GoBlueinEugene

August 31st, 2013 at 8:12 PM ^

IMO it was terrific. Got there an hour before kickoff, waltzed through the Section 26 line. Was shocked actually, as the lines for the corner and endzone sections were much longer for some reason. Got a row 60 aisle seat with a perfect view of the field. In my estimation, the student section was about 60 to 70% full by the time I took my seat. Ushers did a good job of preventing students from congregating in the aisles. Big fan of GA... but then again it was Central Michigan. 

Edit: I am a grad student, so my views probably don't reflect the broader student population. 

Huma

August 31st, 2013 at 7:56 PM ^

You mean, how awesome was it, right? I have to say on TV the student section looked way more packed than it has in the last 5+ years.

OMG Shirtless

August 31st, 2013 at 8:01 PM ^

I would not take the opinion of any student answering at this time seriously.  It's 8pm on the first Saturday of the season.  If they're on MGoBlog, they have a completely different set of issues. I'd expect to see some decent feedback by the end of the day tomorrow.

EDIT:  I actually take this back.  This is about the perfect time to come home, get some food, regroup, take a nap, and get ready to go out.  (MGoBlog didn't exist in my day, so my estimation is a little off.)

GrindToEat

August 31st, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^

Got there 45 minutes before kick; after we convinced johnny wanglers mother to feed us sandwiches at her tail gate. Row 43 seats in section 31, no complaints here

Red_Lee

August 31st, 2013 at 8:11 PM ^

Sat above student section with tickets off mgoblue. Got to gate 35 minutes before kickoff. Waited 30 minutes in line with a handful of drunk line cutters intermittently pissing me off more. Almost exploded in rage when I heard the band enter and we're still waiting. Barely saw tunnel entrance. Worst experience I've had in the 23 years I've gone to games. Get your shit together AD.

Wolverine Devotee

August 31st, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^

35 minutes before the game isn't early enough. That's generally the time you get swamped by traffic of people filing in.

 

Red_Lee

August 31st, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^

Used to sit in Section 8. 35 minutes was plenty of time. If you sell tickets to non-students in the same area you should have a better plan in place. I think we might've been turned away earlier due to not being students but with kickoff looming they just started tearing tickets and letting people through wherever.

I've been to a good amount of games, that was post 9-11 bad. If that was my first game I would've been sorely disappointed.

Red_Lee

September 1st, 2013 at 9:48 AM ^

It has been where we used to sit. I don't know what else to tell you. That was my worst experience entering the stadium and it was a bit of a cluster getting to the seats. If students can show up a half hour before kickoff, I think the stadium should have the ability to comfortably get them to their seats by kickoff.

 

There was a huge line outside of section 34 as kickoff was happening. IMO, if you want students to show up on time you should be able to seat them in a non-infuriating manner. Believe me, I was not the only one upset. I felt bad for most of the students because we were all crammed in that gate like cattle sweating our balls off. I won't be shocked if students for future day games just purposely show up late so they don't have to deal with that cluster at the gate.

 

Open up another gate near there and get the flow going, Dave Brandon. But I guess a nice convenience for the fans doesn't generate extra revenue so forget I asked. 

Well...Well...Well

August 31st, 2013 at 8:15 PM ^

It was alright...no line or anything. Got there around 3 or so and sat in section 34 around row 65. Section looked full to the bottom around them but people kept going lower.

On another note, this was also probably the earliest I saw people leaving the game.  A lot more departures at halftime, mostly empty by end of 3rd quarter and people kept leaving from there on out.

tdcarl

August 31st, 2013 at 8:16 PM ^

Meh, it was ok. Got there about an hour and 15 minutes before kickoff. Liked the seats we got in section 26 row 55ish, but sitting there in the sun for over an hour was kinda lame. I guess having the student section more full was cool, but I don't know if that is going to be sustainable. At what point do the students who got in the stadium 10 minutes early and got bad seats just say screw it and show up late to get those same seats?

MLD Woody

August 31st, 2013 at 8:25 PM ^

I got there about an hour and a half early, which I won't be doing again. It was too hot to be waiting that long for getting seats in row 50, student section closest to the 50. We could have moved closer but it wasn't a big deal. Knowing the rate it filled up we'll be leaving later now.

The student section wasn't as full as it actually looked. No one squished together like the seat numbers suggest because there wasn't a need to, so we were more spread out. There was also no one trying to fill the gaps here and there because everyone wanted to stay in their groups.

This must have screwed over those who got there late when everyone got squished in up top.

Elise

August 31st, 2013 at 8:32 PM ^

I was a big fan. Was there an hour before kickoff and didn't mind it. It felt pretty full at kickoff, and that was awesome enough for me.

