How did you become a Michigan fan?
I'm bored and thought I'd see if anyone would share how they became a Michigan fan. I became a fan on September 13th,1988. I was 10 years old and flipping thru the channels and I saw Michigan vs. Noter Dame. Even tho Michigan lost that day I was hooked for life.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:52 AM ^
Oh, so the whole "OMG Shirtless" isn't just a repeat of the Tebow meme then...
Best letter I've ever gotten.
In a mirror too?
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<br>(though that was hardly the first thing I noticed in that pic....)
My first memory of any sort of football was in 2000 against Michigan State. Didn't know anything about football, or the two schools, but for some reason I just had to root for Michigan. Destined I guess.
the 1995 season i was seven and i got hooked for life after that.
I don't remember the exact year. I was in 4 or 5th grade and my sister and I made a bet on The Game. My sister was a huge Wolverines fan back then, so I bet on OSU ( 5 dollars!). The Game was extremely close that year, ohio state lost by missing a last second field goal wide left as time expired. That was the best bet I've ever lost!
Shortly after i started wearing her Michigan gear lol, I remember one shirt in paticular that said "Tis far better to have failed at Michigan than to have graduated from Ohio State". I used to LOVE wearing that shirt on ohio states campus!
Since I moved out west I've went from a casual fan to an obsessed idiot , reading every blog , website , report and watching every video i can get my hands on!
moved from south africa to Michigan in 96; latched onto Mich as my first US sports team. graduated 07 and moved around a bit. biggest Mich fan in Taiwan to date, its official.
When I was four my family moved to Grand Rapids and I'm sure like many of you, those early days of the kindergarden-ish age is when I became a huge sports fan. This was during the Fab Five era, so naturally I became hooked on Michigan basketball (and then football). I think I was six when the C-Webb timeout happened...and I know I shed a tear. Okay, I shed a lot of tears. I remember I had a Michigan basketball hoop set up in my garage and practiced on it for hours imitating Jalen, Chris, et al. My family then moved back to eastern Washington (during the Drew Bledsoe days) so I grew up a fan of both Michigan and Washington State. To this day, those are the two teams I follow very closely/borderline religiously.
took the season tickets in the divorce and i was a year old when that happened... so starting when i was around 5 years old my dad started taking me to michigan football games and i've been hooked ever since...
Before I was born my family lived in Dearborn and my brother became a fan, after that we moved to San Dimas, California where I was born and then to Columbus. Long story short I grew up rooting for Michigan because my brother did but was too young to really understand the problem of being a Michigan fan in Columbus. The kids at school didnt take too long to enlighten me.
and I guess my older cousins were worried about which way I might go when I was younger, so they were sure to beat the right choice in to me. I remeber one holiday gathering where my cousin had me by the collar and pant leg, dangling me over Aunt Gayle's big stone hearth in her living room, asking me "WHO YOU GONNA ROOT FOR?!?!" as my eyebrows were singed from the heat. My father and my uncle watched from the "bar" while laughing and joking about how it reminded them of themselves growing up. Ahhhhh....good times
Genetics
When I was eight we moved from a Lansing suburb to a Columbus suburb. The idiots in Ohio immediately gave me shit about Michigan. I liked how badly it pissed them off so I asked my mom to buy me a michigan shirt and a fanatic was born.
everybody in my family was a michigan fan and i've always hated the color green
everybody in my family was a michigan fan and i've always hated the color green
genetics too
Football specific: My dad started taking me to some home games before I could walk. Then I learned all of the players names before I could form actual sentences. Then I started going to ALL of the home games, for about a decade. Then I started going to some of the away games too. Then I moved away for college and started coming back for games once a year. Somewhere in there I started reading MGoBlog.
April 15th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^
I'm very impressed that your two year old daughter has already stated her rooting interest.
The full page picture of him in the newspaper with the rose in his mouth went up on my wall when I was 13 and lines were drawn for eternity.
My dad was a UofM fan and he always watched the games. Now I follow the teams much more closely then my father, and he comes to me for information about the teams.
Like many others on the blog, I was born a Michigan. GO BLUE!
