Thank you Maize Rage

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

For not only bringing it tonight, but NOT rushing the court. 

HUGE win. But not the biggest we've had in the last handful of years. Not even close. 

We've definitely been here before. I saw that #11 WVU rushed the court when they upset Kansas earlier today.

Just imagine what Crisler would be like if the section was expanded. It's already one of the toughest places to play for visiting teams.

Hear, hear!

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Basketball

goblue2017

January 13th, 2016 at 12:50 AM ^

"It's already one of the toughest places to play for visiting teams"

... Umm not even close. As a student I can tell you it is very, very underwhelming and not very loud. If we're being objective, our student section doesn't hold a candle to MSU or Idiana's, and many other programs. We still have a pretty decent game atmosphere for big games, but we are sadly a peg down from being a good student section. Sadly, I don't think expansion is coming anytime soon.



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PurpleStuff

January 13th, 2016 at 2:54 AM ^

MSU has made the tourney 18 years in a row.  Half of those years (9 times) they've made the Elite Eight.  7 times they've gone to the Final Four. 

Wisconsin has made the tourney 17 years in a row and won a game 13 of those times.

IU has insane history, no football or hockey success to distract from basketball, and even Mike Davis (title game appearance) and Tom Crean (two Sweet 16's) have had at least some success there.

Michigan didn't make the tourney for over a decade.  Beilein has done a tremendous job, but has missed the tourney twice since we got the ball rolling in 2009.  We've made it to the second weekend of the tournament twice in the last 20 years (compared to Izzo's 13 Sweet 16 appearances).

It isn't about fans.  It is about history and success.  College freshmen weren't conscious beings the last time MSU or Wisconsin missed the tourney.  Conversely, a kid who enrolled at Michigan in 1998 had to wait until nearly his 30's to experience a trip to the big dance (a trips that was emphatically ended by Blake Griffin).

We're getting there, but other programs currently have a leg up.  It looks like Wiscy's run may be ending.  Hopefully a similar fate can befall the folks in East Lansing before too long.

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Niels

January 13th, 2016 at 8:01 AM ^

I came to UM in '91, after 10+ years of very good UM hoops, which included the loaded 1989 title team. I was there for the entire Fab 5 era, which was arguably the most exciting* 4 year period in UM basketball's history. Even then there was often less noise than in EL, Bloomington and UW (in their old fieldhouse). I think that back then it was a combination of the arena layout, UM"s rep as a FB-first school, and an alumni/non-student section that tends towards complacency. 

*albeit no longer officially acknowledged

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Bando Calrissian

January 13th, 2016 at 1:03 AM ^

What's wrong with rushing the court on a big win?

I'm sorry, the people who decry rushing the court have never been in a college student section when you're a student and your team wins an incredibly big game. Sorry, OP included.

I proudly rushed the court when UM beat both MSU and Duke when I was in school. That's what being in college and having fun is all about.

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MGoBender

January 13th, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^

With all due respect, being in the student section for a game or two here and there is not really the same as being in the student section for a full season or multiple seasons, going to general Maize Rage meetings, treking back to the dorms with friends, etc.

I know that sounds snobbish.  I wasn't a "Core member" (who made things even more snobbish), but there's still something different about actually being a dedicated member of the Maize Rage student group. Something more than just attending games.  Sure, to some people it's only attending games and not even all of them.  But for the die-hard basketball fans, it's more than just a game and without that perspective and devotion and membership to that group, one shouldn't regulate what that group should or shouldn't do.

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Bando Calrissian

January 13th, 2016 at 12:31 PM ^

For me it has more to do, you know, with actually being a Michigan student and buying your own student tickets. Playing student with a ticket you bought from someone else is acting like you're in a community you're not part of. Call me elitist, but it's true--student tickets are for students.

The Maize Rage "core" group was an absolutely loathesome and annoying group of people when I was in school. More power to them, but it was a very, well, distinct group of people. I had student basketball tickets for five years. I went to one core group meeting my freshman year, and that was enough. I went to just about every game, though. My interest just wasn't in wearing a driving range bucket on my head and being buddy-buddy with former players' parents. Maybe it's changed, but I think it's far more important to be engaged with the games than be engaged with the meetings.

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MGoBender

January 13th, 2016 at 1:09 PM ^

Agreed.  Its sounds like I was a year after year (TA's last 2 years and JB's first 4) when I was in undergrad and grad.

In those six years I may have missed 2 games.  I was never part of the "core" group, though I did attend all the general meetings and was asked to attend a meeting on the possible expansion of the student section*.

Whether you're part of that "core group" (if it still exists?) or not, basketball season tickets are so much more intimate than football tickets, for example.  There IS a difference in being a student at basketball games vs. a non-student.  You make more of an impact on the game, closer to the players, with far fewer fans that do so.  You feel you're a part of the game because you are. You actually know players and they actually know you - very literally in some cases.  And a major part of that, as your point out, is being a student.

