Pleasant Trip To IU

Submitted by UMAmaizinBlue on

First of all, let us all hold hands for a second and bask in the glory of a 5-0 start....

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Okay, now that that's done, I wanted to comment on the amazing time my friends and I had in Bloomington yesterday. Apart from the douchey student section cheering Denard's injury (ARRRRRGH, STILL PISSED), the people at IU were friendly to us. Sure, we got the usual jeers from IU students (if I heard "Ann Arbor is a whore" once, I heard it 100 times), but it was very tame compared to Columbus (assumed) and East Lansing (experienced).

 

At one point, we were actually welcomed into an IU tailgate, given beer and food, and even invited to kick some IU student ass in flip cup (which we did). To be honest, we were actually treated worse by some MSU fans we ran into IN BLOOMINGTON than we were by any of the IU faithful.

 

Then, after an amazing tailgate, my friend and I were even further impressed by the maturity of (most of) the IU fans in the general seats. They were courteous and kind, and didn't throw any objects or verbal obscenities our way, even when we were at our "worst" (mostly cheering right behind their head on 3rd downs).

 

My point here is, the students may be douchey, but the overall fans were very kind and welcoming to opposing fans. I highly recommend a trip to IU in the future to anyone who may be considering going. IU is (mostly) classy. Go Blue!

jsquigg

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:02 PM ^

I am so sick of "MSU" fan.  I wish I didn't have to share a state with some of these douches.  And the problem is that many MSU fans seem always ready to go for no obvious apparent reason.  I'm not speaking for the entire M fanbase, but it seems to me that winning has only made the Columbus and Lansing fans worse.  We need to start beating them both back down starting next week.

Sorry to get off topic and glad the OP had a nice trip.

NateVolk

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 PM ^

I wouldn't mind losing to a team the quality of MSU given where we are at in the build.  I want to win extra bad so I don't have to listen to their ignorant fans.

Not all their fans are ignorant. It is the ignorant ones that are the loudest though. 

Talk about having my dial tuned to WIFM.  

KBLOW

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:02 PM ^

At least the cheering for the injury came from the students. Still lame but almost expected.  On the TV it sounded like the entire stadium.

MGoValiant

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^

I am glad you enjoyed your trip. I hope to one day experience every big ten venue. I have only been to home games, so I would like to compare it to other big ten campuses. It is good to know that IU has a respectful crowd. Could somebody make a list of the best B10 atmospheres to visit? I would love to know.

BlueintheLou

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^

I couldn't agree more. I also enjoyed my visit. I sat right behind the north endzone where the XPs landed in the stands (got my hand on one, but bounced away from me). Aside from some douchey students, which is to be expected, I actually had many good conversations with some of the fans who seemed very knowledgeable. When the game ended we traded handshakes and they congratulated me, as I was the lone M fan within a 25 foot radius in the north endzone. I came away impressed.

The lone negative I took away. That God Forsaken first down cheer/chant. That has to be one of the worst "traditions" I have seen in a sports venue. It is mindnumbingly annoying. They stand and pump their arms up and down and yell, "Fiiiiiirsssst Doooowwwwwnnnn, Hooooooooooossssssiiierrrsssss!" Awful.

UMAmaizinBlue

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 PM ^

On two fronts:

  1. Many of the non-student IU fans were very knowledgable about the game and the teams, and quite a few of them thought we would fair just fine in B10 play (attempt at jinx? maybe...).
  2. That fist-pumping garbage was ridiculous, although I was very impressed that it wasn't just the student section doing it, but about 75% of the IU fans. I have to admit that I do envy that sort of excitement and comradery seen at other B10 stadiums. Still, I did take the time to evidently mock them by doing my own exaggerated fist-pumping when we scored TDs (and I got quite a few laughs, I might add).

MGoAndy

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:16 PM ^

I made the trip, and will undoubtedly never go back.  The traffic was an absolute nightmare and they showed no sign of having any idea of how to handle people actually wanting to go to a football game.  From the exit off of I-37 to the stadium is a 1.8 mile distance, which took my buddies and me 2 hours to navigate - keep in mind we hit the exit ramp a full 2+ hours before kickoff.  Leaving the stadium, we moved 20 feet in the parking lot in a solid 45 minutes.  The nightmarish traffic - combined with a generally very boring opponent, uninteresting stadium, and long drive from AA - is way too much to ever justify going back.

I'm glad I checked IU off the list of B10 schools to visit, but NEVER AGAIN.

UMAmaizinBlue

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:27 PM ^

But come on, that's to be expected. I'm sure people visiting the Big House from opposing schools will say the same thing about Ann Arbor.

 

I'll also play Devil's Advocate on your other points:

 

- The stadium was actually pretty nice, although small. I thought they did a lot to include fun activities for families and kids to do when they go to the game, such as the kiddie field at the south endzone. Not to mention, if someone catches one of the field goal/XP balls, they can exchange it for an autographed souvenir IU ball. Oh, and that red light special thing is pretty neat (where they offer a food item for $1: this time it was NACHOS!).

 

- I did not find the opponent boring at all, and most people would disagree with you after a 42 - 35 shootout like the one we saw on Saturday. Maybe you're just not keen on pass-heavy offenses (to each his/her own), or maybe you're spoiled by DENARD(!), which is to be expected, but IU put on one hell of a show through the air, and that can't be denied.

