Bread, Circuses, and Spandex

Football games are fun, there’s no doubt about that. But branching outside of The Big House to other university sports results in a fundamentally different experience. For one thing, everything else is in a much smaller building. Cliff Keen arena, where volleyball is played, and Yost arena, where hockey is played, both provide an intimate experience. The smaller arenas don’t take away from the fun of being a spectator, they enhance it. Sure there aren’t 100,000 people around you, but the ones who are there can have a much greater affect on the game. In these smaller settings the role of the crowd becomes very apparent and the student section becomes almost Rousseauian.

The first thing to know about our volleyball and hockey student section is that we’re assholes. When the other team scored at Yost we chanted “ugly parents” and “slutty sister.” When there was a bad serve by the other team at the volleyball game we chanted “you let the whole team down.” In arenas as small as these it’s impossible for the players not to hear exactly what we say. They are the enemy and we want blood. Images of gladiators fighting for the joy of the crowd are brought to mind.

better looking than Roman gladiators

The difference between the Roman Coliseum and Yost and Cliff Keen? Gladiators were not representatives of society, they were just entertainment. Who won and who lost had little meaning as long as there was blood for the crowd. College sports are not a battle to the death between two teams,and moreover, the teams are direct representatives of the school. We love our players, it is only the opponents that we cheer against. Even when things go bad we hold together. Nagelvoort, the hockey team’s goalie, let in a bad goal early in the game. The crowd was mildly upset: it was a weak shot that should’ve been stopped. But Nagelvoort isn’t just the hockey team’s goalie, he’s Michigan’s goalie. So we stood behind him and cheered for everything he did from there on out to get his confidence back and show him that we were still with him.

Spectators live with the philosopher Rousseau’s view on society; it’s about the good of the whole over the individual. Everyone has seen that ad that gets beat to death at every game-it’s all about the Team, the Team, the Team. That’s why when things go bad, in any sport, we find someone other than the team to be mad at. The opponent, the athletic director, the coach. But not the team. Players can make bad plays and the we’ll be upset with them, but no one ever chants “Bench Nagelvoort.” Yet when things went wrong on the football field, “Fire Brandon” was quick to our lips. While the reasons for disliking Brandon are completely valid, I’m just pointing out how in spectatorship this view of everyone sticking together for the betterment of Michigan does not extend past the students in our minds. The team is Michigan, the crowd is Michigan. They represent us on the field, but more than that they are students just like us. There’s a sense of togetherness. Dave Brandon didn’t have this protection so when he did things we didn’t like we let it be known.

Like Giamatti says in his book, Take Time for Paradise, the spectator almost lives through the athlete in competitive sports. Nowhere is this more evident than in college sports. The hockey and volleyball game show this better than anything. The spectators have an effect on the game in these intimate settings. We want to be a part of the team, and accomplish this through our cheering. Support for our representatives and disdain for our enemies is conveyed through the only method we have at our disposal. We shout.