Maize Rage, fans give yourselves a round of applause UPDATED
UPDATE: It appears that the 12,701 attendance listed from last night's game was a typo. It is now listed as 12,707 sellout.
This season at Crisler Center, the Maize Rage and fans had some of the highest attendance numbers in history at this building.
- 14 of the 15 games this season were filled-to-capacity sellouts. That is the highest in the history of Crisler Center since the Maize Rage's inception in 1998-99.
- The average crowd was 12,698 this season. That is the highest since the Maize Rage's inception.
- In the last three seasons including this one alone, there were 37 combined sellouts. That is more than 1998-99 - 2010-11 COMBINED.
The home season might be over, but this basketball season is long from over for the players and the fans. Crisler has truly become one of the most feared places to play in this conference.
One has to think how Jordan Morgan feels about seeing this place go from a meh atmosphere to what it has become today. His true Freshman season, there were only 3 sellouts and a paltry average attendance of 11,725 in a then-13,751 seat Crisler Arena.
We have lost 4 games at home since 2010!
Now THAT is getting it done at home. I knew it was good -- but no idea it was THAT good!
It's since 2011, actually, but regardless, it's pretty damn impressive: 45-4 (.918) at home over the past three seasons.
IU last year and Arizona this year. We shouldn't have lost.
So... I guess the new claim period system worked?
The numbers: http://www.mgoblue.com/tickets/students-bkm-season-plan.html
No, it has not been about market strategy, but I will give you a hint. (Winning.)
The only games that weren't sellouts were Houston Baptist (understandable) at 12,579 and tonight just falling short at 12,701 (12,707 capacity).
Crazy... tickets were going for $200+ tonight on StubHub, yet there were 6 tickets that somehow didn't get sold...
I checked StubHub earlier and the prices were definitely up. What I'd like to know is how many of the tickests listed on StubHub actually sold on StubHub. Seeing so many available I expected to see more empty seats but it looked full.
Then again I assume most of the listed tickets were by brokers - they would have dumped them last minute on the street if necessary.
Maybe that's a typo. Before the game today, the big sign outside Crisler stated that the game was sold out.
I will say, it has been great to see Crisler packed most of the time thesr last few seasons as Michigan basketball has gone from getting better to pretty much awesome all around. Most of my years as an undergraduate coincided with the Ellerbe years, and I do remember some afternoons and nights when it was comparatively dead in comparison to the atmosphere you can experience now. The Maize Rage has been a significant part of that atmosphere being revolutionized as well.
We can thank Tommy A. for that. Trying to bring a little Cameron atmoshpere into Crisler. Give credit where it is due.
TA got the Maize Rage moved down around the lower bowl where they are currently set up now.
^This is what I meant.
It has even lead to "Maize Outs" at the Football games.
I remember going to a game (I think it was against OSU) and they were literally giving out tickets for the Northwestern game as people were leaving.
Now please translate to the Big House! Assuming the team will deserve sellouts this year...big if I suppose...
The TEAM will deserve sell outs. The question is will the schedule merit sell outs. The answer on the streets is trending toward NO.
than it has been in the past. I'd normally put Kohl/Breslin/Assembly as the top three toughest places to win in this conference, but Crisler has certainly been in that group recently
Seemed extra loud tonight. Louder than the MSU game even.
Sitting 2nd row dead center in the Maize Rage today, and 4th row dead center in the Maize Rage vs. MSU, I can assure you that it was not louder today, not even by a long shot.
29-0 when scoring 80 pts.
1. not true sellouts:
some games only offer as low as 600 seats. that's not a real sell out. student attendence is no higher. not by the sheer amount. not by far. michigan state? that's a true sell out. offer all the student section seats: that's allows a sell out. maize rage? bullshit. not only did the maize rage student organization single handedly try to ruin the michigan state seating, but the maize rage extends one quarter of the izzone. a joke.
2. lousy, lazy college bandwagon fans
good fans? maybe just that 400 in the bleachers. i have gotten booed MULTIPLE GAMES for standing student sections in the non-bleacher sections ie purdue, a team that almost beat us at home and away. Student fans sit and watch like they are in the library if it's not MSU. they are called STANDS for a reason.
those maize rage attendence numbers? bullshit
the maize rage being a top student section? bullshit.
Take a walk, butt hurt sparty.
I don't get why the guy is getting downvoted and being called a sparty when what he says is probably true. From what we've heard the supposed group of people that think they're in charge of the rest of the maize rage kinda effed up pretty hard before the msu game.
I downvoted because I can't even understand what was written.
Either a troll or a massive douchebag Michigan fan.
hate sparty, not a dick. honest UM student who wishes we had a larger student section in the lower bowl so i didn't have to sit down if i'm not in the bleechers. it's no lie other arenas stand, crisler's students dont unless it's a "game-7" kind of game.
i've had season tickets for 3 years and am just being honest about the fan changes and not changes. if u're a student u have to agree
UM students still need to write admissions essays, correct? How on Earth was THAT ^^ level of literacy deemed acceptable?