My parents are the main reason. I grew up in Chicago and I will never forget my first football game when I was in 2nd grade. Parents brought me to Champaign to see Michigan play. I loved how spirited all the Michigan fans were even though we were outnumbered. Been a fan ever since. Sealed it will my acceptance letter to the University. My dad said he had never been more proud than when I burned my MSU acceptance letter infront of all of his MSU buddies.
I've lived near Columbus for 15 years but my whole family lives up in Michigan... my dad raised me right, I remember using the bunny ears to dial in some fuzzy Michigan games when I was younger... that was during the stretch in the 90's when we dominated.
Thankfully I found the one girl around here who doesn't care for tSiO.. there will be no "house divded."
My discovery of the sports section of the newspaper when I was about 8 years old just happened to coinside with the arrival of Bo and I couldn't believe the excellent records Michigan was coming up with year after year while I was growing up in Detroit. I remember watching the 1972 Rose Bowl on TV and even though there were no Michigan fans in my family while watching that game I decided then and there that Michigan would be my team. A few years later when I was in high school I was lucky enough to go to the '76 Wake Forest Band Day game and I was blown away by my first visit to the Big House. The next year I got my driver's license and started driving to a couple of games a year and then I finally made it to campus in the fall of 1979 and spent four years studying engineering and playing in the MMB. Now looking back my whole family and most of my friends are all Michigan fans, I've hardly ever missed a game in the last 31 years and I can hardly believe all of the great experiences I have had following the Maize and Blue. I've even been to every Michigan vs tSIO game since 1979 which I feel is one of my greatest accomplishments as a fan. I could go on and on but basically that is my story.
PS
I also have to mention the effect Bob Ufer had on turning me on to Michigan. For all of you fans who are too young to know about "Old Man Ufer" be sure to check out some of the recordings of his broadcasts. There was never a a more enthusiastic, knowledgeable and True Blue supporter of "Michigan athletics in general of football in particular". Be sure to take some time and learn more about him.
I was born.
My dad left me no other option
I'm following the same model, having been indoctrinated by my own dad. So far, so good -- oldest kid is at Michigan now, next in line is a huge fan (despite the efforts of his mom, an MSU grad -- but, to be fair, what's she got to work with?)
In a Notre Dame family because my grandparents went there. We had season tickets in South Bend and I had been to every ND/UM game since I was about 5 years old. When it came time to go to college, I picked UM for its science programs and I wanted to do genetics/health professions (which I did 8 years at UM, so it was worth it!). I always rooted for UM when they didn't play ND, but I was never a fanatic about them to be honest.
Then came August 31, 2002. I just had moved into West Quad, went in blind and met my now best friend, went to my first raging house party for Welcome Week, and Gameday was in town for the game.
The day was scorching hot, we were playing Washington as top 10 teams, and it was my first experience in the student section at UM.
Needless to say, Phil Brabbs kicked that last second field goal, I was going nuts, lost my voice, went back to my dorm room and we watched the other football games for the rest of the day with a few beers, and then enjoyed my 2nd raging house party for the victory.
From that day my blood turned Maize and Blue for life.
The first major sporting event my dad took me to was 1987 Rose Bowl. My dad was a pro baseball player and got the tickets from one of his teammates and took me to the game when I was 3 years old. There was a guy sitting next to us who was a Michigan fan and after the game he gave me his hat (that I still own to this day) and he said "Now you are rooting for the right team." I've been a Michigan fan ever since.
When I was being recruited to play football in college my dream was to play in Ann Arbor unfortunately when I went on my recruiting trip it was too cold me there (growing up in San Diego and taking my trip in cold of January was not a good idea). So I didn't commit to Michigan but Coach Carr point me in the direction of Coach Miles at OSU and I decided if I couldn't play at Michigan I'd play for a Michigan Man. I then went on to get injured never played a down and flamed out. Guess I should have sucked it up went to Michigan
I wish I could tell Chris Webber that his infamous time-out call wasn't all negative - it made me a Michigan man and eventual alumnus for life. I was only 5 and wasn't born into a sports watching family, but that incident and potential outcome was enough to stir a debate between my Dad and brother on a car trip. When they gave me a quick background on the importance of the game/incident, I knew I had to learn more about a school that boasted such national relevance.
