About the Fans
I'm probably going to be negbombed to Bolivia, but I have to get this off my chest.
I am a Michigan alum, and a rabid Wolverine for the past 8 years. I did not grow up rooting for the Wolverines, but I live & die by the Maize and Blue with the rest of them. Hell, my first game in the Big House was The Horror, and I'm still here so that has to count for something.
I was at The Game today. Honestly I can't blame the coaches and players too much. They are operating within the constraints forced upon them by situations outside of their control. They gave it their all, and for that they should always have a special place in the heart of Michigan's Faithful.
The biggest element I found lacking was the fanbase. From the start, the stadium was at least 25-35% Buckeyes. I know it's Thanksgiving weekend, but you won't see Ohio selling that many tickets to us when we're playing in Columus.
But even worse to me was the fact that the atmosphere just plain wasn't there. You could hear a pin drop on most Ohio downs. When they were running tempo, you could clearly tell that our fanbase was not prepared and had no idea about when to get loud. In full honesty, when they annouced the Slippery Rock score there was a bigger reaction than on Ohio third downs when our defense needed it the most. Not to mention the fact that the stairs were fully occupied with Michigan fans leaving from the beginning of the fourth quater onward at full tilt.
I don't mean to denegrate our fans, I honestly don't. But to put things in perspective, I went to the Alabama-LSU game this year and the difference is night and day.. If we ever want to be a "Great Team" we need to secure our home field advantage. It's one thing to have a great team, a great coaching staff, great traditions, a great campus. But if we can't turn the Big House into a place that strikes fear into opposing teams' hearts we will never truly be elite.
I hate people pointing out issues without proposing solutions, so I will propose a few. First, we need to stop selling tickets to opposing fans. How we do that in the age of Stubhub is a difficult task. The Mgoblog ticket list is a good start, but we need to do so at a larger scale. Maybe the Athletic Department could work on a fan-to-fan sales system where they could take a cut but still ensure tickets end up in the hands of Michigan fans.
I also agree with Woodson -- The Game needs to be moved to 3:30 or a night start to encourage fans to get rowdy. The atmosphere shouldn't be like an afternoon picnic. It needs to be fierce and intimidating.
Lastly we need to take measures to get people loud when they're in the stadium. Encourage the people next to you to yell! There are times for talking (TV timeouts, halftime) and there are times for yelling (every down on defense). If we can't make use of the largest crowd in America then we are throwing away a vital advantage for our boys in Maize and Blue.
I may be preaching to the choir, or I may be pissing people off. Regardless, this is a message that needs to get out and be discussed seriously. It blows my mind that we can have a better atmosphere for a Penn State night game last year than we did for our most hated rival in a meanginful situation and Harbaugh's first year. Let the Team work on the X's and O's, but let's make sure we bring the heat and get back up our defense with the best damn home field advantage in all of sports.
Honestly our fanbase should be ashamed at the support we provided the team today, and we need to get real about fixing things.
-GS
November 28th, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^
I went to an HYP and I'm not too good to get completely red assed and scream my head off for the team.
Doesn't mean I'm better than anyone else, but it sure as shit means I have enormous disdain for anyone who thinks they're too good to make a ruckus at a sporting event.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:36 PM ^
You know how you keep your fan base cheering intently? You beat your rivals. Period.
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November 28th, 2015 at 6:46 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:37 PM ^
Realistically, it was 10% OSU, max.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:40 PM ^
This prgoram has been attracting losers for a DECADE. Michigan hasn't been a winning ream for a DECADE. It's a GODDAMN EMBARASSMENT. Michigan State - a damn COW COLLEGE is now the top team in the state. Of course it's going to be embarassing. Michigan needs to straighten this out NOW or there needs to be another house cleaning, from the secretaries on up. I'm SICK of being embarassed year after year. Get these LOSERS out of the program.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:42 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 6:49 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:40 PM ^
As far as lots of OSU being there it is always like this and they jack up the prices on Stubhub, beat them a few times and this all goes away as they wont want to of the insane price anymore. Not sure what else to do about it.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:44 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:46 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 10:43 PM ^
In 37 you're already dealing with a mix of season ticket holders and non season ticket holders. If you want to be less surrounded move up a few sections, less likely to have those issues.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:47 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:49 PM ^
wow , a fan for all of 8 years? you havent even been to enough games to make a statement like that. come back in 20 years and then maybe your opinion will mean something.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:31 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:51 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:51 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:27 PM ^
is the truth! Row 50 for life.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^
"Here at Michigan, we will only cheer for you if you do well..."
