Question About Opponent Fans at Michigan Stadium
So, this is a very random question but something that I've always wondered about...
I'm re-watching the 1995 OSU-Michigan (Biakabatuka) game, and seeing the sea of red in the stands reminded me about how many OSU fans always show up to OSU-Mich games at the Big House... while I don't recall there being as many Michigan fans in the stands when these games are played in Columbus.
My question: Does Michigan have a policy of allowing more visiting fan tickets than Ohio State allows at their stadium? If so, why give them that advantage?
December 17th, 2020 at 9:00 PM ^
Not more, just better seats. UM used to sit visitors right behind one of the goal posts. Now they sit visors up in the top rows.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:00 PM ^
Yeah, that was bad. When Michigan dominated this rivalry, OSU fans still showed up in huge numbers. They not only got the entire lower south end zone seats, in the 80’s they also got a huge lower section directly across from the student section...that entire area where the Michigan Marching Band used to sit from 1995 - 2005. I don’t know why it took us so long to throw the visitors in the nose bleed seats. But we also won the big games in those days so maybe we were too happy to care.
Sigh
December 17th, 2020 at 9:03 PM ^
Not many Michigan fans attend The Game when it’s in Columbus because not many Michigan fans like being verbally and physically assaulted, having beer spilled on them, having their cars vandalized or in general being treated like sub-human vermin for having the audacity to be fans of the other team.
idk tho, I’ve never been to The Game in Columbus. I’m sure it’s a pretty horrible experience.
I will say that it’s really embarrassing and frustrating seeing the Big House blanketed in red anytime they come to Ann Arbor and seeing OSU fans take over our stadium doing that stupid O-H-I-O chant. Seems like it’s been that way for many years now with the exception of 2011.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:06 PM ^
My youngest brother did, in fact have all of his parked car windows bashed out while in Columbus for The Game.
I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but maybe it was the Michigan, Great Lakes State wordage on the license plate that triggered them.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:25 PM ^
I went back in 2000. Winning was a lot of fun but dealing with their fans was a full-time job. People would throw shit at you and have their hands on you for absolutely no reason. And this was when they sucked. Can’t imagine what it would be like now
December 17th, 2020 at 9:43 PM ^
They were more angry because they sucked. Now they just feel bad for us. It's really night and day compared to back then.
December 18th, 2020 at 1:42 AM ^
Can confirm what UMx said. It was far worse when we were winning; now, I was going to say they're more apathetic, but actually, it's closer to pity. Sad to say, I miss enduring the abuse, knowing that it would be worth it to walk out with a win.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:53 PM ^
I've never attended a game in Columbus either, but I've spoken to enough people who went as fans of *other teams* (e.g. MSU, Nebraska, even Northwestern) who said their treatment at OSU was by far their worst experience as a fan. Then there was the Texas game in 2005 where the university actually ended up apologizing for fan behavior. Can only imagine how bad Michigan fans get it.
December 18th, 2020 at 6:33 AM ^
I went in 2013. It was cold as balls...sleet/rain mix. I walked to my seat across the field in front of the student section, they screamed at me because I had on a yellow shirt. Sat with recruits & parents, only yellow shirt in sea of red. With about 2 min left in the game a police officer came to me and suggested it would be best if I stuck really close to him while he escorted me out. Nothing happened, but the fact the officer knew that it could or might was a bit absurd to me.
December 18th, 2020 at 4:22 PM ^
2013 was at the Big House
December 19th, 2020 at 1:19 AM ^
That might explain why he was the only one in a yellow shirt! LOL
December 17th, 2020 at 9:04 PM ^
Because UM season ticket holders sell their tickets to OSU fans.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:11 PM ^
Thread could end right about here.
Motivation is varied.
- I know people who sell that ticket (or tickets) and get back most of what they spent on the whole season.
- November in Michigan usually means lousy weather.
- Michigan is 1-15 since 2003. Losing gets old. It's been getting worse (margin of victory).
Also, OSU fans are more likely to travel to Ann Arbor than vice versa. It means more to them. (And, as others have noted, Michigan fans are way more civilized than OSU fans.)
You'll see something similar when we play Sparty. (Seriously -- try sitting among them incognito in Spartan Stadium. The hate is palpable. It more than offsets whatever is sent in the opposite direction.)
December 17th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
Good take and probably true. Personal experience is the Shoe is much worse experience than Spartan Stadium even going incognito.
Lunatic Fringe best describes it.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:01 PM ^
It's true that more Ohio fans are willing to travel for this game. It's also true that the game is usually played over Thanksgiving weekend, when most Michigan students have departed for homes nationwide. OSU fans and students tend to be landlocked in Ohio. They don't go anywhere. So it's easy for them to snap up tickets sold by M students.
I've often wished The Game were played either the weekend before or after Thanksgiving. More Michigan students would stay for the game.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:02 AM ^
The game, for like most of my life, was played the week before Thanksgiving. The switch to T-day weekend is relatively recent.
