Swartz Creek, said he first fell in love with Michigan because of Bob Ufer, the beloved Michigan football radio announcer who died in 1981, Alexander has been coming to every home game for the past 12 years.
Set up in front of the food and televisions, his helmet collection spans generations of Michigan teams, and Alexander estimates it’s likely worth between $4,000 and $5,000, though he says some of the helmets are irreplaceable.
“I can’t pick a favorite, they’re all so great,” he said. “Just the winged helmet. It’s so unique. It really stands alone.”
The helmets are just a small part of a Michigan collection that Alexander said contains a large number of model cars, model trucks, bobbleheads, clocks and other Michigan memorabilia.
“I wouldn’t dare say how much my full collection is worth. At least not in front of my wife,” he said.
“It just keeps growing and growing. It’s usually better for me to ask for forgiveness after buying something than permission to do it beforehand.”
On Lord Vader’s orders
Jon Leopold shows off his Stormtrooper outfit outside Pioneer High School before the Michigan football game Saturday.
Ben Freed | AnnArbor.com
For the last 10 years, Leopold has been attending home games dressed as a "Star Wars" Stormtrooper and eight years ago he gave the outfit a full maize and blue makeover.
“I come to about half of the home games in the outfit,” he said through a microphone that filters his voice to make him sound like an actual character from the George Lucas movies.
“We’ve never lost a game that I’ve come to as a Stormtrooper.”
In addition to home games, Leopold, who works for Ford Motor Company, also takes the outfit to Mott Children’s Hospital to entertain patients.
“It’s a lot of fun interacting with the kids, I’ll be going back and doing it again later in September,” he said.
Leopold said he won’t be able to attend the Notre Dame game next week due to a wedding, but he’s hoping that the outfit’s good luck will rub off on the team when he attends the official pep rally Friday night.
“It’s the first time I’ve done something official with the athletic department,” he said. “So that should be a lot of fun."
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Get in touch with Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2