Big House Traditions - Help an Old Man Out
So my LSA91 wife and I went to our first Big House game in a few years, and saw many things that impressed our creaky minds. Some were pretty self-explanatory and fun, like walking in behind the band, seeing a full student section (through the third quarter anyway), or watching the team demolish an opponent.
I'd love some more background on a few of the others - where they came from, etc. I tried googling, but I'm old. Can someone point me to a good page discussing or explain:
1) The third down chop/wiggle/"you suck" call. (Yes, self explanatory, but where did it come from and when.)
2) The student dance. (Same thing).
3) About 10% of the girls walking to the game were just about half-way to a halloween costume - typically knee socks and a night shirt or short shorts, but there were some cheer costumes, shiny skirts, etc. Is that a thing every game, and is it in college sports generally or just AA?
Thanks! LSA91
September 26th, 2016 at 3:39 PM ^
If you're in town with your wife.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:53 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 7:28 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 11:19 PM ^
September 27th, 2016 at 7:26 AM ^
wisely.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:13 PM ^
Pleated shorts can help you get away with it too.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:46 PM ^
Might I recommend the Michigan branded sunglasses they sell at the M Den. They are the worst glasses in terms of UV protection and they obstruct your vision a lot compared to a decent pair of sunglasses, so I wouldn't recommend driving with them on, but they have a completely reflective layer on the outside of the lenses so you can view to your heart's content.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:07 PM ^
If you're not too old to notice the co-eds, then you're not too old.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:22 PM ^
brother. I'm older than the OP and I notice...unfortunately my wife sometimes notices that I notice.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^
You need to improve your peripheral vision and/or, as pointed out already, get some good sunglasses.
September 26th, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^
sometimes i'm just not very subtle.
September 26th, 2016 at 8:38 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 5:21 PM ^
And here I'm living my life thinking that the older you get, the longer that it's "ok" to stare...
September 26th, 2016 at 6:39 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 9:22 PM ^
September 27th, 2016 at 10:44 AM ^
I swear, I thought that term went out of style 25 years ago. ...
September 27th, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^
It did, but the technically correct term - smoking hot college chicks - is not always suitable for a mixed audiance.
September 27th, 2016 at 11:51 AM ^
Plus, brevity.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^
Isn't that part of being a fan though? You can't give up just cause you are losing you have to keep it up till the end just like the players. And look what happened Colorado did start sucking by the end of the 1st half. That's why you keep cheering for your team, not sit down and be quiet when we are losing.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:32 PM ^
is not the same thing as yelling "You suck" to the other team. It's just low class... Not that I expect a lot of high class people to be at a football game.
Harbaugh wouldn't condone it.
September 26th, 2016 at 11:02 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 3:24 PM ^
For the vast majority of games during the RR years I turned the claw around and made it a "we suck" chant. Ah the memories...
September 26th, 2016 at 3:20 PM ^
Do the cheerleaders still do backflips for every point scored?
Do they still do hand stand races in the end zone against the other teams cheerleaders.
Do they still grab drunk sorority girls and pass them up the stands in the student section? And if you see a cute one coming up make sure you create a seat for her.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:50 PM ^
I think we're quite a few years removed from "pass the co-eds up, pass the empty bottles of Boone's Farm down" days at Michigan Stadium.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:14 PM ^
The backflips are still a thing. Used to be off the wall, but when they lowered the field that made it a bit riskier. They line up now across the 10 yard line.
September 27th, 2016 at 12:34 AM ^
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September 27th, 2016 at 11:54 AM ^
And when they'd slam him into the post, the entire end zone crowd would erupt in a collective "OHHH!", like we'd all just caught one right in the nads.
+1 for the memory.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^
I'm really not sure why people do the 3rd down Temptation / "you suck" thing as a chop ala Florida State. I believe it's supposed to be a claw, as in Wolverine claw.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^
Temptation has sort of risen in popularity with the students this past decade. Unfortunately, they call it the 'You Suck song.'
