From the Student Section talks Stadium Friends

Submitted by SaddestTailgateEver on

Preface: are things like they used to be?

Game day in Ann Arbor is an experience steeped in tradition. Nevertheless, the stadium experience, and with it the student section experience, has necessarily evolved, even just within my 6+ years in the NW corner. So to kick things off, here are some rapid fire questions/answers:

Kegs? No

Flasks?  Yup, though I will add that, at least in the lower sections, most students appear to have gotten less tolerant of drinking and drunkenness from other students. If you’re being positive and happy drunk, great we love you. If you’re incessantly bitching about the team, complaining about the players, generally being negative and happen to stumble into me, I’m getting event staff. And I wouldn’t be the only one.

Marshmallows? Uhh honestly I haven’t seen this in any season I’ve been there…

Beach balls? Have seen them recently, didn’t today.

Cow bell? Depressingly not yet this season. Other students reading this: we must fix this if nothing else

Travelling band? Nope (and I don’t think they have for a year or so but I’m not sure). Definitely remember being entertained by that in years past

International student experience: Very little experience here. I can say that in my section down in the row A area there aren’t very many (if any) international students. For the CMU game last year there were a small handful nearly first in line in the student queue, though from talking to them they were under the impression that the game started when the queue opened….

Engaged? Yes, mostly. It’s hard to compare to past years given that the Row A experience is a little different than that in Row 96… But the students are certainly no less engaged than any other segment (and for better or worse they booed the punt decision just as much as everyone else)

Stadium Friends

The clock finally wound down to all zeroes in what was a rather strange game at the Big House. We cheered as the team ran over to the stands and then back down the tunnel., the small handful of us that remained down by the railing packing up while trying to ascertain from the stadium police what on earth the rope sectioning off the field from the sidelines was for. Apparently it is for preventing a field rush. This year. Against Miami. With a chem lecture’s worth of people left in the stands. Ok. We turned to the people behind us,

“Go Blue!”

“Have a great weekend.”

“See you next week.”

There, that right there is in a nutshell the problem that we had last year in the student section. We hear every week “how great it is to be part of something that is the team,” but the team is something considerably more than just the 11 young men in winged helmets on the field at any time. It is more than the full roster, the coaches, trainers, student managers and everyone else who could by any definition conceivably purport to be affiliated with the program. Or at least it was supposed to be. The team is supposed to be something that unites every single person wearing their maize and blue in that stadium, or watching it on TV, or listening on the radio, or running around with their fingers shoved in their ears until they could watch the game they’d taped TiVo’d later. The team is the group of people in the stadium around you, who over the course of 6–8 games you got to know—those people who were as much a part of your game day experience as the people you chose to sit by. And last season the athletic department forgot that.

Given what we’ve heard or been able to read between the lines about much of what went wrong last season: lack of upperclassmen leadership, lack of cohesion on the line, or the many other instances of lacking “the team”, it seems only fitting that that disconnect spread deep into the fanbase. Instead of creating an element of the team, general admission pitted students against each other for the best seats in the stadium. The result was often ugly: students trying to sneak in late to get better seats, students yelling at each other, anger and hostility, lack of team.

This year things seem different. Is everything hunky dory in the student section? No. You still get the occasional person drunk to the point of falling on you, trying to usurp your seat, and degrading the fan experience for everyone around you. Fortunately event staff can deal with that pretty readily (especially if this person is in the wrong seat—as is often the case because, listen man, reading is drunk when I’m this challenging). But in spite of that, the cohesive, friendly, spirit seems to be back; at least in the superfan rows.

Unfortunately there’s been some lingering damage. As we all are aware with the recent struggles on the line, poor decisions from the past can linger for far into the future. During GA, the bottom of the student section was ill-prepared to correctly do the wave, or, for that matter, nearly any cheer. I naively thought that bringing seniors and grad students back down to the bottom would fix the problem. As today’s rather unfortunate attempts to start the wave while only up by a touchdown, and the subsequent inability to start the wave in the waning minutes of the 3rd quarter once we were up by 14, demonstrated, that isn’t quite the case. This year’s seniors haven’t had a decent wave experience or even good wave leadership in two years. Last time it went well they were in row 60; they had no part in starting it.

We can bring that experience back. It’ll take some effort and some creativity. We’ll have to re-teach them. It’s doable. It’ll be challenging, but for the fan experience, it needs to be done.

