Graduating Senior Anger

Submitted by goblue20111 on

Any other graduating seniorsup  in here? Anyone else feel like a good chunk of their college career was ripped off? Not that AA wasn't great, I'm gonna miss it all, but I just wish we had been well....US at sports (at least one) while I was here.

Freshman year, first game: the horror

Senior year, last game: OT loss for the NC

Anyone else pissed as I am? I always found it hilarious to listen to some of the older people bitch on this board about the current sports situation (mostly football) when they had some of the best years of Michigan sports.  My siblings went here from 96-00.  I fucking hate them because they couldn't give two shits about sports.  Charles Woodson,  football NC, and hockey NC?  Ughhh I just wanted one sports moment to hang my hat on in 4 years.  All those thousands and that huge endownment and we couldn't afford Cam Newton??? C'mon man.  Most of this is probably uncalled for but I'm seriously just frustanglingly pissed off right. I know I have individual moments to cherish (Wisconsin sophomore year, sending Lloyd off against FL, first half last two years but goddamn...

 

GO BLUE till the end but still real pissed right now. 

M-Wolverine

April 10th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^

Your answer makes sense. A split Chicago-Detroit household would have more Chicago teams on the list. But they're all rivals, except the Cubs, because of the Leagues in baseball, that really aren't in direct competition (unless they meet in the Wirld Series again, and not holding my breath...). So you can root for them without conflict. It makes sense to me now. That was all.

Wolverine318

April 10th, 2011 at 6:47 PM ^

My cousins from my hometown are all bulls, hawks, and bears fans and we all rag on each other when we see each other. I chose to go the other way with the stones, wings, and lions. There was a point during the millen years I rebelled and rooted for the bears to spite the Fords. 

FreetheFabFive

April 10th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^

"who gives a shit about gymastics"

"I am lucky I didn't go to St. Paul I would have punched out the first UMD fan"

"I am tired of the football team sucking against the white trash school to the west on I-96 and the redneck school down south in Ohio."

"I will always get a laugh when both undergraduate and graduate rankings are released for sparty and tO$U. "

 

You should probably be the one getting over yourself...  

SysMark

April 10th, 2011 at 9:58 AM ^

Calm down.  I have always maintained that you are more of a fan after you graduate than when you are actually in school.  It lasts a lifetime.

Get some perspective.  My daughter is a junior at UM and was at Relay for Life all day and night yesterday.  She said they had a big TV up with the game but most people were only loosely following.  Oh, and Denard Robinson was there.

JamesBondHerpesMeds

April 10th, 2011 at 10:11 AM ^

I get to work with graduates of the world's most renowned universities.  Harvard.  Stanford.   Princeton.  INSEAD.  Wharton.  We view one another as equals, as peers, and most importantly -- as teammates and colleagues.  That is what a Michigan degree has, to some extent, provided me the opportunity to do, in combination with hard work and fortunately-blessed circumstances that put me in the place I am today.

But when it comes to athletics -- my peers have openly admitted that they have a tinge of jealousy when I'm able to not only follow the games tourney time, but that I actually and consistently have some skin in the game.  Michigan is not only present in the upper echelons of nearly every sport in which it is involved, but it COMPETES in those upper echelons.

When I left the arena last night, I literally did not take a single glance at the ice after the puck passed by Hunwick -- because I knew that UMD had earned their time, as had we.  But you, I, and the hundreds of thousands of Michigan alumni out there, have never succeeded by dwelling on things out of our control or in the past.  And neither do our teams.  They'll be back.

So, do them a favor, continue to support Michigan after you graduate, and you too will reap the rewards.  I've yet to experience a Michigan national championship in our three major sports in the eleven years I've been a student and alumnus.  But I continue to support them  because, frankly, excellence is not just defined by winning a national title each year.  

Congratulations on your graduation.  Go Blue.

Purkinje

April 10th, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^

I was originally going to graduate this month, but I'm going for an extra semester now (next fall.) We're back on the upswing in all sports, so although we had to endure the darkest times around here in history, we've also seen the heart and soul of the fanbase tested and survive horrors and controversy and division. We survived, and we will never fail to appreciate being Michigan again.

BiSB

April 10th, 2011 at 11:13 AM ^

"I know I have individual moments to cherish, but goddamn..."

What else is there?  The only difference between your time at Michigan and your time AFTER Michigan is those individual moments.  I'm 28, and I got to watch the North Dakota game on TV like (presumably) you did.  And when it was over, I high-fived the few Michigan fans around me, and returned to my life.  But you got to experience the night where the whole UofM community recognized the enormity of the moment and celebrates together.  Those nights were priceless.  We all get to revel in Michigan's wins, but only during your four years do you really get to experience them.

What you want is to be able to say "I was there when 'X' happened."  And that's great, I suppose.  I enjoy bragging rights as much as the next guy.  But what good does that do you?  When I look back on athletics during my time at school, I don't look at the records.  I remember the time that Braylon went apeshit, and we had to literally sit down to catch our breaths after the first overtime because we'd been screaming for 30 minutes straight.  I remember rushing the field after beating OSU in 2003.  I remember a heartbreaking last-second tie to State in hockey, and hearing all of 5th Blagdon explode in outrage when Spartan Bob stopped the clock.  I remember Al Montoya being sent to the penalty box.  THAT'S the shit you'll remember.

You've had plenty of those moments.  You had Henne to Manningham at Spartan Stadium.  You had John Thompson To The House against Wisconsin.  You had BOOM Forcier'd against ND.  You had HOLY SHIT DENARD FUCKING ROBINSON against... well, everyone.  You had a return to the NCAA tournament.  You had a sweep of Sparty in basketball for the first time since the Hoover administration.  You had a re-return to the tournament, as well as a shit-canning of Tennessee.  You had the run to the tournament for hockey last year.  You had a National Championship game appearance last night.  And you had NoDak two days before.

