Michigan Trip

[albanyknight]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/personality/dan-leach/
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/personality/dan-leach/
Had a wonderful time this weekend at the Big House.

First, a big shout out to RU#'s. It started raining about 3PM when we were passing through Cleveland. Numbers predicted that the earlier the rain came through the area on Friday, the less likely for rain during the game and he was spot on. It was cold but zero rain and actually a little bit of sun.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Boardwalk Ave about two miles from campus. Plenty of hotels. I always stay at a Hampton Inn if I can because it is reasonable and decent. This was the nicest Hampton Inn we ever stayed at and I've stayed at many.

Friday night we found a good Mexican restaurant (Prickly Pear Southwest Cafe) and watched the World Series with a whole bunch of Michigan fans. Since we were all pulling for the Astros, all went well and we had a good time. Saturday morning we found a great place for breakfast that had the best pumpkin pancakes (Juicy Kitchen) I ever had. Place was packed but we only had a ten minute wait.

The Big House is just amazing. Even after losing to Penn State, a pretty cold day and not many people excited to see Rutgers, the stadium was full except for one section of the student section in the coffin corner of the end zone. We bought our tickets on StubHub along with a parking pass that was right next to the stadium. Our seats were on the 20-yard line about half-way up (the stadium is a bowl with just one deck).

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU). As it turned out it didn't matter as the fans could not of been nicer. By far the best group of fans I have ever encountered. We struck up a conversation with the two folks in front of us and it turned out one of them was a guy named Dan Leach who has his own sports radio show (see link above). Dan was a hoot with good-natured busting back and forth.

Surprisingly, the game was much closer than I dared hope. I promised my brother I wouldn't go nuts if Rutgers did anything good but that went out the window when we tied it 7-7. But as I said, nobody gave me a hard time. However, if we had pulled off the upset, it may have been a different story. The game really turned when Michigan replaced O'Koren with their red-shirt freshman who took advantage of our DB's playing too far off the ball.

Since we had a big breakfast and it was a noon game we didn't partake at the stadium. But from what I could surmise, Michigan's concessions seemed to be on a par with ours. Nothing really special. What was different were the bathrooms. At half-time, there were rows of four that went back half-way across the concourse but we were in and out in less than ten minutes. Probably the most amazing thing was although we stayed to the end of the game, we were at our car in five minutes and out of the stadium in less than ten minutes. The good folks at Ann Arbor handle 110,000 far better than we handle 35,000.

We splurged for dinner at the Gandy Dancer a beautiful restaurant housed in the 1885 old Michigan Central Railroad Depot. The food was exceptional as well as the service. Ann Arbor is a much larger town than I expected and the campus is a bit spread out. But the town is overall very nice as is the campus and real estate prices are on the high side for the Midwest as many commute from Ann Arbor into Detroit.

We came back through Canada and down through Niagara Falls before hitting part of the storm system around Rochester.

All-in-all, this was the best RU road-trip I ever took except maybe the Vanderbilt game in 2004. I highly recommend folks take the trip in 2019.

 

[Abro1975]

I enjoy hearing our fans experiences at visitor stadiums , campuses and fan interactions.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[bigmatt718]

Seems like the prick Michigan fans I experienced last year at RU Stadium are the ones from NJ/NY/Philly. Maybe out in the Midwest folks are friendlier.

 

[Rutgers8086_rivals]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/personality/dan-leach/
Had a wonderful time this weekend at the Big House.

First, a big shout out to RU#'s. It started raining about 3PM when we were passing through Cleveland. Numbers predicted that the earlier the rain came through the area on Friday, the less likely for rain during the game and he was spot on. It was cold but zero rain and actually a little bit of sun.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Boardwalk Ave about two miles from campus. Plenty of hotels. I always stay at a Hampton Inn if I can because it is reasonable and decent. This was the nicest Hampton Inn we ever stayed at and I've stayed at many.

Friday night we found a good Mexican restaurant (Prickly Pear Southwest Cafe) and watched the World Series with a whole bunch of Michigan fans. Since we were all pulling for the Astros, all went well and we had a good time. Saturday morning we found a great place for breakfast that had the best pumpkin pancakes (Juicy Kitchen) I ever had. Place was packed but we only had a ten minute wait.