December 18th, 2020 at 1:13 AM ^
I know people are so dead set about having the game be the final game, maybe to avoid having so many of their fans at our stadium, we could make it be the first weekend of November?
Like the LSU/Bama game is.
December 18th, 2020 at 11:11 AM ^
I don't think that would make much difference. If they want to come, they'll come.
But at this point I'm tired of finishing the season against them. I'll be perfectly honest about that.
December 18th, 2020 at 8:35 AM ^
Blueheron, you are spot on. I’ve lived in Ohio for a while now and their fans are way more passionate and fanatical. Recent winning streak, yes of course, but the fandom here is way stronger than in the mitten.
I still think it’s an effect of us having our state’s sports obsessed fan base split in half due to having two Big Ten schools. OSU is the only show in town down here. Everyone is a Buckeye. It’s sickening.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
I couldn't agree more. I went back to school a few years ago at University of Cincinnati, and on campus I would say that there was as much, if not more, OSU gear being worn as UC gear.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:56 PM ^
Exactly, all the blue "down in front" hairs don't want to sit in the cold so they sell their damn tickets to anyone.
December 17th, 2020 at 11:23 PM ^
Perfect description of the two ladies who sit behind me. They complain because I stand up yet discuss everything but football for four quarters and have no idea what’s going on.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:47 AM ^
I’ve been to over 100 games at Michigan stadium in my life. When I was a kid, student, and now as an adult. For some reason one of my most ingrained memories of “blue hair down in front old people” was during the 2001 Miami OH game (QBed by a young Ben Roethlisberger). The lady sitting next to me had to be at least 80 years old who never stopped clapping. The entire game her hands were clapping together. And the second anyone stood up she’d scream “sit down”
December 18th, 2020 at 2:26 PM ^
I was a student in the student section at that exact same game. My ticket was the last seat on the end of the student section which happened to abut the non-student section. This douchebag, who was a Michigan fan, openly complained the entire time as I would get up to stand as the entire student section was for big plays. He was pissed I was standing and cheering and yelling when Roethlisberger was on O. At one point opining that I probably couldn’t even spell Roethlisberger. Complete douchebag. And this guy was a Michigan fan, just sitting there all game expecting a nice afternoon picnic having a seat one over from the student section.
December 18th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
In the late 80s/early 90s, when I was a student, the Game was generally the Saturday after Thanksgiving (as it was in 1995). Many students would travel out of town for the holiday and therefore would sell their tickets before departing. I did that about half of the years. I generally was able to sell that ticket for as much as I had paid for the entire season, meaning I got to watch 5 games for free and I had cash in my pocket for the long weekend.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:05 PM ^
I was at the osu game last year and was surprised at how many osu fans were there. If you recall, osu was having yet another stellar year and they are willing to pay crazy money to watch them.
So along with the normal tickets provided visiting teams, a large number of UM ticket holder sell osu tickets for the money being spent.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:07 PM ^
You must be new here. OSU fans come to M stadium and get some mostly friendly ribbing and banter. M fans go there and get taunted, pennies thrown at them, and drunk people in their face wanting to fight. M fans will also sell their tickets for high prices while OSU fans would never sell their tickets to the enemy for any amount of money.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:07 PM ^
Unfortunately, too many Michigan season ticket holders and students look at "The Game" as an economic opportunity rather than a must-see game. And though it's somewhat been like that seemingly forever, it's obviously gotten much worse over the last decade.
I've had season tickets since '77 and proudly can say that I never have and never will sell a ticket to that game (or the Staee game) and risk that it falls into the hands of the enemy.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:25 PM ^
I sit pretty close to the 50 yard line. I will NEVER sell my tickets to some loser from Ohio. Never.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:03 PM ^
As noted above, it's largely because most M students are gone that weekend.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:56 PM ^
I would guess that a much higher percentage of M students are out of state -- so the move to Thanksgiving weekend probably didn't help our ratio
December 18th, 2020 at 8:45 PM ^
It’s not just the students though. There is red throughout the stadium. The guy next to us sells his 4 every OSU home game because his wife doesn’t like to sit in cold weather and he can pay for the full season with what he makes on OSU.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:07 PM ^
I am sure Michigan sells the allotted amount to the visiting team that is mandated by the conference. OSU fans buy up the tickets on the secondary market and it has gotten even worse with their run since 2000. I went to The Game last year for free because someone my dad knows is a season ticket holder. This guy didn’t want to go and couldn’t find any Michigan fans to buy the tickets. He knew if he sold them on stubhub OSU fans would buy them. I was at the 1995 game. OSU was undefeated and there was a banner that read “Mom send roses” in one of the end zones. It was gone by the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately now OSU fans know there is no chance they will lose so they come to the Big House and shove it in our faces.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:09 PM ^
IMHO, any Michigan season ticket holder who allows his ticket to be used by an OSU fan should have his seat priority bumped to the upper row end zone, regardless of how long he's had tickets or how much he donates to Michigan. It's treason.