I feel a litle sorry for you if you judge your time at Michigan based on wins and losses.  We all wish we'd had more moments during our 4 (to 7) years.  But that isn't so the record would have been shinier, or so we could look at those seasons with a greater sense of accomplishment.  It was simply so we could have had more moments. 

ZooWolverine

April 10th, 2011 at 5:14 PM ^

I cannot agree more, and may I add that the year began with Brock Mealer walking onto the field. I was at Michigan for ten years and there was never a moment that was more special and that I was prouder to be at in person than watching him touch the banner. If nothing else, let Brock remind you that there is so much more to anyone's time in Ann Arbor than national championships.

I also don't think I've ever been more proud of the players who represent Michigan athletics than I am this year. In most years, he wouldn't have been playing, but it didn't make me any less proud to see Jordan Kovacs out on the field. I loved having a quarterback who could break a move and score with no warning, and who seemed to be one of the nicest and most genuine people I've ever seen play a sport. Our basketball players didn't seem like they deserved to be on the same court as others in the Big Ten at the start of the year, but with Novak-like heart they refused to give up when there back was to a wall. The hockey team lacked any superstars (except, maybe, for a midget-sized goalie at the end) and yet they went to the national championship game and took it to overtime.

You're not owed a national championship by the university, and you won't get pity from anyone for whining about the fact that you didn't get one. It's always great to be a Michigan Wolverine off the field, but it's been a great time to be one on the field as well.

M-Wolverine

April 10th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^

"playing for the National Championship", which hasn't been done since '98 in hockey, was nothing...
<br>
<br>...then you lost me at "we couldn't afford Cam Newton?".

AlwaysBlue

April 10th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^

Ripped off?  In a million years I wouldn't look at my Michigan diploma and consider myself ripped off.  The one thing I might empathize with is what happened to football.  There weren't any national championships while I was in Ann Arbor but football was good, we competed for conference championships and there is nothing like a football Saturday when the games matter.

Vasav

April 10th, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^

First off, as an alumni, you'll presumably have something you didn't in college - money. So that next time Michigan's in the Rose Bowl or Frozen Four (or dare I say, Final Four), you can think about trying to actually be there.

Also, instead of talking about the lack of titles, I want to talk about what I did get to see when I was at Michigan. Sure, you can lord your men's gymnastics title and figure skating silver medals over me, as well as the power of the Forcier and OMG DENARD!!!!!

But from 2004 to 2008 I had Braylon-Fest, Henne-to-Manningham with :01 to ruin Penn State's perfect season, dancing to the band in the cold rain during the lightning delay, the whole first 11 games of 2006,  the rest of 2007 after the Horror and Oregon - culminating with Lloyd's memorable send-off in the Citrus Bowl, an epic hockey season that saw a Frozen Four appearance and only ended when ND overachieved and won it in overtime. And I loved it so much I stuck around for an extra semester - you may say "well that was the worst season in 75 years," but I say it was also the season where we came back against Wisconsin and kept our record perfect in the Metrodome.

KrisGoBlue

April 10th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

Even before I saw how many replies this had, I knew this had powder keg written all over it. Being a Michigan graduate, I have a lot of pride for my alma mater and wouldn't have chosen any where else in the world to go to school. A true Michigan man doesn't complain about his experience at the best University in the world. 

PurpleStuff

April 10th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^

You just got the best basketball season and the best hockey season we've had at Michigan in over a decade (and since I enrolled in 2000).  Throw in the Denard show and all in all this has been a pretty damn good sports season at Michigan.  Both football and basketball are also in great shape for the immediate future as well.

If anything you have been spoiled and know nothing of the joys of watching the basketball team get dominated by Central in a 3/4 empty Crisler arena and being legitimately disappointed that Gavin Groninger didn't turn out to be awesome.  Or sitting through a decade of losses to Tressel and heartbreaking exits from the NCAA hockey tournament. 

Sack up.

J.Swift

April 10th, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^

That was the worst part.  BB took a huge jump with Buntin, Cazzy and the gang but football under Bump was blahh for my 4 years. 

But I still treasure the Michigan Honors Program:  fantastic. 

Oh, and the year I graduated, 1964, Michigan won the big ten and crushed Oregon State in the Rose Bowl. 

jmblue

April 10th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^

Yes, you got jobbed in football.  But hockey did very well (multiple CCHA titles, two Frozen Fours) and basketball did far better than it had anytime in the decade before you arrived.  Your mistake is assuming that school years like '97-'98 are normal.  That year we won our only football national title in the last 60 years, and one of our two hockey national titles in the last 40 years.  That year was an insane outlier.

If your definition of a "sports moment" is a national title in one of the three big sports, the vast majority of us never experienced that when we were here.  Your four years contained two more basketball NCAA tournaments and one more Frozen Four than mine ('98-'02) did.  My first home football game as a student was when we got destroyed by Syracuse, on the heels of getting destroyed by ND.  (And that was with Tom Brady playing QB.)  My last football game as a student was the 2002 Citrus Bowl, when we followed up our home loss to OSU by losing to Tennessee by 28 points.  And we won't even talk about how brutal the Brian Ellerbe years were in basketball.  But here's the thing: you don't stop being a fan when you graduate. I wasn't a student anymore when we beat OSU in 2003 or finally ended our NCAA tourney drought in 2009, but it was still awesome all the same.  Fandom doesn't ever have to stop.

 

Geaux_Blue

April 11th, 2011 at 8:01 AM ^

At least this didn't turn into a post where Wolverine318 feels the need to make it all about him while rolling out his own biography to justify an idiotic point, because, you know, it's not like he's ever done that...