A Wolverine's thoughts from the Horseshoe...
Ohio Stadium is no Big House. Louder? Yes, for now, but...
"Best Damn Band In The Land?" Not a clue - you couldn't really hear them from our seats in the South Endzone. We couldn't really hear them during the pre-game, during halftime, or during the game itself.
"Best Damn Fans In The Land?" Not even close.
Good experience? No, not really. Jessica and I were bored and left at halftime. For the first time ever, I'll be selling a pair of football tickets. (OSU vs. Purdue). I can see why there are so many people that stay at their tailgates for the game- being in the stadium was a snooze!
Let me point out a few differences:
1) Students leading cheers: Michigan fans have cowbells - at any given game there are 5-20 bells in the student section. OSU has ... a fan with a microphone. OSU has this thing called Block O, and in the front row is the president of the student group. He has a microphone that plays out of 2 smallish speaker directly in front of the students. So you basically have this 1 guy trying to dictate the cheer. Problem: You can't hear/see what is going on if you aren't in that area, and only the Block O student group gets to participate in some of the cheers because they are the only ones that have towels and cards to hold up.
Advantage: Michigan
2) Band leading cheers: Michigan's band has several drum cadences and cheers that they lead. When opponents have to punt, they play temptation, and students cheer to it. They lead 2 versions of "Let's go blue" cheers, play Rocky and Bullwinkle while people put up moose ears, Iron Man on big defensive plays, etc. OSU's band: not really heard by the student section. The band sits at field level, while most students are high up on the deck behind them. I heard 0 band-led cheers.
Advantage: Michigan
3) 3rd downs: Michigan fans get out keys. OSU plays the Bell from AC/DC's Hell's Bell over their loudspeaker. Now, well the Bell is really loud and ominous, it doesn't sustain a ton of noise- Michigan on the other hand has an entire student section making noise and jingling their keys.
Advantage: Michigan (barely)
4) The Wave: OSU tried to start a wave twice. Once it kind of sucked, and the other time it made its way around several times. Due to the way the stadium is constructed, the wave isn't continuous - it has 2 decks, and there are 2 breaks where there are no stands - once before it gets to the south stands, and again after the south stands. The wave was pretty standard as it went around. Michigan has trouble getting the wave going (thank you Alumni!!!), but once it does, OMG - speed wave, slow wave, reverse wave, cross waves.... it is something to behold (as waves go).
Advantage: Michigan
Maybe I was missing something, but I just didn't get it - the experience simply wasn't fun at all.
GO BLUE!!!!!
Also, I grew a goatee about a month ago. I shaved it off and took a couple pictures....
Ohio Stadium is no Big House. Louder? Yes, for now, but...
"Best Damn Band In The Land?" Not a clue - you couldn't really hear them from our seats in the South Endzone. We couldn't really hear them during the pre-game, during halftime, or during the game itself.
"Best Damn Fans In The Land?" Not even close.
Good experience? No, not really. Jessica and I were bored and left at halftime. For the first time ever, I'll be selling a pair of football tickets. (OSU vs. Purdue). I can see why there are so many people that stay at their tailgates for the game- being in the stadium was a snooze!
Let me point out a few differences:
1) Students leading cheers: Michigan fans have cowbells - at any given game there are 5-20 bells in the student section. OSU has ... a fan with a microphone. OSU has this thing called Block O, and in the front row is the president of the student group. He has a microphone that plays out of 2 smallish speaker directly in front of the students. So you basically have this 1 guy trying to dictate the cheer. Problem: You can't hear/see what is going on if you aren't in that area, and only the Block O student group gets to participate in some of the cheers because they are the only ones that have towels and cards to hold up.
Advantage: Michigan
2) Band leading cheers: Michigan's band has several drum cadences and cheers that they lead. When opponents have to punt, they play temptation, and students cheer to it. They lead 2 versions of "Let's go blue" cheers, play Rocky and Bullwinkle while people put up moose ears, Iron Man on big defensive plays, etc. OSU's band: not really heard by the student section. The band sits at field level, while most students are high up on the deck behind them. I heard 0 band-led cheers.
Advantage: Michigan
3) 3rd downs: Michigan fans get out keys. OSU plays the Bell from AC/DC's Hell's Bell over their loudspeaker. Now, well the Bell is really loud and ominous, it doesn't sustain a ton of noise- Michigan on the other hand has an entire student section making noise and jingling their keys.
Advantage: Michigan (barely)
4) The Wave: OSU tried to start a wave twice. Once it kind of sucked, and the other time it made its way around several times. Due to the way the stadium is constructed, the wave isn't continuous - it has 2 decks, and there are 2 breaks where there are no stands - once before it gets to the south stands, and again after the south stands. The wave was pretty standard as it went around. Michigan has trouble getting the wave going (thank you Alumni!!!), but once it does, OMG - speed wave, slow wave, reverse wave, cross waves.... it is something to behold (as waves go).
Advantage: Michigan
Maybe I was missing something, but I just didn't get it - the experience simply wasn't fun at all.
GO BLUE!!!!!
Also, I grew a goatee about a month ago. I shaved it off and took a couple pictures....
2 Comments:
At 1:22 PM,
Kathleen said…
I'm glad to hear that The Big House Experience truly does outrank OSU. At least we can beat them at something!
Also, LOL! At your fu manchu and mustache! I made Paul leave a soul patch last time he did a goatee, but he doesn't want me to post the picture... it's hilarious!
At 2:04 PM,
Sunshine said…
I love the look on your face in the OSU stadium pic - priceless! I have always said and will always maintain that there is nothing to beat the experience of watching a game in person at the Big House :) Hands down, best sporting experience of my life. No comparisons! Watching our comeback yesterday with 70+ alumni in our bar and leading The Victors so many times in a row was awesome - but I can only imagine what it was like in the stadium. :) Goatee pics are also entertaining, but I think 3 out of 4 friends will agree, you are best as a clean shaven guy :) Miss you Benlo! Oh, yeah, and GO BLUE!
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