 

Sorry you had a bad trip. Maybe you should make the trip to Purdue with my pals and me in November....

 

MGoAndy

October 3rd, 2010 at 9:09 PM ^

The 'boring team' comment is more a comment on Indiana's overall prestige.  They will never have the pull of other peripheral teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, or even Purdue.

The stadium is cool for a high school stadium, which I guess is what it could be in Texas.  The kids playzone was kinda neat for a while, but is also kind of a joke if you're trying to be a serious football program.  

Ann Arbor's traffic control system is 1000X better.  Because we know what the hell we're doing.  We get twice the number of people in in half the time.  IU's stadium was 20% empty for a "sellout" until the second quarter traffic was so horrendous.

goblue7612

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:29 PM ^

Not that it'll help you much now, but just in case you do change your mind, if you are coming from the Ann Arbor area, I suggest taking I-65 S starting in Indianapolis to 46-W to get into Bloomington. Didn't run into any traffic at all. And we got to drive by dozens of flea markets, good stuff Indiana.

fifthangell

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:57 PM ^

We arrived about 4 1/2 hours before kickoff, and had no trouble getting to the tailgating lots just south of the stadium. The pre-game tailgates were in good form despite the rainy weather. We hung around to tailgate for an hour or so after the game, and were able to get out of the lot with no trouble then. There was some traffic downtown, but we were able to find parking easily, and had a good dinner at the Uptown Cafe before heading out of town.

Both Indiana and Purdue have excellent tailgating and a low risk atmosphere for visiting fans.

goblue7612

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:27 PM ^

Sat in the IU student section, and it wasn't too rough. They constantly berated us, but nothing was thrown at us, not too much in our face jeering, and physical violence was only threatened once. However, the IU students for the most part didn't seem to really care about football; it seemed like from their comments most of them don't stay past halftime or else they arrive at halftime.

Bloomington did have a pretty fun bar scene, Nick's and Kilroy's both on Kirkwood were real great bars. However, beware that there are very very few taxis in Bloomington. On the bright side, Jimmy John's drivers do double as cabbies. Overall a real fun time.

SFBlue

October 4th, 2010 at 2:36 AM ^

+1 for Nick's.  Went there and played sink the bizmark when I was at U-M.  Man, were things different then as far as football is concerned.  Michigan actually struggled with IU, who had Randel-El, but the stadium was half-full, the only people cheering in our section were family membes of the players, and I can't recall anyone doing the fist-pump thing. 

I remember Bloomington being friendly, with great bars (Bluebird is another fun bar).  Girls were approachable, and would even start conversations, which would hardly ever happen in Ann Arbor. 

dearbornpeds

October 3rd, 2010 at 8:52 PM ^

     It seems to me that the classiness and friendliness of opposing schools is directly related to their academic status.  I base this upon personal experience and stories from friends.  Indiana and ND are nice places to go because their student body has a higher collective IQ than the people going to class in columbus or east lansing.

     The recent academic rankings ranked Spartyville eleventh in the conference with respect to academics.  In the not too distant past, any student graduating from an Ohio high school was automatically accepted into tOSU, thus accounting for their high attrition rate in the freshman class.

jmblue

October 4th, 2010 at 2:03 AM ^

I think there's a grain of truth to this in general, but IU is not that great of a school academically.  It's probably less prestigious than Illinois or Wisconsin, and those schools have more boorish fans.  Football just isn't a part of the culture in Bloomington, which makes losses to us not a big deal. 

switch26

October 3rd, 2010 at 9:03 PM ^

I have no clue, how you guys could stand that fucking IU announcer in the stadium.. I was about to blow my own head off after hearing him 40 fuckin times after IU would get a first down watchin it let alone being there..

 

It is good most of you had a good time, but didn't see some of the fans throwing can's and what not trying to hit Koger after he scored his TD..

GRIGGS616

October 3rd, 2010 at 9:17 PM ^

I actually liked the first time i seen there little 1st down cheer, but by the end of the game that bs really started to get to me. They would get a 1st down and by the time they finished the dance they had another one and started all over again. Other then that the trip was great, there fans were decent, but I was kind of pissed in the middle of the 4th when i was on the phone, i could talk and hear with no problems.... It was like a over grown movie theater 99% of the time 

notYOURmom

October 3rd, 2010 at 10:41 PM ^

People were swell to us. The traffic cops were the most pleasant I've ever encountered (we got dropped off on the other side of the main bypass and had to walk across). I jogged around the neighborhood in maize and blue and got nothing but smiles and "good morning" from the passersby.

Brewcityitalian

October 3rd, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^

Good times in Bloomington

Had very nice seats , section 2 , row 28

 

tailgated in that park across from the stadium

I like that stadium

went out to the bars in Bloomington after

I really like the bars in Bloomington

It was definitely lively, and the woman in bloomington are Hot

DenverRob

October 4th, 2010 at 10:25 AM ^

cheering an injury, never classy, no exceptions. IU has always been fair when attending. Illinois is pretty bad to M fans which I found surprising. Of course OSU is the worst.