The Big House is just amazing. Even after losing to Penn State, a pretty cold day and not many people excited to see Rutgers, the stadium was full except for one section of the student section in the coffin corner of the end zone. We bought our tickets on StubHub along with a parking pass that was right next to the stadium. Our seats were on the 20-yard line about half-way up (the stadium is a bowl with just one deck).

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU). As it turned out it didn't matter as the fans could not of been nicer. By far the best group of fans I have ever encountered. We struck up a conversation with the two folks in front of us and it turned out one of them was a guy named Dan Leach who has his own sports radio show (see link above). Dan was a hoot with good-natured busting back and forth.

Surprisingly, the game was much closer than I dared hope. I promised my brother I wouldn't go nuts if Rutgers did anything good but that went out the window when we tied it 7-7. But as I said, nobody gave me a hard time. However, if we had pulled off the upset, it may have been a different story. The game really turned when Michigan replaced O'Koren with their red-shirt freshman who took advantage of our DB's playing too far off the ball.

Since we had a big breakfast and it was a noon game we didn't partake at the stadium. But from what I could surmise, Michigan's concessions seemed to be on a par with ours. Nothing really special. What was different were the bathrooms. At half-time, there were rows of four that went back half-way across the concourse but we were in and out in less than ten minutes. Probably the most amazing thing was although we stayed to the end of the game, we were at our car in five minutes and out of the stadium in less than ten minutes. The good folks at Ann Arbor handle 110,000 far better than we handle 35,000.

We splurged for dinner at the Gandy Dancer a beautiful restaurant housed in the 1885 old Michigan Central Railroad Depot. The food was exceptional as well as the service. Ann Arbor is a much larger town than I expected and the campus is a bit spread out. But the town is overall very nice as is the campus and real estate prices are on the high side for the Midwest as many commute from Ann Arbor into Detroit.

We came back through Canada and down through Niagara Falls before hitting part of the storm system around Rochester.

All-in-all, this was the best RU road-trip I ever took except maybe the Vanderbilt game in 2004. I highly recommend folks take the trip in 2019.

I hope to go in 2019.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Seems like the prick Michigan fans I experienced last year at RU Stadium are the ones from NJ/NY/Philly. Maybe out in the Midwest folks are friendlier.

The Walmart Michigan fans are not college educated.

 

[bigmatt718]

The Walmart Michigan fans are not college educated.

Yep, that is true.

 

[dollarbill]

The Walmart Michigan fans are not college educated.

They somehow manage to read the scoreboard. $$$$

 

[RUBand]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/personality/dan-leach/
Had a wonderful time this weekend at the Big House.

First, a big shout out to RU#'s. It started raining about 3PM when we were passing through Cleveland. Numbers predicted that the earlier the rain came through the area on Friday, the less likely for rain during the game and he was spot on. It was cold but zero rain and actually a little bit of sun.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Boardwalk Ave about two miles from campus. Plenty of hotels. I always stay at a Hampton Inn if I can because it is reasonable and decent. This was the nicest Hampton Inn we ever stayed at and I've stayed at many.

Friday night we found a good Mexican restaurant (Prickly Pear Southwest Cafe) and watched the World Series with a whole bunch of Michigan fans. Since we were all pulling for the Astros, all went well and we had a good time. Saturday morning we found a great place for breakfast that had the best pumpkin pancakes (Juicy Kitchen) I ever had. Place was packed but we only had a ten minute wait.

The Big House is just amazing. Even after losing to Penn State, a pretty cold day and not many people excited to see Rutgers, the stadium was full except for one section of the student section in the coffin corner of the end zone. We bought our tickets on StubHub along with a parking pass that was right next to the stadium. Our seats were on the 20-yard line about half-way up (the stadium is a bowl with just one deck).

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU). As it turned out it didn't matter as the fans could not of been nicer. By far the best group of fans I have ever encountered. We struck up a conversation with the two folks in front of us and it turned out one of them was a guy named Dan Leach who has his own sports radio show (see link above). Dan was a hoot with good-natured busting back and forth.

