For some insight into our student fanbase, while I was in line for the game today (about 30 people there), these two guys by me didn’t know who Jalen Rose is. 
That makes me so sad. Especially as 30 year old who was largely too young to remember the fab five when they actually played. They were ICONIC and he still is very relevant and boisterous about his Michigan allegiance.
Reegs, completely out of curiosity… what is your view on the degree to which the current students should have that education? I watched a lot of Fab Five in high school, and have the same reaction that nswan had, but I’m not sure what is reasonable at this stage as I had no idea who Campy/Cazzie were when I was in college in the 90s until the first Maize Rage group made some of this history a priority as this was what Duke did as well as others.
I’m a die hard fan/historian this as anyone, but really just was wondering how the younger base of fans, who have really only known the F4 team as program success, best get that information in a way they appreciate.
I feel like the Fab Five is way different than not knowing Campy or Cazzie (particularly since people have access to so much information now). They were a big deal in the history of sports in general, not just Michigan Basketball. Webber and Rose are also both prominent media analysts that you will have watched on TV if you actually care about basketball.
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I think its a matter of perspective. I was just trying to not hold anyone to a standard that I didn’t/couldn’t meet myself – that being knowing only what you’ve been able to see directly which is all I initially did. While anyone my age from AA could have seen Jalen play in the early 90s, I agree that his contributions have been heavily covered (to fatigue at some points), and that anyone over the age of 10 has seen enough of him to have a view.
From my view though which started in around 1986, and not having seen players from the 60s/70s, I think there is a point where you can expect those who consider themselves fans of the current teams to be both curious and force fed information on past teams. Lets say that everyone has to know how Jalen is now simply b/c they couldn’t avoid hearing about him. Glen Rice actually hung the title banner. I’d be curious how well his story is known, and that he still holds the record for most points scored in a tournament (184). Less covered, but more relevant in the context of being a fan. In the 99 Maize Rage meetings, “184” was an iconic number frozen into everyone’s heads, and this was just 10y after it was set.
I didn’t write the prior post as a hypothetical. I’m honestly very interested in how past players/program legacy (Jalen fatigue notwithstanding) are relevant to the current students and if you think that has any role to play in deepening fan support (not making them louder, but maybe more invested). Your posts on the topic have been thoughtful and I think a valuable contrast to those of us who have been around for a while.
(note I’m still damn loud when I get the opportunity to go)
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I hope I don’t offend anyone, but I think that the Maize Rage can do something about this. I see things like what Maryland does at the :30 second mark of the clip below and then I compare it to what we’re doing. Now, don’t get me wrong, the maize rage IS the loudest fan group in the building. They do a great job. But I think that they (and the rest of the crowd) can do more. I’ve attended a game at cameron indoor. I’ve attended a game at rupp. I’ve also see games in high school gyms that have more energy and vibe. I don’t think anyone on the board disagrees that if the team is good the crowd is better/more hype. But I think if there were more fun crowd interaction it could become a better environment and therefore drive more people to want to go there. Like a Jimmy Buffet concert. Even if you don’t like his music, it’s one heck of a show.
How do we make this happen? I think it would be great to have a brainstorming session to see what kind of ideas we can come up with. A raucous student section showing on TV and when there are recruits there would be phenomenal for the program.
Some of my thoughts:
- Put the “white collar” seats on the camera side.
- Fill the lower bowl opposite the camera with students first and let 'em rip.
- Come up with different shirt/giveaway ideas that play to themes. I’m sure the Maize Rage can find some alumni support to fund some of these things. Maybe have a UMHoops (or other blog) night with specialty shirts at the game.
- Think through some chant/crowd activities that can be inclusive. Not that it has to be as elaborate as what the terpdurkins are doing in the vid but something fun.
Like:
- When a player just nails a fantastic dunk or a three and there is an opportunity to do this chant their name. Imagine last night when Duncan hit one of his threes that the whole student section starts to loudly chant “DUN-CAN” “DUN-CAN” “DUN-CAN”, etc. Or “DAWK-INS”…etc, etc, etc. Something that just reverberates through the stadium and is easy enough that the kids and other adults can join in immediately. Think if Mo just slips a screen and gets to the rim for a nice dunk, what chanting “VAG-NER” over and over for a few seconds would do to pump him, the team and the crowd up. Plus, wouldn’t it be great if Dan Dakich had to really speak up to get his point across because of the noise?
