Spartan Fan Presence (or Lack Thereof) on Saturday
Being in the stands on Saturday was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had as a Michigan alumnus / fan. One thing I was particularly pleased with was the distinct lack of Spartan fan presence, which is a departure from recent years. I didn't see a lot of MSU garb in my section and even when Sparty drew first blood in the first quarter, the volume of their celebrating wasn't all that impressive. Anybody have similar impressions / stories to share?
November 18th, 2019 at 8:19 AM ^
We had one loud Sparty near us in section 8. Well, he was loud for a quarter...a little less in the 2nd...and was gone by the 8 minute mark of Q3.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
My kid said it was the most fun she's ever had at a game, by far. She particularly enjoyed the little brother chants.
I don't blame MSU fans for not showing up. They knew what was coming. Why pay to see that in person?
November 18th, 2019 at 10:05 AM ^
additionally - there are MSU fans who are refusing to support the AD because of the whole Nassar thing. That intent is further encouraged by a team that eats a full bowl of suck every Saturday, but I have personal friends who've stoppped sending the checks because of all the mess.
Plus - who wants to go on a road game to watch your own team subjected to garroting by a rival
November 18th, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
I sat in the end zone for the first time in a long time and it was honestly the worst fan experience I've ever had. Two 70+ year old Michigan fans were screaming at me at me and my wife to sit down at kickoff. I was in row 70 and the entire section in front of me (along with the entire stadium) was standing. This continued throughout the first part of the first quarter when everyone was standing. They then continued to whistle in our ears the entire game.
The spartan fans around me were unusually respectful.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:51 AM ^
My good friend had season tickets as a kid and was continuously yelled at by old fans behind him to sit down. He got so upset as an 9/10 year old being scolded by the white hairs that he stopped going to games and started cheering for MSU. This was in 99 as well so we were no chumps at the time.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:13 AM ^
Does he look like a bitch?
November 18th, 2019 at 9:34 AM ^
I think a good litmus test for your question is if one's avatar is of themselves.
Double bitch if that avatar is sporting a douchebag chinstrap.
November 18th, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
Lol I laughed pretty hard at this. Fuck the haters
November 18th, 2019 at 9:24 AM ^
Yeah but did he go to Michigan State?
November 18th, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
I fail to see how cheering on MSU is a better experience. Being in a section with old down-in-fronters is still better than being in a section ALONE. hahahahahah!
November 18th, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^
This was in 99 as well so we were no chumps at the time.
The '99 game was at MSU.
November 18th, 2019 at 1:43 PM ^
I think he was so bothered by the experience that he eventually gave up in 99
November 18th, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
Well I guess he’s more comfortable at Spartan Stadium where there are no fans to get upset.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
Yeah I’ve had that happen before. It’s frustrating. The whole section in front of us was standing so we stood and these older guys behind us said it must be our first time at the big house.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
The big screens literally asked the fans to stand repeatedly. If these people physically can’t stand they should look into handicap seating, club level, or suit level.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:43 AM ^
Tbh, sittting-standing-sitting is way more uncomfortable than standing the whole game. I legitimately have back pain when we are up-and-down throughout the game. I'd rather people just pick one.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:07 AM ^
Or at home on their couch or in their lay z boy.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
Where were you at? We were standing and had some very old-timer sparties call the event staff over. The event staff came up guns blazing and immediately called the police in - because we were standing.
Later in the game, while the scoreboard was asking everyone to stand up, the same old timers went nuts and threatened to fight us because we were standing up. Even my sparty wife was yelling at them to shut up.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
Pretty sure U saw the police heading up for that interaction. Ridiculous
November 18th, 2019 at 9:39 AM ^
That's garbage, man. It's a rivalry game at The Big House! There were even messages on the jumbotron encouraging fans to stand up and get loud.
I was down in row 3 and we stood the whole game. It was awesome. Shout out to the drunk dude next to me who somehow managed to keep his buzz for the entire game.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
Shout out to the drunk dude next to me who somehow managed to keep his buzz for the entire game.
Sneak in liquor, buy a large coke, drink 1/3 of it, pour liquor into remaining coke, maintain buzz .... profit?
November 18th, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
Just don't get caught trying to sneak it in. Having to pour it out in front of the entire line at the ticket gate in front of a trooper and getting slapped with a 100 dollar fine is really humiliating.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:35 AM ^
When I got my season tickets 5 years ago they were in section 14, three rows above the walkway. My experience was the same as yours, a bunch of old timers that would never stand, coupled with the fact that the visiting fans were directly behind us, made for a time. Last year we upgraded to section 15 and 20 rows closer. Now we stand nearly the entire game(big games) and it is wayyyy more enjoyable. Not sure how people can’t get into it against OSU or MSU
November 18th, 2019 at 10:08 PM ^
If some old fart was whistling in my ears all game I would stand up, turn around, and scream in his face at the top of my lungs all damn day. Just that sustained, single note cheer usually reserved for third down key plays. In his face. All game.
Some people don't know how to act in public and deserve aggression in response.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:31 AM ^
Who cares. Spartans are done for a year. I have moved on to IU.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
pretty much everyone but you
are you also taking Friday off to mentally prepare for the IU game? since you've already "moved on" to IU, what are you currently doing for preparations?
people sound stupid when they say shit like you did
November 18th, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
He's preparing the usual comments for when he spazzes out on the game thread halfway through the 1st quarter when Indiana is up 3-0.