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<br>From there, I watched and followed everything pertaining to Michigan, particularly Tyrone Wheatley and the residual Fab 5. I was determined to do anything necessary to get accepted into the school in 13 yrs.
I was 7 years old and met the guy who cradled the puck against BC in the hotel later that night and thought it was the coolest thing as a kid learning the game of hockey. Then Marty Turco is the love of my life as well.
Born in Battle Creek, moved to OH when my mom remarried. Applied and was accepted to UM, but chose to play D-III football instead (short and slow wouldn't allow me a chance at UM.... GERG wasn't around yet.... ZING!). Sort of have regretted not attending ever since, but football was always my first love and now I teach and coach the game I love. That makes it ok to have not gone to UM.... right? Damn. I blew it didn't I?
April 15th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^
I am not from Michigan, have never been to Michigan, have never been to a game live, and don't have any ties to the school or the program, but i am fanatical about Michigan Football. People ask me all the time why I like Michigan so much, and all I can explain is that when I started watching college football games on Saturdays (around 9 or 10 years old), Michigan was always on and always doing well. I think I liked the uniforms first, then as I learned more about the players and storylines I really began to love the team. I remember Charles Woodson being the most amazing athlete I had ever seen, the Tom Brady/Drew Henson QB battle, and winning the National Championship (I didn't realize how big that was at the time). I think really, I'm just a fan of college football and it was too hard not to love Michigan when you watched them in the 90's.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
I was born with a soul....with an aptitude toward scholastic pursuits...and denied the disadvantage of EVER having to live in Ohio. Fandom was inevitable when you think about it, really...
That and my dad took me to my first Michigan game when I was seven and I was hooked.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
I popped out with a winged hairline... singing the victors.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^
I signed my letter of intent
April 15th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
Wishing I could be outside on a sunny November day just after a snowstorm, when my Mom looked at the TV guide and said "Michigan is playing Ohio today" She turned on the game for me and I watched Michigan upset Ohio State 42 years ago.
I have bled Maize and Blue ever since.
April 15th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^
Some of my earliest memories are of riding in the car with Dad listening to that crazy SOB on the AM radio. Then went to 1st game in 1981, watched Michigan go down by like 21 points in the first quarter to Illinios, only to watch them come back and win 70-21. It was epic, Anthony Carter & Butch Woolfolk running wild. I was sharing an AM transistor radio with Dad listening to Ufer just go crazy. Got to shake hands with AC, Wolf & Bo himself that day.
AC is my earliest Michigan football memory. I remember other kids talking about AC and wearing the #1 jersey on the playground when I was in 4th grade in the fall of 1980. The 1980 Ohio State and 1981 Rose Bowl wins are my earliest game memories.
For Michigan fans, like me, who are now around 40 yeard old, I bet AC high stepping into the endzone is one of their earliest memories of Michigan football.
April 15th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
Michigan pennant over my crib put there by my great grandfather (1908 BS Engineering) and grandfather (1934 BS Astronomy, 1935 MS Astrophysics, 1937 PhD Astrophysics). My parents (1964 BS MechE and 1968 BA English) brought me home from the hospital and put me in the crib under the pennant.
My great great grandfather (1883 Law) was not present for the beginning of the indoctrination.
In 2010, my own infant son returned from the hospital to a crib with a Michigan pennant hanging over it, placed there by his dad (1995 BA History, 2002 MBA). His mom (1995 BA Communications) did not object and continues to dress him in Michigan paraphernalia.
Thus the cycle continues.
There's a Michigan pennant in my 22 month old son's room. Whenever he sees a pennant--no matter the colors or the school--he says, "Michigan . . . . Hail!"
The "Michigan...Hail" on seeing any pennant is excellent.
I'm hoping the little one will start generation #6 in Ann Arbor. I won't force it down his throat and, since there are many good options competing for his interest out here in SoCal, I'll understand if he goes to UCLA or Berkeley or Stanford, but I'll be damned if he's going to USC.
My secret shame: my paternal grandmother was a Northwestern Wildcat, and my dad's paternal grandmother was...sniff...an Aggie, from Michigan Agricultural College (now known as Michigan State University).