I feel like "Bleecher Report" may be a more suitable website for you to visit...
Hopefully drunk
Have you considered the possibility that the essays aren't drawn from posts on sports blogs?
As a current (grad) student, I attended every home game this year except for two pre-season games and stood in line long enough to get into the Maize Rage bleacher section for all but one of those games (which meant waiting for between 2 and 6 hours before tip). I can say objectively that while the students brought the energy in large numbers this year, the actual Maize Rage club is awful. Their chants/cheers suck the energy out of the student crowd. They single handedly created the disaster that was the MSU pre-game. And they have made no attempt to unify all student UM basketball fans outside of the core groupies who make up the Maize Rage leadership. This was probably sufficient during the many years of UM basketball mediocrity, but as a current top program, UM athletics should dispose of the current organization and start from scratch in a way that will serve the team and its fans effectively and fairly.
I've been trying to be really civil about all the potshots random people have been lobbing at the Maize Rage, but really you have no clue what you're talking about. If there has been one topic that has been discussed at our meetings to death, it's been how to get more people involved and on the same page. I didn't know being a dedicated fan made you a "groupie" and I still fail to understand how someone spending time on a sports blog has the audacity to attempt to mock someone else for being "too much" of a fan.
A couple things...One, if you guys have been talking about it so much at your meetings what has actually been done to solve the problem? If there's one thing I love it's people that can identify problems and offer no solutions. And two, you're not "too much" of a fan; it's that you think you're more of a fan than me or any other diehard student basketball fan just because you go to a meeting every Monday. This is undeniable from a general standpoint of the Maize Rage leadership people. I love Michigan basketball just as much as you guys do, so you're not entitled to any more benefits of student ticket ownership than I am.
Listen, I don't know you personally or your cheer record, but if you're like the guy I replied to who stood in line for bleacher seats and went to all the games, then no I don't think anyone would say we're "better" basketball fans than you. If your point is that we think we're better basketball fans than the people who only go to one or two games a year and refuse to stand up in the upper deck, then yeah that is "undeniable" that we think we're better fans I guess.
If you want solutions, in addition to the recruitng that always occur, there have been cheer books added to each section to try to get the students on the same page. We've been trying to coordinate with the band about what songs to play and we've been trying to get "section leaders" placed into all the non-bleacher sections to encourage people to cheer and stand up. I won't say that all these ideas have worked, but to act like the core leadership is just trying to maintain a clique and not involve other students is "undeniably" false.
I retract my earlier statement that "they have made no attempt to unify all student UM basketball fans outside of the core groupies." Perhaps they have made attempts, but we, the students, have been largely unaware of them, and the attempts, as far as I can tell, have been very ineffective.
I also did not intend to imply that they were consciously trying to "maintain a clique." However, having attended one Monday night meeting, I can, anectodallly, say that it felt like it was pretty much just a chat among friends.
I don't have an immediate solution, and I don't have a great source of comparison (my undergrad university is a mid-major who is now best known for a guy running on the court to confront the opposing couch during a time out). All I can say is that with the energy surrounding UM basketball, the student fan base can do much, much better.
Dude, sorry but you have no idea what you're talking about.
Of course members of the core group are friends. When I was in the core group (just 1 year during the TA years - i couldn't make meetings in other years), the core was a group of people that were dedicated to growing the section and making it better. They are no better or worse than any other fans except they make it a priority to meet and organize. That's where they dedicate their time and they shouldn't be mocked for it. Everyone has "their thing" on campus. For one year I was able to dedicate the extra time to the MR and it was great! Other years I couldn't, but I was still friends with many in the core.
They're just fans, just like anyone else. They like to talk basketball, organize road trips, organize food, etc etc. They've done the best they can in many situations to include the (sorry, but it's true) influx of bandwagoners now that everyone cannot fit in the lower bowl.
It's not the core's fault that the athletic department splits up the student section and there's only so much students can do about that.
What are your recommendations/solutions if you're so convinced they "can do much, much better"?
This is one of the more coherant, well put rips of the "core" group I've seen. Their cheers suck, they do NOTHING to reach out to people outside of their little group, and they have a false sense of superiority to the other fans. Currently the people that lead the Maize Rage are unfit to lead such a large student basketball following. I mean you really can't put together something for free throws besides "bum" or "you will miss?" No thanks.
You're welcome to go to meetings and offer your suggestions. They would be very welcome (well, if you act a little more mature and friendly than your post).
Purdue game, 8 minutes left in the game student section.
The only fan in our section remaining is giving us the finger...this after he yelled at us the whole first half to sit down. Not fun.
The people in the upper deck were standing today. If the people in the top are dicks then you need to get there earlier to get better seats. I went to a lot of games this year and don't know what you're talking about on noise. We're certainly in the top 3/4 in the conference. I know nothing about the maize rage leaders.
Great for the Maize Rage to show up and be loud, but it's not difficult to get fired up about this team. Keep it up if mass pro-decisions mean a step back next year.