If I were UM's athletic director, I'd also significantly cut back OSU's official allotment and would explain it by recounting the innumerable stories of abuse at the hands of OSU fans and Ohio state police.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:23 PM ^
I couldn't agree more with bumping seat priority. If there were a wait list I'd give the seats to someone else. The problem is too many of our fans are soft and they will take the money and sit at home.
The problem has gotten much worse with the advent of the online resale market. If the athletic department didn't want to sell out they could make the OSU tickets nontransferable though the online second hand market. It wouldn't solve all of the problems because the tickets could be sent by FedEx but it could help. It would also help if there were better ways to transfer the tickets where they would find a good home.
December 17th, 2020 at 11:03 PM ^
You guys are softies. I would start at the Iron Maiden and go from there. LOL
December 18th, 2020 at 11:04 AM ^
I would start at the Iron Maiden and go from there.
If we're going the musical torture route, I would add Def Leppard, ACDC, Slayer, Van Halen, Motley Crue, or Poison to the list. Having to listen to that shyte would be ungodly painful.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:09 PM ^
I went to a couple games in Columbus many years ago. They put the UofM fans in the top few rows of the lower section. Because of the overhang from the upper deck, those fans don’t show up on TV. It also makes it really hard to follow the path of a punted ball.
But I don’t think that explains it. I would bet we sell them more tickets than they do for us.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:25 PM ^
For along time I sat in Section 7 Row 82. Row 84 is where the visitors seats started and they went across to Section 9 I believe. Then there was always a large contingent around Section 15 or 16 from Row 1 to about Row 30. I hated being that close to the visitors because of the abuse. This was when my kids were 6 to 14 years old. I finally got moved to Row 24. But Michigan fans put their tickets on the market and they get bought by many of the closet fan bases without knowledge of the seller. I personally would never sell my tickets (face to face) to a visiting fan base.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:28 PM ^
If they are ever down like we were during the Rodriguez years, I might consider going to the shoe.
I've attended one game in person at the big house...2017. There were fans there but not as egregious as 2019 seemed on tv. We were leading with JOK most of that game and they acted surprisingly docile, no aggression even towards vocal M fans. Maybe they were just confident in pulling the comeback, idk.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:28 PM ^
Years back, when I knew about such things, I knew that UM gave 2000 tickets to the commoners, and 5000 tickets to premier opponents (MSU, OSU, ND). Those ticket allotments used to be way up high in a corner of an end zone.
Seeing the Big House decked out in red for a late November game is just disgusting. I'm with old man Don - you get caught peddling your tics to OSU, you're out. Fuck the fuck right off. Would rather see an empty stadium than a red one...
December 17th, 2020 at 9:31 PM ^
We don't vandalize vehicles with Ohio plates on them. Their fans know no one is going to hassle them, at least not in a physical manner. Deep down they know we are more civilized.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:41 PM ^
I've heard OSU fans buy UM season tickets and sell all but the OSU game and break even. With as bad as UM is getting, they might be losing cash now.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:51 PM ^
1. I don't understand why Michigan assigns the visitors seats in the lower bowl in the SW corner so Big Nut and the douchebag cowboy guy can get their dumb ass faces all over tv. Put them ALL in the top rows.
2. Ann Arbor is much closer to Toledo/Ohio than vice versa.
3. Being there last year it wasn't even bad. There were more OSU fans in 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
December 17th, 2020 at 9:51 PM ^
I can still hear the crowd chanting, "Eddie who? Eddie who?".
December 17th, 2020 at 11:03 PM ^
He was out rushed not only by Biakabatuka, but also by a streaker.
December 17th, 2020 at 10:40 PM ^
I’ve been to the Shoe for The Game four times and I’ve never had a problem, but once, when parking, the lot attendant told us to take down anything Michigan related on the car if we wanted to be able to drive it home. That was only half of it, he then said if we didn’t and something happened, don’t bother calling him or the police because they will be too busy to help. He wasn’t joking.
December 17th, 2020 at 11:09 PM ^
So true. You learn the rules the first time and no he wasn't joking he was giving realistic advice.
December 17th, 2020 at 11:04 PM ^
Attending The Game as a Michigan fan is a miserable experience.
I long for the day when the above sentence would've required the disclaimer "when played in Columbus."
December 17th, 2020 at 11:46 PM ^
Ohio Stadium has many seats under an overhang with obstructed view. You can only see about 80% of the field. They, of course, put visitors in that area. So, not only can the visiting fans not see the entire field, other people in the stadium cannot see or hear the visiting fans very well either. Last time I went, those seats were $197 face value. Who wants to pay that much not to be able to see the entire field of play? I have been to 4 or 5 games there. I also have to say that at the end of the season, most Michigan fans have heavy navy parkas on and they just don't show up as much as the red (or maize) in the stands.