Those calling for a reduced number of student tickets next year will get their wish. I am a 5-time student ticket holder (who was at Akron on time today for the record) but there is no way I would pay that much for the following if I was still going to be here:
Aug. 30 APPALACHIAN STATE (What good could possibly come of this game?)
Sept. 13 MIAMI (NNTM)
Sept. 20 UTAH
Sept. 27 MINNESOTA
Oct. 11 PENN STATE
Nov. 1 INDIANA
Nov. 22 MARYLAND
What a joke. I'm not familiar with the regular season ticket process for the general public but why would people put up with the prices they pay for a schedule like this?
I was at the stadium gates at 6:15 and the ticket scan process took virtually no time, and we were through the chutes in minutes. The MUCH bigger issues were getting into the bowl itself.
At 6:20, the "line" (mosh pit) to get into section 26 outside the concourse more was probably 300 or 400 people. The line was not moving at all and people were getting agitated. No one could tell what was going on and the crowd started pushing forward. The students in the opening to the stairs had to hold on to the steel girder above them to keep from getting pushed down the stairs. Shorter students were expressing that they were scared to be there. I timed it at 40 minutes from the time I got trapped in the crowd until I made it into the bowl.
The root cause was that ushers were using a rope to keep students filling the lowest part of the section before moving upward, at a rate MUCH slower than the arrivals. It took them about a minute to do each row (!) They eventually abandoned that when they realized how dangerous the situation back in the concourse had become and everyone made it through in a couple of minutes.
There is a 0% chance that first responders could have made it through that crowd in a timely fashion. This situation needs to get fixed or students are going to get hurt. When people mentioned that students were pushed together like cattle, it is not an exaggeration.
IMO this will increase the resale value of student tickets, for two reasons:
1) I am bringing an out-of-state friend along for the Akron game. Previously, I would have had to sneak him in to my section somehow. Now, I can buy any student ticket and we sit together wherever we want.
2) Students trying to scalp tickets to older fans benefit because they will tend to arrive earlier to the game, and will probably have better seats on average than the assigned seating would have given them in previous years. For most games, an excellent seat can probably be assured by arriving 1:30 to 1:00 prior to kickoff.
My $0.02: (I'm a grad student starting my 5th overall year at UM)
I walked over after the step show (probably got to the gate ~2:45?) and ended up in the Block M. I agree that the lower bowl was not as packed as in recent years, but I think this is more due to the fact that people don't have to cram in to somone else's assigned seats to sit with their friends if they didn't buy tickets in a seating group in the spring. I enjoyed not having to stand sideways.
The only issue I saw is that like some others have pointed out, the cheers weren't right today. The lower sections looked nearly entirely full of freshman, and the student section completely blew it on the "Let's Go Blue" cheer during pregame, and I have never heard so few people singing along to "Varsity." And obviously there were some issues with the wave.
But on the other hand, the student section was surprisingly loud and full for a MAC opponent, so I suppose that mission was accomplished. Maybe the AD asked the team to hop into the student section at the end of the game but I thought that was a nice touch (along with the videos emphasizing students/fans being part of the "team")
I am not looking forward to how early I'll need to show up to get decent seats for UTL II, but I think the real improvement will be seen for the B1G noon games, so hopefully the attendance remains high.
PS - The new "video" ("Let's go!" "Blue!") cheer is the dumbest thing and needs to go away now.
I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.
Recent Comments
Those calling for a reduced number of student tickets next year will get their wish. I am a 5-time student ticket holder (who was at Akron on time today for the record) but there is no way I would pay that much for the following if I was still going to be here:
Aug. 30 APPALACHIAN STATE (What good could possibly come of this game?)
Sept. 13 MIAMI (NNTM)
Sept. 20 UTAH
Sept. 27 MINNESOTA
Oct. 11 PENN STATE
Nov. 1 INDIANA
Nov. 22 MARYLAND
What a joke. I'm not familiar with the regular season ticket process for the general public but why would people put up with the prices they pay for a schedule like this?
I was at the stadium gates at 6:15 and the ticket scan process took virtually no time, and we were through the chutes in minutes. The MUCH bigger issues were getting into the bowl itself.
At 6:20, the "line" (mosh pit) to get into section 26 outside the concourse more was probably 300 or 400 people. The line was not moving at all and people were getting agitated. No one could tell what was going on and the crowd started pushing forward. The students in the opening to the stairs had to hold on to the steel girder above them to keep from getting pushed down the stairs. Shorter students were expressing that they were scared to be there. I timed it at 40 minutes from the time I got trapped in the crowd until I made it into the bowl.
The root cause was that ushers were using a rope to keep students filling the lowest part of the section before moving upward, at a rate MUCH slower than the arrivals. It took them about a minute to do each row (!) They eventually abandoned that when they realized how dangerous the situation back in the concourse had become and everyone made it through in a couple of minutes.
There is a 0% chance that first responders could have made it through that crowd in a timely fashion. This situation needs to get fixed or students are going to get hurt. When people mentioned that students were pushed together like cattle, it is not an exaggeration.
IMO this will increase the resale value of student tickets, for two reasons:
1) I am bringing an out-of-state friend along for the Akron game. Previously, I would have had to sneak him in to my section somehow. Now, I can buy any student ticket and we sit together wherever we want.
2) Students trying to scalp tickets to older fans benefit because they will tend to arrive earlier to the game, and will probably have better seats on average than the assigned seating would have given them in previous years. For most games, an excellent seat can probably be assured by arriving 1:30 to 1:00 prior to kickoff.
My $0.02: (I'm a grad student starting my 5th overall year at UM)
I walked over after the step show (probably got to the gate ~2:45?) and ended up in the Block M. I agree that the lower bowl was not as packed as in recent years, but I think this is more due to the fact that people don't have to cram in to somone else's assigned seats to sit with their friends if they didn't buy tickets in a seating group in the spring. I enjoyed not having to stand sideways.
The only issue I saw is that like some others have pointed out, the cheers weren't right today. The lower sections looked nearly entirely full of freshman, and the student section completely blew it on the "Let's Go Blue" cheer during pregame, and I have never heard so few people singing along to "Varsity." And obviously there were some issues with the wave.
But on the other hand, the student section was surprisingly loud and full for a MAC opponent, so I suppose that mission was accomplished. Maybe the AD asked the team to hop into the student section at the end of the game but I thought that was a nice touch (along with the videos emphasizing students/fans being part of the "team")
I am not looking forward to how early I'll need to show up to get decent seats for UTL II, but I think the real improvement will be seen for the B1G noon games, so hopefully the attendance remains high.
PS - The new "video" ("Let's go!" "Blue!") cheer is the dumbest thing and needs to go away now.
More so than Nebraska. Notwithstanding the Notre Dame loss, this should be the most evenly-matched game left on our schedule.
I think Hoke has changed the tide on the rivalry. Hell people in Ohio are starting to believe him. Never in a million years I would have thought that. Selling Michigan jerseys is a good start.