Seating Policy in Review—Take 2

So honestly, after last weekend, I expected to be writing about how we’d tailed off quite a bit from last week, how students had filtered in, but outside of student fans weren’t there before kickoff. Well by and large that wasn’t the case. While many, many seats stayed empty throughout the stadium, the student section filled in by and large on time, and to no worse a percentage than the stadium as a whole. 102,824 will make *every* section look empty. For what it’s worth, the new policy does seem to motivate students to show up on time, even after a dispiriting loss, even against an overmatched opponent. What the policy doesn’t do is motivate students to come in the first place, and to stay to the bitter end.

The first of those lies entirely on the athletic department. When our attendance is dropping to levels not seen since 1995, and student ticket sales dropped to less than ¾ of last year’s, it’s time to look long and hard about the experience we are providing for the students. Asking students who often have little if any income, many of whom are taking on thousands of dollars in debt, to pay increasingly outrageous prices for a lackluster home schedule is unsurprisingly going to result in a small, less effective student section. Not to mention less engaged alumni down the road. From those I’ve talked to who are on the new Football Student Advisory Council, it seems like the athletic department is now listening. Sometimes slow to act, but listening. Vendors selling $2 bottles of water in the student section: fantastic idea. Allowing people to again bring in unopened bottles of water or empty reusable bottles would be significantly better, and obviously the ticket prices are the big one, but it’s a start.

The second point is on us. It’s a culture thing and it’s sad to say that it’s changed as much as it has. I remember riding the bus as a freshman reading a Daily article (I didn’t know any better back then) that was discussing at length the tradition of students staying until the bitter end. No matter what happened on the field, no matter how bleak things looked, those who stayed, well you know. And those in my year really seemed to live that. Our first season was the fan crucible of 2008. We were rewarded with the Wisconsin comeback. We had our resolve tested with the rain, snow, sleet, and locusts for the Northwestern game. We were kicked in the metaphorical nards rivalry game after rivalry game. But after 2008 we were committed. We watched the team slowly crawl back to some modicum of relevance and it felt like our commitment and loyalty had paid off. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for those who started in years after us. The seniors today weren’t on campus for RichRod. They didn’t experience that. They’ve had the opposite experience. They came in as freshmen and we won a BCS bowl. Since then we’ve underwhelmed. I have to imagine that, paired with that underwhelming performance, past classes (mine included) failed to adequately instill in the younger students the same rabid fandom that kept me at the 2008 Northwestern game to the end, and brought me from row 96 to row 14 in freezing rain despite numb everything. We were absolutely convinced in 2011 that the pain was over, our fandom had been vindicated. Michigan was back. We told the younger students about staying at games and cheering Michigan on to greatness. It appears that we may have missed the operative clause: “no matter what”.  That too is changeable. It’ll be a slow process of growth back into “the team” but it’s doable.

Bringing back the student experience is not an overnight thing; we need to give them something to believe in. And with a team that has met its share of struggles and with an athletic department that seems more interested in the bottom line than the student experience, for all too many it’s hard to find that. Nevertheless change is possible. In my freshman year I attended my first UM BB game. They gave us free transportation, tickets, pancakes and a t-shirt just to get us to show up. They did what was necessary to get students there despite the underwhelming performance of the team. Since then we’ve been conference champions twice, have gone to the national championship game, and have won 6 of the last 9 against once dominant MSU (who had won 18 of the 21 games prior to the most recent 9). That basketball team got back to greatness because everyone was committed to doing what was necessary to bring it back. If the football team does make it back it will be because of the same reasons. If we want the student fan experience to come back to greatness, we of course need commitment from the students, but most critically we need the athletic department to let go of the processes that aren’t working, to stop focusing on things that should never have been the goal, and to do what is necessary to ensure that Michigan fans are not only part of the largest crowd watching a football game, but that that crowd has the best experience of any crowd anywhere in America, throughout the season.

Comments

grumbler

September 14th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^

Well said.  I'm not sure that all the issues can be resolved while this mad scramble for dollar dominance goes on, but I'm glad to see someone express the committment to doing what can be done.

Gulo_Gulo

September 14th, 2014 at 7:20 PM ^

Michigan dominating will fix all of these problems, except maybe the wave.  I was introduced to it at my first game in 2004.  I participated with vigor, and it's still something I look forward to.

Nice Post...

aiglick

September 14th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^

I'll admit that I couldn't stay to the bitter end in '08 against Northwestern. I was not prepared from a layers standpoint for that game. Turned the game back on when I got back to my house that year. I also couldn't stay and left about when Brian did coincidentally from the game in South Bend this year. Luckily I got to hear the play by play over the speakers while I was looking for the party bus back to Chicago.

I'd have to say the onus is on the athletic department to show the students and general fan base at large more respect. Stop treating us as customers and stupid cash cows and they'll get their loyalty and spirit from the rest of the community.

