CU/Michigan series in 91'

[CUundergrad/MIgrad]

I posted this elsewhere, but was anyone at the CU/Michigan games in 91'. As the story goes, MI fans stole all of their future material from those three games.  Any truth to that?...

Speaking of players parents and taunting opponents...

At Yost arena (where U of Michigan plays) after the opposition scores all of the opposing teams fans (many of them parents situated behind the benches) stand up to cheer. The Michigan fans launch into a chorus of "UG-LY parents, UG-LY parents." A bit cruel, but hilarious none the less.

I thought the Michigan fans in Buffalo were the most spirited despite us outnumbering them. I've actually heard that the MI fans got most of their cheering material from CU fans in a 1991 3-game ncaa play-in series in Ann Arbor where CU fans outnumbered MI fans. Anyone know if there's truth to that?

[crodger1]

See the response in the other thread. :-)

[CUundergrad/MIgrad]

I can't seem to find the response.  I guess U of M has really dulled down my intelligence.

[Section A]

Here you go, CUundergrad/MIgrad......


From the Tuesday 1/7/97 Ann Arbor News:

Yost's Cornell Connection

'91 Series set tone for U-M fans

A successful program can more or less point to a date when things started to come together.

For the Michigan hockey team, that turnaround came during a 1991 NCAA tournament series against Cornell. The Wolverines were finally beginning to put together a team that could compete with the best teams in the nation, but its first tournament appearance under coach Red Berenson brought forth an additional ingredient.

Hosting the best 2-of-3 series at Yost Ice Arena created a general exitement around the hockey program for the first time in years. A large contingent of Cornell fans and its band made the trip to Ann Arbor and did their best to try to take over the building.

Berenson believes that's when U-M fans really developed into a college hockey crowd. "Our program was coming but when we played Cornell, our building just changed," Berenson said. "The Cornell fans brought a lot of theior chants and their tradition to this building. From then on our crowd has taken off."

U-M (18-1-1) hosts Cornell (8-4-2) for the first time since that series at 7 p.m. tonight.

The 1990-91 season was the last time the NCAA used the best 2-of-3 series format to decide the first two rounds of the tournament. U-M and Cornell went the full three games before the Wolverines advanced with a 9-3 victory in Game Three.

U-M fans first heard the cries of "Sieve, sieve, sieve" and "It's all your fault" directed at their goaltender during the series. Now, U-M fans use those chants to help turn Yost into one of the toughest places for the opposing team to play.

"I think it's probably one of the noisier rinks in college hockey," senior forward brendan Morrison said. "I couldn't imagine being a freshman goaltender out there. It's a great advantage for us."

Yost hasn't been a place for most netminders lately as 12 of the last 22 games have seen the visiting goaltender pulled early. Visiting squads in general haven't had much luck either, as U-M has lost no more than twice a year over the past five seasons.

The U-M faithful listened to Cornell fans count up the goals after each score, antagonize the goaltender from the start and even anger the crowd by playing the Michigan State fight song.

U-M adopted and altered many of the cheers, including some of the profane ones.

Jon Wardener [Pep band french horn player class of '79] , an Ann Arbor resident who is president of the Cornell Club of Michigan, recalls his days of watching Big Red hockey as a student in the 1970s. He and 99 other members of the club have tickets for tonight's game.

"Thinking back to some of the things I did as a student, I'd be embarassed to do them now," Wardner said. "We expect to hear the same stuff from the Michigan fans (tonight), though."

Now an avid Wolverine fan - except when they play the Big Red - Wardner sees many similarities between the Yost crowds and the fans at Cornell's Lynah Rink.

"Yost is louder and larger but the spirit and intensity is similar," Wardner said. "The fans in both places are frenzied."

One of the U-M fans' fovorite cheers - a forceful "See-ya" given to an opponent as he enters the penalty box - actually made its arrival before the Cornell series. it had long been used by Duke basketball fans before becoming one of the most enthusiastic chants at Yost.

"I think it's a real effective cheer," U-M fan Mabelle Kirk said. "It emphasizes the fact that we're going on a power play and that the other team did something bad."

Most of the cheers and chants begin with the pep band in the south end zone. it initiates the counting of the goals, antagonizes goaltenders, and sends penalized players away with a drumroll. Berenson claims that the band makes his team a goal or two better at home by helping the crowd get into the game.

"I just love that pep band," U-M fans Mickey Grant said. "That's what really makes these games for me."

"In their fiorst tournament appearance in 14 seasons, not only did the Wolverines learn how tough playing in the tournament was, but the fans realized what it would take to give Yost a real home-ice advantage.

"We learned how good and how hard you have to play to be successful in the NCAA's," Berenson said. "It seems like everybody turns it up another notch."

U-M would get swept by Boston University in the next round but the Wolverines had finally gained an essential piece that would help the program for years to come.

[arik marks \'91]

I was at the 91 games (and later went to UM for grad school myself).  The stories are accurate, though I'm not sure they were just stolen.  

I Posted this in an earlier thread...

Miscellaneous cheer/Michigan references:

Having helped organize the pep band trip out to the '91 series at Michigan and then ending up at Michigan for grad school in '97 I've got a bit more detail on the history.

Personally, I blame Doug Onsi '90 for having lots of the cheers stolen over by UM. Doug was finishing his first year of law school there during that series and I'm sure he made a concerted effort during that year and afterwards to teach bring the CU cheers to the Yosties.

Yes, we did play the MSU fight song during the third game of the series. In fact we spent an entire day trying to find the music to the damn thing. And we heard the loudest boos I've ever heard when we broke into it with about 10 minutes left in the game down by several goals. In retrospect OSU's fight song would've been more fun, but we got plenty of reaction. We made sure to high-tail it out of there after playing the MSU fight song again in the closing minutes.....

And finally, on the ahhh see ya cheer: By spring 1999, the cheer at yost goes something like this if memory serves (I never could remember it exactly) . While it was ahhh, see ya in 1991, the 99 version was ahhhh, see ya, asshole, geek, nerd, fag, douuuuuuchebag (elongated), followed by a rather emphatic *bitch* as the finale. (again, i could have the order and words mixed up but you get the idea.) Interestingly enough, the volume dimmed as each word went by - only the hardcore had the whole thing down!

Arik

[crodger1]

Sorry 'bout that CU/MI.  On rereading I think that you were perhaps looking for a response from me.  I intended to refer you to Fred's response:

http://elf.hockey.cornell.edu/read.php?f=1&i=23187&t=22590

Chris

[judy]

Reminded of this on another thread.

Can someone explain to me the Michigan philosophy on the black hole cheer. Spent the semi next to the Michigan fans (before they all packed up and went home) and they only seemed to do that cheer when the score was tied. ::help::
You'd probably get beaten by others among the lynah faithful if you attempted something like that when tied...