Michigan Eaglet

August 31st, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^

I got there with some friends around 2:15 and the very front sections were just filled so we got section 26 and were able to get down to row 27 because there was some pockets of open seats. The whole lower bowl of the student section looked like it was full with 40 minutes until the game started. It wasn't bad, but being a senior and knowing next week is Notre Dame will be the real test of how well this GA works. I don't want to get there at 11 for the game just to get a good seat because part of enjoying gameday is the atmosphere in the town and on the streets, not in a parking lot where you can't really see anything. I was 7 hours early for the OSU basketball game last year and didn't even get in the student section behind the bench (I got the very top of the lower bowl). The lower sections H, O, K, E, are about 1000 people with the wrist bands, but everywhere else is a free for all. The only thing you get to choose is you section and then you're on your own.

DealerCamel

August 31st, 2013 at 9:04 PM ^

Got there an hour or so early, ended up in section 30.  Entered the stadium and immediately noticed that the student section was about twice as full as the rest of the stadium, and I was like, "Huh... never seen that before."

I sat right behind the band, which was cool, considering the past two years I'd been relegated to behind the goalposts.  That was a plus.

It was a little strange to be seated in an area normally for upperclassmen, but surrounded by, well, freshmen.  The wave took a little while to get going, I guess because there wasn't a huge enough concentration of people who knew what they were doing like there usually was.

Anyway, I thought the experience was a positive.  It'll be interesting to see how it plays out in the future.

Lionsfan

August 31st, 2013 at 9:28 PM ^

I got there about 2:30ish, and had the shortest line, we just walked on through. The downside was that we got Section 33 seats, and were stuck in the endzone. Ended up probably around row 50 or so.

Agree with others that the real test will be Noon games.

I'm not looking forward to seating for UTL Deux either. Betcha tons of Freshman will be lined up at Noon to snag front row.

MGoAndy

August 31st, 2013 at 9:40 PM ^

Showed up a half hour before kickoff, was stunned at how packed it was, squeezed into some decent seats in row 38 in the end zone but our group had to splinter to find seats. 

You need to gather everyone you want to sit with to show up more than an hour in advance if you want to have any shot of standing with friends instead of squeezing into available patches. It sucks having to listen to the inane drunken conversations of troglodites (e.g. the girl who explained to a boy that she would not allow him to have anal sex with her because "anal sex is gay because homos do it.")

UTL II is going to be a fucking disaster. You're going to have to show up multiple hours in advance to get decent seats, and then what? I don't want to hear this bullshit from MGoBluehairs about sucking it up and showing up early because nobody is going to ask you to leave your tailgate at 5pm to go sit in an otherwise empty stadium without food or drink for hours as Special K slowly kills your brain cells with the same AC/DC song on repeat.

 

 

snarling wolverine

August 31st, 2013 at 10:24 PM ^

Dude, if you're dreading next week's game that much, I'll gladly take your tickets off your hands.  I wish I had tickets to the game, student or otherwise.  You have the chance to go to the only night game of the season and possibly our last home game against ND in forever, and you're making it sound like a horrible ordeal.  

If any game is worth the wait, it's next week's.  Get there early and take it all in.  If nothing else, the players and coaches will be happy to have the students there for warmups (which I think are cool to watch anyway).  I think you'll find that a lot of non-students will get there extra early next week, too - that was the case in 2011.

 

 

 

Canadian

August 31st, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^

Not a student but was in there really early today (well over an hour... Just needed me some football) and the lower 30-40 rows looked jam packed. They cheered when the players came out for warmups. And you could tell the players lived it.

thevictors51

August 31st, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^

Got there 3 hours before the game and sat in row 9 right in the corner...honestly it was an awesome experience...all the frat boys were up top and there weren’t any drunk people around in the front sections, so I could actually watch the game rather than be pestered by people who had too much to drink.

Also in terms of how it was handled, there were plenty of security to maintain order and if someone tried to sneak down they acted quickly. 

At first I wasn’t in favor of GA but now I like it. 

 

bo_lives

August 31st, 2013 at 10:50 PM ^

Got there 2 hours before kickoff... there was no wait to get in, but we accidentially picked the wrong line and got stuck in the endzone (sec 33), row 19. I imagine most other students also weren't aware of which line got you sideline seats because all of the sections were pretty much equally full. I forgot how much endzone seats suck. It's impossible to tell what's going on. 

There were at least 8,000 students there 90 minutes before the game started, with the plurality being freshman. Even so, it looked to me like the drunk greeks still didn't show up until halfway through the first quarter (the upper sections were most definitely not full at kickoff). Actually, one of them ended up stealing my seat when I got up to get a drink 30 minutes before the game started. He slipped in while my friends weren't looking and then refused to move and forced us all to squeeze together to acommodate him.