Surprisingly, the game was much closer than I dared hope. I promised my brother I wouldn't go nuts if Rutgers did anything good but that went out the window when we tied it 7-7. But as I said, nobody gave me a hard time. However, if we had pulled off the upset, it may have been a different story. The game really turned when Michigan replaced O'Koren with their red-shirt freshman who took advantage of our DB's playing too far off the ball.

Since we had a big breakfast and it was a noon game we didn't partake at the stadium. But from what I could surmise, Michigan's concessions seemed to be on a par with ours. Nothing really special. What was different were the bathrooms. At half-time, there were rows of four that went back half-way across the concourse but we were in and out in less than ten minutes. Probably the most amazing thing was although we stayed to the end of the game, we were at our car in five minutes and out of the stadium in less than ten minutes. The good folks at Ann Arbor handle 110,000 far better than we handle 35,000.

We splurged for dinner at the Gandy Dancer a beautiful restaurant housed in the 1885 old Michigan Central Railroad Depot. The food was exceptional as well as the service. Ann Arbor is a much larger town than I expected and the campus is a bit spread out. But the town is overall very nice as is the campus and real estate prices are on the high side for the Midwest as many commute from Ann Arbor into Detroit.

We came back through Canada and down through Niagara Falls before hitting part of the storm system around Rochester.

All-in-all, this was the best RU road-trip I ever took except maybe the Vanderbilt game in 2004. I highly recommend folks take the trip in 2019.

The Big House is cool. How was Michigan’s band?

 

[mildone_rivals]

Seems like the prick Michigan fans I experienced last year at RU Stadium are the ones from NJ/NY/Philly. Maybe out in the Midwest folks are friendlier.

The folks I've met out in the Midwest are pretty friendly, in general. But the world is like a porn movie, there are pricks everywhere.

 

[albanyknight]

The Big House is cool. How was Michigan’s band?

They were great. One of the things that was really cool was as you approached the stadium, they were playing on the steps of the stadium.

 

[bigmatt718]

The folks I've met out in the Midwest are pretty friendly, in general. But the world is like a porn movie, there are pricks everywhere.

Touche. I'm stealing that last sentence lol.

 

[sct1111]

Ann Arbor is a model college town. It was sort of like a cross of New Brunswick, Princeton and Hoboken. There were many trendy bars, restaurants and breweries and good food. The campus itself was also very nice and very clean. Buildings and landscaping you can tell were well taken care of, something missing at Rutgers. You didn't quite get the Ivy League feel of Princeton but almost.

The Big House was, well, big. It doesn't seem as big as PSU or OSU since it's one bowl but it's still a massive stadium. They have very cool traditions and a great band. The fans didn't really stand. They did their Hail to the Victors cheers sitting down. The atmosphere was tame, probably because they were playing us. Supposedly there is massive tailgating but I didn't see it when I was there. It's crazy how impressive our practice facility is even when compared to what Michigan had.

Everyone there was very nice, in fact the biggest jerk we came across was from Syracuse. Some Michigan alumni thought we were a private liberal arts school from "somewhere in NY or NJ". We were never heckled despite wearing Rutgers gear the entire time. Maybe some drunk students said something but not much at all. Some found it interesting that we were rooting for Ohio State and didn't know that we hated Penn State so much.

It was a great experience. I'd do it again if Rutgers ever becomes more competitive. I'd recommend it.

 

[srru86]

Had a wonderful time this weekend at the Big House.

Yes, a great trip. Flew in to Detroit , easy half hour drive to Ann Arbor.

Friday night we found a good Mexican restaurant (Prickly Pear Southwest Cafe)

We went there Saturday night, it was quite good.

The Big House is just amazing.

Yes it is. I saw a few more empties than you. I don't understand RU fan's indignation about RU announcing sold as attendance. Everybody does it. No way there was 111k in that building. Still they had something in the neighborhood of 100k. Maybe a little down for them. We, and all but the absolute top tier programs, can only hope to have that sort of "disappointing" turn out.

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU).

Always wear my colors. I never really had a problem, notable exception being East Hartford. You can get a drunken jerk anywhere, but had good times with Pitt and WVU fans. The Big Ten fan bases I've been around are generally very nice. Everyone in Ann Arbor was nice. Not Lincoln, Nebraska welcoming, but good.

