Expand the Maize Rage (Wasserman - Michigan Daily)
Wasserman's column is spot on -- link: https://www.michigandaily.com/sports/daniel-wasserman-expand-maize-rage
Less than an hour before game time, the building was dead — save for a slew of corporate and University ads and the occasional chorus of boos or cheers when the teams entered or exited the floor. Though nearly every student seat was filled 50 minutes before game time, the lack of buzz was palpable with two-thirds of the students a great distance from the floor and only a handful of non-students already in the building. It was a stark contrast from the game in East Lansing a month earlier, when the Breslin Center atmosphere was fully charged well over an hour before tip-off.
February 26th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
The people that run the maize rage try to make cheer sheets a thing, they are a really annoying group in my opinion.
February 26th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
I'm a student right now, and while this seems to be the huge consesus all around campus and on this board, I don't think it's entirely Brandon being Brandon like people claim it is. In defense of the Athletic Department, let's remember just two years ago, Basketball was not exactly a marquee sport here for students. I mean, yeah, there would be a few big games each year, but there certainly weren't enough kids going to every game that people were crying foul. It wasn't until this current year that the student section REALLY took off.
I agree that at this point, if we want to have a top student section atmosphere, that more lower bowl seats is definitley necessary, but I don't think it's fair to expect the Athletic Department to completely redo the entire seating arrangement based of a one and a half year influx from what ive seen to be a pretty fair-weather fan base. If we (the students) want more lower bowl seats, I think it would be fair to keep up this attendance and prove we deserve them for at least two to three years.
February 26th, 2014 at 12:43 PM ^
/s
February 26th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
You make some good points, but part of being a premier program is acting like it. Perception is reality in college sports, and the more Michigan basketball behaves like the bluebloods (Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, etc.) the more it will become one of them. Obviously if Michigan rolled out a new seating plan emphasizing students in the lower bowl prior to the 10-11 season it would've been a complete flop.
That being said, revamping the student seating would almost definitely spur demand even more. Also, it's important for entering freshmen to perceive basketball as a hot ticket and also be pleased with the student section experience. It's difficult when only 650 out of 3000 get the full experience, especially for the non marquee games.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
Thanks, and don't get me wrong, I'm all for adding students to the lower bowl, at LEAST I would hope giving students the seats behind each basket. I'm just trying to get at why it hasn't happened so far. I would hope by next year (but more realistically two years), something can be done to add students to the lower bowl as our program solidifies itself.
February 26th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^
I know a lot of people who had student basketball tickets but not the time to get there early enough to avoid sitting in the upper deck and to them sitting in the upper deck just wasn't fun, it sucks up there and they would probably have re-upped if student seats were better and the atmosphere was there. Yeah it sucks but the fact of the matter is a lot of students go to games not because they love basketball but because they like michigan basketball and enjoy the experience of the student section. That experience doesn't exist in the upper bowl so they watch on tv instead.
February 26th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^
February 26th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
I don't have a problem with giving students more lower-bowl seats, but what we currently have - students along one sideline and behind one basket - is pretty standard. Some schools don't give students that much. At the Kohl Center, for instance, students are only behind one basket.
In any event, I think Crisler is a pretty good homecourt as it is. We've lost four times in the last three years at home, which is the best home record in the Big Ten if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure exactly what people are expecting here - a 50-game home winning streak?
February 26th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
February 26th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
February 26th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
In my mind, jorts never fell out of fashion
February 26th, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^
February 26th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
In a perfect world, DB revamps seating this offseason to bolster the environment and better match the Izzone at Breslin (who get 1,400 lower bowl seats). My plan (below) would probably not quite match that total, but would just about double the Maize Rage presence near the court to 1,200.
Before:
After:
February 26th, 2014 at 2:55 PM ^
I'd kill for that.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
February 26th, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^
I disagree with this point, mainly because the facts don't back this up at all. This might have been the case a couple years ago, but student ticket statistics for the year are available here (http://www.mgoblue.com/tickets/students-bkm-season-plan.html) and looking at that table, if the lower student section was doubled to 1200 students, EVERY game (except the break games, but INCLUDING the exhibition games) would have filled that student section up. In fact, every game had at least 1500 students, and every big ten game was at or near the 2000 mark.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:46 PM ^
And you're more likely to go to the game if you know you'll be in the front 10 rows and not in the nosebleeds.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^
This. I think expanding the lower bowl would be most helpful for the Penn State/Northwestern/Nebraska type games. If double the students got good seats, fewer people would blow the game off to watch on tv. Plus, having more students close to the action in a more unified block of seats would bolster the environment for these games that can sometimes have the intensity of a tennis match.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
February 26th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
Do you not see all the other non-student empty seats? They are spread out and thus not as obvious, but do you really think there aren't 1,000 non-student seats that are also empty for those games.
I think the % of empty student seats is always, regardless of opponent, comparable or lower than the % of empty non-student seats.
February 26th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
I think we need levitating magicians BEFORE game time, not at half time. I love levitating magicians.
February 26th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
If the NCAA is going to call players "student-athletes" while the NCAA and all of its individual members wax poetic about how athletics "add to the student experience" or whatever platitudes they want to use, it's time for them to "put their money where their collective mouth is."
The best seats should go to the students. Students should get one side of the stadium between the 40's at the Big House, and the Maize Rage section should hold as many students as want to buy tickets in the lower bowl.
February 26th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
"Following the win in East Lansing, Brandon turned to a Michigan State athletic official and said, “I’m jealous” of the “incredible” atmosphere he witnessed"
Yet he won't even consider expanding our section.
The brand, the brand, the brand.
February 26th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^
My wife and I are getting into the middle aged fan category, having graduated about 25 years ago and having had season tickets since 1999 (brilliantly buying them near the start of the Ellerbe era). I consider us to be pretty loyal fans, missing about one home game a year, following the team to New York for the NIT finals in '06, and going to the Palace for the 1st two NCAA games and to Atlanta for the final four last year.
I agree that the student section needs to be bigger, but would just make a couple of points:
1. The expanded size should be based on the assumption that Michigan will, hopefully, never return to Ellerbe-era ineptitude but also that this year and last year won't necessarily be every year. In othe words, 3,000 students a game may not be a reliable assumption going forward although I would love it if it were.
2. Not every fan in the in blues are the "sit on your hands, show up late, leave early" types. I sit in the blues, and some people do stand up during big defensive stands (maybe because I'm standing in front of them and they have no choice). I do wish the students would use the "on your feet" chant more often. Anyway, seats are a zero sum game and I hope that the Department figures out some method to determine who to send packing to the upper level other than simply years of owning tickets, such as rewarding those who attend all the games including Houston Baptist etc.
February 26th, 2014 at 4:01 PM ^
Is it just me, or do the majority of students in the Maize Rage have deficient lungs or some other malady that does not allow them to yell? Granted, I suffer from middle child syndrome and have a voice modulation problem, but every game I go to (granted only four the last two years as I now live in Boston) I yell at a higher decible than the entire Maize Rage. It gets to the point where they all turn around and look at me, but the section could definitely use some more lunatics.
February 26th, 2014 at 6:10 PM ^
The other funny thing is everyone loves the shit out if the new facilities that help recruiting, but dog Brandon and his means to get all the money.
This board has become 75% just piss and moan to piss and moan