8A — Thursday, March 16, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Cost of admission hurts Michigan students during NCAA Tournament
There were just five of them,
but by the noise they were making,
you would have thought there were
more.
Way up in the upper deck of the
Verizon Center, five members of the
Michigan Maize Rage stood, yelled
and cheered the Wolverines for four
straight days all the way to a Big Ten
Tournament championship.
For two of those fans —
kinesiology sophomore Jonathan
Markwort
and
engineering
sophomore Alex Kettwich — it was
a once in a lifetime experience.
“I don’t know if I’m ever going
to see anything as amazing again,”
Kettwich said. “I thought the
Maryland game last year when (the
Terrapins) were ranked No. 2 was
amazing, but that wasn’t even close.
This was absolutely fantastic.”
But for many other passionate
members of the Maize Rage, it was
a weekend that could never happen.
When the Big Ten announced back
in May 2014 that the conference
was taking its annual basketball
tournament to the East Coast,
students were just about the last
group considered in the decision-
making process when they chose
the location.
Ann Arbor is 530 miles — over an
eight-hour drive — from the heart of
Washington. But compared to the
distance between most other Big
Ten schools and the Verizon Center,
that’s an easy ride. Maryland,
Rutgers, Penn State and Ohio State
are the only schools closer.
Kettwich,
though,
said
after experiencing the Big Ten
Tournament for the first time last
year, there was no distance too far
for him to travel to be a part of it
again.
“I went to Indianapolis last year
as a freshman, and I loved going
there,” Kettwich said. “I’ve always
liked basketball, and a year-and-
a-half ago, I went to D.C. I wanted
to join the two together. Compared
to Indianapolis, it was a lot more
difficult, but I wouldn’t complain.
Washington is an awesome city.”
While having to go all the
way to Washington to get his
fix of basketball wasn’t ideal for
Kettwich, the Big Ten at least made
it worthwhile for him and others
making the trip.
The conference offered $35
ticket packages for students making
the trek to the Verizon Center.
That package got students an
upper-deck seat for every session
in which their school was playing.
That meant Kettwich, Markwort
and their friends ended up paying
$5 each per game to watch all four
games Michigan played in plus an
additional three games played in the
same sessions.
“That was a fantastic deal,”
Kettwich said. “I guess I understand
why they put us up so high, because
it was a really good deal. I would
certainly pay more to sit closer,
though.”
Added Markwort: “The flat rate
by itself really depends on how well
Michigan does, but being able to
go to any game they were in was a
really good deal. You can’t find very
many tickets in the arena for $20.”
* * *
As the Wolverines shift gears
and look forward to playing their
opening NCAA Tournament games
closer to home in Indianapolis,
their fans, especially students, are
looking to hop on the bandwagon.
But something many students
have come to realize since Sunday
night is that it’s going to cost them
one way or another to get on that
wagon to Indiana.
On
the
Monday
afternoon
following the NCAA Tournament
Selection
Show,
the
Michigan
Athletics Ticket Office released
information via email to all student
basketball season ticket holders on
how to make requests for a small
pool of tickets allocated to students
for the games in Indianapolis.
The email detailed policies the
ticket office had set up to process
the allocation. Students who are
granted a ticket would be required to
show up at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
in Indianapolis on Friday to claim
their tickets with a valid MCard to
both the game played that day, and
a ticket for Sunday if Michigan were
to advance. By submitting a request,
a student would be committing to
attend both the Friday and Sunday
(if the Wolverines win Friday)
sessions and could not purchase
a ticket to one game without the
other.
This policy causes a problem
for students who have classes late
Thursday night or Friday. Many
students are unable to attend
Friday’s game due to class conflicts
and other academic priorities. An
official in the Michigan Athletics
Ticket Office confirmed there were
many inquires made by students
about purchasing tickets for just one
session, but none were granted due
to these policies.
The ticket office had also put
in place a policy limiting ticket
requests to students who are season
ticket holders for this season. As
MLive’s Brendan Quinn reported
in December, student season ticket
sales have declined 44 percent
between the 2015-16 and 2016-
17 seasons. A number of factors
have led to this decline, but this
alarming trend will carry over into
the postseason, as many students’
decision not to purchase season
tickets will rule them ineligible for
postseason ticket requests.
But
nothing
has
deterred
students from buying tickets more
than the price they’re being asked
to pay. The Michigan Athletics
Ticket Office has little control over
price, an official told the Daily on
Wednesday. Rather, the NCAA sets
prices when it passes on the tickets
for the office to distribute. Michigan
only profits off a $5 service fee it
charges with every transaction.
The price set for each ticket was
$81, meaning if the Wolverines beat
Oklahoma State on Friday, students
who committed to buying the
package will be charged $162 plus
a service fee for tickets to the two
games. For comparison, the cost for
a student to purchase season tickets
to the upcoming 2017-18 season is
$175 for somewhere between 16 and
19 home games.