- Music related. I know that there are a number of these that we utilize at times but what about something a little more current and fun that “the kids” might enjoy. Not exactly Jump Around at the beginning of Q4 for wisky but jumping and crazy to a beat that everyone can join in with. People love to dance - even people like me that can’t.
Again, I think the MR does a great job with what they’ve got and I know that they really want the most crowd noise that they can get as well. So I’m hoping that there can be some ideas thrown around somewhere that would allow them to come up with some fantastic crowd participation things that would make the games more fun for students, tv, etc. Things that would hype the crowd and make more people want to attend. If Maryland can do it, I’m sure we can!
Thanks for reading.
Lot of good ideas here; appreciate the thoughtul contribution. Agree that it has to be a project, with a lot of elements contributing to improvement. I always feel that crowd participation could be miles more clever and effective–Stanford fans are a great example, as are UM hockey fans.
Just wanted to say that the Maize Rage and the rest of the fans really looked fantastic on the broadcast Saturday. Excellent job. The Chadtough shirts really unified the crowd and it looked like people were having a great time. I know the team felt the love!
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I agree it was better. The non-students did a much better job than Usual of showing up. On the broadcast I noticed the top half of the upper deck student seats were empty. I can’t even blame them, not only are they terrible seats, but they don’t get that student section type experience either since they sit down the whole game and don’t really do the cheers.
That is their choice to not do the cheers and to sit down. I might make a suggestion for the Maize Rage core to send someone up there, but it might not be worth it since everyone in Section 130 don’t always stand up.
We support the team but the product lacks excitement I’d rather watch at home .
Saturday was very exciting. How are you supporting the team from your couch at home?
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Haven’t had the teams recently for one. Second is no recruits that spark peoples interests. Say what you want about the class and Xavier is ranked this and ibi ranked that or even poole for that matter. None of them spark an interest in any “casual” fan. They haven’t even played 1 second of college bball!!!
But for me, I don’t live close enough to make it to games. Back in the Nat champ. run I went to a couple home games and an away game cause the team was legit. They need to get that back for the casual fans.
Fans just need to be more enthusiastic overall. Seems to be great one game and just blah the next. Better marketing can never be a bad thing either.
I have season tickets. I live an hour away. I’m not a “casual” fan. Few people who post here are.
I would go to more games if better teams came in and better start times. Already 3 games this year have had a 9pm tip, not feasible to attend those games and wake up at 5am for work. So their top games this year have mostly been at 9pm and the other teams coming in have been Elon, Houston Baptist, Delaware St, Northern Kentucky, Youngstown St, and Bryant. That can be a very tough pill to swallow for people that want to buy in, Throw in a team that’s ok but certainly not where they want to be it’s a tough investment to rationalize. This is from the perspective of buying season tickets the secondary ticket market is a much better option.
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I hate the 9 p.m. starts, too. Nothing we can do about that. TV dictates.
Product meaning style of play lacks excitement. If you think the way we play is exciting you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that I just don’t agree.
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Sane1, I’m not talking about people on here on these forums. I’m talking about the people who do live close and the older fans. I hope no one on umhoops is a “casual” fan. I’m not a casual fan either.
If I lived an hour or within an hour of Ann Arbor I would go to. I live 5 hours away west burbs of Chicago.
I’m talking about the guy out there say to his buddy…hey wanna go see Michigan play tonight? And his buddy being non chalant and just like…mmmmm nah I’m good just going to watch it on tv. If that’s me I would be like hell yes lets go. But I’m sure there are plenty of people out there that don’t care if they go or not.
But like jsmith said and Albrechtshotfake said, its style of play and lack of good games. Don’t get me wrong, again I would go to games if I lived close, but its just not exciting and worth a 5 hour drive. I did it during the championship run and that’s what I want and that’s the kind of ball I expect out of Michigan. I don’t expect them to make championship runs year in and year but expect better performances and a better overall quality of talent in my own opinion.
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It’s just about winning and losing, not style of play, IMO. I don’t expect someone in Chicago to make it to games. I’m 67. I go to 80% of the games, sell or give away my tickets to the rest. There just aren’t enough fans like me. Even during the Fab 5 era and the 80s when we had a lot of talent, Crisler was not full for most games.
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I agree that it’s not about style of play. I don’t think there’s any sort of data to back up that it affects attendance. I think it’s mostly just winning and losing. When we were winning in 2012-2014 the fans were there. Now they’re not.