Your worst experience at The Big House/a tailgate?
I've been watching videos of fans getting into fights at stadiums today for some reason and it gave me this thread idea?
Ever see anything like that? Or have an experience with another fan that was bad? Or during the Down in Front Era with someone yelling it at you? Basically this is a stories thread. A little Monday night entertainment.
April 30th, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^
I went to the game with two IU buddies and our respective spouses. They graduated from IU the same year I graduated from MIchigan (1976). The year we played them in the national championship.
These guys were old Ft. Wayne high school buddies so we had started the weekend partying all night in Ft. Wayne. Fun factoid for us partiers back then: Indiana did not go on daylight savings time and their bars were open until 3 am, which was 4 am back home. An extra two hours of partying! As usual for us in Ft. Wayne, we started hitting all the bars on Columbia St and then, closed the night at O'Sullivan's. Great town, Ft. Wayne.
One of my IU buddies worked as a banker and his boss had a private plane. We all squeezed into this small plane and flew from Ft. Wayne to Bloomington for the game. RIght into the teeth of the storm you mentioned. I'm surprised we survived though the pilot was calm, excellent and did his best under the circumstances. Two of the spouses, including mine, lost their lunch on the way there.
Then, we lose. The only loss to Indiana in football since 1967, still up to now. So one loss in 50 years and I was there! The only consolation was I never saw my two buddies happier. They are great guys and took a lot of shit from me for many years. They never let me forget that one win to this day!!
I was at that game and as I exited some Sparty fans unfurled a bed-sheet sign that read (in green paint) "This is Our House." And that was after listening to drunk Sparties hoop and holler for most of the game.
April 30th, 2018 at 10:28 PM ^
I still say that game was worst than App St. Toledo was awful that yeat
April 30th, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^
It was Steven Threet who threw the 100 yard interception return for a TD. Only time in history I ever saw that happen in a game.
2015 MSU game. It was my birthday--and we all know how that turned out. Of course, the Big House and all local watering holes were swarming with smug Sparties. And some of them were family members.
Got horribly sunburned at the App State game. Beat that.
So glad that was his last OSU game. Although I realize we stunk the following years anyway but he wouldn't have helped.
April 30th, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
I feel for anyone at that game. I can't imagine. I was in the North Carolina mountains, less than an hour from the App State campus, wearing my Michigan shirt.. Yeah, it sucked
April 30th, 2018 at 10:22 PM ^
Thought we had enough cover for the cold and snow. We drove up from North Carolina and 60-70 degree weather. We were wrong. My poor "I never get cold" daughter was shivering before halftime. When the snow started, we had to call it for her sake.
A few years ago when San Diego State was in town, a bunch of my family went down for the game. Right behind us a a party of SDSU fans who were in town. Maybe a dozen people, nice folks, and there was friendly banter and a little good-natured smack talk between us. All adults, and all in good fun.
The smack talk got a little one-sided when UM was ahead 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, but a good time was still being had - except for the loud-mouthed asshole one section over. He was about 20, so fat he had moobs, and was obviously convinced that the entire end zone wanted to hear his running commentary. And when he saw the black-and-red Aztec fans behind us, he aimed his pithy comments at them. "Assholes" was about the nicest thing he called them.
I don't know what his problem was, but I didn't care. The nice folks behind us had come 3000 miles to watch their team get curb-stomped - they didn't need their noses rubbed in it by Joey Bagodonuts. Plus, he was just fucking annoying, and several of us thought so. So several of us yelled at him to shut the hell up. This, of course, was like trying to scare ants away from a picnic by pouring sugar on the ground. Joey had a reactive audience and the safety of distance, and he continued his barrage of witticisms.
All of a sudden the guy next to me, who had taken his 10-year-old son to his first UM game, had enough. He told son to stay right there, climbed over a couple of rows to some vacant seats, and made a beeline for Joey, obviously intent on doing great bodily harm.
I don't know what would have happened, because Joey saw him coming, quickly decided the show was over, and ran to the exit even more quickly. Dad came back to his seat to grateful applause.
A little while later, I heard him telling his son "Don't ever do what I just did."
April 30th, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^
April 30th, 2018 at 11:27 PM ^
"...not to do the things you've done
I walk away from trouble when I can
Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek
And papa, I sure hope you understand
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man... and Joey Bagodonuts is being a dick to our nice visitors from San Diego and ruining it for everyone, goddamn it"
On the plus side, it was a nice "First visit to the Big House" for two people: Avenging Dad's 10-year-old son, and my 62-year-old sister. She has become a fervent UM fan late in life, and flew in from San Diego for her first game. She squeed like a fan girl every time she got to sing "The Victors" (and was so proud of herself for knowing all the words.)
"Omigod! They really do play it after every touchdown!"
Yes, Linda - they really do.
Back in the early 90s, in the student section, a drunk frat bro kept falling on me from the row behind. It was getting worse and worse throughout the game. I asked his buddies to take him out, but they never did. Then finally he fell forward again, landed on the concrete and stayed there talking to people's feet. His guys didn't want to or couldn't help him, so I hauled him up and out to the concession area. I think I left him by the cider and cinnamon doughnuts stand.
Just picturing that ending made me laugh.
Absolutely the worst part of it all still to this day is listening to Sparties gloat about it. They had been thoroughly beaten (score should have been more lopsided to Michigan) and then in the last second a 1 in 10,000 GIFT drops in their laps. You can celebrate, sure, but you can't gloat. That's like gloating that you won the lottery because you picked the correct numbers. But if anybody's gonna get it wrong in the most emo, petty way, it's Sparty fan.
My sophomore year, the 2014 Miami (NTM) game. It was a noon game. Completely blacked out tailgating around 11am. Woke up in my room at 7pm to find my glasses broken, my knee completely scraped up, and stories/pictures of my havoc. I only lasted 10 minutes inside the stadium before my buddy had to walk (read drag) my near unconcious dumbass home.
You didn't think watching your team lose during a monsoon was fun?
It was rainy and uncomfortable, but it would have been worth it if we'd won. Losing to ND would have been bad enough, but losing on a kickoff returned for a TD is a special kind of suck.
For being stubborn and continuing to kick off to the Rocket. We were screaming from our seats, don't kick it to him!! I guess Bo didn't hear us.
April 30th, 2018 at 10:01 PM ^
April 30th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
That was when the bottom really started to fall out. Blown out at home in a rainstorm, which delayed the game in the 4th quarter, after which the stadium was empty save for me and my dad and about 500 Utah fans.
The 3-game losing streak of Utah, Minnesota, and Rutgers was when it was clear we were back to square one. I honestly don't think there has ever been a more hopeless stretch of games at any point in the last 50 years. At least in 2008 we had hope that Rich Rod just needed to get his offense established.