Wiki Page for the Student Sections?
I'm bored and the following is a concern of mine. I'm sure some here will share these concerns so I figured I'd throw it out there...
Would it be cool/useful for there to be some global location (i.e. a section on the Michigan Athletics wiki page) devoted to the various M student sections?
I'm a grad student now and this year one of the weird things that occured to me was that current UM juniors have not had the pleasure of a winning season. As such, we've had the wave started in a 2 score game. We've had people try to start the wave on the wrong side of the section, do it in the wrong order, etc.
Worst of all (to me) we've had people chant "It's Great to be..." in games that it shouldn't be chanted in. I don't know about others, but to me in my Maize Rage days that cheer was always reserved as a victory celebration of a big game. We should not be chanting it while walking out of a UMass victory.
But yeah, would the wiki page be a good idea? I'm not a regular of hockey games and I know hockey isn't as organized as the Maize Rage, so maybe this would be a usefull tool for them? Maybe a way to get sections like the Zone (volleyball) and the Ultras (soccer) some recognition.
Are there other traditions/cheers that have been struggling lately?
Or if you just don't care and think I'm yelling at people to get off my lawn, what's your favorite Mich cheer/tradition?
EDIT:
So, The Zone has a wiki page. Pretty cool, seems to have been made by members of the '04 pep band. Oddly, there's no page for the Maize Rage.
Also, I put together a userpage to work on a page for all student sections and have gotten it started. Please, feel free to edit it and get it rolling! I think something cool that this could do is serve as a bit of historical record for old traditions gone by the wayside (marshmellows!) so the more contibutors, the better!
October 6th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^
FIRST!!
October 6th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
That crap doesn't fly here, man. You might want to make that the last time you do that or risk ending up negged to oblivion.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:09 PM ^
Or is a Spartan.
<br>
<br>Either way ignore
October 6th, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^
He's both.
October 6th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
i love the smell of Michigan arrogance in the morning
October 6th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
I'm confused...
October 6th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
Worst of all (to me) we've had people chant "It's Great to be..." in games that it shouldn't be chanted in. I don't know about others, but to me in my Maize Rage days that cheer was always reserved as a victory celebration of a big game. We should not be chanting it while walking out of a UMass victory.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^
It diminishes the meaning of the cheer.
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<br>Why don't we just say it every day? Because I mean every day it's great to be a Michigan wolverine!
<br>
<br>Dumb
October 6th, 2010 at 1:30 PM ^
Saying OSU stinks during the MSU game would be odd
chanting its great to be a michigan wolverine after a win is not
October 6th, 2010 at 2:20 PM ^
Its a dumb unoriginal chant anyways so who cares.
Florida Gator
BYU Cougar
Wisconsin Badger
etc. etc.
October 6th, 2010 at 2:36 PM ^
Regardless of its origins, it doesn't work for those schools. It works perfectly for us because "Michigan" and "Wolverine" are each three syllables long.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:33 PM ^
I would say any win after 3-9, 5-7 campaigns is worth celebration... not to mention it doesn't take a 'big win' to note that it's great... to be... a Michigan Wolverine. storming the court? yah, that makes sense. a cheer? no.
That's the thing, we pretty much used to save it for "storming the court" wins. My first experience with it was 2006 win over MSU at Crisler. That was fun. It wouldn't have been the same if we chanted it after every game, at all.
October 6th, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^
ND was ranked #3 and UM was #11 in South Bend. I think everyone knows the rest of the story. The Michigan section chanted "it's great to be" the whole way out of the stadium. Great experience, the tunnels were literally shaking. I agree, it needs to be reserved for special wins like that. A win this weekend would warrant it, no doubt.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
It seems to me that the "It's Great to Be..." chant has been adopted by the student body as a whole, including the marching band. MMB, now has a tune to go along with it. I like how it is done at the end of the game when the team gathers by the student section.
The thing I am indifferent about is how the "You suck.." chant has been incorporated into the 3rd down tomahawk/chomp (whatever you call it).
Numerous of times, it has been done at the wrong time. For instance, in obvious 4th down conversion situations. Hey "You Suck, but you just converted a 4th down"
...and it just sounds dumb.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:06 PM ^
That's another thing that I think something like this could maybe help. What really needs to happen is that the Daily needs to make a statement about the inane "You Suck" chant.
Why not just switch it to "Go Blue"? Simple, not much changes, and we don't look like idiots when the other team converts on fourth down. The basketball/hockey student sections are small enough and organized enough to make changes like that, but it would take a while (and a more prominent voice) to make a change like that in the football SS.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:12 PM ^
Saying "Go Blue" to the beat of Temptation would sound stupid.
I'm not a huge fan of "You Suck," but I'm going to say it until there's actually a viable alternative.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:24 PM ^
I was thinking more along the lines of just replacing the ending yell with "Go Blue!" I agree it would be weird being chanted throughout.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:40 PM ^
...Maybe the students could learn the words to the song "Temptation."
http://www.answers.com/topic/temptation-1933-song
The song is not that complex (and the part played after 3rd downs is only a few verses).
