A Lesson in Crowd Noise: Notre Dame Gets Flagged for Too Much Noise vs. Michigan in ’88
JD posted this over on the football forum, but I thought it warranted a reposting over here. Remember, this clip is from 1988 when Notre Dame Stadium held 20,000 FEWER seats. ND Stadium was rocking on Saturday, but nothing close to this. The players and students seem to be ready to get back to atmospheres like this – is the rest of Notre Dame Stadium? More importantly, will the rest of the stadium be allowed to get that loud once again without getting yelled out for screaming too much or standing too long?
[youtube]23vMunem6nw[/youtube]
There were people unloading tickets on Saturday for $25. Granted this year isn’t a typical year since expectations for both ND and Michigan are low, but ticket prices are not the problem right now. The fact that people might not know they can get tickets as cheap could be an issue though.
The old crowd is going to turn over tickets. Unfornately they’ve priced themselves out of the range for the typical football fan. Once you pay the season fee, it comes to about $200 a ticket for a season ticket holder. Pretty steep. I paid $10 per ticket as a student in the 80’s. You used to be able to get the tickets for $35 a piece in the early 90s, except for the very best games.
They’ve gotten a little too worried about the nicey nice image. ND needs a polo team for that crowd. Yes it is football for pete’s sake!
I think this is a real issue, but largely is going to be hard to solve. Unlike most of the other schools mentioned, ND does not come from a major urban area. There’s just not enough people around to fill the stadium every week with local fans who are diehard football lovers. The football people here in South Bend are divided into loving and hating ND too.
So who comes then if you a large majority are travelers? Rich people who can travel, which means old people. That’s just the way it is. Or people who are only coming to one game all year and it’s more like an “event” than a football game. Last game was a LOT better from the outside the student section crowd, but I remaing skeptical if it can ever be like Penn State, Tennessee, or even Nebraska.
ive been saying this for every game ive been to (5), i see other schools cheer, lsu, psu, florida, and im jealous, i thought nd stadium was supposed to be tough to play in? maybe the old people should turn their hearing aids down….
i have been to a total of 10 games as an adult, countless many as a 1-8 old when my father worked at the university, the average age of the fans around me are 65 years old if not older. Not exactly the type who get up and yell. If tickets would be cheaper and easier to get for the general public it would be louder. But unfortunately the wine and cheese crowd is the majority. (just like the school I currently live near, UVA)
Frankie V,
Here is my take that me and my buddy discussed this after the game. We stood almost the entire game. Usually…
A. We get yelled at by angry fans to sit down.
B. Get asked “nicely” to sit down by someone.
C. The usher asks us as nice as possible to sit.
I believe we got to stand and be “loud” the entire game because:
A. It was raining and if you sat down the water would literally “sit” in your lap.
B. All those fans that like to complain about ND and there coaches and how other fans stand left.
C. All the fans who are elderly left.
D. All the fans who think they are ND fans but casually catch a game and dont expect younger, drunker, more avid fans to cheer loud. Seriously I have sat in front of a woman who asked us if it always gets this loud 2 years ago at the Penn State game. Seriously? ITS FOOTBALL
ND doesnt usually get that loud because we just arent permitted to by ushers and other fans. I am not making a knock towards the elderly by these statements but I am only stating what I observe.
I remember when we played UCLA 2 years ago 3 guys behind me were complaining about how ND was going to lose and how Charlie stunk then we score in the 4th qtr on a Quinn to shark TD and poof they are trying to high five. I mean this is your typical ND fan.
I see schools like Penn St crowd cheering and it makes me jealous. Comon ND fans please make some noise.
Frank,
You bet! I was there for every game that season as a student. We never let up. We felt like we were a part of it that season. And after Faust, everyone wanted the players to go all the way. they recorded the Miami game at over 120dB, about like being on the end of an airport runway. For it’s size Michigan stadium is a lot quieter. May ND stadium be loud like this clip always.