Surprisingly, the game was much closer than I dared hope.

Yes, it was. You got the feeling early on that if things went a little different their fans might have turned on them. But as you say that new QB seemed to be the tonic they needed to get out of whatever post PSU/Overlooking RU funk they were in.

But from what I could surmise, Michigan's concessions seemed to be on a par with ours. Nothing really special.

Yes, nothing unique. The in-house pizza is from the Cottage Inn. We ate at the Original Cottage Inn on Friday night and had their pizza. Not bad for middle America pie. Not sure of the connection between the "Original" and the pizza chain it seemed to spawn.

Probably the most amazing thing was although we stayed to the end of the game, we were at our car in five minutes and out of the stadium in less than ten minutes. The good folks at Ann Arbor handle 110,000 far better than we handle 35,000.

Yes the do. This year we stayed downtown and walked to the stadium. Last time we stayed on the highway and parked on the golf course. I was back to the hotel faster than it takes me to get from the my space in the Blue Lot to Sutphen Lane at RU.

We splurged for dinner at the Gandy Dancer a beautiful restaurant housed in the 1885 old Michigan Central Railroad Depot. The food was exceptional as well as the service. Ann Arbor is a much larger town than I expected and the campus is a bit spread out. But the town is overall very nice as is the campus and real estate prices are on the high side for the Midwest as many commute from Ann Arbor into Detroit.

Looking forward to trying Gandy Dancer on another trip. Sounds nice. Ann Arbor is top echelon of the big ten towns I've visited. Campus very nice, and town very pleasant. They have some nice shopping on Main Street. The real differentiation is the restaurant scene in Ann Arbor is much better than some of the other BT towns.

I highly recommend folks take the trip in 2019.

Yes, agree on the recommendation. It's pretty much a "You got to go" destination for any committed football fan.

 

[mdk02]

Probably the most amazing thing was although we stayed to the end of the game, we were at our car in five minutes and out of the stadium in less than ten minutes. The good folks at Ann Arbor handle 110,000 far better than we handle 35,000..

They have more experience with it.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Yes, a great trip. Flew in to Detroit , easy half hour drive to Ann Arbor.


We went there Saturday night, it was quite good.



Always wear my colors. I never really had a problem, notable exception being East Hartford. You can get a drunken jerk anywhere, but had good times with Pitt and WVU fans. The Big Ten fan bases I've been around are generally very nice. Everyone in Ann Arbor was nice. Not Lincoln, Nebraska welcoming, but good.


.

I always wear our colors as well as I just wouldn't go if I felt I couldn't. But, I am also a very respectful guest. Yes, I will have fun and cheer for my team but never act like a jerk.
As for opposing fanbases...I can't see how anyone can have something positive to say about WVU. Those fans don't even act like humans and the worst part is that you actually feel that they will back up their threats...Pitt? Some of the nicer fans, always enjoyed going there. Weirdest thing was in 2008 when some of their fans came up to us and asked if we planned to boo our players because they will be happy to join us.

UConn- Very classless fans. They also like to make it seem like they are bad guys but I never really felt they could back up their threats. I wore my colors there but left nothing on the car to show it was a RU car. Those pussys will rather destroy a car when you are in the stadium because there is no fear of the car fighting back.

 

[RUBand]

They were great. One of the things that was really cool was as you approached the stadium, they were playing on the steps of the stadium.

That was the alumni band, it was homecoming

 

[srru86]

But, I am also a very respectful guest. Yes, I will have fun and cheer for my team but never act like a jerk.

Really good point. I always make the effort, particularly if I'm sitting in one of their sections. Don't be a jerk and confirm anyone's stereotype of an obnoxious Jersey-ite.

As for opposing fanbases...I can't see how anyone can have something positive to say about WVU.

I had numerous Mountaineer fans engage me pleasantly over the years in person. One guy had welcomed me and in his effort to connect admitted that the only thing he knew about New Jersey was he often drove his 18 wheeler to "Them massive warehouses in Dayton NJ."
One time a young guy flung a penny at me as I walked through their tailgate lot. It wasn't really threatened or anything of course. I turned toward the thrower and with a smile said "That's the best you got, how about a quarter?" Some of the other guys with him got the joke and razzed him for being too broke to do that.
My favorite WVU fan behavior was after the frigid late night heart break game a drunken yahoo was hooting at a group of us as we left the stadium. One of his buddies told him to shut up , they were lucky to come away with a win. One of the ladies in our group said to a WVU State Trooper something along the lines of that fellow is being very rude. The Trooper sort of rolled his eyes and put up his hands and said, "I went to Marshall. Be glad you're going home, I have to live with these people."

