The Muss

Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.  I understand some students bailing on the ASU game – the weather sucked.  But it was only 60% full Saturday.  Weak.

Personally, I think expanding the Muss Section was a mistake.  Make it smaller and give those tickets to those on the waiting list.  

It seems like attendance as a whole has been down this year. It’s really strange. I have season tickets on the West side and I look at the East side every week and I swear there are hundreds of empty seats.

And the fans that are there just don’t seem to get into the game like previous years. I had a fan behind me ask me to sit down last week because I stood up on a defensive 3rd down! I’m one of maybe 20 fans in my area that stand up every 3rd down. It’s so bizarre. Has anyone else had the same impression this season?

I agree with attendance overall being low due to lack of big names/games. Plus all of the games have been pretty dominant for the U so there’s less urgency/need for the fans/students to really get into it. Every year it seems someone complains about how the MUSS isn’t as loud and crazy in the past and every year I have to disagree. I’ve been in the MUSS since 2010 and the students are just as into as they have been every year. Weather lowers attendance, especially when we’re blowing teams out but there’s been no discernible drop off in student enthusiasm that I’ve seen for a decade now. The thing we’ve missed this year that we’ve had in the past is those crazy back and forth games where the fans feel like the 12th man. 2010 Pitt, 2013 Stanford, 2016 USC all come to mind. The team is so dominant at home this year it’s almost been unneeded.
I really can’t wait for the stadium to be closed off. I think the MUSS is going to benefit the most from the new echo chamber the most. Visiting teams won’t want to be near either end zone as the NEZ and MUSS both bring it for every drive

I used to fly all the way across the country to attend at least one Utah game per year.  But I always picked the “roadies” because I knew that RES always sold out, and I didn’t want to get fleeced by the ticket scalpers.  But if the stadium is as empty as you all claim it is, maybe I WOULD attempt to go to a Utah game at RES after all.

My daughter has tickets in the Muss around the 14th row, she has been frustrated that a lot of the people around her don’t really care about the game.  Last week her friend bailed on her due to the rain so she came and sat in an empty seat by us.  She commented how nice it was to really be able to get into the game with those she was sitting by.  

As someone who has sat in the MUSS for the past three seasons now, I understand why a lot of kids don’t want to come. The ones down low that ‘get crazy’ are all a bunch of jerks looking to get an Instagram picture, sneak in beer and just get stupid drunk to the point where no one is having fun, and really, the weather is playing a part. Super hot to super cold. Wet and rainy. It sucks.

I’ve signed up for tickets exactly at the start time each year and I find myself not moving up in seat quality at all because the MUSS council or whoever want to reward their friends to get into the main sections. In three years I’ve gone from row 20 down to row 6 in the same section.

Every game I move from row 6 up to rows 15-20 because there are fewer idiots. People that actually watch the game are in the mid to upper levels. Those that came to party and be seen are down low.

Naturally, I’m introverted and can’t stand the loud obnoxious behavior of a lot of the kids these days. But that might be my biggest turn off. I come to watch the games, not get squeezed out of my standing room because a couple kids want to drag down 20 of their friends from the upper bowl.

Outside of actual sporting events, the MUSS doesn’t really have a presence on campus. I’m on campus every single day for classes and I only ever see advertisements for games and that’s about it. There is so much more that could be done to generate excitement for the team and the events and it’s just not there.

/End rant.