If they're too obsessed with the bottom line then sooner or later fans are going to have to put the Michigan in-game experience to their budgets' scrutiny.

MBloGlue

September 15th, 2014 at 8:18 PM ^

I agree the fans should not be treated like cash cows, but I do have fond memories of being treated like livestock at Michigan stadium back when I was a student.  Does everyone in line for the Mens room still make "moo"-ing noises as we meander our way through the corrals to the urinal troughs?  That never got old. 

Moooo.

MOOOOOOOOO!

Mmmmmo.

MoooOOOOOOO

Mmmmmoooooo.

Bando Calrissian

September 14th, 2014 at 7:32 PM ^

It's really amazing how lackluster football in combination with a completely tonedeaf Athletic Department can systematically kill a student section. That shit is depressing to read, but I think this kid gets it with the analysis. Well done.

Princetonwolverine

September 14th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^

Alternative methods of watching the games goes way beyond filing into Michigan Stadium.

When I was a student from '73-77 there was no such thing as cable TV. There were no VCRs (oops DVRs). Telephones had cords. Wifi in the stadium? You couldn't even use a calculator for most exams since not everyone had one. 

Most years, only 2-3 games were even televised, usually just Sparty and OSU.

Now you can watch every game from anywhere (cell phones) ,anytime that is convenient for you. Back in my day you huddled around a 19" fuzzy color TV. Now everything is in super HD 80+ inch TV. 

Now you can sit back, relax, and share your frustration/elation in real time with virtual friends (and maybe some not so friends) on MGoBlog. 

The "in the stadium" experience has to be special to justify the $$$ demands of the AD or attendance will continue to decrease.

cutter

September 15th, 2014 at 8:09 AM ^

I was a student from 1978 to 1982 and the only electronic media that had the game on every week was the radio.  Only  a handful of games were televised, so that meant the only real alternative to regularly see the games was to go there in person.  So yes, the in-stadium experience does have to add value in a world of HD TV, tablets, cell phones, etc.

One way is to improve the non-conference schedule.  Last Saturday's game against Miami (Ohio) is the last MAC team on the slate until 2020 when UM hosts Ball State.  The "lower rung" teams on the OOC schedule will be coming from the Mountain West (UNLV, Air Force, Hawaii) and American Athletic (SMU, UCF, CIncinnati) conferences.  The other thing to follow is whether or not Michigan opts to play two Power 5 Conference teams in home-and-home series.  Michigan has Washington and Virginia Tech in 2020/1 coupled with a nine-game conference schedule (which means one season with only six home games).  Is Brandon planning on giving up a home date every other year in order to put together a more interesting home non-conference schedule?  If the rumored home-and-home with Texas is true, the timing of the games will be telling.  For example, if they're played in 2022/3, that serues with UT would be paired up with one against UCLA.

None of this is to detract from the simple fact that the main attraction to Michigan football is the team on the field.  If they're winning and play well, then ticket demand won't be a major problem, even at the higher end pricing.  Ohio State, for example, has student ticket prices that are comparable to what UM charges plus general admission seating for their Block O sections.  It certainly doesn't appear that the students in Columbus are having problems scraping together the money for football tickets given the number of sales for the 2014 season.  Penn State doesn't charge the same as UM and tOSU ($218 for the season versus around $243 at Michigan and $252 at Ohio State), but they also have a GA policy and the student ticket demand went through the roof when James Franklin was hired as head coach.  If that team is successful in 2014 (3-0 so far) and with the sanctions removed, their 2015 student ticket sales should stay on a high level as well.

I do share the opinion that the athletic department made a hash out of the student ticket policy in 2013, and happily, they moved away from it a year later after work though the current policy with the student government.  FWIW, they're also working to make the wi-fi capabilities at the stadium better, and as I mentioned above, the future schedules are improved.  Now if the football team truly regains its footing, plays better and starts winning, then a lot of the side issues that seem to concern people (like how much rawk music is played, what's played and when it's played) will be pushed to the sidelines.

cutter

September 16th, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^

I was quoting figures from an article about Penn State student tickets IRT the prices for UM and OSU student tickets.  I actually do know the prices--mea culpa.

The point is still the same though--Ohio State and Michigan have comparable prices for student tickets (a little bit more for OSU's Block O section that has general admission).  But the demand for student tickets between OSU and PSU on one hand and UM on the other is quite different.

