Student Section needs to be reduced
November 10th, 2012 at 11:06 PM ^
Yeah, I don't think it's full of stinks.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:02 PM ^
Bring back the marshmellows..That would fill the seats
November 10th, 2012 at 10:02 PM ^
Bring back the marshmellows..That would fill the seats
November 10th, 2012 at 10:05 PM ^
I disagree. In fact, I think it needs to be oxidized!
Hey o
November 10th, 2012 at 10:06 PM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 10:09 PM ^
Not a chance. I'm in Row 1 of Section 26 and haven't been squashed until midway through at least the first quarter in every game this year. Unlike the past couple of years, moving down isn't the reason for empty upper rows.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:13 PM ^
I don't know about you, but I'm in row 34 of 26, and we get a ton of extra people in our row every game (and it's been like that every year I've been at here).
November 10th, 2012 at 10:30 PM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 10:07 PM ^
Could someone please explain how reducing the size will cause people to show up earlier?
November 10th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
Fraternities and Sororities will still turn in bulk ticket requests. They'll still get tickets. They'll still show up late.
I was one of these people. I'd be lucky to make it by the end of the first quarter. I'd be lucky to last until the end of the third quarter.
People will bitch about this until the end of time. It's an annual occurance. People seem to forget that not everyone cares about football games. Students buy football tickets. It's just one of those things that you do when you go to Michigan regardless of whether or not you have any intention of going to the games. The ticket request form comes out, you fill it out and send it in.
November 10th, 2012 at 11:13 PM ^
I do not buy this. As others have mentioned, this is a fairly recent development. Yes, there will always be latecomers. But the blatantly empty swathes of bleachers are an unwelcome and relatively new phenomenon, in my opinion.
As a freshman in 2003, I remember having ample company in the student section. In Row 92. And not just for the Ohio State game.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:08 PM ^
The band didn't show till about 1/2 hour before the game.
Reduce the band.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:21 PM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 10:11 PM ^
From a students perspective I was disappointed in the turn out but there's a a few factors that go into it (in my opinion):
- First noon game of the year. When you're used to all 3:30 games where you have a lot more time to sleep in/pregame/recover from the night before/eat breakfast or whatever everyone likes to do on a Saturday morning. Hell even I was running later than usual on this one (still made it about 10 minutes early but not as early as I like to be).
- Lots of Mid-Terms this week. A lot of people have their second set of midterms coming up. For the diehards like all of us, who would never miss a game they could make it to, you simply have to plan around a 4-5 hour block for the football game. But for a lot of run-of-the-mill fans, impending midterm doom will take precedent over football.
- Section compression. The student sections is less festidius with "where your seat actually are" than other sections, basically it's can become a free-for-all, with a first come first serve attitude. A lot of times when a lot of people are late to the game (as was the case with this game), people from the upper sections move down to the the large swaths of open seats in the lower sections. Then, when the people who were late arrive, they don't move into the open seats up top, rather going to their assigned seats and either A. kicking the people who moved down out of their seats, or B. (what happens more often) having everyone in the row cram together to fit the new people. This happens just about every game for me, and it leads to most of the people in my row having to either be very close together, or standing at an angle to allow everyone to fit in the row.
Yet again, I'll say it again, I was disappointed in the Student section this game. But there are reasons why it happens.
But, there are a lot of perks to having a big student section. I'll openly say that the student sections is definitely the loudest/rowdiest area in the stadium (I've sat in many other sections before my days as a student), and if its size is reduced, the "12th man advantage" of our stadium is goes down a lot.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:18 PM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 10:30 PM ^
I definitely disagree with that one.
All the students at other schools show up to the "big games" that we all see on TV on time, but so do Michigan's students. Games like State 2012, and Nebraska, Ohio and ND 2011 all filled up very quickly in the student section. Important/hyped up games, have students that always show up on time. The lesser games, not so much. But we often don't watch those on TV as attentively as the big games, so we don't notice those. As mentioned above, Florida had the same problem we did in their game this week.
The only big difference with some other schools and us is that they have "first come first serve" student seating—like a handful of Southern schools (Auburn is one I can think of that does this—anecdotal evidence though, I don't have any proof). Which personally like, as it would allow the more devoted fans to get better, and force everyone to show up earlier. That can spiral out of control though, requiring students to line up hours before a game to get decent seats. For better or worse we don't have that, and that's just how things are.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
They do? Prove it. Seriously, prove it. This is the Auburn student section today:
Boston College vs FSU last year:
West Virginia in 2010:
Wisconsin vs MSU this year:
That took about 2 minutes.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:31 PM ^
Which of those schools are known for over 40 years of sellout games and full stadiums? Which have a reputation as being one of the true kings of the sport?
If nothing else, you have an obligation.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:39 PM ^
An obligation? Really? It's a game. I happen to show up to football games, but I'm here to get an education, not to go to sporting events.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
Alabama's student section in November 2011. They're big-time.
