Michigan Football Fandom Peak
September 1st, 2013 at 2:51 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 6:23 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^
Seconded. The facilities arms race is also ridiculous.
September 1st, 2013 at 9:13 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^
I will always love Michigan, but all of the reasons listed above, as well as the ridiculous conference realignment tearing apart traditional regional rivalries, have really put a dent in my interest in college football on the whole. It's hard to get excited about a future with Maryland and Rutgers as B1G "rivals."
I used to watch CFB from noon to midnight every Saturday, now I usually just watch the M game and flip around for a few minutes here and there throughout the day.
September 1st, 2013 at 2:56 AM ^
has only served to elevate my "fandom" throughout college (class of '10) and today. I'd say I am twice the fan I was when I graduated. Answer: Current
September 1st, 2013 at 10:20 AM ^
Same for me, I think. Well, I've become more of a fan of college football in general probably thanks to mgoblog and the analytic way of thinking about football that it introduced me to. I can say that my love of Michigan football has also never been higher, but at the same time I think my emotional reactivity to football has been tempered over the years. Maybe the Rich Rodriguez experiment brought me back down to Earth, and living out of state with friends and colleagues from all over the country has helped me learn to be diplomatic and get along with other fans a little more. So, my enjoyment of Michigan football is at an all-time high this very moment, as well as my understanding of it. However, I generally won't punch holes in walls when things don't break our way.
September 1st, 2013 at 3:02 AM ^
for cuz i like to watch michigan win, but also because I think Denard was the most exciting player I ever remember watching, and it would have easily been more enjoyable than youth had we been better.
September 1st, 2013 at 3:24 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 3:32 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 5:03 AM ^
My fandom is actually going pretty well at this juncture. My therapist is pleased with its progress and reiterates his recommendation that we not try any more coaching changes more drastic than a position group guy for awhile.
September 1st, 2013 at 5:21 AM ^
For me, things like work and kids came along and mattered a lot more. I love being a fan of Michigan sports and spend a lot of time and some money on them but the outcomes don't impact my day to day well being. I really enjoy knowing more about the student athletes than I did in the past.
September 1st, 2013 at 6:07 AM ^
Interesting question and hard to compare different stages of fandom. Football wise, I could never top being a kid, wearing my #1 AC jersey in the park playing football and imagining I was AC himself. Then I'd go home and play with my electric football set - Michigan (Rams) vs. MSU (Eagles) or Iowa (Steelers) or USC (Redskins) or Indiana (KC).... or OSU, but there was no good NFL substitute good enough - SF was best.
I was a diehard Michigan football fan at the age of around 10.
But when the Fab Five came to town and I was finishing uni myself, that is when I bleed maize and blue for Michigan basketball. Those days included my most loyal and passionate following of what happened on the court.
September 1st, 2013 at 6:45 AM ^
I like to think that I am as big a fan now as I was when I was at Michigan, but I think what has changed for me is that I am a much more studious and informed fan now than I was then. Not only of Michigan athletics, but of football.
I think that, when I was in my late teens, I appreciated the action a little more than the strategy as I knew far less about that. Over the years, I have come to appreciate both highly, and really, that makes the game in general - Michigan football included - markedly more entertaining for me.
As someone talked about above, life changes the sort of "fan" one is too. Now that I am 35 years old, married with children and working for the man, the emotional investment in losses, for example, is different and far milder than it might have been about 15 years ago.
September 1st, 2013 at 7:33 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 7:04 AM ^
Read his statement after being released from the Patriots.
September 1st, 2013 at 8:36 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 8:37 AM ^
24-12 sold me for my life and I was 15 then. Prior to that, I was a bit of a State fan (10-10 tie with ND, Duffy Daugherty years) but I was too young then to know any better. I've followed recruiting closer than I ever have before since Hoke came to town and that has really added a new dimension to game watching for me. It's fun watching these young guys that we've been reading about get a chance to make their mark out on the field. Dymonte had me out of my chair with the blocked punt.
September 1st, 2013 at 8:45 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 9:04 AM ^
Moved to Ohio as a kid. So pretty much the entire dominant run of the 90's over Ohio would be my peak. The last twelve years or so have been mostly hell.
September 1st, 2013 at 9:41 AM ^
I have always watched whatever game was available on TV. As much as I hate ESPN, I am grateful for moar football coverage, and then HDTV back channels, and BTN as well.
At sea, the watch officer on the bridge would give a "Good Morning Yorktown" news announcement right after reveille. My radiomen would send up the ap wire, and we'd cover news and finish with sports scores. Michigan's sports scores were always highlighted when I had the watch.
For the longest while it was just me watching the games. When Chris Webber called that time out, my wife learned not to have throwable objects anywhere in my vicinity, and what types of obscenities are reserved for the worst cases any sailor could encounter. (Though she should have know as early as watching Michigan loose to Auburn in the Sugar Bowl.) So the kids were kept busy elsewhere in their early years.
Sometime before the Horror - I started scanning the Detroit media online every day. It was hard when my son started Pop Warner because the games were on Saturdays. I had to debate between reading the score update texts or waiting to watch the DVR. This probably saved me though because I did not go find a bar that had BTN to watch the Horror.
I found MGoBlog when the Freep launched practicegate, and then the obsession truly began.
Even better my son shifted to middle school and now JV ball - and his games are no longer on Saturday. Along the way he also became a Michigan fan, and we have a grand old time. The only problem is NFL Redzone has made him unable to watch one game at a time. So there is some heated discussion around where the PiP should be on the screen and when to switch back ... favorite father son TV moment however is Roy Roundtree's catch Under the Lights.
Anyway, while there are more ways to feed my fandom now, I would say I have been a died in the wool fan since we beat Washington State on Sept 10, 1983.
September 1st, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^
I was a student at UM from 1983-1989 which certainly increased the activity of my fandom as I went to every game. In the years since my interest is just as high even though I don't make it to Ann Arbor frequently.
September 1st, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 10:09 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
September 1st, 2013 at 11:05 AM ^
I'm still a huge fan and I believe I always will be, but I don't think it will ever get better than being a kid and being a fan. Being completely ignorant to all of the dark sides of college football and just idolizing the players. Spending hours outside imagining myself as the A-train, Griese, Brady, etc.
September 1st, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
I was 9 years old in 1997: Red Wings win first Stanley Cup in 40+ years, Michigan goes undefeated to win the National Championship, Charles Woodson wins the Heisman. Hard to top that year.
September 1st, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^