Student Section going GA

Submitted by hailtothevictors08 on

  http://www.mgoblue.com/tickets/students-fbl.html

I am sure this makes many of you happy but as a kid whose tickets were going to have excellent senior standing next year and who always makes it before kickoff, I am really angry.

GA is just chaos 

(Edit: As a poster pointed out below, tickets are also way more expensive)

(Second Edit: To those thinking you will get good seats just for showing up before kick, you are wrong. Now that there is a reason to go early, we will have our own mini-Paternoville. For good games, you will have to be there 2 hours early. I love Michigan football, but as a grad student who also remembers pregames as the best part of being an undergrad, I really think this could kill some of the Saturday fun.)

 

michclub19

April 22nd, 2013 at 9:52 PM ^

At Wisconsin (Sister and friend's went there) you present your GA ticket at the turnstile, then go to whichever section you'd like to sit in.  For Michigan Stadium this would mean students have the option of going to sections 26-34(ish?).  Then when you enter that section an usher gives out a ticket for your specific seat, progressing from bottom to top.  This way there is still some order in the event of contested seats and students still can have some say in the angle they watch.

Personally, I'm glad this happened.  For all you expecting awesome seats as seniors, there is no guarantee with the old system, especially if you created a group.  Had a group of about 8 friends, all seniors, still got tickets in row 28.  You were completely at the mercy of some ticket algorithm.  This way you at least have some say in your seating location. 

michclub19

April 23rd, 2013 at 7:25 AM ^

I feel your pain.  My Junior year tickets were in that general range too.  Basically kept the same seating group for my soph-senior years.  We always had a solid 6-8 there when the band came out with 1-2 showing up before kickoff after showing friends/family around, etc.  All with pretty standard numbers of credits yet we couldn't crack the first few rows for whatever reason.  Hopefully with this new system you can get yourself some better seats.

Feat of Clay

April 22nd, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^

Right now, rows in other sections (ive never been in the student section) seem full WAY before they really are. The only way you know there's a hypothetical place for you there, once it gets that full, is that your ticket says so. Everyone has to make way because your ticket says they do.



How do you decide a row is full when no one has a assignment? It's not like people are going to count off every time a new person tries to crowd in. When do you say "go up a row, this one is full?"

bo_lives

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^

Don't ever underestimate the organizational power of greek life. You know what's going to happen? The pledges are going be ordered to wait in line six days in advance for the Ohio game. This will of course mean they will miss all their classes but that won't matter because they either won't care or will by majoring in psychology.

The AD will set a policy that the gates don't open until an hour and a half before the game for some arbitrary reason. Come game day there will be 10,000 people in line by 9:00 am. But there is zero chance whatsoever that stadium security will be able to monitor line cutters. From 9:00am until the gates open, the upperclassmen frat brothers along with their pregame sorority partners will gradually slip in line up where there pledges are, and who's going to stop them? That's right, no one.

And to top it off, instead of frat house front lawns being trashed, Hoover street will be.

Lionsfan

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:13 PM ^

Shit dude, calm down a little. At the end of the day, it's just seating for a football game, what's gonna matter is that you were actually there, not that some people waited longer than you for seats.

For UTL, I paid 300 bucks and sat in the SE corner, I had 5 inches of butt space and knees in my back the whole game. For OSU my friends and I were literally in all 4 corners of the stadium. For this past year I got Student Seats, showed up an hour before every game, I was seated right above the section entrances, and watched people roll in as the team was running onto the field or even later

In 20 years am I going to mention any of that? No. What I'm going to talk about is watching the games.

There's no such thing as a bad seat in the Big House.

You want a seating horror story? In 2010 I drove down to the Horseshoe, had upper level seats, got to my seat, and I was literally behind a fucking pillar. The pillar wasn't near me, it was literally right in front of my seat. Be thankful we don't have to put up with anything like that

M-Wolverine

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:28 PM ^

I had friends who didn't want to head over early. But even they would admit they remember almost nothing from tailgates before the game, or any particular study session. They're pretty generic. But a Michigan Football game...! Some of those memories last forever. And even the snoozers often stick with you more than beer games. What if you came late and missed Denard's first run of the ball for a TD? Heck, things like Delaware State's band make that game more memorable than 99% of pregame partying.

