Student Section needs to be reduced

Submitted by bassmaster on

I know it's their school now, but god damn, this has been going on for too long. Just reduce it by a section let people who will show up get those seats. Today it looked like 5,000 seats were empty through the first quarter. 

eamus_caeruli (not verified)

November 10th, 2012 at 10:11 PM ^

I did the squeeze down thing too, but I pre, during and post graduate experience have ever seen such a poor turnout in the student sections as the last few years. This year it's been horribly empty.



I have often wondered if the ticket office held and sold student tickets until Fridays and then sold the remainder on game days, if we would have and emptiness issue in the stadium.

buckeyejonross

November 11th, 2012 at 2:51 AM ^

This was my only gripe with the Michigan Stadium student section seating policy. For last year's game, I didn't get to stand in my seat and I didn't get to stand next to my friend who had the seat next to me, because everyone just rushes and stands somehere. Your seat has a number for a reason, stand at that number. The ushers are 100% useless also, they don't do anything to people that aren't in their assigned seat. It's a damn circus. I don't understand how every single stadium I have ever been to has managed this task with the exception of Michigna. Stunned.

 

/rant

Michael Scarn

November 10th, 2012 at 9:47 PM ^

YOU NEED TO BE REDUCED!

People need to keep in mind that, while some of them are unused seats, a portion is due to people saying "I give zero fucks about what row my ticket says" and moving down and squishing in.  

coldnjl

November 11th, 2012 at 6:21 AM ^

It also wouldn't be fare to not give students who want tickets a ticket just bc some grouchy alumni are pissed that they don't fill every inch of the student section for a NW game at 12:00. As a student, it is your right to get a ticket, and then to subsequently squish down after the start of the game. 

BlueGoM

November 10th, 2012 at 9:48 PM ^

What about the non-students who stumble through my gate at the last minute, every game? 

I've had quite enough about people bitching about the students.   There are people who leave every game early just to beat the traffic.  Shall we punish them too?

Students gonna student.  Deal with it.

 

 

HighSociety

November 10th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^

is the only way to solve this problem, students must be incentivized to show up on time.

Not many people on here are banging 19 year old vagina on saturday mornings, can't expect you to understand.

corundum

November 10th, 2012 at 9:49 PM ^

I was also surprised and somewhat bothered by how many people left the game following Gardner's pick with over three minutes to go. I know traffic can be quite the hassle, but come on. Oh well they missed one hell of a finish.

Leonhall

November 10th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^

Those seats should not be student section, give them to general public so they actually get filled. Back in the day those seats were filled before kickoff.

Bando Calrissian

November 10th, 2012 at 9:51 PM ^

I'm willing to bet if this was a lecture in Angell C at 10:10AM on a Tuesday, these kids would show up no problem.  What makes noon on a Saturday such a challenge in comparison?  Shouldn't you -want- to show up for kickoff for a football game versus, say, Anthro 101?

And don't give us the "it takes too long to get in" or "people squeeze in" garbage.  If students habitually squeeze down, then why hasn't it ever been noticeable until the last two or three years?

Knock off half a section.  These kids don't deserve the expanded section they've been given if they refuse to show up on time, if they even show up at all.

WolverineHistorian

November 10th, 2012 at 10:06 PM ^

I'm assuming it's the drinking.  Which is dumb because students always drank on game day before but the stands were still packed for pregame.  (Pregame, not the 2nd quarter.) 

I've heard every excuse (RichRod ruined their mojo, they need more time to wake up, they need more time to drink) and none of it flies.  One student posted here a month ago saying that it was unreasonable to expect students to get to the game on time for noon starts. 

I wanted to rip him a new one for that comment but I've never argued with a fellow Michigan fan online and I didn't want to start then. 

Mirasola

November 10th, 2012 at 10:07 PM ^

Sorry, but that's a really bad analogy.  Kids go to class because they have to most of the time.  Going to a football game is completely different, especially when a big part of the student culture is tailgating/partying.  There are no consequences for showing up to a football game on time or 30 minutes late, so they don't care, and you can't really change that.