As far as the schedule is concerned, Michigan only has the most direct control over the non-conference portion.  Having two tomato cans, Notre Dame and a game against a Pac 12 opponent in Utah would be about right when those opponents were put together in the BCS era prior to Big Ten expansion.  But with the loss of home games with Michigan State and Iowa, fans perceive it entirely differently.  If you look at the Hawkeyes, for example, would you say they're a better team than Maryland right now or not?

A couple of things to keep in mind about the home schedule that are important here.  The first is that Saturday's game against Miami (Ohio) will be the last against a MAC opponent until 2020 per the published schedules to date.  It certainly appears that Brandon is moving away from that conference and bringing in schools from the Mountain West (Air Force, Hawaii, UNLV) and American Athletic (UCF, CIncinnati, SMU) to replace them.

The second is that the Big Ten starts the nine-game conference schedule in 2016.  When you look at future conference schedules, it's obvious the B1G leadership wanted Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State to rotate through Maryland and Rutgers on a regular basis.  UM and PSU are on one schedule rotation (Maryland at home, Rutgers on the road) while OSU and MSU are on another one (Maryland on the road, Rutgers at home) this year.  Next year, that flips.

Once you've established that, the Big Ten clearly rated the four other Eastern Division schools on UM's schedule as follows:  1.  Ohio State, 2, Penn State, 3., Michigan State, 4. Indiana.  To balance things out, the B1G opted to have 1 (OSU) and 3 (MSU) on one schedule rotation with 2 (PSU) and 4 (IU) on the other.  That's why we have UM playing in East Lansing two years in a row (and that's why Minnesota is playing at Michigan two years in a row as well).

The conference also opted to pit the teams in the two divisions over a four year period (2016 through 2019) against one another based on their relative rankings.  That's why Wisconsin is a regular on the schedule those year and are on the same schedule rotation as Penn State and Indiana.  Remember how Brandon publicly pointed out that the Big Ten had done Michigan no favors when Nebraska joined by putting the Cornhuskers on the same schedule rotation as Notre Dame and Ohio State.  I guess he was listened to, because now you have more balance in the conference portion of the schedule by having OSU/MSU and Rutgers on one schedule rotation while PSU and Wisconsin (along with Maryland and Indiana) are another.

The last thing of significance to keep your eyes on is if and when the rumored series with Texas  takes place.  Brandon had Washington join Virginia Tech on the 2020/1 non-conference schedules, which means one less home game those two years, but also an overall upgrade to the schedule (with the aforementioned Ball State on the 2020 slate).  If UT were to play UM in the 2022/3 timeframe along with UCLA, it would mark a real trend on his part to upgrade the non-conference schedules.  You can pick your reason why--soft ticket demand, the new television network agreements, and the new post-season setup might be all be reasons why he did it.  It could also be because those opponents are just more exciting and that's a value added experience for the customer--including the students.

 

 

k.o.k.Law

September 15th, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^

as, apparently, the oldest to comment so far, it cost $18 for tickets to the seven home games my freshman year

raised up to $3.00 per game sophomore year

of course, not selling out, you could bring in a keg, if you had a ticket for it

tuition was less than $1,000

no, Fielding Yost was not the coach

 

IMO, they should cut the student ticket prices in half for next year

at least

Hail-Storm

September 15th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^

I never even thought about the fact that GA pits students against each other.  Causing that animosity in the student section is really sad.  I loved the student section, as everyone seemed to always become friends in the section and were united, happy, and had that energy that just made it special.

I've actually not been to a game since the Ohio State game in 2011.  Despite getting a win on a beautiful day, it was marred by the conduct of both Ohio and Michigan fans.  The Michigan fan next to me was an old man that was confrontational from the start. After a quarter of him leaning against me, he blew up at me and claimed I was in his seat.  I showed him how when I sat down I was not on his cusion and he continued to berate and threaten me. I told him to complain to an usher and the AD. His wife (who was much bigger than him) switched seats.  She was very nice and there was plenty of room with her sitting in her seat and not trying to sit in mine.  It ended well enough, but was not what I expect from the Michigan fan base.  I can understand why attendance is dwindling.  I will go back soon to a game (mostly have kids to young as reason can't go) but will most likely choose a less profile game with cheaper tickets and more room.

Danwillhor

September 15th, 2014 at 7:50 PM ^

(home side, 25, row 3) had a beach ball, a guy demanding the"M-I-C-H-I-G-A-N..MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN" chant and guy with cow bell. marshmallows are banned (I think) due to the field turf. I still miss real grass (they could have fixed that during the trillion dollar renovations) and real drum cadence. Much more, actually. Outside of big games it seems extremely sterile, IMO. For the first time I found myself thinking that if I didn't grow up a diehard UM fan and we're a recruit I wouldn't have been impressed with the stadium.