OT? - Seating switch mistake?
So I made a seating section switch for this year. After 5 years of being in Section 5, I moved my seats to Section 19. I figured both sections look straight at the South goal line, but at least in Section 19, I will be able to be on the Michigan sideline, have the cheerleaders in front of me, and be able to hear the band a lot better.
All of this turned out to be true, but I wasn't very happy with a few things in my new section that put a kink in my experience against Air Force:
1) People seemed more uptight in this area. They sat almost all the time except for big plays and big 3rd/4th downs with M on defense. There was one loud guy a few rows behind me that kept getting dirty looks. It just seems very quiet in the area also.
2) No easy out. Noticed there are 2 entrance/exits on the east side, but only 1 on the west side. It took me 15 minutes to get out to the concourse. In section 5, it never took me more than 1-2 minutes.
3) No easy bathrooms. Maybe I missed the easy bathroom, but I sure didn't see one. In section 5, there is both a men's and women's just outside and rarely have lines.
Also, I found out during the Nebraska game last year that I was sitting next to 1964 team captain Jim Conley when I was in section 5. Wish I would have figured that out much earlier in the season.
Anyway, the point of this long post is to get recommendations/advice from other board members on their observations in this section or other sections. Obviously this could have just been one odd game, but I want to figure out if I want to make another section switch. Thanks in advance!
September 10th, 2012 at 5:19 PM ^
When everyone is sitting and being quite and giving dirty looks to you for cheering... cheer anyway. Unless they get the usher to come and sit you down, it's not your problem. One man to start a revolution and all that.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:26 PM ^
I tried to encourage the guy and participate, but it always died with me. I hope he is there the rest of the games and I will continue with my cheering also, but man... my section felt like it was the 4th quarter in a 45-0 rout of some team all game.
And I forgot to mention the fact that A LOT of people were leaving with around 8 minutes left in the game and the game in question. I saw this from section 19, 18, 17, and 16. I didn't see it in any other areas.
September 10th, 2012 at 8:41 PM ^
September 10th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
Section 15 was the same way also
September 11th, 2012 at 12:52 AM ^
and there were swaths of female students leaving at the end of the first quarter. To be expected I suppose but wtf...
September 10th, 2012 at 5:19 PM ^
Lots of gang-related activity, and frequent disease outbreaks, is what I hear. Drugs, prostitution, gambling; oh, and a terrible foreclosure rate too.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:38 PM ^
Yeah, over on the West Side, Section 20 (doesn't have the Marketing SNAP of "S1," but it'll do), we have Jets, Sharks and a flatfoot.
Do as already suggested...stand when you want. Sit when you want. Those behind you will follow suit.
Worst case, work your way back to your old section, either through a broker or some other 1-for-1 trade.
Or be the agent of change for Section 18. Superfan and the cowbell guy are down in that general vicinity...can't imagine they suffer for their fanatacism.
As far as quick exit, well, you can always bound up the empty benches in the rows behind you...much quicker than stairs. (I'd pressed the AD as to how moving the crowds into/out of the stadium would be improved with wider aisles, if the portals were EXACTLY the same size as before, but never got a satisfactory answer...)
September 10th, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^
When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette 'til the time that Mary Sue Coleman's smoking police take it away...
September 10th, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^
...is an "easy" bathroom. Even when the line is at it's longest, it moves very swiftly.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:32 PM ^
I sat outside of the student section for the first time ever this past Saturday. Sat in Section 40, row 8. That section sucks. No one wants to stand and they complain when you do. Equal amounts of comments about how much hotter the cheerleaders are this year as actual football comments. Some guy kept trying to tell me that Devin Gerdner was the guy making the plays wearing #19. My fiancee actually corrected him, so that was awesome.
But yeah, stay away from Section 40.
September 10th, 2012 at 5:58 PM ^
I am in section 40, row 18. I agree there is a lack of standing. It is also my first post-student section season. Up in row 18 the people were more laid back about my standing. I stood for all of the big plays and about half of the fourth quarter. The people behind us were pretty nice. So if you want to hang with some more laid back people in section 40, go ten rows back and chill with us.