 

[albanyknight]

I understand that not wearing RU stuff is a bit of a cop-out. But anybody who sits around me knows quickly where my allegiances lie.

I don't worry as much about who I am sitting with as I usually pay for a good ticket and usually end up sitting with long-time season ticket holders. It doesn't make sense to me to pay all that money for a road trip and end up sitting in the corner of the end zone in the nose bleed seats.

I stopped wearing RU stuff after I was hit by a bottle walking back to the car at the airfield in Hartford. But I get the point.

Thanks for pointing out that the band was the alumni band. It was still very cool. And yes, watching the game on tv, it looked more like at least 5,000 stayed home.

 

[srru86]

I understand that not wearing RU stuff is a bit of a cop-out. But anybody who sits around me knows quickly where my allegiances lie.

I wouldn't say cop out. So do, some don't, it's an individual decision. Being at the game is the key point.

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

My group wore RU gear two years ago and everyone was super friendly. Some even asked about Mr. Magoo. Lots of "Welcome to the B1G/Big House/AA" etc

 

[AreYouNUTS]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/personality/dan-leach/
Had a wonderful time this weekend at the Big House.

First, a big shout out to RU#'s. It started raining about 3PM when we were passing through Cleveland. Numbers predicted that the earlier the rain came through the area on Friday, the less likely for rain during the game and he was spot on. It was cold but zero rain and actually a little bit of sun.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn on Boardwalk Ave about two miles from campus. Plenty of hotels. I always stay at a Hampton Inn if I can because it is reasonable and decent. This was the nicest Hampton Inn we ever stayed at and I've stayed at many.

Friday night we found a good Mexican restaurant (Prickly Pear Southwest Cafe) and watched the World Series with a whole bunch of Michigan fans. Since we were all pulling for the Astros, all went well and we had a good time. Saturday morning we found a great place for breakfast that had the best pumpkin pancakes (Juicy Kitchen) I ever had. Place was packed but we only had a ten minute wait.

The Big House is just amazing. Even after losing to Penn State, a pretty cold day and not many people excited to see Rutgers, the stadium was full except for one section of the student section in the coffin corner of the end zone. We bought our tickets on StubHub along with a parking pass that was right next to the stadium. Our seats were on the 20-yard line about half-way up (the stadium is a bowl with just one deck).

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU)..

Not gonna lie: i HATE when fans do this and too many of ours do these days (again...even at home games but that's another thread....).

That being said glad you had a good time; nice recap otherwise!

 

[yesrutgers01]

Really good point. I always make the effort, particularly if I'm sitting in one of their sections. Don't be a jerk and confirm anyone's stereotype of an obnoxious Jersey-ite.


I had numerous Mountaineer fans engage me pleasantly over the years in person. One guy had welcomed me and in his effort to connect admitted that the only thing he knew about New Jersey was he often drove his 18 wheeler to "Them massive warehouses in Dayton NJ."
One time a young guy flung a penny at me as I walked through their tailgate lot. It wasn't really threatened or anything of course. I turned toward the thrower and with a smile said "That's the best you got, how about a quarter?" Some of the other guys with him got the joke and razzed him for being too broke to do that.
My favorite WVU fan behavior was after the frigid late night heart break game a drunken yahoo was hooting at a group of us as we left the stadium. One of his buddies told him to shut up , they were lucky to come away with a win. One of the ladies in our group said to a WVU State Trooper something along the lines of that fellow is being very rude. The Trooper sort of rolled his eyes and put up his hands and said, "I went to Marshall. Be glad you're going home, I have to live with these people."