November 10th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^
So student attendance sucks everywhere? Reduce the number of student tickets everywhere.
Why is this so hard to figure out? If the school (and i mean any school) gives a shit about attendance then pull student ticket distribution down. If the dont care then leave it as is and deal with the consequences
I will say this however....Kovacs didnt waive a SECOND when asked which end of the field Michigan wanted to play in in OT. I loved it...he pointed at the student section and said "we want to play there".
November 10th, 2012 at 10:42 PM ^
This is just plain fucking stupid. It's college, not Soviet Russia.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^
If that's how you feel, then that's fine. No problems. Not everyone is diehard. But then don't get season/student tickets! Let someone else who DOES feel the responsibility to be there and support the team have them, and scalp seats for the games you care about.
November 11th, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 11:24 PM ^
An obligation? No. Just no. I would love to believe in a world where only the most dedicated, fanatical fans get tickets, attend the games, and cheer appropriately loudly. But tradition does not equate to an obligation. Not even close. At least, not in the way you mean.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
Can you really blame the Auburn students for not showing up though?
November 10th, 2012 at 11:14 PM ^
do you really want me to pst pics of Ohio,OU,Texas,USC,PSU and Oregon just to prove it? i've been to Ohio vs Wyoming game before and the student section was full,before kick off.sure on games against weaker oppents there will be some that dont show,but you think this takes place all the time at some of these other major programs you are mistaken.
November 11th, 2012 at 12:15 PM ^
This is a picture of a Texas v. Baylor game when Texas was a TOP 5 team, taken in the 4th quarter.
This was posted on the main page of mgoblog awhile back, and it specifically mentions they had essentially no student section the entire game.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
The swamp 15mins before the game...
MSU's student section right after their 2-OT loss...
Our student section was full after the 1st quarter.
The issue is not the size.
November 11th, 2012 at 1:03 AM ^
that last picture is actually the same end zone as the student section, so you can't see the empty rows at the top.
November 11th, 2012 at 12:08 PM ^
True, but I still think that the picture shows that the student section was mostly full when it was taken. Since the camera is at the top of the stadium you're only going to miss a couple of rows.
November 10th, 2012 at 11:04 PM ^
Oregon has a relatively small student section and is rarely more than 60% full at the start of games. However, even though I am in my upper 30's, I am too busy tailgating or watching the Michigan game to get to my own seat in time.
November 10th, 2012 at 11:13 PM ^
Agree completely, also keep in mind this weekend was parents weekend so a large amount of people, at least ones I know, either didn't go to spend time with their parents or sat outside of the student section with their parents.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:11 PM ^
The solution is taking the top of the student sections away. People might actually stand near their seats if they don't feel so separated from the rest of the students at the top. You might actually need to expand them a section or two sideways to get this done, which I think is the real obstacle.
November 11th, 2012 at 12:48 AM ^
November 11th, 2012 at 9:31 AM ^
November 11th, 2012 at 10:27 AM ^
If not, I think you need to reread my post, which you obviously misunderstood. I didn't advocate reducing the total number of student season tickets. I advocated giving them better seats.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:11 PM ^
Am I happy that the students don't always fill in before kickoff? No. But this is not a unique Michigan problem. Plenty of other schools have this issue: see Florida today.
But taking away tickets is not the answer. At the end of the day, the school is run for the students, and as long as there is sufficient space for student tickets, they should be available to every student regardless of attendance records.
Should we give the best seats to people who show up? Of course. The current system of assigned seating based on credit hours makes little sense.
And finally, the students did fill in today. When the team needed the stadium loud, it was.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ^
No, you haven't.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^
Is there anything else to do when you go to Notre Dame?
November 10th, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^
Notre Dame is a much smaller school where nearly all students live in Dorms, and greek life is non-existant. The campus culture is so different that it is not comparable.
Besides, ND offers a capped number of student tickets not only to ND students, but also to those at St. Mary's and Holy Cross. So there's that to consider.
November 10th, 2012 at 11:23 PM ^
As I understand from friends who went to ND, you pretty much can't resell your student tickets there, either. They come in books that can't be transferred to another person (and are also quite a bit more expensive than our tickets, FWIW).
November 10th, 2012 at 10:15 PM ^
November 10th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^
That's not ALL we do! It's just...ya know...a lot of what we do.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^
Whatever the reason(s), empty seats at the very least gives the appearence to outsiders that the stadium is not selling out. None of us wants that. Huge crowds is one of the many things Michigan is famous for.
November 10th, 2012 at 10:18 PM ^
Another thread to complain about people who don't share your priorities. Goody. Why don't you go to more track meets?!?!? Absolutely shameful! ThisisMichiganfergodsakes!!!!!111!!!
November 10th, 2012 at 10:24 PM ^