That combination of policy,
apathy and price created the
perfect storm for an incredibly
underwhelming number of ticket
requests. According to a Michigan
Athletics Ticket Office official,
just 27 students requested the
package by the 10 a.m. deadline on
Tuesday.
An official from the office
confirmed they had planned for a
higher demand from students, and
even warned in the original email
that tickets were not guaranteed if
the demand exceeded supply.
But that was never going to
happen.
The extra tickets not claimed by
students have since been turned
over to the allocation reserved for
the general public, which did have
excess demand.
As for students, there certainly
will be more than 27 of them
attending Friday’s game at Bankers
Life Fieldhouse. They’ll just have
to look elsewhere, mainly on the
streets or through online ticket
exchanges, to be in attendance to
see if the Wolverines’ postseason
run continues.
Markwort
and
Kettwich
won’t be two of them: the pair
needs the weekend to catch up on
schoolwork and patch up the hole
burnt through their wallets after
spending four days in Washington.
But they feel they made the arena
atmosphere better for everyone
around them.
It’s unfortunate many students
like them won’t have the chance to
do the same in Indianapolis.
“The people sitting around us
were very receptive of us being
there,” Markwort said. “Multiple
people came us to up after the game
and said, ‘We’re really glad you
guys came here, thanks for making
the trip, it was really cool.’ They
definitely appreciated it.”
‘M’ to face Northern Illinois in
first home series of the season
Last Wednesday, when asked
about Michigan baseball’s first
series of the year at Ray Fisher
Stadium, a jubilant smile filled
the face of second baseman Ako
Thomas. Yet, on a day when
Michigan experienced record-high
winds, the standout sophomore
pleaded one simple wish for the
upcoming series against Northern
Illinois:
“Hopefully the weather isn’t too
crazy.”
Unfortunately for Thomas, his
request did not become reality.
The No. 21 Wolverines (12-3)
will host the Huskies (3-12) amid
frigid temperatures and potential
snowfall. Current forecasts predict
the high temperature for the
weekend series to be 40 degrees
Fahrenheit and the low to be 17
degrees.
In fact, the teams were initially
scheduled to commence their series
on Friday. However, one of the
doubleheaders slated for Saturday
has been moved to Thursday as a
result of the expected inclement
weather.
Heading
into
the
winter
showdown, Michigan has been on
a blaze – winning nine of their last
10 games. During the first 15 games
of the season the Wolverines have
consistently outperformed their
competition,
outscoring
their
opposition 95 to 49.
In addition to the stable offense
and pitching, Coach Erik Bakich
points out that Michigan’s defense
has played an integral role in the
team’s early season success.
“I really like our defense,”
Bakich said. “That’s an area we
take a lot of pride in, playing good
fundamental defense.”
While coach Bakich explains
that “surprised is (not) the right
word” when discussing the team’s
high level of play on defense – the
team currently ranks eighth in
the NCAA with a .984 fielding
percentage – it is an area that seems
to have caught his eye, and perhaps
even exceeded his expectations.
“From a coaching standpoint,
our guys not only making the
routine play, but making the web
gem play has generated a lot of
momentum for our team,” Bakich
said.
In addition to their superb
defense, one area that has also
sparked the Wolverines this season
is their success on the base path
– Michigan ranks fourth in the
country with 2.33 stolen bases per
nine innings and sixth overall with
35 total steals.
Bakich explains how this is a
byproduct of the speedy personnel
they have on the roster. He points
out that while stealing bases is
a great weapon to have, it is not
necessarily something they hunt
for.
“We don’t go into any game
with a set number of stolen bases
in mind,” Bakich said. “Really,
who cares if we lead the nation in
stolen bases or not, it really doesn’t
matter.”
The
duo
that
leads
the
Wolverines in stolen bases, Thomas
and senior shortstop Michael
Brdar, have nine and eight stolen
bases respectively on the season.
The duo feels the team has not only
been more aggressive on the base
path, but in all areas of the game.
This
sort
of
intensity
is
something coach Bakich expects
from his players:
“The players understand what
the expectation level is, which is
100 percent all the time,” Bakich
said. “They’ve done a really nice
job with it.”
Michigan will have to channel
this intensity while playing in
below freezing temperatures this
weekend.
While Northern Illinois has
found little success this season,
winning just three games and
boasting a subpar .232 batting
average, they are coming off of a
win and will undoubtedly look to
steal a few games from the ranked
Wolverines. The Huskies will turn
to left-hander Donovin Smith –
who last week was awarded the
Mid-American Conference pitcher
of the week – to try and defeat
Michigan.
While on paper the Wolverines
should be able to handle Northern
Illinois, the inclement weather
could prove to be an unpredictable
element.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas plays a key role on the basepaths.
HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
The Michigan men’s basketball team will have less supporters than expected during the NCAA Tournament due to rising ticket prices for students as well as fans.
BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer