Have You Ever Regretted Leaving A Game Early?
I'm always baffled by fans who walk out of games early when the result is still very much in doubt. Saturday after the Cats made their first down with a little under 3:30 to play, I started looking around and sure enough I see hordes of folks making for the exits. After all the miracles Michigan has pulled off over the years, why would you leave when hope still lives? Granted our odds of winning at that point were less than shitty, but I was pretty certain we'd get the ball back and we'd have a chance to run a play or two and I was going to stick around to see those plays.
Myself, I've only bailed out of one game early because I had to go to dinner with my future in-laws and that game was the 2008 Toledo game, so it proved fortuitous to not be around for the end of that.
So I put it to the masses; anyone want to cop to bailing out of a game early because you were convinced it was over only to miss a glorious finish? How much of an ass did it make you feel like when you're in your car listening to the finish on the radio and realizing, "I could've been there for that....damnit."
November 12th, 2012 at 2:04 PM ^
northwestern, 2008. we stuck it out until there were 3 minutes left, but it was such a colossally shitty day, and i couldn't feel my feet.
but i still regret it - i didn't earn the fandom endurance badge.
i promise - it'll never happen again. i'm sorry.
November 12th, 2012 at 3:03 PM ^
Nope, I don't leave early. The way I see it is that I paid to see 60 minutes (or more) of football so leaving early is a waste of money. Well, that and every once in a while some crazy stuff happens.
November 12th, 2012 at 3:03 PM ^
When masses of people started leaving leaving after the 4th down conversion, I turned to my gf, her sister, and her father and said "Man, these people are going to be pissed when we come back". Sure am glad I was right.
November 12th, 2012 at 3:16 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 3:33 PM ^
I had to leave both the 1995 Virginia and 2002 Washington games for legitimate family reasons, one of those go-for-a-half/3-quarters vs. don't-go-at-all things...
Just about the only two games I've ever had to leave early. Lucky me.
November 12th, 2012 at 3:43 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^
Wasn't there, but got pissed with 10 mins left in the Darius Morris Duke game. Tuned in to see the last play and missed all the build up. Did the same thing with 2009 MSU
November 12th, 2012 at 5:47 PM ^
November 12th, 2012 at 5:50 PM ^
Saw AC. Late 80's Minnesota game that rained and was dark. 5-0 Purdue game. Cordell Stewart. Why would you spend hours of your day getting there and getting ready and leave early. To go to what?
November 12th, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
I left MSU 04 just before halftime. I think we were only down 17-10 at the time and Stanton had just gotten injured, so I didn't leave due to the score. It was a combination of being in front of a group of really drunk MSU students, practically standing in the puke that one of them had let loose in the second quarter, listening to the constant fighting between them and the students, and my girlfriend at the time waiting for me in my dorm room. But the thing that really made me leave was the student section cheering when Stanton got injured. Everything else had already put me in a bad mood, but that put it over the edge. I went back to my dorm to spend time with my girlfriend and I haven't regretted it since.
November 16th, 2012 at 9:21 AM ^
Most of the games I saw before I was a student were with my dad, who is a beat-traffic kind of guy, and doesn't get emotionally wrapped up in the action. Since he knows I'll fight him he always wants to leave a little earlier than last time so that the compromise will be before the midpoint of the 4th quarter.
The worst was vs. Virginia in 1995. It was a beautiful day, and the first game of the season so I was determined not to go, but then by the end of the 3rd quarter we were playing like shit and Dad offered to let me drive his Audi all the way home (I'd just gotten my permit over the summer).
So Mercury Hayes, yadda yadda, all heard on the radio in the car, which I didn't get to drive after all because there were so many other early departures he (smartly) didn't trust me to maneuver through them all.