Catholic Wolverines

Submitted by jsquigg on

I meant to post this before the ND game, but I am still interested in finding out.  My manager at work is an ND fan and claimed he "had no choice because he was Catholic."  I was wondering how many mgobloggers out there have fought the urge to join in the tradition of mediocrity and root for the Wolverines as Catholics.

As an aside, the expression on my managers' face when I mentioned Saturday's game was priceless and his misery was delicious.

chunkums

September 15th, 2010 at 7:13 PM ^

I grew up a Catholic but that doesn't mean I grew up envying Mexico's papist-dominated society as opposed to the good ol' mixed USA.  Mexico sucks and so does Notre Dame.  AMURUKUH!!!! [/sarcasm, but seriously I hate ND]

South Bend Wolverine

September 15th, 2010 at 7:31 PM ^

Traditional Catholic, just graduated with an MA from Notre Dame, and wore a "Beat ND" button on my Michigan backpack every day for both of my years there.  I love the University & the many great people I met & learned from there, but when the whistle blows and the game starts, it's all about Blue, baby.

MichFan1997

September 15th, 2010 at 7:32 PM ^

for how random of a topic this is. The interesting thing to me is the dynamics involved in choosing a team. Where in pro sports it was a pretty damn easy choice (I live an hour from Detroit, you figure out who my MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL teams are), the college choice can become complicating. From where I was, MSU and UM weren't much difference in how far apart they were. And I'm Catholic, so obviously there was the whole ND thing. But nobody pressured me on who to watch. In fact, my dad is pretty indifferent between MSU and UM. He just enjoys watching football and seeing local teams do well. From about 8 or 9 years old, the maize and blue helmets caught my eyes. I actually remember hating Notre Dame a lot when I was younger. That 25-23 loss that one year was what really set me into full-fledged ND hate mode. My best friend then was a girl on the XC team in HS, and her family was also Catholic and ND fans. I remember betting her dad a steak dinner that Michigan would beat ND and then having Michigan come away with a 38-0 win. After the 47-21 win, a bunch of us drove to their house and yelled Michigan rules through the window. He chased us with eggs. But I digress. The point is, I'm Catholic and I made my own choices in fandom. Michigan it is.

Enginerd

September 15th, 2010 at 7:33 PM ^

I am Catholic, went to a catholic elementary.  My grand uncle is a priest and my grand aunt taught at a catholic college.  My mom taught at a catholic elementary.

I credit that upbringing with teaching me to love the maize and blue.

doughboy

September 15th, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^

This discussion comes up every year with my Dad.  We both graduated from U of M, but he is a very strong Catholic from Bay City.  For him Religion is Life.  So I called him Saturday and told him to enjoy the game - knowing he'd be happiest with ND winning by a point.  Well, much to my surprise, he replied, "You know what, I'd really like to see Michigan win this game.".  Love ya' Dad.

RockyMtnWolverine

September 15th, 2010 at 8:06 PM ^

I grew up a Irish-Catholic in southwest Michigan about 30 minutes from ND. Everyone, it seemed, who subscribed to Catholisism loved Notre Dame including my mom's side of the family. When I was three or four, my aunt brought me home with a Notre Dame hat on my head. My father told me i could wear the hat and live in the garage or throw the hat away and live in the house with the rest of the family. I made the right choice. He then told me that Lou Holtz was a cheating son of a bitch and that when the local press published a picture of him in the paper, he would wipe his ass with it. I don't think he actually did that, but when you're that young, you'll believe anything. As a result, everytime I see Holtz on TV, this story pops into my head and I think of his image as a tool used to remove fecal matter. Also, because of proximity, I hated ND more than OSU growing up. I feel differently now after having been to Ohio and meeting Buckeyes but i digress.

Michigan4Life

September 15th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^

and grew up rooting for Michigan.  I went to Church for the confirmation and we went to ND campus for a special trip.  Needless to say, the campus sucked and there's absolutely nothing to do around campus.  That was my sophomore year in high school.  I visited Michigan campus in my junior year(went to a few Michigan football games before that) and loved the visit.  It was far superior than ND campus.

jcgary

September 15th, 2010 at 8:22 PM ^

I am catholic as is both sides of my family and they are all ND fans.  When I was young I was an ND fan and a Michigan fan.  On games when Michigan & ND played I would always root for the team that was losing at halftime.  Then I went to every home game for Michigan's National Championship game and was a full time Michigan fan from then on out.  I have only missed one home game since them and that was last year due to my sister's wedding. 

