The Wave

Submitted by jgunnip on

Ok, I realize opportunities to do the wave have been few and far between during the last few seasons but that's no excuse to mix up the order like we did on Saturday.

Correct Order of the Wave.
1. Regular
2. Regular
3. Slow
4. Fast
5. Backwards
6. Split

That being said, the wave looked good and the split went around about two and a half times. well done. And kudos to the Delaware St band who really got into it, they didn't have many opportunities to get excited during that game.

sheepman

October 18th, 2009 at 10:07 PM ^

I was just thinking of posting something about how sweet the wave was. Everyone got involved and had a great time doing it.

That was the only time I have seen it go that well. I brought two newbies to the game (which sucked it was their first time to come to this game) and they were both blown away by the wave.

HartAttack20

October 18th, 2009 at 10:08 PM ^

I don't think you can complain when that was clearly an amazing performance on the wave. EVERYBODY got in on that one including the DSU band and including the DSU band members with the huge drums. I've never see a wave done that well. That was the last thing people had to be excited about really, but it was still awesome. I think that part of the problem with the wrong order was the issue of not having many actual students left at Michigan for the football game. A lot of the people I saw on the big screen during the game where either some old people refusing to let go of their youth and graduate college already or just some parents or some thing. The wave was done in that order for the most part, though. I'm not sure what was messed up in that order if anything. All of those steps were covered, IIRC, so it must've been a mixup on #3-6 somewhere. It was kind of fun to watch some of the fans that got to get out to their first game today. They really got in to the game for all of the first half and made it more exciting.

Ernis

October 18th, 2009 at 10:48 PM ^

Like a poster below noted, they did not repeat the regular cycle, they did the fast one for the first change-up, and skipped straight into the split.

Important steps were omitted. The effect of the fast cycle is enhanced by going through the slow one first ... context is key. The increase in speed was relatively less than it should have been; this made it less exciting. Also, the split coming off the backward cycle makes more sense than the split just coming out of nowhere, completely arbitrarily. Also, it's fun to reflect the wave back.

It's not a huge deal. It was still fun, and yeah the DSU band got in on it which, like, +1000000. BUT I am glad this was pointed out here --it was a mistake and should be noted, so as not to be repeated.

And as for "everyone getting into it"... well, someone might be really excited to take their final exam, and he really "got into" taking that final exam, but the content of his answers was all wrong so the net effect is FAIL despite the enthusiasm. And as for this wave being the best ever... well, it seemed to me to go about as well as any other successful wave. I guess I've just seen some that you haven't....

HartAttack20

October 18th, 2009 at 11:00 PM ^

I'm sure you have seen way more wave attempts than me because you are probably quite a bit older than me (just a guess since i'm 17). Most wave attempts can be successful but I've never been to a blow out like that. That's what made the wave. Usually you can still see people that aren't taking part in the wave even during successful attempts. It looked like an absolute 100% participation during the DSU game.

About the final exam example... is anybody really "excited" to take a final exam? Maybe excited to finish the class, but not actually take the exam. I guess a good example if somebody was actually excited for an exam.

Ernis

October 18th, 2009 at 11:23 PM ^

I'm 8 years ahead of you... and 7 of those have been in Ann Arbor. It's a shame that there have not been more blowouts in recent history --- perhaps the student section is out of practice? In the future, you will get to see many more badass waves --and properly executed, hopefully.

All in all the wave was fun and that's the point of it. The concern is that people who have never seen a badass wave before will think that the order they saw was correct, or that the order doesn't matter.

As for the example, it was a hypothetical scenario. Just sayin'

lhglrkwg

October 18th, 2009 at 10:34 PM ^

the wave was so good because the game was you know...100% over in the 3rd quarter. i think i saw DSU's tiny defensive end get in on it too.
and i don't know why it was all out of order. they did
1. regular
2. fast
3. slow
4. split
5. split
i think

mds315

October 18th, 2009 at 10:39 PM ^

I think the order was the way it was because it worked on the first try. I dont remeber a game being so uninteresting that the wave was sucessful on its first try.

goblue3127

October 18th, 2009 at 11:24 PM ^

lol thats problibly true... at least we dont fail like psu at the wave... wen i was there last year wen they played michigan it took ALL the students like 2 times to get it the alumni like 5 and every1 else like 6 times.... a total of 6 times just to do the wave... and it wasnt good and they did it maybe 2 times after everybody started to do it....

maxr

October 18th, 2009 at 11:02 PM ^

I've only been to the Indiana game this year, but was really disappointed that no waves were attempted. Understandable, considering it was a close game throughout, but still.

BlueintheLou

October 18th, 2009 at 11:50 PM ^

That makes me feel better. I feel much better about the crowds now. Nothing bothered me more in my times at the Big House than when the wave was started during pivotal moments in close games. The wave is all well and good when someone is losing an eye (DSU), but when its whipped out while clinging to a lead against Ball State ala 2006... timing is everything.

michiganfanforlife

October 18th, 2009 at 11:03 PM ^

I also had a Big House newbie with me, and he was jaw-dropping during the slow motion part. That is cool, man. It's hard to say if it was the best wave I've seen there. Do you judge by the number of people participating, the number of times it takes to start the cycle, or the correct order of operation? I agree that the fast wave lost its luster because it wasn't right after the slow one.

The best part of the game was moving down to row 3 when everyone left. I saw Tate standing next to David Cone, and thought about the past and the present of our program. When these little freshman grow up in the next 4 years, we'll have some hardware. Go Blue!

maxr

October 19th, 2009 at 9:35 AM ^

The split has always been my favorite, although slow mo is fun. I remember a boring game (2004 Northwestern, maybe?) where the crowd sustained a split about 5 consecutive rotations around the stadium. The absolute best was after the first couple splits, we slowed it down and then sped it up. The effect was unbelievable.

jmblue

October 18th, 2009 at 11:12 PM ^

I noticed this at the time. The fast wave works best when preceded by the slow one. Doing it in the other way around was not as good. We've got to get that fixed. This is why you play games like Delaware State - to work out the kinks.

Brhino

October 19th, 2009 at 12:36 AM ^

This is just an astounding amount of discussion about the wave, and whether or not said wave was properly executed or not. I expect a Wave UFR with charts and youtube links by thursday at the latest.

agrude

October 19th, 2009 at 1:45 AM ^

I was in the student section and heard a bunch of people saying this was the best wave they'd ever seen.... WHAT?

I was in school from 99-04 and 05-07 and there was nothing special about that wave compared to the waves of the past. (Except for the Delaware State band participation!) The fast wasn't actually very fast.

Is the current crop of students so out of practice they don't know what a quality wave is?

TomW09

October 19th, 2009 at 2:04 AM ^

I can't +100000000000 to the OP, so I'll just +1.

You hit it right on the head. The wave was fun, especially since it's been a while since we've really got to do it. But, gosh, the order was f'ed up big time.

BlueinLansing

October 19th, 2009 at 2:41 AM ^

a pretty comical string of posts when you get right down to it.

Its a freaking wave, its been going around Michigan Stadium for 25 years plus now.......and its still amazing to see it executed in whatever freaking order.

No other stadium in the country can execute a wave in such a bowl shaped fashion with that many people.

maxr

October 19th, 2009 at 9:39 AM ^

Although, it's pretty frustrating how it often takes awhile for the alumni starting in section 25 to participate.

I'm not sure how feasible this is, but a thought: what if the wave went from luxury box to luxury box in a sort of seesaw motion? That could look pretty amazing if done right.