Take back the stadium -or- what to do with 'The Heretics'

Submitted by mtzlblk on
OK, I'm dying for Saturday. I am jacked that people are going to cheer Rich and the players and make their support known. This is good. Very good. I would like to propose we take one additional measure toward making sure that the players and coaches know we are behind them 100%. I was never so ashamed as a Michigan fan than I was last year when 'some' M fans boo-ed a bunch of young players who were giving it their all. I would like very much not to hear that again. Let's face it, there will be some growing pains on Saturday. Michigan is a very young team going up against a more experienced team, which means the first half (and points therein) might be rough. Hell the second half might be rough.....we might lose. No matter what the status is on the field/scoreboard, there should be be no booing. The revelations this week, if nothing else, should make it clear to all that these kids are enduring a lot to get on that field. If you can't muster up enough energy to scream your head off, you owe them at least the little bit of effort it will take to keep your EFFING mouth shut should you feel the need to boo them. If someone near you starts booing, get in their face. If you hear someone telling one of our booing, fair-weather brethren to knock it off, make yourself heard and back them up vocally. Make your presence and lack of tolerance for this known. Loudly. Tell them to can it. I LOVE the story about Brian throwing a cup at some booing a-hole last year. If that person gets showered in cups, they will think twice about opening their pie-hole to boo again. My hope is that they will realize that they are outnumbered and sit back down (Lord knows if they weren't still sitting down, they will have only stood up to boo) and seriously STFU. We can only hope they will vacate their season tickets and make way for real fans. I would like to think that there are more of 'us' than 'them' and if everyone that really supports the team vocally, openly objects, we should have no problem with booing in this or any other game. If there aren't more of 'us', then, well, we don't really deserve a winning team anyway. Hopefully the surging support for Rich and the players can help usher in a new era by generating excitement, producing a proactive (read, not sit on your ass) fan base and ultimately a vast increase in the noise level in our beloved Big House. Seriously, I went to all the home games growing up and I remember so many instances on third down where opposing QBs had to step back from the center and call timeout b/c they couldn't hear. I even remember a few crowd noise violations. By the time I went to UM (graduated '90) that was all but gone. Yes, people used to shake their keys on 3rd downs, but that does not preclude you from yelling your head off, stomping your feet, etc. Once we purge the boo-ers, we can start going after the 'down-in-fronters' ;)

MGoEOD

September 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 PM ^

In all seriousness, last year's team (the most abysmal in decades) was within 2 points of Utah. The same Utah that finished undefeated and punked Bama in their bowl game. There's no way that WMU is better than Utah and no way this M team is worse than last year's.

mtzlblk

September 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 PM ^

Perhaps I should have said 'could be rough' and cited a more experienced QB, but they have been under the same system and are perhaps as young, but not as 'green'? I feel pretty good about this game, I'm just stating that if we encounter rough spots, we shouldn't allow people to come down on the team. This might be more appropriate for the ND game or others, but I wanted to get it out there.

Seth9

September 3rd, 2009 at 11:54 PM ^

There's no way Northwestern, Toledo, Purdue, and Notre Dame were better than Utah last year, yet they all beat Michigan by more than 2. You can't rely on margin of victory (or defeat) for a single game to determine how good a team is, especially for the first game of the season.

CharlesInCharge

September 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 PM ^

We're pretty evenly matched as far as the experience is concerned, we have a young quarterback, but the rest of the offense is experienced. They have a fifth year senior quarterback but the rest of the team is relatively young. Defense is going to be the key in the game, which one won't break. We should be fine.

Enjoy Life

September 3rd, 2009 at 7:59 PM ^

I don't think STFU is likely to actually shut them up and may get anyone with younger kids at the game to not be on your side. Try this: "Why are you here if you don't support Michigan? We don't need you. Either quit booing or just leave!"

Maize_and_Drew

September 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 PM ^

I said something along those lines last season to a guy who sits one row in front of us. During the Michigan/Wisconsin game he kept bitching, and bitching and finally I said, "If you're gonna sit here and complain the whole game why don't you just go home." He did - and we all know how that game turned out. We shook hands the next game and all was forgiven.