CaliFan

I live in California, and have been an avid Michigan fan for about the past 2 years...especially now since my brother is a Grad student (he was also an undergrad, but I had yet to see the true value of being a Michigan Fan :).

Out here most people live and breath Cal or USC football, and wearing my Michigan jersey will bring shouts of "Michigan Sucks" even from those fabulous 49ers fans...yes the same team whose record closely resembles our beloved Wolverines.

Needless to say, hearing all the anti-RR banter, and reading the absolute garbage that comes from the media and many bloggers has made me resent many of those who call themselves "fans" of the Maize and Blue. Every Saturday I wake up to watch our boys take the field, and in fact the Minnesota game will forever hold a small place in my heart, as later that same day I married the love of my life...it couldn't have been a more perfect day.

I am excited to have RichRod as our coach...just as excited as I was last year on the day I found out we had him and one of my close friends, an MSU grad, just moaned. While she got her wish this year with a win from her "little brother"...she knew, deep down inside, she knew...Michigan will be a force in the coming years under RichRod.

This post was not designed to elicit responses...and if you see fit to poke fun or rip on what I am saying, so be it, you are not a true fan, and your words are wasted, as I really don't care what you write. BUT, if you feel like responding and it's positive, please write it, so others can see, we are not alone...we are Michigan.

Don't get me wrong, you are allowed to be frustrated, in fact if you aren't frustrated, I would question your devotion to this program...but please don't attack me, this is not my fault, only my opinion.

But before you comment, please read the following quote from Teddy Roosevelt, as I feel it encompasses many of the things we, and RichRod, are going through this year.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Keep your chins up, this week we take the field as part of the greatest rivalry in all of college football, and we are alive to see it. Maybe you feel that it isn't the same as years past but GOD DAMMIT THIS IS MICHIGAN FOOTBALL, cheer for our boys, cheer for Rich Rod, cheer for all of those who have participated in this wonderful event, and most importantly cheer for Michigan, we are only as strong as our weakest fan...GO BLUE!!!!