April 15th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^
I grew up in the Ann Arbor area, but didn't have any family connections to the school prior to matriculating. My family had season tickets to hockey growing up, but I was always a fanatical Michigan football fan. Not entirely sure how it started, but I've been bat shit crazily obsessed with Michigan football since I was about 8 yrs old. My earliest memory is Tyrone Wheatly shredding the Ohio State defense in a game where Michigan won 28-0.
April 15th, 2011 at 11:49 AM ^
1988, I was 7 and my mother was watching football with a friend. I asked her which team we were and she informed me that both teams were from Michigan but she was cheering for the team in blue and her friend was cheering for the team in white and green. From then on it was all blue for me. Two words that I remember from that game. Mike Gilette
April 15th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
Growing up in Fremont, OH I was an OSU fan like most other people. That was until 1987 when I went to my first game, OSU Vs Iowa. I was 8 and apparently very fickle because OSU lost the game and the next week was OSU Vs Michigan and rooted for Michigan. They lost the game, but I've been a diehard fan ever since. Watching my hometown hero Charles Woodson have an incredible career against OSU was awesome as well.
April 15th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
A friend of mine invited me to a game. His family had season tickets behind the north end zone. I don't even remember what team we played, but I remember the first play from scrimmage for Michigan was BJ Askew running for a first down. Then later in the game the student section was doing all kinds of interesting stuff, including marshmallow throwing at the cameraman. Great experience, and it hooked me.
April 15th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
My Dad raised me right from the beginning, went to CMU (from Mt Pleasant), wore my Michigan shirt to the CMU/M rain delay game while getting paid to watch the game by CMU and then things have went to a whole new level after I found mgoblog/actually have disposable income to *blow* on sports tickets, tailgating accessories etc etc.
Also, stole my cousins (M Alumni) tickets when he was in school as often as possible to both hockey and football until I was finally able to grab a pair of season tickets last year. Currently waiting on info for tickets to M/'Bama and hoping that Jerryworld doesnt jack up the prices to much, but am definately going.
Oh and my wife thinks I am insane because of all the above stuff.....I dont listen to her...she roots for OSU.
April 15th, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^
Grad school, got stuck in the line outside of our section forever. Literally, less than a minute after seeing the inside of the BH for the first time, UM ran out, touching the banner to record sized crowd.
3 hours later, Desmond made the 4th down catch in the corner and it was over....(watching the Fab 5 v Duke would have put me over the top if I wasn't already 100% hooked.)
April 15th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
I don't actually have a specific memory that caused my fandom to click on, I can just always remember rooting hard for the Maize and Blue, and aspiring to go to school in Ann Arbor. My first MIchigan memory though is going to the Big House with my dad to watch the MSU game. We won 40-20 and Tyrone Wheatley will forever be my favorite MIchigan player.
I only sent out one application for undergrad... glad I got accepted.
I began taking the Football Flyer train from Detroit to A2 for games with my parents in the 50s, when I was a little kid. There was no I-94 or M-14 expressway from Detroit to Ann Arbor then. It took forever to drive the back roads. So the most fun thing was to make a day of it, drive to Detroit's Central Station (it's a bombed-out shell now, but it was gorgeous then), get on the train, and have fun on the way.
The Football Flyer was kind of a mid-20th Century version of this blog; people on it were huge Michigan fans, and talked of nothing but Michigan coming and going. In that era, men wore jacket and tie to the games, and women wore dresses. You could tell who the Michigan fans were by their neckties or team buttons. Opposing fans were teased gently; it was exactly like a cocktail party, as there was a dining/bar car! You could have lunch and a few drinks on the way!
The train stopped right in front of the stadium, you got out in front of one of the gates, and walked right into the stadium.
My father would explain the game and tell me about the players. I'd eat as many hot dogs as I could cram into my gullet and bug him for pennants and other souvenirs. I would get the team pennant for opposing teams when we played them, but the Michigan one was always over the head of my bed.
On the way home from the game, the adults would drink, sing The Victors and The Yellow and the Blue, and after my first game I was beyond hooked. I had to go to Michigan. I considered no other school.