John U. Bacon on Walmart Wolverines

Ive been attending most home games since 96, and consider myself a bigger fan, and just as entitled of a fan if not more so, than most Michigan graduates. Just because I chose to go to Western does nothing to diminish my level of fanhood for Michigan Football. And no I did not apply to UofM, but seeing as how I was accepted at K College I'm betting I had a chance to get in.

...it's quite possible that the casual fan phenomenon is corrupting and destroying college sports.

There basically was no "big time college" sports until masses of outsiders developed a strong interest via broadcast television and apparel sales.  But this developement has flooded money into the college sporting landscape and the distribution of this wealth has created a lot of tension that is now threatening to destroy the current version of the game.

It can be argued that given the status of public universities, any taxpayer could have a legitimate interest in the school and the visibility of football makes it something of a lightning rod for that attention.  But frankly, it'd probably be better for the nature of college sports if the interest in a particular team were returned to the province of students and local alumni (ie., no more national broadcasts or national licensing agreements).

This isn't North Korea. I can cheer for who I want.

I stick with Michigan through everything and never give up.

Anyone who uses that term is a wanker.

It would've been easier to be a Spartan, growing up in LA in the 70s and all. I knew kids who played on Everett's state championship team with EJ. Instead, and even though I didn't even finish high school in-state, following the Wolverines has been one of the few threads that run through the entire length of my life. That die was cast long before actually going to college was on the table.

I can understand a little elitism on the part of those who did attend and do hold a degree, though it stings a bit to receive it. Those are valuable things. I wish I had that experience and that credential. For the wrong reasons it didn't work out that way.

But if we're talking about fandom, I don't know that a Michigan kid who bled maize and blue is any less a Wolverine than some out of state kid who never gave two shits about any of it until he got on campus and went along for the ride for a season or two.

Why call yourself a cheesy name MSU fans came up with?  You're a Michigan fan.  You don't need any qualifiers.

I'm a Wolverine and proud of it! Noone can tell me otherwise

Lets not forget who coined this term.  This is an MSMoo way of dealing with those who wear the maize and blue without "paying their dues"--not admitted to the university.  There is an old joke:  Q: What do UM and MSU students all have in common?  A: They were all admitted to MSU.  This is the crux of the problem: MSU is loaded with students who applied to UM and did not get in, and it just grates the hell out of them that mouth-breathing, knuckle-draggers (the MSMoo stereotype of a WalMart Wolverine) would associate themselves with a university while they could not get in and, therefore, THEY would never wear the maize and blue.  This is just another manifestion of "green with envy", and every time I hear an MSMooer yak about WalMart Wolverines, it says more about their insecurities that it does about anyone who choose to cheer for Michigan without attending the university. My dad went to UM, I have two degrees from UM, my son is attending UM right now--do I care if Michigan fans actually attended the university? Hell no!  The more more merrier....and someday, somewhere, without any warning, I'm sure I will run into an actual WalMart Spartan. They are just difficult to spot because Michigan fans don't give a damn whether an MSU "fan" attended the school or not.  In fact, most Michigan fans don't give a damn about anything MSU does--it is a university in our rear view mirror.  Sparty, on the other hand, just can't seem to get that "other school" out of their minds.  Telling.

As a Middle Tennessee State alum, I have never felt shunned from the Michigan family. I was born in Ypsi, moved to Tennessee young as my parents relocated with General Motors, but I have always been a Michigan fan because that's how I was raised and that's how my parents were raised. Hell, I was singing The Victors when I was six years old. Paying out of state tuition was never going to be an option for me, and I accepted that and moved on.

I love everything about Michigan, go to Michigan 4-6 times a year for games and/or family,and catch a different road game every year, so I can still see all the B1G stadiums. Do I feel like less of a fan because I didn't go to Michigan? No, I actually feel like more of a fan because I've had the pleasure of representing Michigan fandom in the south - especially on a night like tonight when we play the VOLS.

Who flipping cares. If I'm sitting with someone I don't know in a bar on gameday and we're both wearing Michign shirts and rooting for the Wolverines, we're in the same boat. 

Also if you get offended by the use of the phrase "Walmart Wolerine" you're as bad as whoever is calling you that name. Who cares? As my good friend Rodney King once said, can't we all get along? 

I would have loved to, but probably would not have got in since I was a "slacker" in H.S. and pretty much a B+ student, and I my family moved out of state which made financing a UM education tough (impossible). 

The reason I'm a Michigan fan is because of my parents (ironically, a Nebraska grad father and a WMU drop out mom).  But I guess my grandfather being a well-known obstetrician from UM and my mom growing up in Tommy Harmon's old house in Ann Arbor had a lot to do with my fandom.  Plus childhood autumn's and January 1's were frequently filled with family, food and people screaming themselves hoarse at Rick Leach and Anthony Carter, turning down Curt Gowdy TV announcing and substituting with Bob Ufer on the radio. Disappointing game outcomes, but very happy memories.

When we argue amoungst ourselves who are and aren't "Walmart" Wolverines, the Sparty Terrorists have won.

It's a horribly stupid attempt at an insult, created by a paranoid, Napoleon-complex laden fan base of a school whose best academic programs involve farm animals, grass, or cardboard boxes.

Stand proud for what you are, who you are, and whom you choose to support.  Your reasons for doing so, no matter what they are, are better than their reasons for lobbing insults.  Therefore you win.

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio. I started being a Michigan around the 3rd or 4th grade. Just to make things clear, a Michigan fan is somebody who cheers for The University of Michigan sports teams. Someone who graduated from the university is an alumnus/alumna. A wal-mart wolverine is some who might have picked up a michigan hat and heard Michigan was doing good in basketbasll this year and now thinks they are an expert on all things U of M.

