OT: Stand or Sit

Submitted by Qmatic on
6th year with season tickets (outside of the student section), and every year, every game, the accepted norm of when to sit and when to stand seems to change. I am all for standing. I would stand all game if I could. Usually I stand through the kickoff and first series, and usually by the first punt/change of possession so,done behind me yells at our row (usually our row and the several in front of us are still standing) to sit down. When I started in this section I would usually be an ass to so,some yelling and mutter something like "if you want to sit, than watch it from your couch." Now, I usually sit when asked, but I'm usually asked several times, as I we usually stand for 3rd downs and such. What's it like in your guys section(s)? Do any of you stand all game? Is it always acceptable to stand on 3rd down? Is it only okay to stand after big plays? How is the 90 year old next to me still kicking it? Or are you usually too drunk to care?

ElBictors

August 25th, 2016 at 12:33 AM ^

I usually sit when my legs are tired or I've got the spins from tailgating for 8hours.

I always stand when the asshole behind me tells me to sit. Want me to sit? Don't tell me to ...

uminks

August 25th, 2016 at 12:41 AM ^

but a bunch of older people behind always plead for me sit. "Oh, please sit sir, I'm in my 70s and cannot stand much". Yeah and they never clap or cheer much either. So, when I go to Michigan home games I usually end up sitting much of the time. When I go on the road to games, I'm always standing.

ScruffyTheJanitor

August 25th, 2016 at 8:26 AM ^

they do. I respect our elders, but the old people I know have the decency to stay at home and watch the game in a damn recliner. 

I feel like I should add that I wouldn't be a jerk to these people, and I would probably do the same thing. The old and the infirm do deserve a little slack. Still: If you are old enough that you have to beg the people infront of you not to stand, just stay home. Seriously. 

ak47

August 25th, 2016 at 9:48 AM ^

Football has enough down time to sit plenty during a game and getting up and down is a good healthy workout>  Even if you stand for every second of football action and sit in between you'd be standing for 1 hour out of 3 and a half.  If you can't stand for 15 minute intervals over a 3 and a half hour period you might want to consider gettng one of the weelchair seats  for the game.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

August 25th, 2016 at 1:41 PM ^

That is one of the worst posts in the history of MGoBlog.

Which experience do you think is more ruined?  Wait, no.  Which experience would a rational and considerate person think is more ruined?  Someone who must sit and cheer instead of stand and cheer, but can see the game either way; or someone who paid money to see the game and can't see it?

If you have a ticket and you're a Michigan fan, you belong at a Michigan football game, and telling someone they don't belong because your precious experience is ruined by not being able to stand is fucked up beyond all recognition.  Additionally, if your experience is in fact ruined by not being able to stand, you might consider re-examining your standards.

Heywood_Jablome

August 25th, 2016 at 2:37 PM ^

Oh, and I believe there are things called handicapped seating where you don't have to worry about people in front of you standing up. My problem is with assholes who want to sit in the general seating, who can't (or don't want to) stand up, that ruin it for other people.

If I get to the point where I'm old and can't stand, I'll either go to the handicapped seating, or I just won't go.  I won't be an asshole and ruin it for other people.

Abe Froman

August 25th, 2016 at 12:51 AM ^

Hey man, you be you. If you want to stand, go ahead.

Unless you happen to be in my section. In which case stop being such a dick and sit down so the rest of us can enjoy the game. You're not the only one who paid good money to come to the game.

Bando Calrissian

August 25th, 2016 at 12:53 AM ^

This discussion again...

Rules of thumb: If your section is standing, go ahead. Odds are on a big play, 3rd down, huge drive, etc., everyone is going to be standing anyway. No harm, no foul.

However. If it's a 2nd down in the 2nd quarter and no one in front of you is standing, no one behind you is standing, and you are standing, you're doing it wrong.

If no one in front or behind you is standing and you're acting like you can't hear people asking you to go with the flow, you're doing it wrong.

If you mouth off to the ushers, cops, and surrounding fans when someone calls you on it or the ushers decide to take action, you're doing it wrong.

If your response is "up in back," and the recepient of said comment is old enough to be your parent or grandparent, you're doing it wrong.

I have seen all of these scenarios go down, and they're not fun for anyone. Be engaged, but be considerate and aware of your surroundings. It's not your job to transform the entire section to your desired seating/standing preference.

1974

August 25th, 2016 at 6:31 AM ^

I got "treated" to one of those exchanges a few years ago. It was annoying. A younger guy was shouting "up in back" to no one in particular. I sided with the largely older crowd in the section. The dipshit and his apparent girlfriend insisted that we were all lousy fans and refused to shut up. He was insufferable.

Personally, I prefer a cycle of sitting and standing. I typically do this over a hundred times a game. I'm with the people here who believe behavior should be based on area norms.

bluebyyou

August 25th, 2016 at 6:09 AM ^

Well put!

 You have fans of all ages, including people getting up there in years in attendance at the games.  In many sections there are good numbers of these people.  Standing for four hours would be physically difficult if not impossible.  Because you are older doesn't mean you care any less.

I try to accommodate those around me whenever possible with sit/stand etiquette.

ak47

August 25th, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^

Luckily for them a football game is only actually 60 minutes, so if you sit during commercial breaks, between quarters, at timeouts, during halftime etc you'd only be standing for a little over an hour out of three and never for longer than 10 minutes straight.

bluebyyou

August 25th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^

Come back when you are seventy or eight and have this conversation again when you stand up and sit down a hundred or two hundred times a game.  

No one is saying not to stand on big plays, third downs, etc.,  I'm saying be a bit sensitive to the fact that you aren't in the student section.

mtzlblk

August 26th, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^

-if it is the 4th quarter of a close game and the vast majority of people in your section are standing during that whole time, don't yell "down in front"

-if every row of people in front of you is standing, don't chastise the people directly in front of you for doing so

-if the people in front of you are adhering to the norms of the section, meaning they are standing for key/big plays, perhaps for longer periods during important drives, whatever, don't get curmudgeony on them and blame them for what the entire section is doing and continually shout "down in front"

Other stadiums seem to be able to work this out just fine where some people stand and some people sit and there isn't this ongoing debate and constant friction about what is appropriate, there is something about the M fanbase that causes this, which I would guess is more than just any one factor.

Whatever else, common sense and simple courtesy on both sides would likley go a long way toward resolving it. 

LSAClassOf2000

August 25th, 2016 at 6:53 AM ^

I would agree, although lying down works better if you occasionally kick your left leg and sing "Hey, Look Me Over" from the musical "Wildcat" at the top of your lungs so people know where to find you just in case. Switch to your right leg when they start playing "Hell's Bells" for third downs too - that's important. 

drjaws

August 25th, 2016 at 12:58 AM ^

I paid for my tickets just like everyone else so I do what the hell I want ..... yell a lot and stand a majority of the game.

Though I have sat for an elderly couple right behind me out of respect when asked.




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