Stories from the Horseshoe 2018 edition
Columbus resident. Went wearing my jersey and sat in the south student section with wife. No harassment other than a few shouts from across the way on the way in. Girls refused to move from my seats at first, but backed down when wife started to head for the ushers.
3 fans behind us were reasonable, fun to talk to. Student section was what you expect - little name calling, boos, etc. One guy kicked me in the arse but when I gave him a stare his friends said they'd control him. Nothing physical, couple jerks with 6 minutes to go kept shouting, but no threats of violence.
No worse than expected taunting on the way out. What stories do fellow posters have from the 2018 trip?
November 25th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
Wishing I could up vote you mom than once
November 24th, 2018 at 9:23 PM ^
Sounds like the fans were pleasant. I suppose a 30 point whomping would have put me in a pleasant mood as well.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:28 PM ^
Am I the the only one that thinks,these games are straight horse Shit?
November 25th, 2018 at 1:06 AM ^
My story from the stadium is that it sucked being there to watch that, outside of the 6 second span of hope toward end of first half. Nothing new.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:07 AM ^
I sat in the student section - some people (maybe a few percent) were complete assholes - jeering at injuries, making jokes about Ann Arbor blowing Brutus, etc., but everybody was polite to my face including the assholes, and the vast majority were just pumped up kids who thought they were going to lose, then had Christmas come early.
Outside the stadium pre-game, no problems at all, and a couple senior citizens even welcomed me to Columbus.
After the game, most people were fine. I looked up at one point and some dude was taking pictures of me sad texting. A couple Buckeyes asked me what happened, but didn't want to talk football - they just wanted to say "62 points" as many times as possible. A couple others fist bumped me or tried to cheer me up by telling me how thoroughly they expected Alabama to beat the Bucks.
One guy told me that yesterday was his last day as a Michigan fan and gave me his maize and blue umbrella. I'll carry it forward for you, dude. I'll carry it forward.
November 25th, 2018 at 3:22 AM ^
Took my 18 yr old daughter. Not many Michigan fans in our section, but overall I found most of the osu fans we encountered to be respectful and polite. We were decked out in our Michigan gear, and a few of the staff and fans complimented my daughter on her attire.
There was one guy behind us that yelled and made snide remarks but nothing I haven’t heard from some Michigan fans toward opposing fans at home games. A man next to my daughter kept dickishly offering her a high five every time osu scored with a smirk on his face but that’s pretty mild considering what we were expecting.
The only thing I found to be over the top was a group of osu fans yelling obscenities at our players during a moment of silence held for the Michigan band’s administrator who had just died. We also had a couple of frat guys yelling and calling us losers as we walked to our car, but most every one else was friendly and gracious in their victory, wishing is well as we left the stadium.
I don’t know if our experience was typical or not but was not as bad as when I attended a game at MSU a couple years ago. I’m sure osu fans would love to keep as many Michigan fans as possible from attending the game at osu, so even if it’s based on past behavior or over exaggerated stories... it definitely gives them a home field advantage as this was the loudest stadium I’ve experienced even in the nose bleed sections.
November 25th, 2018 at 4:41 AM ^
I didn’t have too much of a problem.
November 25th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
Southeast Ohio Resident. decked out in M gear ( hat, gloves, shoes, sweater) Sat up in an All OSU corner 13c. Had a fantastic time everyone around me was talkative and cool... the guy in front of me actually turned around and asked me if it was ok to stand up because he couldn’t see and didn’t want to block my view. Pre-game had a fella tell me good luck. During the implosion a couple drunken fools a few seats down tried to get my attention but gave up when a few others told them to knock it off. Guy behind me was asking me all kinds of questions about the roster and stuff. I really did have a good time up until the end.
November 25th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
10 second answer- I met nothing but nice Bucknuts
My first trip to the shoe. After all the horror stories I was looking forward to this thread. I expected the worst and was prepared to share yet another low moment in human interactions. As much as I hate that school and the result of the game, I can't speak ill of the fans I encountered. In fact, to be honest, I was pleasantly impressed.
TL;DR detailed version
Drove down at night to avoid over eager cops (my car has an M vanity plate). Parked at a hotel near the airport. Drove to the stadium with a buddy with out of state plates.
I had bright Maize gear on for 48 hours straight. All the Bucknuts at the hotel were fun to be around. The walk to and around the stadium went without issue.
Almost every Bucknut we met seemed very aware of their reputation and at some point asked, "Have you been treated OK? I hope you haven't run into any jerks." The ushers near our seats welcomed us and pulled us aside to assure us they'd be looking out for us and to report anything they didn't catch. They joked with us throughout the game, on Ohio TDs and on UM TDs.
The 6 people who sat around us were nice and we had pleasant conversation at every TO break. After the game no fewer than 8 people came up to us, shook our hands and wished us the best in the bowl game (most checking to see if we had encountered any jerks). As we were walking to our car one guy even came over and gave us directions on how to get out of the stadium faster.
Sure, there were a few catcalls and one guy who cried mocking tears from 1 row over, but I didn't hear any vulgarity and never had anyone lay a hand on me. I don't doubt the veracity of other accounts, but I can at least verify that it's possible to come down here and have a good experience with their fan base.
Go Blue
November 25th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^
I made it a point to welcome all ttun fans I ran into at the game. had beers with 2 guys from Detroit at the varsity club no less at 8 am pregame, lol. I was surprised there wasn't many m fans at the game, considering how bad we have looked the last 4 games and that you guys were all pumped to finally have a legitimate QB. didn't see any over the line behavior towards Michigan fans. althoughj I didn't predict victory out right before the game I told everyone before the game our D matched up well with harbaughs offense. I also predicted harbaugh would stick with his antiquated power I offense that is easier to defend than Maryland's or Purdue's. running between the tackles and the RB screens were so predictable. offensively, I was worried about the don brown defense until I saw our overall team speed was still at another level vs Michigan. until harbaugh makes this rivalry a priority rather than just another game, the results may stay the same.
***again, very surprised Michigan fans didn't show up en masse for this one.