*Attending this meeting, I cannot tell you how depressing it is that none of our suggestions were implemented and how much it seems they backtracked on what they told us were their hopes and goals.  This meeting happened before Brandon arrived, FWIW, so perhaps there were goals to expand the lower section around but they were nixed in favor of $$$.  At the time, Brian Townsend said they wanted a Izzone-like section, but they needed the numbers from the students first.  Well, the numbers have been there for 3-4 years now.  They gave the students that one section, but still no further wrap around...

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UM Fan from Sydney

January 13th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^

Care to elaborate?

I mean, I'd love it if our fans rushed the court when Michigan is on the road. It just rubs it in even more when our fans rush the court. The bull shit "we will not rush the court because we're too good for that" attitude is so lame.

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MC5-95

January 13th, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^

Rushing the court is usually a home crowd thing. Not sure I've ever seen it done at an away game--you can't get that peak mass of people.

Speaking for myself, my negative view of it isn't because "we're too good for that". It's because unless it's a truly monumental victory, it's silly. It's a pointless effort that just looks self centered. West Virginia rushed the court last night because they "upset" Kansas. But WV is the the number 11 team in the country and only has one loss themselves. That's not rush worthy. 

Last night's victory for UM, while huge, was definitely not rush worthy. It's a game we should have won and did. 

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UM Fan from Sydney

January 13th, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^

Look, I totally get it that it's a home court thing to rush the court. I was just trying to make a point that rushing the court is not a big deal and that seeing our fans rush a the court while being the visiting team would simply be funny (just to rub it in). I just don't believe in this "rush worthy" attitude. That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. If the students want to rush the court, then by all means, do it.

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BlueinLansing

January 13th, 2016 at 10:02 AM ^

in a awhile Michigan fans bring their voices.

 

I remember a game in the mid 80's against Indiana that was as loud as any place I've ever been, even Breslin and I've been to some of Breslin's loudest games.

 

 

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Zoltanrules

January 13th, 2016 at 10:25 AM ^

As an alum I'd like to sit where the Maize Rage sits but I've had my time. Let the kids sit there and scream there heads off like yesterday. great job!

Comparing yesteryear's crowds is nuts since the area where the students sit was populated by old rich alums who were literally knitting at times. Breslin is louder, due in part to a better product for many years, and Jenison was the loudest barn with that metal roof (sort of like Yost).

I'd love for the Maize Rage to be expanded to make the place rock even more. Yesterday was loud by any measure. Screw Brandon and ADs who are trying to maximize every dollar with expensive seats populated by non students. This is what makes college sports great.

Vitale brought up not rushing the court as a safety issue. I just think it was a very big win but not a program changer against a team that really isn't a top rival yet. Had they rushed I wouldn't have been "offended" though...

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Bando Calrissian

January 13th, 2016 at 12:24 PM ^

There's a problem here, in that Crisler was reseated after the renovation. A lot of the grayhairs who spent decades buying tickets and supporting the program through thick and thin were booted from their seats. The reseating went by Victors Club priority points, conveniently right after the stadium suites went in and a lot of people (including a lot of newer/younger donors) saw HUGE bumps in their point totals that skyrocketed them past longtime, more modest donors, and got priority for better seats.

Because this all happened alongside the newfound resurgence in the program, a LOT of people bought basketball tickets who hadn't been buying them before, got the good seats, and went from there. I'd dare say a lot of the problems in the lower bowl are due to people who bought tickets without longstanding interest in the program, and their attendance and/or lack of sustained interest has a lot to do with that.

I also wonder if there will ever be that large of a student interest to merit expansion of the bleachers. We've seen what happens when there's a bad season or two. Student tickets for basketball have always come second or even third in priority behind football and hockey. They buy when the team is good, and don't when they don't think it will be at a level that's much more erratic than the other big-ticket sports.

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shoes

January 13th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^

When I look at it cooly and objectively, I conclude that this should be reserved for the very biggest/ rarest of wins, but I am not going to criticize anyone else for doing it. I'll say this as a diehard fan- when I see fellow fans rush the court that means we have won the game and people are excited about it, and those 2 things are never bad.

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KC Wolve

January 13th, 2016 at 10:59 AM ^

The rushing the court argument never gets old. I'm not a big basketball fan but I love to see the students rush the court and celebrate. In the big 12 when you beat KU you normally rush the court. Then the fun begins and 2 things happen. 1) KU fans blame the loss on the refs and then 2) with the fire of a million suns, they blast court stormers. It is like clockwork.



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ST3

January 13th, 2016 at 12:26 PM ^

I was hoping the students would orderly proceed to occupy the court space to celebrate the victory. By no means am I endorsing "rushing" or "storming" the court. I don't want to see anybody get hurt, but the visual of the court full of fans after a big win is cool, and make no mistake about it, this was a big win. So I'm for "milling about on the court after a big victory."

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