January 17, 2012 - 6:38pm
Hear Me Out: Hockey student section is the best at the 'U'
BY MAGGIE CHANG
The Michigan Hockey student section is the best crowd at Michigan.
Yes, over football. Yes, over basketball. You’re probably about to vehemently defend the grandiose brilliance of the Michigan Football student section and wag your finger at how I am not a “real” Michigan fan by making this absurd comment.
Hear me out.
I am a student ticket holder for both Michigan Football and Michigan Basketball because honestly, I like basketball and football as a sports fan more than I do hockey. However, I’ve been to plenty of hockey games. So why am I saying that a student section that I don’t have tickets for is the best student section at Michigan? Because there is nothing like this. Here are three reasons why:
1) Yost Ice Arena. Believe it or not, the venue itself is one of the reasons that make the hockey student section the best. Because it’s so compact, the sound is that much louder inside. It gets so loud when the student section chants that the light fixtures near the media booths shake — they actually shake! And you can tell our players feed off of the noise and the opposing team is stunned by it. And when you’re a student and you know that you can actually be an influence to the opposing team’s performance, it is that much more of an incentive to go.
2) Blues Brothers. So you’ve done the Blues Brothers dance in between the 3rd and 4th quarter at the Michigan Football home games. Maybe even a little in Crisler. Well you haven’t seen anything yet. At hockey, they take the Blues Brothers dance to a whole new level. They do the dance with all of the moves, which in case you didn’t know include people leaning forward and backward, squatting and standing, and turning left and right, all while clapping. And everyone does it. You don’t need to convince your friends who are sitting down because they’re too tired watching the game. Everyone just DOES it. And the best part? They do one more round when the band stops. It’s eerie how incredible the Blues Brothers song is when it comes from the crowd rather than the band. There are no words to describe it — you just have to be there.
3) The Chants. If you think, “You Suck” and “You will miss!” are good chants, you are sadly mistaken. Perhaps it’s a little unsportsmanlike, but the hockey chants to the opposing team are just so much more fun. Ranging from, “Ugly Parents!” to the goal count to the infamous “C’Ya!” chant — that I cannot fully write out on here without immediately getting this revoked — the chants at hockey are much nastier and meaner. But it goes with the sport. Hockey’s rough. Don’t worry if you’re a newcomer, it’s easy to learn as long as you’re willing. And as a student — what’s more fun than taunting the other team?
It’s an electric atmosphere to be a part of, and the hockey crowd is one of the most energetic crowds you will ever witness. I challenge every student to go to at least one hockey game as a student during their four years here at Michigan. And if you’re not a student? I challenge you to go to Yost and witness it. It’s something you won’t regret. And you’ll see that I’m right. C’Ya!
