Most unusual place you ran into a Michigan fan
I was in small fishing village in Nicargua and was wearing a Michigan hat. I got a loud "Go Blue" from a man who was apparently Costa Rican.
I also got a "Go Blue" in Ireland, which I thought was interesting since I assume they are big ND fans.
Anyone else?
Nice!
Many from our tour had stopped at one of the large towers on top of the wall and were trying to take pictures. A young woman asked if we would like her to take pictures of everyone. We gave her about a dozen cameras and she proceeded to snap away. As she returned my camera, she recognized that I was wearing an alumni watch. She was alumna as well.
When I lived in southern CA, I had vanity plates MGOBLO. I got lots of honks and waves on the freeways!
Are you sure those were friendly honks? A lot of Buckeye fans have bumper stickers that say "M Go Blow."
Rio de janeiro. I also got a screw rich rod from a jilted wvu alum.
......but appropriate for me, on a tour of a Belgian brewery.
The most unusual place I've ever met a Buckeye fan was in church
I was really surprised to see a Michigan shirt in Dublin, Ireland this summer (and no, they don't really root for Notre Dame...or any American team). I will say, however, that if you happen to meet some staff in the Dublin City Public Library who care about Michigan football...that is totally my doing. :-D
What was weirder was that I actually found a Buckeye first, at a pub in Temple Bar (I know, I know, but I was staying just a few blocks away and it was early days). I was wearing a Michigan hoodie and I heard, out of nowhere, "F*** Michigan!" She was a Buckeye, but we hung out for the night and I think really impressed the Irish guy with how much we got into it over sports. It's weird, but like onelise14 said, it really makes you feel at home to find even Buckeyes abroad. I try to explain it like Manchester United v. Liverpool or Cork v. Kerry but it's a bit different yet.
Good to see we're all over!
The day we were playing OSU - got a "Go Blue, good luck against the buckeyes".
Pegasus Airfield Antarctica....Balad AB Iraq....Mosul,Iraq....Ali Al Salem AB Kuwait....Baghram AB Afganistan....Kandahar AB Afganistan....etc. Had my block M flag flying in the back of C130 cargo plane and was greeted with either a "GO BLUE" or anti-blue talk. You'd be pleasently surprised how many of our Armed Forces are Michigan fans!!
You are very well traveled and I am impressed about Antarctica.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:00 PM ^
This thread demonstrates how far and wide Michigan fans and alumni are dispersed. It's amazing sometimes.
I want to illustrate this a different way. I spent Christmas break with the family in Disney World in 2009. Michigan was not playing in a bowl that year, but Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa and Northwestern were all playing in bowl games in Florida that year. I predictably saw a lot of fans of those schools, including members of PSU's marching band. However, I still saw more shirts, hats, and sweatshirts that said Michigan than any other school. Not only are Michigan fans everywhere, they are proud to wear their stuff when they are out.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:02 PM ^
Long Beach, MS. Not as cool as some of the others, but I was shocked. I was in "A" school at NAS Pensacola, and two of my friends were from Long Beach. We would drive there on weekends and hang out. It was cool to get off base for a bit. Anywho, I was wearing my M hat and this guy comes up and starts talking about the '97 season. (It was in 1999) He lived his whole life in Mississippi, but always liked Michigan. I was shocked to find a fellow fan in SEC country.
(Insert Cool Story Bro here)
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
This whole thread is one giant cool story bro. You'll be ok.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
Well I am one of those weird fans....¬¬
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^
Im an airline pilot and I see the Block M everywhere...it really surprises me when you go into some of these dives and see someone sportin the M...as always, "Go Blues" are mandatory greetings
I really don't want to see "airline pilot" and "going into some dives" in the same sentence.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:08 PM ^
I was wearing my Jalen Rose jersey on the beach in Costa Rica last month and got a Go Blue as well from a local Costa Rican. I usually run into a few Michigan fans everytime I'm down there but they are usually just Americans on vacation. Either way I always find it really cool to run into fellow fans in other countries.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:11 PM ^
What really grinds my gears is when you see someone wearing aome sort of Michigan attire and you ask them if they're a M fan and they reply with "no, i got this at the thrift store"...i throw up in my mouth a little bit each time
April 24th, 2011 at 12:24 AM ^
Somebody asked me if I got my Michigan Department of Mathematics t-shirt at a thrift store once...