September 10th, 2012 at 6:10 PM ^
1) Make friends quickly with "loud guy"---if he's just a few rows behind you and within reach, frequent "high fives", etc., when appropriate will let him know that he's not alone, while serving notice to the surrounding slugs in sec.19 that it's time for a serious wake-up call. Then have fun and repeat this behavior weekly. Some of them will probably appreciate your leadership and realize how much fun they've been missing, while the rest? Let 'em complain to the ushers all they want---as long as you keep your cool, you're doing nothing wrong and have no reason to change.
2) & 3) Nothing you can do about that other than planning your trips at the optimal times---I usually take care of business immediately after the first score of the 3rd quarter and rarely miss more than a play or 2. As for the rest of your section---maybe the lack of facilities is a contributing factor in their inability to have fun; I would imagine that "filled" Depends are quite uncomfortable after being worn for a quarter or 2 ...
September 10th, 2012 at 5:55 PM ^
i moved out of the student section this year to section 2, and the sun sucks. anybody know how the bathroom/fan situation compares on the west side?
September 10th, 2012 at 6:32 PM ^
I always sit in section 5 (coincidentally, I get my tickets from Jim Conley, so that's who I sit with), the only thing I don't like about it is the sun is blindingly awful for later afternoon games. Besides that, I think it's a great place to sit. Fans actually stand and sit when they're supposed to and don't have an issue with people cheering loud.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:57 AM ^
The atmosphere there just seemed a lot better. I guess I have the season to figure out if I like it. The band/cheerleaders are a nice bonus to section 19 though. I never minded the sun, but my wife definitely always used to complain about it and commented that she liked it better in section 19 because of that.
September 10th, 2012 at 6:34 PM ^
anybody know about section 9? am going later this year for Iowa
September 10th, 2012 at 6:38 PM ^
in November when the wind is out of the north.
Brrrrrrrrrrrr. Bundle up!
September 10th, 2012 at 10:47 PM ^
I was in Section 9 Row 39 this last week and will be again for the Illinois game. Everyone was very into the game around us. The older gent next to me was very into the action and usually jumped out of his seat quicker than the "kids" in front of us. It was a great start for the home season for the longtime ticket holders as they greeted each other and asked how the last 9 months have been. High fives all aournd on great plays and much yelling at important defensive plays. Not a bad crowd to spend a few Saturdays with each fall.
September 10th, 2012 at 6:41 PM ^
Did I get your section 5 seats? I had section 5 last year but row 6 and put in a request for higher seats because my short ass couldn't see anyting. I got moved to row 40 this year and love it. Everyone seemed to be on the same level in terms of standing/yelling at our defense.
September 11th, 2012 at 9:59 AM ^
I was in row 45, so I guess not. I am now in row 33 in section 19. I think that distance from the field is perfect.
September 10th, 2012 at 7:33 PM ^
Max Klinger prefers section 8
September 10th, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
Jesus christ.....first world problems, huh OP ?
September 11th, 2012 at 10:05 AM ^
Yeah, they're terrible. It's my one and only luxury, so asking a board full of veteran Big House goers what their experiences in other sections are like doesn't seem that far off base, right? Do you know a better forum to ask a question like this?
September 10th, 2012 at 9:08 PM ^
September 10th, 2012 at 9:27 PM ^
This is random, but is there still that really loud guy that sits in the middle of section 16 that will, when it's pretty quiet, yell random things like "God Bless the Michigan Wolverines!" or "Touchdown Michigan" before the ball is about to be snapped. His voice is so loud I bet hundreds of people can hear him clearly. I figure even the OP sitting in section 19 may be able to hear him if this guy still sits there. I used to sit in section 16 for years, but havent the last couple of years.
September 10th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
September 11th, 2012 at 12:15 AM ^
Was a geriatric's club. I had to witness a 70 year old man feed sherbert to his hot 80 year old cougar.
September 11th, 2012 at 4:23 AM ^
Are you alone, a couple, or a few more? I'm with those encouraging you to cheer and stand regardless of those around you.
My only cheering/standing irritations are: people who don't care about the game and who are up and down and up and down, causing you to miss plays. Second, people over-interested in doing "the wave" rather than watching the game.
The atmosphere was a lot more laid back when I was a student. Flasks of whiskey, a blue haze of marijuana smoke, students "passed up" the student section, every time Michigan scored, one going up for every point on the board. Needless to say, few of those shenanigans go on any more.