How early do you arrive/leave for games?

We're in the lot when it opens at the crack of dawn to make sure we get our spot, in the stadium probably about 45 minutes before kickoff, and then we tailgate for a bit after the game until the traffic clears out/we've had enough. For a 3:30 game, that's a longass day...

When you're old enough to drink, going in that early probably won't happen anymore.

Arrive 2 hours early and meet friends / eat / drink.

We leave when we want to.  

Man, this thread makes me jealous! When we lived in Ann Arbor we were essentially right downtown, so my wife and I would wander up State St. Head up to Maize and Blue Deli to meet my parents (always get the Grand Daddy), then slowly make our way to Revelli to walk in with the band. 

Now, I fly in on Thursday and try to make an entire weekend out of the game - get there 3 hours before kick off (still find time for Maize and Blue), same general routine, then dinner afterwards to avoid traffic. Dinner after the MSU game last year was less than joyous, but damn I drank a lot. 

dad had his season ticket we were at every home game 3 hours before kick, unless it was raining then it was about an hour or so before kick... we'd go into the stadium about 45 mins before the game started to watch warm ups... after the game we'd wait about a half hour and then leave the stadium... and then depending on the traffic on pauline when we got back to our spot we would hang out for a bit or just leave...

Arrive about 90 minutes before the game and park in the neighborhood west of the stadium.  Walk around for a bit to get a feel for the crowd and pick up any free goodies people may be handing out.  Then we go back to the car and get our jerseys, seat cushions, etc.  In the stadium with enough time to see the end of warmups.  As for leaving, it depends on the game.  Any game within two scores, we stay to the end.  Any game wider than that, we tend to leave between 5-7 minutes left in the game.

We are coming up from Fort Wayne. 2 hour drive for us. Will leave at 8 and get there at 10. Gives us an hour or so to drink some beers before we go into the stadium.

I usually catch a couple games with my dad every year. He gets a little anxious when getting ready to leave (live around GR, so around a 2 hour drive from his house) so we usually leave earlier than we have to. I used to try to make him wait so we weren't so early every time, but I gave up on that and don't mind being early now. Most of the time we get there about an hour or an hour and a half before kickoff. If we have time, we'll have a couple beers/cigars before we head in. Usually in the stadium 30-60 minutes before kickoff. 

A couple times over the years we have done the tailgate thing at Pioneer, and I kind of wish we did that more. Had an awesome time doing that before UTL2. 

I'm there right now. Where the hell is everyone?

I usually have three types of game attendance scenarios each year:

1. With one of my children we usually arrive about 1 hour before kickoff, especially for the opener to soak in the atmosphere of pregame. On these days, we tend to arrive at my sister-in-law's house to park and walk to the game upon arrival. Leave after the game ends, sometimes after the band.

2. With a buddy or a brother or a combination thereof - full tailgate day - leave Benton Harbor about 530 or 600 am and set up the tailgate as early as we arrive. Drink and eat all day, do more tailgating after the game before heading home. Go to game about 1/2 hour before kickoff and wander back to tailgate after game.

3. With large gamily group. Early tailgate setup but not quite as early. Group of about 10-12 usually with adults and some older kids. Lots of food and drinking before the game and get to the stadium about 1/2 hour before kickoff, sometimes earlier. Usually just hit the road after. For many of this group, it's their one game per year so stay for band most times.

My yearly breakdown tends to be three #1, two #2, one #3 and a game or two I give my tickets to family or friends or a co-worker. 

It tends to make the game experiences different every year yet a nice mix of partying/tailgating and still always enjoying the game itself and the town. Works for me.

Living in Texas, I only make it to about 1 game a year so I try to get there 30 minutes early and stay 15-20 minutes late just to soak it in and get my money's worth.

We arrive at 6:30 for the first 4 or 5 games. As it gets later in the season we will wait until 7:30. Depending on the game we get in the stadium between 15 and 60 minutes before kick off. My cousin will never leave before the game ends. I am guilty of leaving a few minutes early on occasion depending on an assortment of factors.

I've been out of the country for 4 years and living in Missouri for 4 years before that so I am really excited for this season. I can't drink as much as 8 years ago so something will have to give. Saturday should be interesting.

I'm a huge fan of the 3:30 start times. I usually fly in late on Thursday and grab a late dinner somewhere. Friday is campus day but starting with Zingermann's for an early lunch before the lines kill the value in time spent. Work my way across campus then post up at Dominicks for several hours before grabbing Maize and Blue. Saturday morning is usually more Dominick's then head down to some tailgates to see old friends by about 12:30-1 and get into the stadium about 25-30 mins prior to kickoff.

