About the Fans
I'm probably going to be negbombed to Bolivia, but I have to get this off my chest.
I am a Michigan alum, and a rabid Wolverine for the past 8 years. I did not grow up rooting for the Wolverines, but I live & die by the Maize and Blue with the rest of them. Hell, my first game in the Big House was The Horror, and I'm still here so that has to count for something.
I was at The Game today. Honestly I can't blame the coaches and players too much. They are operating within the constraints forced upon them by situations outside of their control. They gave it their all, and for that they should always have a special place in the heart of Michigan's Faithful.
The biggest element I found lacking was the fanbase. From the start, the stadium was at least 25-35% Buckeyes. I know it's Thanksgiving weekend, but you won't see Ohio selling that many tickets to us when we're playing in Columus.
But even worse to me was the fact that the atmosphere just plain wasn't there. You could hear a pin drop on most Ohio downs. When they were running tempo, you could clearly tell that our fanbase was not prepared and had no idea about when to get loud. In full honesty, when they annouced the Slippery Rock score there was a bigger reaction than on Ohio third downs when our defense needed it the most. Not to mention the fact that the stairs were fully occupied with Michigan fans leaving from the beginning of the fourth quater onward at full tilt.
I don't mean to denegrate our fans, I honestly don't. But to put things in perspective, I went to the Alabama-LSU game this year and the difference is night and day.. If we ever want to be a "Great Team" we need to secure our home field advantage. It's one thing to have a great team, a great coaching staff, great traditions, a great campus. But if we can't turn the Big House into a place that strikes fear into opposing teams' hearts we will never truly be elite.
I hate people pointing out issues without proposing solutions, so I will propose a few. First, we need to stop selling tickets to opposing fans. How we do that in the age of Stubhub is a difficult task. The Mgoblog ticket list is a good start, but we need to do so at a larger scale. Maybe the Athletic Department could work on a fan-to-fan sales system where they could take a cut but still ensure tickets end up in the hands of Michigan fans.
I also agree with Woodson -- The Game needs to be moved to 3:30 or a night start to encourage fans to get rowdy. The atmosphere shouldn't be like an afternoon picnic. It needs to be fierce and intimidating.
Lastly we need to take measures to get people loud when they're in the stadium. Encourage the people next to you to yell! There are times for talking (TV timeouts, halftime) and there are times for yelling (every down on defense). If we can't make use of the largest crowd in America then we are throwing away a vital advantage for our boys in Maize and Blue.
I may be preaching to the choir, or I may be pissing people off. Regardless, this is a message that needs to get out and be discussed seriously. It blows my mind that we can have a better atmosphere for a Penn State night game last year than we did for our most hated rival in a meanginful situation and Harbaugh's first year. Let the Team work on the X's and O's, but let's make sure we bring the heat and get back up our defense with the best damn home field advantage in all of sports.
Honestly our fanbase should be ashamed at the support we provided the team today, and we need to get real about fixing things.
-GS
November 28th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^
at someone for having the audacity to be passionate about the school they support.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:55 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 11:47 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:18 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:24 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:34 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:51 PM ^
Most fans who leave early do so because they can't stand to watch Michigan get blown out. If you can stomach seeing OSU beat us by 29 points at home, maybe you're the one who doesn't care.
November 28th, 2015 at 10:38 PM ^
Congratulations. Pat yourself on the back.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:28 PM ^
I personally stay until the clock is at 0:00. That is a choice my wife and I make. But I will never admonish a fan for leaving a game like today.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:19 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:58 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:23 PM ^
learn the victors, the whole song....
November 28th, 2015 at 7:30 PM ^
when the team doesn't show up. Let's face it, they're coming off a national title, we've not won anything of note in a while. As nice as it would be if *every* student, alum, staffer or Michigander in general was a rabid Michigan fanatic, that's not how it works in reality. People flock to success. It's easy to be a rabid OSU fan right now, someone for whom losing is rarer than for just about any other fanbase in America. It's harder to be a Michigan football fan.
And there's no need to kid ourselves, losing 42-13 at home to OSU is not what Harbaugh was hired for, we could have had that with Hoke too. Not saying that to say Harbaugh has been disappointing, just that his job isn't even close to done.
I guess what I'm saying is, that if you want the fans to be as high and boisterous as the other side, give them a reason to trust the team that it will back it up on the field. Go to Columbus and blow them out next year, win a championship and then see how the atmosphere in Ann Arbor is in 2017.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:35 PM ^
I would say the Ohio fans had about 20,000 seats out of the 111,800+ at the game today. Less than 20%, that's just about what you can expect every time we play Ohio. Last home game against Ohio had many more Ohio fans than this year in my opinion.
I am a season holder for 24 years, I've see all the big plays, and the painful plays. I saw the "horror" live and I've seen Harbaugh, Brady, Griese, Woodson, Howard, Bbiakabutuka, Weatley,(on and on) play for their whole careers at home.
Michigan fans are smart students of the game of football, they understand the game very well. Ohio took the crowd out of the game with their run game. Just as simple as that.
They were better than us, thats all.
We had a hell of a season, to even imagine that we could take last years 5-7 team to a 9 or 10 win team this year is everything I hoped for, last December, when Jim Harbaugh came home.
I am disapointed, sure, frustrated at Ohio's record against us, sure, but I can tell you because I have lived through it, this too shall pass.
Remember, this is Brady's team not Harbaugh's team playing Meyer's team. Give it some time.
Relax, enjoy the post season bowl game.
Go Blue
November 28th, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^
To re-read some of these posts on TWIS. They're gold, Jerry. Gold.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:36 PM ^
A lot of emotion on this thread which isn't the worst thing. I'm going to sleep on this and come back tomorrow with some rational thought. I don't think things are that bad
November 28th, 2015 at 7:40 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:59 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:15 PM ^
that had tickets for today's game for sale for $1??? Yeah, they are super supportive of their team...
November 28th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^
The older fans need to occasionally make more noise than a poodle clearing it's bowels. Wow, that was a terrible analogy.
November 28th, 2015 at 7:48 PM ^
December 6th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 7:44 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:46 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:45 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:48 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 7:57 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 8:00 PM ^
I agree that there were way too many OSU fans there, but it was no where near those figures.
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November 28th, 2015 at 8:00 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 8:18 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 10:34 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 8:27 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:30 PM ^
Most of the rebutals here are related to the team not winning and as soon as they give you something to cheer for you will. That is just the point. I live in CA, so could't go to the game, but I have been to many, and in many sections (not the student section) there is a lot if sitting and people who stand are pressured to sit. The bid house does have noise problems because it does not hold it well, its a parabolic design and the noise goes straight up and out. For those of you who had the privlidge of being there, i hope you appreciated it and tried to do your best to help the team. And make no mistake - noise helps. Watching on TV is frustrating because you cannot help. To say that you could not have helped is just wrong - even when they were down - teams come back. We are a pretty erudite fan base - thats the problem.
And for those of you who sold your tickets - shame on you.
November 28th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 8:54 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^
What about his post suggests he's a goon or is looking for anyone to be a goon?
November 28th, 2015 at 9:04 PM ^
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November 28th, 2015 at 9:07 PM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 9:13 PM ^
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December 6th, 2015 at 9:03 AM ^
November 28th, 2015 at 9:51 PM ^
I also think there's nothing wrong with encouraging people to support the team, which doesn't have to involve getting in anyone's face. However, if someone thinks I'm too loud at a sporting event, that person may not understand how the whole attending a sporting event thing works.