Air Force does NOT suck (Temptation Chant)
Movement starting on Facebook to eradicate the "You Suck" chant for Air Force game (hopefully it sticks...)
I'm all for the "Go Blue" replacement of "You Suck." I tired of You Suck sophomore year and would love to see it leave. Maybe the dumbest thing the Michigan fan base does is to chant "You Suck" when we're down several scores...
http://www.facebook.com/events/183015915163169/
Im glad it's being talked about. I was surprised when I first heard it. I hope it goes away. If we're supposed to be about class, then the chant must go. Honestly when I first heard it, I thougt it sounded like something sparty fans would do.
I don't need a student section to be classy. But, creative is a must.
"You Suck" is the most uncreative taunt ever. I understand that the football student section will never come close to the creativity of the Maize Rage (let alone the hockey S.S.), but still. You Suck is plain dumb.
The first time I remember hearing it was the Appalachian game. Accordingly, I've come to associate the chant with the ugliness that occurred from 2007-10. I'd prefer not to be reminded of those years every time we get a stop.
Two! Sie! after a Lewan pancake block.
/s sorta
Yeah, I'm sure the student section will jump right on with this. They have always been so considerate of what others think and so eager for changing their ways.
They'll change if it's for the greater good. When I was an undergrad (1998-03), students would throw marshmallows at each other and sometimes on the field (the TV cameramen would film inside a little cage for protection). But then we switched to FieldTurf, and marshmallows that landed on the turf could potentially melt and stick there. Lloyd Carr urged the students to stop in a little message before the first game with the new surface, and just like that, it stopped.
Homefield advantage largely comes down to fan participation. The current students have to decide if they want to chant something that the other 80% of the stadium won't participate in, or something that everyone will.
Speaking of chants, I've noticed a little trend the last couple of years where people are trying to shout "HAIL" and raising their fist when the "what so proudly we hailed" line comes up in the national anthem. That seems a little tacky to me. The national anthem is supposed to be about forgetting about sports for a minute and honoring the country. It doesn't need any "extras."
I don't know if it started in the Maize Rage, but I know when I was in the MR it was commonplace.
Is it really that big of a deal? Ohio State does "OH." What's so wrong with giving a fist pump for the combined awesomeness of Murika and Michigan?
I wish the alums would pick up on it - I think that's a slick, classy, subtle tradition that can take hold.
Is it really that big of a deal? Ohio State does "OH."
I think you answered your own question. We are not Buckeyes . . . we don't need to beat our chests during the national anthem.
I thought it was a little tacky when we stopped playing The Yellow and Blue during pregame. Seriously, that was a "get off my lawn" moment for me.
it can be pretty funny. But it's not something I do during every Star Spangled Banner I listen to.
I've always though 'You Suck' was a little Sparty-esque. At the games, we always just sang the lyrics to Temptation.
Navy used to get treated with respect when they played in Michigan Stadium in the 1960's. I would really hope to see any armed forces team treated with the utmost in respect. It's not like they get to go to a cushy job or life after four years.
Those are the people who will be protecting our asses when they get out of school. They deserve to be treated as such: everyplace but the scoreboard.
As a former Marine Officer, I can say, with certainty, that the Air Force and its academey do, indeed, suck.
That said, I'm all for whatever permanently ends the "you suck" chant. It's just dumb--even though it was pretty funny when the obnoxious, but really friendly, Nebraska alumnus sitting behind me began to agree with its sentiments last season.
Air Force can handle the chant. The chant is not unpatriotic or pro-Taliban. The chant doesn't imply that we don't support the troops.
The chant is just really, really stupid.
This isn't some bawdy by creative long-lived tradition like the fans in Yost provide (even though to many that is debatable/controversial). The addition of you suck to a song of such long tradition cheapens it and us. It is not reflective of the greatness of UM, the Big Ten, or college football. It so lacks class that it would be much more at home as a tradition of the Philistines in Columbus. And while you are at the task of classing things up, stop any chants of "overrated" (a clever choice just before the Kordell Stewart hail Mary pass, ye of the student section!), and fergodssakes stop booing opposing team's bands!
I am very glad to see a movement to end this juvenile and tasteless chant. I never liked it the first time I heard it -and I was about 25 years old.
It sounds petulant and cheap. It's embarrassing to the school, and it makes me feel dirty when I hear it. Now at Yost, I know anything goes, and I don't have a problem with that, because of the intimate environment there. But at the flagship sporting event of the university, at Michigan Stadium, "you suck" presents us as a bunch of children with zero creativity.
Of course, there's only one sure way to stop this chant. The solution is for the band to find some song other than "Temptation" to celebrate the defensive stop on third down. Something like "The Victors" maybe. Students won't shout You Suck at the end of "The Victors," right? After about 5 years or so, the band can try to go back to "Temptation" in those situations to see if the You Suck thing has disappeared.
I'm with the folk who want to see it go permanently. It's very Michigan State-ish.
If we were clever we'd learn Army and Navy's fight songs. Navy's at least would be good to repeat for Notre Dame.
How about the crowd say "thank you" instead of "you suck?"
"You suck" implies that the defense getting a stop has little to do with Michigan's Defense being good.
Our cheers and chants should be about pumping up our own team. Negativity toward the other school doesn't really do that.
As long as you're getting rid of you suck, can you throw in the "who cares" as well. To me "who cares" is much more disrepesctful to the armed services teams than you suck. Without getting too off the deep end here, names are important to servicemen for obvious reasons (MIA/KIA/the Unknown Soldier et al.)
You can lump it into my response above that cadets aren't going to care, but I think most of the vets in the crowd may, if they think about it a little, especially those who experienced loss while serving, or the families. If it doesn't feel right it probably isn't.
Regardless of opponent, You suck is embarrasing to many alumni. Change would be welcome and certainly represent Michigan ideals better. Air Force brings the issue to light only because it is highly doubtful that anyone attending a Michigan game, especially with our emphasis on Military recognition, truly believes that anyone dedicating themselves to our country's Armed Forces "sucks". Lets raise the bar.
How about chanting U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A when they are announced?
Happened to just see this, and wanted to pose a question:
We don't plan on booing Air Force, do we? I mean, I feel like we should arrange some sort of applause or something when they take the field.
As far as the 'You Suck' chant goes, I'm not attached to it, but I don't feel "Go Blue" flows very well in it. Just my opinion, and it could be that I am so used to the you suck that I haven't given go blue a chance, but that's just my opinion.
Edit:
To those complaining about the 'You Suck' chant, let's take a minute to appreciate we're not like the student section in East Lansing, where their chants consist of"
On each Spartan first down: "1...2...3... First down, Bitch"
AND
"Fuck Michigan. They suck balls."
These are organized, audible cheers that nearly the entire student section participates in. Astonishing, really.