October 6th, 2010 at 1:53 PM ^
Somehow I don't see that happening.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^
The band has been doing the "It's Great To Be" chant during its march cadence at least since I was in the band, which was '96-'00. I remember chanting it on the way out of the '98 Rose Bowl, replacing "Michigan Wolverine" with "National Champion."
October 6th, 2010 at 1:17 PM ^
I think Facebook pages would be a better way to teach people. They already exist, but the people who are the admins should take the lead in teaching proper arena etiquette to the fans. Also, the MMB should help. Don't play Temptation on third downs near the end of the game when the other team is obviously going to go for it, play the pre-third down song again. Just because you are a music director doesn't mean you can't learn football.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:31 PM ^
Does anyone remember sitting in the student section when everyone sat down during a stoppage in play and pretended to row a boat? It was brilliant - looked awesome for everyone in the stadium and was loads of fun to participate in. Anyone? Did I just date myself?
Tom from AA - to answer your question, yes, a Wiki page is a great idea.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:38 PM ^
I absolutely remember rowing in the student section. That was during my tenure as a UM undergrad. It was pretty cool. We also did popcorn, where people would randomly jump as if they were popcorn kernels in a hot pan. I can't remember the game, but there was one occasion where the entire stadium did popcorn. It was awesome.
I also miss the rolls of TP and the marshmallows. Yeah, I know the marshmallows could be dangerous if they hit a player in the face, but it was damn cool. I also thought it was cool to see hundreds of rolls of TP thrown from the top of the student section after every touchdown. Messy? Yep. Childish? You bet. Waste of University resources (since most rolls were stolen from the dorm restrooms)? Absolutely. But it did provide a neat affect.
During my freshman year we were allowed to bring coolers(!!!) into the stadium for games. Can you imagine that today?
October 6th, 2010 at 2:40 PM ^
IIRC, the rowing would take place right at the bend in the student section.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:34 PM ^
We used to do it in the mid-1990s. When we ran out of marshmallows to throw.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:52 PM ^
Great idea. I would be happy to contribute to the Wkipedia pages, just give me the URL.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:54 PM ^
the use of "It's great to be..." chant. You say that it should only be used after a big game, but what constitutes a big game? Was Indiana a big game? A conference game that came down to the wire over a team that was lowly rated, currently #87 on the Sagarin ranking. However, UMASS has a current Sagarin ranking of #80. Was UMASS not a big game? Had UM lost, it most certainly would have been considered big. Should it only be chanted after top 25 wins? Or used only for rival games? It boils down to this: in my opinion, every game is a big game, and although I do feel a little greater to be a wolverine with an OSU win, I still feel that it is great to be a wolverine with a win over UMASS.
This is just my opinion, but since football is an emotional game, any win that fires up your emotions can lead to a chant, and rightfully so. To me this argument is similar to the "down in front" callers. I'm excited to see a play and I've been roused to my feet--it's an emotional game and I'm enjoying it. Who are you to tell me not to be excited? The same goes for the chant. Who are you to tell me or anyone not to cheer for my team after a win over UMASS, or any win for that matter. Again, this is my opinion, but this is how I feel and I just wanted to add a bit of an opposing viewpoint.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
And maybe expand it past football as well?
http://members.fortunecity.com/cdbarker/chants.html
This is the website for Yost chanting. Add your own Crisler traditions as necessary.
October 6th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^
The team comes over and starts the chant now, right? True, it's a little strange to hear the chant after Bowling Green, but who are we to tell them not to celebrate with us after a win?
October 6th, 2010 at 2:21 PM ^
As a student, I get annoyed that every 3rd down on defense is considered a "Key Play" by the student section, and everyone pulls out their keys and rattles them. Really? A 3rd down with 12 minutes to go in the 1st quarter is a key play? A 3rd down when we're up by 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter is a key play? Really?
October 6th, 2010 at 2:31 PM ^
I like the "You Suck" chant, but I wholeheartedly agree that there's a time and place for it. It's weird doing it on both third and fourth downs, and it's weirder doing it when we're down. These are a couple of my concerns. We only have so many chants, so either we have to get more creative (which I am all for) and come up with new chants so other more venerable chants are used in the right situation or we should keep things as is. It's definitely going to be harder to change some things at the football games because you have the fratty environment. The hockey student sections and the Maize Rage seem significantly more organized.
October 6th, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^
The fundamental failure of "You suck!" is that the alums don't like it and will never chant it. That means that three-quarters of the stadium don't chant it, making it pointless. At Yost, you can get away with chants that only the students say, because it's so small, but at Michigan Stadium, any chant needs to be stadium-wide or it will hardly be noticeable. "You suck" needs to replaced with something else.
October 6th, 2010 at 2:39 PM ^
I don't think wikipedia is the right place. I think there should be some official student organization (similar to the Maize Rage) that prints up little newsletters before each game and explains the chants. At least, maybe they should do it before the home opener to get newcomers up to speed.
October 6th, 2010 at 3:29 PM ^
Heh, I made the Zone page. I mostly just wanted to get the crowd control statement enshrined. I mean, look at it: It contains the phrase "hoochie-mama" in bold and signed by the 2002 volleyball team.