I will arrive to my easy chair around 12 - 12:30. Fast forward thru the early commercials and catch up with live TV by halftime.

I haz sad as an out-of-towner with limited ability to make the trek to Ann Arbor on game days.   I've only been to a handful of games since I graduated 20+ years ago, and every visit has been a magical experience.   Each year that goes by makes me want to move back to Ann Arbor - or at least an hour's drive from it.   I desperately miss the game day experience.   I'll look some of you up the next time I'm in town, especially those that arrive at early morning bloody mary time!

The time goes by too fast

My spirit is always there. I never really leave.

All I know is they need to improve the bathroom situation on the golf course because those trees get some serious fertilization

Made a routine last year. Arrive no later than 7am for noon kicks. Arrive no later than 10am for 3:30 kicks. I always go into the stadium an hour to 45 mins early. I like to beat the rush into the stadium that starts a half hour or so before kick. I don't hang around that long after the game. Being that I have to drive, I don't like to fire back up the tailgate for too long or I'll be tempted to have 4-5 more beers. That's not drinking responsibly.. Lol

Imma find yo ass and dump a beer down your throat on Saturday.

For noon kicks, we come up from Cincy and stay in the Toledo area Friday night and make the short trek to AA in the morning. Usually, fairly early; we try to get to the golf course no later than 8 AM. After the game, it's back to Cincy the whole way, and we usually roll in about 7:30 PM or so.

For 3:30 kicks, we leave Cincy around 6 AM, and arrive somewhere between 9:30 and 10 AM on the golf course. After the game, we stay in the same Toledo location for the night, and then drive back to Cincy sometime on Sunday morning.

It's a nice system we've been using for a long time now. 

 

 

So we try to get into the stadium over an hour before kick off. We also love watching The Band take the field. 

We stay until the end of every game, win or lose, waiting for the last player to leave. Watching the players jump up onto the wall by the student section after a win is always so great. 

My weekend routine normally means leaving the St Joe area Friday after work with the wife and heading to the east side of the state to a buddies place where we stay the night.  We get to our tailgate spot (this year Pioneer) around 7a and do a full set up.  Eat, drink, watch gameday/other games then head into the stadium in time for "Baaaand take the field".  After the game go back and make another meal at the tailgate, drink, watch later games and then head back to buddies place.  Head back to St Joe on Sunday midday and do it all over again every game.  

In the Rich Rod years we would leave the game pretty early and go watch the rest at our tailgate because I would get sick of the negativity in the stadium and would prefer to smoke cigarrettes and drink beers while watching the game.  Since the Hoke era we have basically stayed until the end of the game.  

Arrive into the stadium about 45-50 minutes early. 

 

Having ample space around you to walk/spread out in the Big House is amazing, even if only for a little bit. And if I ever miss the band/pregame I would be too ashamed of myself to watch the rest of the game. 

if tailgating, I like to arrive at the lot 3-4 hours beforehand to drink and grill. If just hanging out on campus, maybe 2-3 hours beforehand. I like to get to my seat maybe 5-10 minutes before kickoff. 

Being just 25 miles from Ann Arbor, I've never had to worry about waking up insanely early.  I can leave later and make it with plenty of time to spare.

Getting to the stadium, I have to be there in time for pregame.  I don't really care about watching the players stretch and warmup for an hour. 

Depart about an hour or so after the game.

There when the gates open...sitting in stadium empty is epic

Aren't there eight home games this year?

a week and a half ago?

 

I arrive as soon as the goldf course opens.  Pound beer, shots and have ribeye/eggs/bacon on the grill for breakfast, pound more beer, go into the stadium ~15 min before kickoff.

 

After the game, I pound beer on the golf course until we get kicked off and we drive to campus and walk around, while we slowly makle our way to a watering hole (ABC, LBJ etc.) where we . . .  you got it, pound beer.

 

The end.

While I didn't care too much about when I showed up during my freshman year, as I got older I started wanting to get there earlier. By senior year, if I did not make it in time for the band to come out, I was upset. Could see that 100 times, 100 days in a row, and it would still give me goosebumps every damn time. 

Typically never stuck around for the postgame stuff too much unless it was a huge win, but I decided by the end of sophomore year that sticking around to pregame was not that important. I can drink 365 days of the year. You only get 6-8 Saturdays a year to walk into that stadium.