Feaster18

April 23rd, 2013 at 12:04 AM ^

You're absolutely right about no really bad seats.  Talk to someone in the ticket office, and they will tell you that among season ticket holders seeking to improve their seat location, the most requested area outside of the 50 yard line is... the top row!   The vast majority of requests are to move to higher rows; not lower rows.   It's amazing to me to read so many posts in this thread by current students who act as if sitting above row 30 is akin to being exiled to Siberia. 

Go Blue Rosie

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:13 PM ^

But I'm wondering if raising student ticket costs is another measure to help with attendance (in addition to being a cash grab). Will students be less likely to buy and waste season tickets if they're more expensive? Not sure if I actually think this, I'm just throwing it put there. And PS: I was there from 94-98 and I was at kickoff for every game most cases when the band took the field. And I was in a sorority. Greek fans do exist.

tbeindit

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^

I strongly disagree with this move.  I think people are STRONGLY underestimating what many of the current students have been posting in reference to basketball season.  The OSU game was complete chaos before tipoff.  People literally almost got trampled and I am not joking in the slightest.  This was with only a few thousands students.  There are going to be thousands of students rushing all at once to get in right before kickoff.  Anybody who's been in a line like this knows full well that there is going to be a push right before people are about to get in.  There is also going to be a ton of confusion and anger with the lines and people cutting.  Add in a ton of alcohol (which students will get) and this crowd is not going to be calm.

On top of this, I think a lot of people are being safe with their 2 AM assumptions.  I've talked to several people at schools with general admission already and they've told me they wait overnight for games not even close to the size Michigan will have in the future.  The lines are going to end up going for well over 24 hours in the future.  Maybe not next year, but within a few seasons it's going to happen.  

I don't care whether you think people are bad fans or not, students are at school for school first and other things second.  I don't understand why we need a policy that's going to create chaos before kickoff and waste a ton of time for the students just to look better on TV.  We can't create anything more intelligent than general admission?  Come on.  Why can't they institute a "hail" like system with an MCard swipe when you walk in?  What's so tough about this?  This is a poorly thought out plan that's going to hurt students.

Section 1

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:41 PM ^

When did sitting in the first 10 rows get to be a thing?  It's one of the worst ways to watch a game in Michigan Stadium.  Especially in Sections 29-33; the better view is from about row 40 to about row 70.

Who seriously thinks that there is a better view of the game from the first ten rows?

tdcarl

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:49 PM ^

I hate these threads. It just turns into alumni bitching about "back in my day we didn't have this problem" and then blaming the students.

Guess what, if a student is reading this blog then they probably aren't part of the problem. I haven't missed kickoff in 3 years so it gets old seeing everyone say how today's students don't care and whatnot.

I'm not too upset about having to get there a little earlier. Now I just can't sleep in as long, which is how I spend my Saturday mornings. I'm just upset that I waited my time to get good seats and now I'm getting the shaft.

 

DGlenn26

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^

line is bull shit, too.  Because back in their day, it was much easier to sneak booze into the stadium plus you could leave at half, go to the liqour store across the street (it's now a wireless toyz) then re-enter the stadium.  They got to the game on time, because they didn't have to do all the drinking before hand. 

jmblue

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^

You're talking about like the 1970s.  None of the things you describe were true a decade ago. 9/11 happened when I was a student, so no, you couldn't easily smuggle things in after that.  You know what?  People still made it to the games on time.

This whole business of huge numbers of students not showing up before kickoff is a very recent phenomenon.  Stop making excuses for it.  Get to the damn games on time.  It's not that hard.

We've now had multiple football players record PSAs urging students to come to the games on time.  Do it for them at least.