Went to WVU once and only once. 2006 - What we experienced walking from the hotel just outside the parking look(hampton Inn maybe) don't remember but...Not only a lot of guys getting in our faces(it was only the Mrs and I, glad we left the kids home) many yelling racial slurs at the wife and another group getting at us telling me they would take my N***** B**** wife and show her a good time...How you or anyone found any good people there, I'll never know because it was more like a Mad Max movie. One of the families of another OL was seated in a non-family (Rutgers) section and told us after the game where some WVU fans in the stands got between them and their teenage daughters and thought it funny to say they were going to kidnap them...The weird thing...is that their 'online' fans tend to be some of the nicest I have met in our threads...go figure

 

[mdk02]

Yesrutgers01 - Their "online" fans probably haven't been drinking for 8+ hours when they post.

 

[mildone_rivals]

When you show up with hookers and blow, nobody cares what colors your wearing.

 

[hiwater]

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU). As it turned out it didn't matter as the fans could not of been nicer. By far the best group of fans I have ever encountered. We struck up a conversation with the two folks in front of us and it turned out one of them was a guy named Dan Leach who has his own sports radio show (see link above). Dan was a hoot with good-natured busting back and forth.

Everyone in my group had RU gear on 2 years ago at Michagan. Never heard anything negative. We did get invited to a lot of tailgates when we walked through the golf course where we parked. Someone made a comment from that the only time people get upset about red jerseies is when Ohio State is in town. They also said that there are fights all over the golf course every time OSU come to town.

I've worn red in Pittsburg multiple times, and their fans were great. I never had an issue with their fans. Each time I had been there, Pitt fans would come up to us and say thanks for coming and glad you guys could make it. We had one kid in Pittsburg make a diparaging remark toward my group in a restaurant on the river near the stadium and he was immediately bounced out of there. He snuck back in and came over to us to appologize for being a dick and they bounced him again.

UConn and Syracuse are different stories.

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

I also made the trip to Ann Arbor, figured I'd tag on with my experience.

Arrived on Thursday, flew from PHL --> DTW. Very easy travel, and a quick ride 30 minute from the airport to campus. Stayed at an Airbnb about 1/3 mile from the stadium, so very convenient and well worth it. Great Airbnb host and nice having the ability to do some shopping and stock the shelves a bit since we were staying 3 nights.

Campus was very impressive. Obviously a ton of UM pride which I expected but it still impressed me. I guess that's what you get with such a massive endowment.

Shopping/restaurant/bar scene was fantastic. Spent plenty of time having food & drinks and explored a lot of it. Enjoyed Conor O'Neill's (Irish pub), a cool Beer Grotto place (I think that was the name), another new bar/restaurant called CBC (I think it stood for Craft Beer City, or something like that). Stopped in a bunch of other places as well I can't remember. Unfortunately missed out on Zingerman's, which I heard too late after the fact was a can't miss deli. Next time I guess. Enjoyed the overall scene a lot.

The game: the stadium is just as impressive as everyone said. I like that it's built into the ground (sort of like ours). Even though my seats were in row 83, I really only had to walk up about 10 rows from where I entered. Student section only seemed about 3/4 full at its best. But the rest of the stadium looked full to me. I was on the complete opposite side of the student section, but they weren't very intimidating. Loudest I think I heard them was in between quarters when the PA system started playing Mr. Brightside (The Killers) and then trailed off to let the students fill in the rest of the chorus...I'm guessing that's a new-ish tradition there. UM fans were generally fine. Only a couple stopped to say "Welcome to UM" or "Good luck today." A few bad ones near my seats...one in particular was what I assume is a father/son pair. The son was probably about 13-14 and had a fondness for calling Rutgers players pu$$ies. Not only did the father not mind, but seemed sort of proud of him. I'll never understand that mentality, but whatever. I alluded to this the other day, but Hail to the Victors is very overused -- it really seems to be the only thing the band plays. Perhaps it was a bit more than usual since it was Homecoming and they were honoring prior B1G championship sports teams during TV timeouts -- each time with a playing of Hail to the Victors. Just makes me appreciate that we have a variety of fan interaction chants/fight songs -- first down, The Bells Must Ring, 3rd down air guitar thing, etc. I've heard folks say in the past that for holding such large crowds, The Big House doesn't get too loud. I would agree with this. Perhaps Rutgers being the opponent had something to do with that, but the sound just seems to go up and away from everything, rather than staying in the stadium and being intimidating. Logistically UM manages 100,000+ seamlessly -- very impressive.