I find this all mostly silly. If you love the team(s); pay money to watch/support them and are not a bandwagoneer, more power to you. Itinerant pronouns notwithstanding, the only time I get my undies in a twist is when a non-alum uses "us" and "we" and that person is being an ass: when their behavior at a game or tailgate misrepresents the core Michigan values of being above the fray and, even if feigning, respectful of other opponents and schools. That goes for fellow alums too.

Unless it's Notre Dame or tOSU, then feel free to abuse those miscreants. 

I thought it was about time for us to rehash this argument in the form of another 100+ post thread. Really selling the whole "it doesn't bother me" thing well again here. 

You're all Wolverines in my book, and you're all welcome at my tailgate . . . except that cunthole Steve.  

Because if you're a MSU alum/fan shopping at Big Lots and Save-a-Lot, Walmart might as well be Tiffany's.

I did not attend Michigan. I was simply raised to bleed Maize and Blue by an alumnus. I served in the Army and later attended WMU and (yes, I know) MSU. I do not call myself a "Wolverine" because I don't feel I've personally earned the right to do so, and I don't use "we" when referring to the team (I pretty consistently avoid doing that with any team I follow, be it Wolverines, Red Wings, Tigers, et. al), however I hate the elitism inherent in telling others who they can and can't be fans of and what terminology they can and can't use.  

On the Friday of the B1G Tourney I was at a bar in downtown Lansing. A couple who were State fans came and sat by me. From things I overheard, the guy was definitely MSU faculty, I don't think the woman was even educated at all but who knows. They had absolutely zero to say about the Michigan game, until Illinois closed to within low single digits, and then, utterly predictably, the woman suddenly takes notice and starts loudly rooting for Illinois in the most obnoxious manner possible. The guy was also but he at least wasn't being a loudmouth annoying jackass about it. But, that's something that's going to happen when you're in a bar, so I did my best to ignore it. I did make sure to clap conspicuously loudly at the conclusion of the game, just to piss her off.

Anyhow, OSU and Nebraska were on next, and they said something about hoping OSU loses. The bartender, with whom they had been chatting enough to give me the impression they were quasi-regulars and at least kind of knew her, chimed in that she also hopes they lose, because she is a Michigan fan. I was amazed at how both patrons' tones, especially the woman's, immediately changed from how friendly they'd been up until that point. "Oh, really? A Michigan fan, huh?," she asked in a very condescending manner. The bartender then had to circle around to the other side of the bar to take care of someone, and the woman began snickering and mocking her for being a bartender as soon as she was out of earshot. "Well, you know, Michigan's the default school for the 'unaffiliated' fans of this state," the guy said in his own snobbish tone, but nowhere nearly as mean as what the woman was saying. It took everything I had to resist saying something to them, but I'm not gonna lie, I was a few heavy drafts deep and it was probably not a good time for a confrontation. So I instead just waited until they left and told the bartender what they said, since I was sure they frequented the place on something approaching a regular basis. I hope she's rude as hell to them next time they're in. Fuck people like that. 

I appreciate that anyone can be a MIchigan fan.

I would just gently remind people who didn't go the university that those of us who did have a far different connection to this place than they do. That's just how it is. It's not to denegrate fanhood or to say one fan is better than another, but rather to acknowledge there are different kinds of fans. 

What is a like term for MSU. Would it be a Spartan Store Spartan?

I have been a Michigan football season ticket holder since 2001 -- and attended almost all home games since then. I've missed very few. Yes, I missed The Horror. But also yes, I missed PSU 2005. So hey, I guess that's the universe evening itself out for me, if you will. Let it be also noted for the record that I suffered through all home losses to OSU since 2001, both of the "cold rain" NW games, Oregon 2007, and Toledo 2008.

But if people think I'm a "Wal-Mart Wolverine"? I really don't care.I couldn't afford at the time to attend an out-of-state university, and I had no scholarship assistance out-of-state. I am friends with a guy who graduated from U-M, same age as me, and he hasn't been to a single game since he graduated. Is he a better fan than I am? More importantly -- does it really matter?

I can't stand labels. People are gonna root for who they root for. It's as simple as that. It could be some five-year old kid in Utah who happens to see the winged helmet on TV and says, "hey, that looks neat!" and then a lifelong fanship is forged on the spot, regardless of whether or not he later chooses, or even has the opportunity to choose, to attend U-M himself.

If I'm a Wal-Mart Wolverine, well, consider me the Sam fucking Walton of all of them.

As to MSU fans using this term, it's not that huge of a deal to me. Fans will always have things they call opposing fans, it's just part and parcel of fandom. And I can understand an MSU grad being very rightfully offended when a Michigan non-alum fan belittles their education. When it does annoy me is...

1. when it gets into socioeconomic condescension, as in my story above. That bartender said nothing to denigrate MSU, they started in on her anyway because being a bartender and a Michigan fan placed her "beneath" them.

2. when they assume it's a "bandwagon" thing. I started watching Michigan football at an age when every game existed in its own vacuum to me, winning streaks and championships did not factor into the equation. All I knew was it was Saturday and it meant a riotous afternoon with my Dad and his buddies watching the game. Sorry I happened to pick up a liking for Michigan football with my weekly exposure to that, but at age 6 I assure you it had nothing to do with win-loss records.

3. when they pretend their own fan base doesn't have its own legions of embarrassing knuckleheads with no connection to East Lansing.