The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/230001
FROM OUR READERS of student attendance at Michigan football games. There has been criticism that our students don't show up on time and sometimes leave too early. Some have even said that tickets allotted to students should be taken away and given to others who wish to attend. Now let's "fast forward" to the great game in Michigan Stadium when our Wolverines played the Buckeyes to a draw and almost pulled off a huge upset. I sit in the west stands and, when the game started, I would estimate that at least half the seats in the suites were empty. Yes, I know, these folks are watching TV and eating lunch in the back rooms, but I think it can be fairly asked: what do they contribute to the atmosphere in the stadium? Sections 44, 1, and 2, which straddle the 50-yard line on the east side of the stadium, were very close to 50 percent red. In some places there were big gobs of red indicating that somehow Buckeyes had gotten their hands on 8, 10, 12 tickets to the game in a group. Outside of the suites and the chairbacks, these are the highest-priced tickets in Michigan Stadium, and yet thousands of Michigan "fans" had clearly sold their tickets to high bidders from Columbus. Of course, now that we have StubHub, selling your ticket becomes easier than ever. And the athletic department gets a cut of each StubHub sale so, as an entity, the athletic department profited from the sale of, say, 30,000 Michigan Stadium tickets to Buckeyes. It would be interesting to know just how much the athletic department earned off these sales for the Nov. 30 game. Was it worth it? Is it the best way to support our team on the field when whole sections of Michigan Stadium are more nearly red than maize? To get back to the students, I have been told that students have to go to the athletic department and have their tickets "stamped," validated in some way before they can sell them to others. Perhaps our esteemed alumni and University "friends" should have to do the same: so their names can be recorded and we can know just which Michigan "fans" dumped their team and their tickets on Nov. 30. Surely the athletic department can track StubHub sales. Maybe some esteemed alumni should lose their season ticket privileges before we start harassing Michigan students. And, by the way, the student sections were packed for the Ohio State game and by far — by far! — they were the most maize sections in the whole red polka-dotted place. Robert M. Soderstrom, M.D. Grand Blanc, Mich. Food for thought, and plenty of it, Dr. S. A second look at ticketing practices all around might be worthwhile this offseason. GOOD DECISION, BAD CALL Dear The Wolverine: Going for the two-point conver-