Opinions on GA for a real game?

Submitted by bouje13 on
Thoughts students and spectators?

lonewolf371

September 8th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

I got there two hours before the game and got in the 21st row. No waiting outside throughout the day or anything. This is really great for me since I was one of the early arrivers the last couple of years but always had to sit at the top while I watched drunk seniors fill in during the second quarter. As a student I think the general admission system is nothing but a success.

andben

September 8th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

Last night's game was a whole lot worse for students compared to last week. I showed up 2 hours before the game, but left about 45 minutes before kickoff to use the restroom. It took me more than 30 minutes to get out of the stadium and back to my seat. The event staff was very strict with where you could sit, and it was next to impossible to sit with anyone else who showed up slightly later. 

MAero

September 8th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^

I was at the stadium gates at 6:15 and the ticket scan process took virtually no time, and we were through the chutes in minutes. The MUCH bigger issues were getting into the bowl itself.

At 6:20, the "line" (mosh pit)  to get into section 26 outside the concourse more was probably 300 or 400 people. The line was not moving at all and people were getting agitated. No one could tell what was going on and the crowd started pushing forward. The students in the opening to the stairs had to hold on to the steel girder above them to keep from getting pushed down the stairs. Shorter students were expressing that they were scared to be there.  I timed it at 40 minutes from the time I got trapped in the crowd until I made it into the bowl.

The root cause was that ushers were using a rope to keep students filling the lowest part of the section before moving upward, at a rate MUCH slower than the arrivals. It took them about a minute to do each row (!) They eventually abandoned that when they realized how dangerous the situation back in the concourse had become and everyone made it through in a couple of minutes.

There is a 0% chance that first responders could have made it through that crowd in a timely fashion. This situation needs to get fixed or students are going to get hurt. When people mentioned that students were pushed together like cattle, it is not an exaggeration.

NOLA Wolverine

September 8th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^

The process is ridiculous. They had a huge log jam to get seated because now they give you a blank row ticket and you have to show up about 2-3 hours before the game to get a worthwhile seat. It's a pretty shitty gameday experience when there's games on that I would like to see more than half of the first quarter of (Georgia va. South Carolina) but instead we're sitting in the stadium watching Doug Karsch talk about nothing on the big screen for 2 hours. 

Somehow schools across the country do this without requiring a six hour time commitment and their games go smoothly. I guess acomplishing something like that is just beyond the athletic department's ability. 

Bando Calrissian

September 8th, 2013 at 11:17 AM ^

Walking by that parking lot and seeing thousands of kids herded in lines like cattle for hour after hour, instead of doing things like tailgating and partying and having fun, which is what you should be doing before a football game, was depressing as hell.

There has to be a better way than this. Yes, the students are showing up early, but I wonder at what cost. Their memories of Michigan football Saturdays will be of more time spent standing in a parking lot next to a row of port-o-potties than time spent in the game itself. And that's a shame.

grumbler

September 8th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^

Before you share your eternal pessimism with the rest of us, why not read the comments people have already made and discover that at least some students thought it went well (other than it being difficult to go to the bathroom, which is true of every big game at every  stadium in the country).

Frankly, you could save some lifespan on your part as well as ours by simply not telling us what you think the students should feel when they have already told us that your asumptions are false.

You can still be depressed by what you falsely imagine is true.  Just don't bother to share.

BlueVball8

September 8th, 2013 at 11:33 AM ^

The thread is literally, or seems to be, about what we think. So what do you expect. Students don't like it because it is a lazy short term ideology, which the AD is becoming notorious for, to accomplish something but could very detrimental in the long term as students don't want to go as often.

We can have our opinion, and I think most people think that the process should've changed, but the AD just really lazy.

coldnjl

September 8th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^

There has to be a better way than this? No there isn't or it would have been found by now. Codgers like yourself bitched about the late nature of the student section, so they made it GA. It accomplished its goal of getting them there on time (early if anything) and improving the gameday atmosphere. Now you are bitching about them missing tailgaiting? I guess there is no better way...oh...It was an 8 oclock game for christ sakes. Believe me, they tailgated. 

coldnjl

September 8th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^

1) it worked fine last week 

2) this was a huge game, so obviously issues will become more pronounced

3) its only been two games, let them work it out as you have alluded to, most schools use GA to success

4) I don't even care, I like student seating before. I am just sick of the bitching about these things, especially after a huge victory

GWUWolverineFan

September 8th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^

It appears to be getting the job done. (Non student spectator).



I've never understood why students show up late. I start partying and drinking at about 8am most game days, partying pretty hard, and I'm able to make it in before kick off.



BlueVball8

September 8th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^

First the students were pretty tired. I don't know if you guys noticed but the student section wasn't nearly as loud as it was for UTL 1 or Ohio two years ago. Secondly, the Freshmen and underclassmen that get there early have no idea what 90% of the chears are. People kept trying to do the wave up 4 points, a no-no, don't know what a key play is, don't know the kickoff norms, really they didn't know anything. All of the people around me just looking at me and my friends who knew what we were doing.

I still stand by the opinion that you could accomplish literally the same thing without screwing the students and their saturday over. I think it was just a lazy decision by the AD.

In other news the halftime show was the best I have seen since I started coming to Michigan games. 

BlueVball8

September 8th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

Seriously did you look at the students though. It was pathetic at how bad the students were. THEY DIDN"T KNOW WHICH VERSE OF THE VICTORS WE WERE ON. That actually happened. I forgot about that, but that happened almost every time we sang. The damn stupid freshmen didn't know the words to The Victors. That is what you get with this system. Pathetic.

jmblue

September 8th, 2013 at 11:50 AM ^

I still stand by the opinion that you could accomplish literally the same thing without screwing the students and their saturday over. I think it was just a lazy decision by the AD.

What is your proposal? Last year the athletic department tried a rewards program for people who came early, tried sending mass emails to students, and had Hoke, Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner record PSA messages broadcast over the stadium scoreboard urging students to get there on time.  It didn't work.

GA works.  They might tinker with it a little to ease congestion at the gates and so forth, but they're not going to go back to reserved seating.  You've got to lose the mindset that it's "screwing your Saturday" to go to the game.  Michigan football is a pretty cool thing to attend in person.

 

BlueVball8

September 8th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^

Seniors get rows 1-25, Juniors 26-50 so on and so on. Each section with be roped off and there will be some way to seperate them to make sure that people don't move up and down, the bracelets last night would be good. 30 minutes before the game the ushers remove the ropes and people can move down. That way you have a HUGE incentive for the Juniors/Seniors to get there 30 minutes before the game while not screwing them over. It would take as many ushers last night, so that's not preventative and it wouldn't waste hours and hours.

Obviously this would have its problems too, but I think its a balanced and reasonable approach. Also already sent an email to the AD and got a canned response. I am almost to the point of not wanting to buy/support this crap with my feet. That pains me though because I love watching and participating but the AD makes it so hard to do so.

gbdub

September 8th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^

So you're hosed if you have friends in different years? What about alums who want to buy validated student tickets?



People would still line up hours early to get the best seats in their respective sections. And a mad rush 30 min before the game, during warm ups? What about the students who actually want to see the preface show? They'll be forced to miss it among all the body shuffling.