Watched both PSU/OSU and Mich St/NW in a bar after the game which was jam packed. Really interesting to watch UM fans root against OSU. They are invested in every play. Many were really surprised to hear how much hatred we RU faithful have for PSU. I was pretty much the only one in there rooting for OSU.

Overall a great away game experience. Campus, stadium, college feel all top notch. While the UM fans were overall polite, I didn't necessarily find them welcoming by and large -- more just indifferent. But that's fine. Would return.

 

[hiwater]

Went to WVU once and only once. 2006 - What we experienced walking from the hotel just outside the parking look(hampton Inn maybe) don't remember but...Not only a lot of guys getting in our faces(it was only the Mrs and I, glad we left the kids home) many yelling racial slurs at the wife and another group getting at us telling me they would take my N***** B**** wife and show her a good time...How you or anyone found any good people there, I'll never know because it was more like a Mad Max movie. One of the families of another OL was seated in a non-family (Rutgers) section and told us after the game where some WVU fans in the stands got between them and their teenage daughters and thought it funny to say they were going to kidnap them...The weird thing...is that their 'online' fans tend to be some of the nicest I have met in our threads...go figure

I never wanted to go to a game at WV because of hearting of so many stories like yours. I work with somebody that had a similar expirience in 2006. Those same low class animals that afflict Pittsburg the same way when they play the back yard brawl in Pittsburg. It's close enough that the worst element are able to travel to that one.

 

[RUnTeX]

Also went to the game in AA two years ago ('15) so did not make a return trip this season.

Campus was nice overall but was not blown away by any means. Their law quad seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the campus architecture because it looked so over the top gothic or whatever style it is. Spread out campus with buses to go across to the North campus (the engineering school and its facilities, few dorms, one of the dining halls, etc), so it is like Rutgers-NB in that way.

Big House is impressive in its massiveness being all one-tier bowl and pretty wide (pitch of stadium) which is why even with 100K+ it doesn't seem as loud as would be expected since the noise doesn't get held in very much, just dissipates upward. Also, the reason it has a large seating capacity is that the seat width allocation is severely constraining, maybe 16-18" wide, instead of about 21" at most stadiums. So, if the seats were spaced more typically, that stadium would probably only seat about 85-90K.

 

[RUnTeX]

I never wanted to go to a game at WV because of hearting of so many stories like yours. I work with somebody that had a similar expirience in 2006. Those same low class animals that afflict Pittsburg the same way when they play the back yard brawl in Pittsburg. It's close enough that the worst element are able to travel to that one.

Have enjoyed both trips to Pittsburgh (2006, 2012); fan interaction was neutral on balance.

Also had a good time on both trips to Morgantown (2006, 2008); only a couple of wiseass remarks from drunk WVU fans but overall was not unpleasant (as I had expected going in it might be).

 

[BlockR]

Go to the Shoe and watch OSU,blue collar ,informed hard core fans vrs Snobby *** nerds in Michigan that worship wierdo Coach Sleepover.

 

[Scarlet4ever]

Group of 4 of us went to the game last weekend. We ended up driving out, which surprisingly wasn't bad at all. About 9 hours each way including breaks.

I will agree with others in this thread that they do a fantastic job of emptying the parking lots after the game. If you noticed, they route all the traffic away from the stadium after the game....so lanes that would be "incoming" are also used for exiting traffic as well. RU could learn a thing or two from that.....open all lanes of River Rd away from the stadium to Rt 287. That strategy could be used in many parts of the campus to ease traffic.

Didn't have a problem with their fans for the most part. Most were friendly to stand-offish. Had maybe 2-3 jerks, but nothing I couldn't ignore. Tailgating is solid at Pioneer High School. The high school is the size of a community college, and has tons of room for cars. Game of Day parking in the Golf Course was closed, but that is supposed to be the best tailgating atmosphere according to a lot of the people we met in the lots.

I liked the stadium more than OSU. Concessions were nothing special. They piped in music through the scoreboard as much as RU does, including in between downs. They used a lot of the songs that we use including the Bon Jovi song, "This is our House."