(E.g. Coaching staff sucks and Michigan is doomed, and if anyone disagrees they don't "think logically" ... before the inevitable "OK fine but this performance won't beat OSU")
November 18th, 2019 at 8:39 AM ^
Immediately noticed this as well. The last ten years about 20-30% of the stadium were MSU fans. Saturday it was about 5% MSU fans. It was great.
I watched State come out of the tunnel for the national anthem and I could just see from their body language we were going to maul them that day.
I was cussing most of the first half (all of our setbacks were self inflicted) until about the four minute mark in the 2nd quarter. From there, things improved immensely.
Takeaway from Saturday - we CANNOT be sloppy out of the gate against OSU if we are having any shot at an upset.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:07 AM ^
I was at the game too and agree with everything you said. Way less Sparty fans than recent past years.
And absolutely yes - Michigan can't pull their slow start malaise against OSU and hope to win. We have to come out with all guns blazing in that game and get up on them early.
November 18th, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
The last ten years about 20-30% of the stadium were MSU fans.
Nah, more like 10-15%. It would take massive sell-offs by Michigan fans to get to 20% visiting fans and that's never happened for Sparty. But it has happened for OSU.
November 18th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
Yeah the Asshat who sits next to me sold his OSU tickets on Stubhub right after the Wisconsin game, and they were snapped up at 220 per. I just know that I'll have 2 fricking cooler poopers sitting next to me. Fortunately the rest of my loyal seatmates are still there....and ready to put the friendly(?) kibosh on the poor souls who sit there. I really don't know how that is going to go down.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:39 AM ^
Visitors usually occupy the top 10 rows of the SE corner. There were no Spartans there saturday.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:49 AM ^
I sat in the visitors section for the game. (Don't heckle me, I'll take free tickets any day). The Sparty fans surrounding me were all quite pleasant and VERY reserved. Even when they went up 7-0, it was clear they didn't expect to win the game. Many left in the 3rd quarter when the game started getting out of hand.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:17 AM ^
Pretty sure if Pennywise the killer clown sat next to me I'd be gone before the third quarter
November 18th, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
I came in civilian clothes. Still wore my make-up though, which may have been unsettling.
November 18th, 2019 at 12:18 PM ^
But did you wear the clown shoes?
November 18th, 2019 at 8:50 AM ^
Noticed the same. I am a couple sections over from the visitors' section, in the corner. I actually thought Rutgers brought more fans. I figured it would be like this when I got a text from the ticket office a couple weeks ago with an offer to buy tickets that MSU had returned.
Now, let's hope that it will be the same fan split in two weeks... though I think we know it won't be.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
God I hope we have a loud fan presence for OSU. They are less likely to get rattled by it but you never know.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:45 AM ^
Right. That has been frustrating to me for a long time - it seems like when they come here, it's about 25% OSU fans while when we go there, it's maybe 5% Michigan fans. Given how they act, that's not surprising. Still, we need to be into the game and do what we can to throw their team off.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:08 PM ^
I'll be there on Nov 30 doing my part!!!!!!
November 18th, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
I figured it would be like this when I got a text from the ticket office a couple weeks ago with an offer to buy tickets that MSU had returned.
That was amazing to me when I got that email notification from the U of M Ticket Office a couple weeks ago. For all the talk Spartan fans make about Walmart Wolverines and Michigan fans being bandwagon hoppers, they bail out pretty quick when the going gets tough.
They really are just cowards.
November 18th, 2019 at 5:24 PM ^
Absolutely. It will be funny when they're playing in front of a half-empty Spartan Stadium in a meaningless game vs. Maryland in two weeks.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:51 AM ^
I didn’t really see many MSU fans and the few I did weren’t saying anything. I did however sit next to a group of M fans that were completely over the top bitching about Shea. Dudes, are you actually watching this game?
November 18th, 2019 at 11:15 AM ^
You don't realize how little the majority of our fans know about football until you sit in the stands for a game.
November 18th, 2019 at 11:35 AM ^
I had the same thing in front of me. Endless bitching about Shea "always" throwing to the receivers back shoulder. When Shea didn't connect with Black in the end zone late in the 2nd quarter (ball was not well thrown this time, a little behind Tarik him instead of leading him) and Michigan settled for the field goal, these guys were clamoring for DCaff to take over.
Some fans are never satisfied.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
We were talking about this at our postgame tailgate. Almost no Sparty section at all, not even along the top rows of the south endzone.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
We are in section 44. And while there weren’t a lot of Spartan fans, I was still surprised there were as many as there were...given the condition of their team and the inevitable beat down.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:03 AM ^
There was a Sparty guy sitting in the row behind mine. He was yelling “first down bitch” when they were moving the ball. He also said something about Michigan having no big ten championship game wins. He was gone after halftime.
Also, on the way out a Sparty fan was going on and on about basketball season. It was pathetic.
Additional note, saw a guy in my section wearing a Rocky Lombardi jersey. Lol
November 18th, 2019 at 9:35 AM ^
Additional note, saw a guy in my section wearing a Rocky Lombardi jersey
A la Yost... "ugly parents"
November 18th, 2019 at 10:56 AM ^
I think "first down bitch" is one of their cheers. I remember being in the student section for the 2006 game and there happened to be a few MSU fans in front of us. At one point in the second half when we were up I think 31-0, they picked up a first down. The group in front of us immediately yelled "first down bitch!" My response was "zero points bitch!" One of them just turned around and glared at me, like I had the nerve to say that. It was great.
And it's great that we're back to dominating them like that too.