I can't imagine how bad the lines will be next week. It's going to be ridiculous. I'm going to spend 3.5 hours just waiting, while the rest of you fkers are out tailgating. Apparently this is my punishment for not physically forcing the greek community to show up to games on time last year, despite the fact that I personally got there at least 30 minutes early for every single one.

gbdub

August 31st, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^

I bought student tix every year for 5 years (and arrived at every game early) and never got closer than row 30, in any section. Perspective, dude.



Anyway the student section looked great on TV at kickoff, and apparently the players loved having students there for warmups. Funny how "what the players want is all that matters" goes right out the window as soon as someone's drinking time is threatened...

bo_lives

August 31st, 2013 at 11:42 PM ^

I actually do not pregame. You wanna know how many beers I had before the game today? Zero. I was up until 3am Friday night working on my resume/cover letters in preparation for recruiting season this fall. Woke up at 11, had breakfast, walked to my friend's house to catch a few minutes of the noon games and arrived at the stadium at 1:30. I say this not for your sympathy - just so that maybe you'll realize that not everyone complaining about GA is an alcoholic greek obsessed with pre-gaming.
 
And funny you mention perspective because that's the reason my viewing experience was so awful. I would gladly take section 26 row anything over section 33 row 1. Why do you think all the Victors club seats are on the sideline?
 
As far as the players being happy; I'm sure they'd be even MORE happy if the whole stadium showed up for warmups. Why exactly aren't you advocating for that?

gbdub

September 1st, 2013 at 12:52 AM ^

It wasn't directed at you specifically, so chill. If you've paid any attention to this or the many other threads on GA, "having to leave my tailgate early" is a major theme so I thought it was worth referencing.



Anyway 3 more points of perspective. 1) I know for a fact that people who showed up an hour before kickoff had the option of sitting in section 26 with a great view (and a free t-shirt!). Maybe the organization was bad and you didn't know that you had that option, but some other people apparently managed to figure it out. 2) if you had gotten assigned seats in the end zone for the whole season like many students have in the past, you'd be screwed for the whole year. At least now you can try again next week and maybe get better seats. 3) you got to watch, for a student ticket price, the greatest sports team in the greatest sports venue in the world today. I had to watch the game at a mediocre BDubs in Phoenix downwind of a morbidly obese Bucknut. I am insanely jealous. Count your blessings.

bo_lives

September 1st, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^

Sure I could have woken up earlier and tailgated, but I chose not to. The point is that I'm not at all concerned with GA cutting into my tailgating time, which seems to be the assumption everyone here makes whenever a student complains about GA.

And umm no, I wouldn't have complained about row 1 at the 50. Endzone seats make it impossible to tell what's going on half the time, and since I would have undoubtedly had sideline seats in the first few rows if not for GA (and wouldn't have had to arrive 2 hours early to get them), I don't see how it's so unreasonable for me to be upset. But feel free to lodge more irreverent comments this way since that's what you seem to enjoy doing.

wayneandgarth

September 1st, 2013 at 12:20 PM ^

hands down.  Just to make DB (or even the players) happy is zero reason to make the students show up early.  Most have books to buy, apartments to set up, resumes to write, etc.  Why would they want to show up any earlier than any other season ticket holder?? 

The students are the fans DB should be pleasing first - its their freeking team.  I don't know if they should have 50 yd. line seats, but at least listen to their opinion.

pjmasi

September 1st, 2013 at 9:07 AM ^

The failed reverse/split was due to some stadium announcement honoring someone or another that resulted in the band playing "The Victors".  Fans have been conditioned to drop whatever they're doing, including proper wave technique, in order to clap and fist pump.

MLD Woody

August 31st, 2013 at 11:13 PM ^

The student section wasn't as packed as it looked. With assigned seating, every one of those numbers on the bleacer below you had a student assigned to it. With students just filling up the area on their own, no one packed in the tight. There definitely wasn't a student to every number because I didn't have to stand sideways, which was nice. The ND game will be interesting to see what happens.

 

Still, screw the drunk greek kids for ruining it for everyone

Ham

September 1st, 2013 at 1:44 AM ^

I was initally a huge critic of the switch to the GA system, but, unlike basketball, the ticket office and the event staff seemed to have control of the situation. 



I got to the stadium at about 11:53, and the line was still pretty small at that point. Everything seemed orderly and I ended up in section 31, row 3 (technically row 5, since the first two rows are "A" and "B"). Plus, since I was sitting on the aisle, I had no problem seeing the entire field. 



My first two years at Michigan were in section 33, row 49, and section 33, row 32, so I was extremely happy with my seats. 



From where I was sitting, the student section looked like the fullest it has ever been at kickoff since I've been a student. It'll be interesting to see how this whole thing works for the Akron game in two weeks. Not only is Akron a horrible team (they went 1-11 last year), but it's also a noon kickoff. I would imagine that a person could show up an hour before kickoff and still get a pretty decent seat.