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January 30, 2011 Everybody knows Michigan is home to the winningest college football program in the country, despite its recent struggles. And everybody knows that Michigan Stadium, “The Big House,” is routinely home to the largest crowd watching a college football game in the country on fall Saturday afternoons, with its capacity of 109,901. But real Michigan fans know that the best kept sporting secret on campus is Yost Ice Arena. It holds not even 10% of the crowd of the Big House at 6,637, but Yost is routinely the loudest sporting venue on campus. The student section is committed to cheering every second of every game, whether it’s after a Michigan goal when the students direct their ire at the opposing goal, shouting, “we want mooooooore goals! Sieve, sieve, sieve, sieve, sieve, sieve, sieve, it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault,” or when the other team’s fans celebrate a goal of their own, “ugly parents.” This isn’t a knock on football or basketball fans in Ann Arbor, or the fans of any other team in the Midwest for that matter. In my experience, there is no fan base as passionate, and informed, about their team as Michigan hockey fans. That passion, combined with a sport that often makes for dramatic moments, frequently produces an electric atmosphere. The Yost atmosphere is so great, I actually looked back at the “Speaking of Sports” archives, to make sure I hadn’t already alerted novi.org readers to its magnificence! I was reminded of this last weekend, when I was able to produce Michigan’s 4-3 victory over the Alaska Nanooks on the Big Ten Network. It didn’t matter to the Yost faithful that Alaska was at the tail end of a two week roadtrip (when Alaska plays CCHA foes, they stay in the lower 48 between weekend series, living in hotels, to save on travel costs), or that the Nanooks were in the bottom half of the CCHA standings. It didn’t matter that their team was making the game more interesting than it should have been, with numerous own and neutral zone turnovers. Each Michigan check, shot, save, and goal was cheered so loudly, even our noise-cancelling headphones couldn’t keep the din of the raucous crowd. It was so loud, we twice missed a recommendation from our remote director in Chicago to turn up our natural sound… so viewers at home could better hear the Yost crowd! And when Michigan killed a 5-3 Alaska power play to protect its one goal lead late in the third period, I was worried the noise would cause Yost’s 87-year-old girders to sway. Whether or not you consider yourself a sports fan, trust me when I tell you that anyone with a pulse must visit Yost Ice Arena. There are tickets available for the small handful of games left this year. And if you can’t make it out to Ann Arbor in the near future, perhaps you can get your hockey fix closer to home. I hear Novi has outscored their last three opponents 21-4! (c) 2011 Novi
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Alex Prasad is a life-long Michigan resident, a student at the University of Michigan and a 2007 graduate of Novi High School. He was the Novi.org school and sports reporter while he was at NHS. Alex was also a captain of the NHS Cross Country Team and Track Team under legendary coach Bob Smith. His passion for running continues to this day, as he trains for a marathon. Alex is currently General Manager of WOLV-TV, the student run television station at UM, and produces shows on both the Michigan Football and Michigan Hockey teams. You can also see his work on Big Ten Network coverage of Michigan baseball and softball this spring. This column is shared by Alex Prasad, Lance J. Lilla and Bernie Fratto on alternating weeks.
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