MGoBeer

November 10th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^

I was saying that not everyone shares your priorities and I stand by it. Buying football tickets is considered part of the Michigan experience but that doesn't mean that every student is a big football fan. They still deserve the right to attend the games and when you compare Michigans student section with most others they look pretty good. The university is for the students and they don't need to live to fulfill your expectations just because you feel you got an unlucky draw in life. And I didn't downvote you.

Blazefire

November 10th, 2012 at 10:56 PM ^

A: I don't care about the vote, but glad to know it.

B: That's fine. Everyone SHOULD have their own priorities. But U of M students should recognize how impotant the team is to so many, and NOT buy tickets they think it likely they will waste. IT's my right to buy a bottle of water and then go to the sahara and pour it out in front of some desert folk, but I wouldn't do it.

I know that's extreme, but that's why people get so upset over this. Tickets are EXPENSIVE. to see people buying them, especially students, and then not use them when they KNOW there are so many out there that want them desperately is a problem. If you're going to buy student/season tickets, use them, correctly.

Mirasola

November 10th, 2012 at 10:39 PM ^

Well you should understand that not every student is a die-hard Michigan fan the moment they buy tickets.  Before I went to Michigan, I couldn't have cared less about football in general, but my brother convinced me to get season tickets because it's such a big part of the UM culture.  I was guilty of showing up late to games for the first couple years, but as I became a bigger fan, I understood what it meant to get to the games on time.  Just glad I had my brother to steer me in the right direction because now I am a die-hard fan.  Give the students a break - they'll appreciate it more eventually, and those are the ones who do show up on time.

Blazefire

November 10th, 2012 at 10:43 PM ^

I don't have any problem with people not being die hard fans. Fine. Not everybody is. That's the point. Too many people are. If you're not, if you ever catch yourself thinking, "Eh... I guess I'd like to go to a couple of games", then don't get student/season tickets. Scalp seats for just the games you care to attend, and that you'll show up for on time. Don't make those who ARE die hards fight you for the season tickets. It just costs everyone money.face.

Mirasola

November 10th, 2012 at 10:52 PM ^

If there were enough die-hard fans to fill the seats every game, then there wouldn't be any of these casual fans at the games that you seem to hate so much.  It's part of what comes with an elite football program - get used to it.  There will be die-hards, and there will be people getting tickets for the sake of it because it's Michigan.

Mirasola

November 10th, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^

Yes, I know there's a waitlist because I'm on it.  Doesn't mean I have problems finding tickets to every game the last four years since I've been out of school - I've been to every one.  If people want tickets to the games, they'll find them.  I was able to get my tickets for face value every year; it really isn't that hard.

jwfsouthpaw

November 10th, 2012 at 11:58 PM ^

Not saying you're automatically wrong, but you're making a huge assumption that someone is a diehard just because they are on a waiting list.  Example: I might join a class waitlist because it fits my schedule better or any number of reasons that may have nothing to do with my educational interests.

Remember, many of the same alumni who are frequently chastised for not being louder were once on a wait list, too.

And, now that I think of it, how are you even defining "die hard"?  Is it sometime who shows up on time? Is there a requisite amount of cheering that must be done?  If you wear something other than maize or blue to a late November game, are you disqualified?  (I'm posting on a Michigan blog at 10:30 on a Saturday night.  So you know where I'm at.) 

 

[EDIT:  This should be in response to Blazefire.  That's what I get as a frequent reader but infrequent contributor]

CleverMichigan…

November 10th, 2012 at 11:09 PM ^

Are you, the consummate band geek, trying to pull the geek card on our student body? Good one ;]

Anywho, yes, it is a school. Some people find they do best at school when they attend class.  Personally I never participated in that frippery, unless participation was part of the grade, since I went to Michigan to spend all my time at sporting events! /s  

Sometimes wanting to be there for football isn't the issue either. LOTS of students travel home for Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, etc. 

But in all seriousness, regarding the squeezing of the students, we did have a few thousand seats added in the past 2-3 seasons. If anything, knock off those nosebleed rows and sell them to people who actually give heed to seat numbers. 

jcgold

November 10th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^

The reason we added more student seats was because we had more applications than available seats in the student section. So students were being placed in other areas of the stadium with available seats. Often, freshmen who did not go to M knowing anyone were being placed alone in odd corners of the stadium, deprived of their student section experience. My sophomore year was spent sneaking my freshman girlfriend into the student sections since her seat was alone in section 38.