Do you think that would help in a recruitment?
I can't believe that there are people arguing that this is acceptable. Can't even believe it.
Apparently, we should sell special "quiet car" seats to our sporting events. Some people have delicate ears.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 6:59 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:18 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 9:06 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 6:53 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
Agree with the opposing fan thing but disagree about the fan noise thing. The crowd was plenty loud in the first half.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:57 PM ^
The switch to Thanksgiving weekend works against Michigan. A large percentage of the students and fans are from out of state. So they leave Michigan for the holiday weekend. And students, being students, will sell tickets to the highest bidder. OSU student and fans are largely local. They don't go anywhere. And this game is basically the biggest thing in their lives. If the game were played a week earlier, or a week later, far more M fans would be there.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
I agree with fans needing to hold on to their tickets and/or sell to Michigan fans but as you point out, that's tough.
As for suggestions for improvement, let the band and the student section lead with cheers. I found today they were overtaken by speaker music. It may seem cheap and/or forced but the Pom poms help create atmosphere, at least visually.
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:41 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
Also, in re the OP, nobody who's only been a fan for 8 years is in a position to scold other fans.
November 28th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
Not today. You say what you will about working within constraints, whatever that means. Our team didn't play to their potential. Period. And you're wrong about the crowd, too. We WERE there through the first half. Especially when we pinned Ohio down at the 8, and then stopped them on a three and out before a horseshit roughing the kicker penalty derailed it. We were even still in it when we scored at the end of the half. And then we came out flat in the second half, decided to blow our assignments, tried to tackle Elliot around his shoulder pads, lost contain on Barrett, etc. On several occasions, we looked like we weren't even set on defense and sometimes looked flat out lost. Sorry...there just wasn't much to yell about. It's really just as simple as that.
Can't say I disagree with the ticket thing, although not sure how you fix that. But as far as the crowd, just going to have to disagree.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:06 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:12 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:09 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:09 PM ^
m fans are average in my experience - not the best, not the worst (however the hell thats measured!). everyone knows the big house isnt very loud compared to other big time venues, especially given the size. many fans and ticket holders likely remain hesitant after a decade plus disaster (during which time osu has dominated the rivalry) though i guess time will tell.
fyi - bama beat down lsu in that game in t town. lsu struggled to put together first downs and other than a few big plays, they were dismantled. m remained competitive throughout first half (though writing was on the wall) but they were destroyed in the 2nd half. stadiums are much different when the big time home team loses and loses badly (like by 4 TDs). check out fsu, lsu, bama, fla, tex when they lose at home and lose badly - its not much better, at least in my experience
November 28th, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 9:04 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 10:41 PM ^
The boxes made the stadium much noisier in my opinion. Not sure how old you are and if you went to games before they existed, but it felt much quieter back then.
Win and the stadium will be loud.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:10 PM ^
oh look, another home loss to OSU, another subsequent fan-blaming post on mgoblog.
Hey, stop losing to MSU earlier in the season thus relegating The Game to bragging rights-only status, and then actually earn those bragging rights more than once every 13 seasons.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:12 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:14 PM ^
to responding to the leader of this thread was that I could only down vote it once. Total BS. My section was rabid. And it was really tough watching the D scheme never ever adjust.
Hell, I'm still yelling, and those pricks are half way to columbus by now.
Total Crap
November 28th, 2015 at 7:29 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:21 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:23 PM ^
all the people who think they're at a symphony performance can sit together.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:49 PM ^
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