 

M-Wolverine

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^

People are talking about long, long ago...2005, 2006. And of course, the 30 years before that.

Stay up till 3 or 4 am drinking. Still get up at 8 or 9 am to start again. And somehow we found a way to get to the Stadium by NOON! (Didn't have enough time to drink LAST season where we had the most late start games in history??) And manage our wine without all the whine.

DGlenn26

April 22nd, 2013 at 10:53 PM ^

is that the students were fine with the old policy. The people who cared the most about studnet behavior seemed to be those who had limited access to tickets and didn't like to see the students come late because they wish they were at the game. This is an understandable viewpoint but also a negligable one because hey, you don't go here, you didn't go here, etc. The great majority of students got the fun of partying from the break of dawn until game time and still made it for toe to meet leather. Now, they don't, and that sucks. 

II KevBot II

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:06 PM ^

I for one find this news AMAZING!  I am a grad student at UM-Flint and did my undergrad at UM-Ann Arbor.  I did my time huddled with drunk students who are turn around and talk to each other more than watch the game.  I made my way down to row 18 my senior year only to get put back up at row 80 my first year of grad school amongst more obnoxious people.  They try to keep us Flint folk as far away from the camera as possible.  I show up  AT LEAST 30 minutes early, so now we all can finally be rewarded.

Michigan Arrogance

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^

can't believe this thread is never ending. This isn't that huge of a deal. I have a real hard time believing that without the guaruntee of good seats that students are going to get there even EARLIER.

the jackass drunken frat girls and sororiety whores who couldn't be bothered to get there 5mins before the band begins won't suddenly be willing to get here hours before.

it sucks that upperclassmen lose out and can't get grandfathered in, but students now have a choice to make, rather than being entitled to have the cake and drink it too. that's all this is

 

mGrowOld

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^

I think this move is absolutely fantastic.  I also think the reason the current students are so upset by it (at least in this thread) is because the students are being held ACCOUNTABLE for their actions.  You no show up for games.....you no get assaigned seats.  And like it's been said by a lot of people before me this is a relatively new occurance (students not showing up) and I'm so glad the Athletic Department did something about it.

 When I was in school (and a frat btw) from 1978-81 we somehow managed to balance the rigors of academic life, partying AND we made it to the games.  On time.

Imagine that.

mGrowOld

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:48 PM ^

Individually nothing.  Obviously you weren't part of the problem but speaking as someone who has attended almost all home games from 1978 on I can tell you that the empty seats in the student section is a VERY new occurance.  And it's not like the academic standards at Michigan has changed a lot in the past 35 years so if students could somehow manage to attend classes AND hook up with girls AND party AND attend the games why couldnt this group?  So the accountability was spread over an entire student body and you were collateral damage to the sollution.

If your fellow students had followed your lead and headed the warnings from the athletic department over the past year or so you'd be enjoying seats on the 40 yard line like I did.  And I'm sorry you arent given your attendance and support.

But if you're upset over the change look in the classroom and the other students if you want to see the problem.  Be mad at them.

bo_lives

April 23rd, 2013 at 12:03 AM ^

Now I am doubly mad at them. And come football season, when those same people who didn't show up to games on time are cutting in front of me as I stand outside for six hours in the freezing cold, just standing there and waiting, unable to tailgate or socialize with my non-student friends and relatives, I will be triply and quadruply mad at them. That doesn't mean I still can't be mad at Dave Brandon for instituting this asinine policy.

TheGhostofYost

April 23rd, 2013 at 9:06 AM ^

Huh? I'm not spazzing at all.  I'm a little pissed because after 7 years of slowly moving up, it all counts for nothing.  But it's not that big of a deal, and I'm not that upset by it.

tdcarl

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^

No, students are mad becuase us rising seniors have had shit seats for 3 seasons, spent hundreds of dollars on tickets, thousands of dollars on tuition, and waited patiently for our turn to have good seats. And now its all for naught as any freshman now has equal opportunity to have the seats that we have waited for.

That's why we're mad.