I am kind of odd in that when Michigan doesn't play ND I still hope they win because of the way I was brought up.  However from the minute the game before ND ends until the next day after the ND game I am nothing but a Michigan fan and even heckle my family about stupid irish stuff like there "Return to Glory" crap. 

08mms

September 15th, 2010 at 8:28 PM ^

Catholic, never had any interest in being a ND fan.  12 years of Catholic school and I hated all the goody-two shoe pricks and prickettes in high school who end up going and was always annoyed by all of teachers who said I was making a huge mistake by not going.  I'm reminded every time I'm in South Bend how miserable those four years would have been, and how I wouldn't have traded the time in Ann Arbor for anything.

UMxWolverines

September 15th, 2010 at 8:30 PM ^

I'm catholic and my whole damn family is catholic. When the hell did being catholic make it so you have to root for ND?! Most of my family went to MI and I was raised in MI. Never will I root for ND except against Sparty. I'm thinking about going Lutheran some day though.

edit: Nevermind, whole damn family isn't catholic. We're all pretty religious but each of my uncles kinda did their own thing with their family, but I'm catholic now.

DaytonBlue

September 15th, 2010 at 8:38 PM ^

Grew up in Detroit.  I had no choice but to be a Michigan fan. LOL  Seriously, he can say whatever he wants; ultimately he just likes the Irish.  Way too deep, but I imagine God has much more to worry about that Foottball.  If he was a fan, however, he'd be a Michigan fan.

M-stache

September 15th, 2010 at 8:40 PM ^

I grew up in a mostly Catholic neighborhood and a lot of our neighbors were Notre Dame slappies. My dad and uncle went to Michigan.

"Just because we're Catholic doesn't mean we can't hate Notre Dame," was her favorite saying.

Everyone in my extended family hates Notre Dame and they're all Catholic.

EDIT: Oh, yeah. Forgot to add my mom's Irish, too.

wlvrine

September 15th, 2010 at 8:55 PM ^

I'm Catholic.  I detest Notre Dame.

When the rainbow came out last Saturday, and ND scored, I said to my Bros "Don't worry, God is a Michigan fan today"

Tully Mars

September 15th, 2010 at 8:56 PM ^

When I was young, I had an uncle that encouraged me to be a fan of Notre Dame.  At the time I was fairly ambivalent about it and would just accept any ND gear he got me.  Fast forward to grad school, I got accepted to UM, visited, fell in love, and now LOVE to see ND lose.  

To make the story even better, I've gotten the son of my ND fan uncle to be a Michigan fan.  His first Michigan game was this last weekend with me in SB.  What a great first game for him!  He's already made his facebook profile pic the one we took with Dave Brandon at the alumni tailgate.  It feels good to steer the younger generations towards the light.

Nantucket Blue

September 15th, 2010 at 9:33 PM ^

I dated an irish Catholic girl in high school.  When I took her to prom (just after I decided to enroll at Michigan), her father (a ND alumn) called the highway patrol on me when I didn't bring her home on time.

As we were both 18, I don't know what they really could have done.  But the guy was a dick.

Zingerman Barwis

September 15th, 2010 at 9:41 PM ^

Is a diehard UofM fan - he actually hates ND.

At the end of the prayer at our wedding reception he dropped a "Go Blue" on a largely ND crowd.

I've thought about taking him to a game but I am a lush and I'd still like to get into heaven.

And as for my thoughts on becoming an ND fan... Never a consideration - besides God doesn't care about football.

Zingerman Barwis

September 15th, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^

I married a Domer. She's a real fan - she knows the players by their numbers.

Before our first kid was born we negotiated that all boys would Blue and all girls would be Irish. This was a risk bc we didn't find out what it was before it was born.

So far I'm two for two... Two little Michigan fans.

BlueVoix

September 16th, 2010 at 1:48 PM ^

Both sides of the family have a lot of Irish blood in them and both sides are mostly Catholic.  Add that to the entire family being based in and around Chicago, and you have more than a few that root for Notre Dame. 

I never really got into college football when I was young (both parents went to small schools), but I always hated Notre Dame.  It's not that I like the underdog or something, I just remember being six years old and hating Notre Dame.  The undeserved arrogance, the "fans" who are mostly unaware that South Bend is a boring, ugly town in the middle of a boring, ugly state, and the inability to have a mostly rational conversation were what got me.  And I was six.

To this day, my grandfather is still a Notre Dame fan and I have to imagine my cousins that pay attention to college sports (not many) are too.  I'm glad to be the first one in my family to start the Michigan tradition.