I'd rather have empty seats at the top of the student section than to go back to that.

Zone Left

November 10th, 2012 at 9:53 PM ^

 

So which students shouldn't get tickets? If you're going to suggest shrinking the student section, you need to argue who gets left out.

I've missed three home games for recruiting trips this year, including Michigan State. Trust me, I wanted to go to the games, but sometimes things don't work out. I didn't bother to sell Illinois or UMass, because there wasn't a market and I sold the MSU ticket to a Michigan fan.

If I had another year left, should I not be eligible? Should there be staff members designated to determine who should get tickets renewed?

Maybe we could try to determine how many season ticket holders make all of the games themselves and then make a judgement. It's pretty easy to give away tickets at the office on Friday when you can't make a game.

Zone Left

November 10th, 2012 at 10:13 PM ^

Who's going to pay people to take those calls, read those emails, and make those decisions? Who runs the appeals process? Who makes the criteria?

Besides, if I want to keep my tickets, then you're suggesting that I need to send a form email to the athletic department when, by the day before? Two days? Maybe a week? No chance that email isn't honest.

Is a doctor's note okay to not use something I've paid for? Should I have the funeral home call Dave Brandon if I'm at a funeral? Maybe Brady Hoke could take a call from my mom if I have an important family function on a Saturday? If I'm across the country interviewing, should I bring a form for the interviewer to sign? I hope no one gets married on a Saturday.

Could I sing Varsity 10 times in front of Schembechler Hall for atonement?

Complaining about students not showing up is an annual occurrence, but get over it.

Blazefire

November 10th, 2012 at 10:22 PM ^

I appologize for your extenuating circumstances, but it doesn't really matter. Whether you have a "good reason" why you can't be there or not, those seats should not go empty. If you're going to be there infrequently enough (and there's only 6-8 home games per year.  Missing more than two is pretty damn frequent), no matter what the cause, somebody else who can/will be there more should have the chance.

Zone Left

November 10th, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^

It's one thing to say that, it's another to actually do anything about it, especially if you want to do it intelligently. Doing that would cost the AD a lot of cash and create a lot of headaches to accomplish relatively little.

Reality is that it's easy to get tickets to games students show up late for and really hard to get tickets to last year's OSU game. People who want to treat current students more strictly than alumni season ticket holders are really arguing for the AD to sell a pretty small number of very  high price season ticket packages to people who could easily obtain tickets via StubHub for less than the AD would charge, with the goal being to eliminate 10 rows of bleachers at the top of the stadium you don't like seeing.

I know I'm being a smartass, but those top 10 rows aren't worth taking tickets away from students because 10% of them might have to skip a game for a whole host of valid reasons that would be impossible to verify.

WolverFrat

November 10th, 2012 at 9:57 PM ^

I don't understand why they don't start selling beer in the stadium or at least loosen the rules on bringing alcohol in.  If you've been drinking before the game, you're due for one hell of a hangover starting about 3 hours after you stop drinking... so to avoid that a lot of people just continue drinking into the first quarter.  I usually bring a flask, but with the searches for "weapons", it can get tricky at times and the other times I usually forget to prepare one before I leave.  If you want to more people to show up, don't sell tickets to 19 year old sorority girls who have never attended a game before and spend 1/2 the time bitching because they can't get a signal to their phone and socializing with everyone around them.  "Hun, I'll talk to you after the game is over, I don't have time to explain how many 'chances' each team gets."

eamus_caeruli (not verified)

November 10th, 2012 at 10:00 PM ^

I totally agree that we might need to reduce it. I was in section 44 today, and everyone around me was complaining at the poor turnout and how late they came. I used to wake up 7am after being out till 330-4am to make sure I got to the game on time and only got to the 2004 minn game late. Which was a drunken Malay, but that's no excuse, even though I fell twice walking on Hoover. Tmi, whatevs I got to the game. Better than what can be said for this generation.