Found the bar/restaurant area to be solid....actually thought that Columbus had a better restaurant/bar area than Ann Arbor, but both were solid.

 

[Scarlet4ever]

We didn't wear anything to identify us as RU fans (learned this the hard way, i.e., UConn, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and WVU). As it turned out it didn't matter as the fans could not of been nicer. By far the best group of fans I have ever encountered.

Nebraska is far friendlier. Go to Lincoln, Nebraska next time we play there. Wear RU gear, and you will be treated incredibly well.

 

[srru86]

many yelling racial slurs at the wife

That's really disgusting and disheartening. I am very sorry that happened to you and yours, but sadly not shocked to hear that. Not my experience, but just goes to show that my experience is not indicative of what anyone else might run into.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Have enjoyed both trips to Pittsburgh (2006, 2012); fan interaction was neutral on balance.

Also had a good time on both trips to Morgantown (2006, 2008); only a couple of wiseass remarks from drunk WVU fans but overall was not unpleasant (as I had expected going in it might be).

Maybe my experience is because of us being an interracial couple. But that wouldn't explain what happened to the other family I mentioned as they were as white as white can be. lol

 

[leonh71]

Went to WVU once and only once. 2006 - What we experienced walking from the hotel just outside the parking look(hampton Inn maybe) don't remember but...Not only a lot of guys getting in our faces(it was only the Mrs and I, glad we left the kids home) many yelling racial slurs at the wife and another group getting at us telling me they would take my N***** B**** wife and show her a good time...How you or anyone found any good people there, I'll never know because it was more like a Mad Max movie. One of the families of another OL was seated in a non-family (Rutgers) section and told us after the game where some WVU fans in the stands got between them and their teenage daughters and thought it funny to say they were going to kidnap them...The weird thing...is that their 'online' fans tend to be some of the nicest I have met in our threads...go figure

Wow. That's f'ed up.

 

[RUnTeX]

Maybe my experience is because of us being an interracial couple. But that wouldn't explain what happened to the other family I mentioned as they were as white as white can be. lol

Nothing can excuse the intolerance and abhorrent behavior you were subjected to in any way. What a disgrace by those Mountaineer fans as that unfortunately reflects poorly on the entire fanbase, even if it's not representative of the whole.

As srru86 said, apparently I should not expect that my experience is necessarily the same as others' experiences as all fanbases have their bottom of the barrel, sadly even Rutgers.

 

[scarlet night]

The folks I've met out in the Midwest are pretty friendly, in general. But the world is like a porn movie, there are pricks everywhere.

You're watching the wrong porn movies...

 

[mildone_rivals]

You're watching the wrong porn movies...

Why? I didn't say there were ONLY pricks everywhere. I mean, all girl porn movies are fun too, but wouldn't have worked for the joke.

 

[GoRU76]

Had an awesome time attending the Michigan game. Family trip with total of 10 - sister/bro-in law+3 teens, 5 other adults including a family Michigan fan. All of us RU fans only brought and wore our Scarlet Knight gear and no problem - actually sparked some great conversations and met many Michigan alums, including a former player that was recruited by both Woody Hayes and Bo Schemblechler and chose Michigan and went to Rose Bowl. Everyone was super nice and welcoming to us. Spent Friday checking out Detroit and it was really enlightening - so much going on and really enjoyed seeing all the sports venues in "The District", rode the "people mover", etc. God Bless the Ilitch family (Little Cesars + +) for their investment etc. Was cool to "see Canada" across from the Riverwalk. On Saturday morning, went to "Schemblechler Hall" before the Rutgers Alum tailgate (which also was fun/good time, it was set at a great family owned venue near stadium). The "Towsley Museum" in the Hall is an incredible monument to college (but of course basically Michigan football) - but really very worthwhile to visit. It is open 3 hours before and up to kickoff on game days. Haha, if the exhibit isn't something you think you want to see, the fact that it is inside, very comfortable, benches to sit on, warm, nice bathrooms and outlets to charge phones, etc., makes it worth checking out in any event pre-game. The "Big House" very impressive - yes, missing seats in student section across from where the Rutgers tickets section, but evident 100,000+. Enjoyed Ann Arbor as well after the game. A really fun experience and I would highly recommend.