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September 26th, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^
It was my alarm for a while. Great song
September 26th, 2016 at 3:33 PM ^
Ah I knew my day would come! *cracks knuckles*
The wolverine claw, as best I remember, was something that the writers at the Daily heavily pushed 03-05. Prior to (and during the transition), it was not a "chop" per se--it was the hand motion signalling first down the other way. I thought (and still do) the claw looks ridiculous (in the not good way) and protested vociferously. Alas, it fell on deaf ears. Claw away, padawans.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:32 PM ^
I thought it was supposed to be a fist and dropping the hammer originally. We played FSU in the 90s and all the sudden it changed to the chopping motion. The claw began in late 90s, but didn't hit full swing until a few years later. I'm not sure when it switched back to the chopping motion or why. The "you suck" was added in 2008 and I think was something that was trying to be carried over from Yost, which uses "you suck" variations in a lot of their cheers (mainly the goal count).
Have no idea on the fashion stuff. I did notice a huge shift in the tailgating/ pregaming that occurred on campus. In 2009, the season opener was a 3:30 start, where a lot of the starts up until that point had been noon. I think the increase in 3:30 start times has increased the campus parties a lot from when I attended in late 90s early 2000s.
September 26th, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^
"You suck" started well before 2008, because I graduated in Spring 2008 and they did it every year I was at school. I remember it being not really a universal thing when I started in 2004 (and there were efforts for the "claw"), but I think it had fully taken hold by the 2007 season. I have a WD-esque opinion on the chant and this distressed me at the time.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:41 PM ^
I was there at this time and that was a big push for the "stop the chop; wolverines claw" or something along those lines
September 27th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^
Thanks! Now that I know what to google for, I can see all the other threads. Theories include:
1) It's the old "key play" key jingle on 3rd down, but without keys.
2) It's a wolverine claw.
3) It's a hammer fist to hammer the visitors' drive.
4) It's a copy of the tomahawk chop.
Now that I know what it (might) be, those all sound kind of dumb. (The hammer is probably least dumb, though).
September 26th, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^
It is supposed it be a wolverine claw. The vast majority doesn't know that however and a knowegeable few can't convice the 40k-ish that do a chop.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^
Actually, it was originally a fist. Then it became a chop. The Michigan Daily then proposed making it a "claw" but that never fully caught on.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:22 PM ^
I do think the idea might have been inspired by the 1991 Florida State visit; they brought their band and a lot of fans, along with the chop.
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September 26th, 2016 at 4:45 PM ^
This series of posts exemplifies why everyone is doing 2-3 different things on gameday.
September 26th, 2016 at 6:51 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 7:43 PM ^
They make an appearance once a season, when they play the Blues Brothers song out of the "Birthday Cake" formation:
September 27th, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^
I'm pretty sure the "[insert director] and his Blues Band" goes back to Eric Becher. But, yeah, it is front and center on that CD.
Gary Lewis was the director for 3 of my four years, and continued on after I left. After a couple of other successful positions along the way, he and his wife Kristen now live in Boulder where he is the Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Colorado.
September 27th, 2016 at 12:30 AM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 8:12 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^
On a related note, we seem to be getting the Wave routine backwards again. It should be slow, then fast. Not the other way around. And it's for when we're on offense.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:32 PM ^
I've always thought the opposite, that it is for when we were on defense.
What is more concerning is that the student section never realizes that the wave should go clockwise around the stadium until they've tried it counter clockwise and booed Section 1 a few times.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:08 PM ^
When we're on defense we want to make noise to disrupt the opposing team. It's better suited for when we're on offense.
Trying to go counterclockwise is tradition, though. It always takes a few attempts before the midfield sections finally give in and go along with it.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:08 PM ^
When we do the wave, it's during a blowout. Most fans don't care much if the opponents advance or score. However, when we're on offense, the wave can be killed by a good play or a Michigan score. That's why we do it on defense.