Attention Students: Show Up Early on Saturday

Something that has bothered me all season long is the growing trend of students not showing up early for games. For most home games this season, the student section usually had quite a few empty seats when games were about to start. With Ohio State coming to Ann Arbor on Saturday in a game that will be for the Big Ten title and a trip to Pasadena, I'm calling for all students to be in the stadium early for a change.

A small disclaimer to my complaining about this is that I'm not calling out all students. Normally, there are many that do get to the game early, but I want to see the entire section filled up well before kickoff for a change. I'm sure some wonder what the big deal in showing up early would be, so I'll tell you. In a game that means so much, it would be nice to get the homefield advantage going even before the game starts. I know that there will be a lot of Ohio State fans in attendance, and I don't want to hear tem more than Michigan fans. I remember back to the Penn State game, prior to kickoff, and their chants could be heard better than Michigan's. It wasn't a big deal at all in the long run, but I'd like to hear a loud Michigan crowd before and during the game.

Aside from building the homefield advantage before kickoff, this team deserves to have a full student section when they are out on the field for warm-ups. Especially for the seniors who will be playing their last game in Michigan Stadium, they deserve a full student section for one last run out of the tunnel.

As I said, this isn't meant to call out all of the students as it is more for the ones that feel it's okay to stroll in right at kickoff. For the entire student section in general, though, stay loud throughout the entire game. For everyone not in the student section, be loud on all plays when Ohio State has the ball. And by being loud I don't mean asking the person in front of you to sit down. This is the biggest game of the season, so you should expect to stand.

As a final message to all of the Michigan fans that plan on being at the game on Saturday, I'll leave you with the slogan that can be found on schedule cards and other various things produced by the athletic department: "Be Early. Be Loud."