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:11 PM ^
Every time I see a Michigan fan in Columbus (surprisingly a lot!)
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
That's where you can find me, and occasionally a couple of others when they dare to visit!!
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:18 PM ^
Playing a tourney in California at Huntington Beach had a bunch of Go Blue's and talked to a couple fans
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
When I was working in Manila.At one point something like 1/4th of the Senators there were UM Law grads. Turns out that there is a special scholarship at the Law School for Philippine students, set up more than 100 years ago by the UM-grad American governor.
You wouldn't think, but UofM has had close ties with the Philippines for over 100 years.
http://www.umich.edu/~psgsa/Michigan_Philippines.html
I was in Boracay there and a couple people were familiar with UofM. "Good school, good at football, right?"
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
I was on a beach in Miami when somebody noticed my Block M tattoo. We started to talk about the Final Four since it was the Day before the infamous timeout game. On the beach from Miami is not that unusual unless you consider that we were both from Montreal. I've never seen him before or since.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^
Went on a fishing trip there with 3 buddies of mine. 2 of them are Spartans. Literally got off the plane and the 4 guys getting on were all Michigan grads. Had time to talk for about 5 minutes.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Standing on a dock in Northern Ontario waiting to leave for a fly-out fishing trip, wearing my usual block M hat. I was waiting for the group from the previous week to unload the seaplane and as they got off I got a big "GO BLUE!" from all of the guys in the group. Turns out they lived about 10 minutes away from me. Random!
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:25 PM ^
From bama
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:26 PM ^
I was eating breakfast in the hotel one morning and a guy noticed my sweater with a "M" logo. He asked if I was an alum, and I responded that I was. He told me that he was an adjunct professor and was visiting KUL.
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:29 PM ^
To be fair, Cape Town is a very cosmopolitan city. And this was at the airport. Still, I saw this teny ear old wearing a Michigan 2004 Rose Bowl sweatshirt, and hollered out a hearty "GO BLUE!" That kid's big wide smile was priceless.
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^
Sallalah, Oman
<br>He said he was a grad.
<br>
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^
And the guy who had the M hat on (I was the guy who said, "Go Blue" in this story) turned out to be the husband of Congresswoman Blanche Lincoln, later Senator Blanche Linclon. He's a U-M M.D.
April 23rd, 2011 at 11:42 PM ^
While studying abroad in Europe, I spent a weekend in Zurich, Switzerland. They have this tall clocktower/restaurant where you can see the entire city. On my way up wearing a Michigan hat I got a "Go Blue" from an old man that could barely walk. We ended up having a short conversation about the state of Michigan athletics (It was 2008, so.... yeah....)
April 24th, 2011 at 12:10 AM ^
Being in my mid twenties, I have plenty of time for this to change, but so far my most unusual place isn't that unusual I guess. When I started a new job out in Phoenix a few years ago, on my first day, my cubicle ended up being right next to a fellow Ann Arbor native and U of M fan. Again, since Phoenix has one of the largest number of Michigan alums this side of the country, it isn't too rare, but its the most unusual place I've met a fellow Wolverine.
My dad's most unusual place for meeting a fellow fan makes for a much better story than mine however. When he went to China about 10 years back, his tour guide ended up being an avid and knowledgeable Michigan (and bad boys era Pistons) fan.
Go Blue!
April 24th, 2011 at 12:45 AM ^
Munich, Germany. 2006, day after we beat down ND. I was walking through Munich, wearing Mich gear, and got a GO BLUE randomly. Cool guy, ended up drinking together the rest of the day in celebration.
I was at the base of a gigantic Buddha statue wearing my Mike Hart #20 away jersey and two Chinese guys in their late 20's walked up and asked if it was a Michigan jersey. When I said yes they replied "Go Blue", fist pump and all. They knew of Michigan through a friend who did a semester in Ann Arbor and traveled to the Flint campus as well. They said he brought back video of football, hockey and basketball gmaes and they thought they were amazing.
It wasn't actually a run; more of a planned out, half trotting effort. We were both pleased with the final score.
I met a chick at a bar and when i went to her house to you know what. She took her pants off and she had michigan underwear on. Greatest nite ever!
On the tube in London when I was on a backpacking trip (decked out in my maize student section t-shirt), I heard two dudes humming the Victors and spun around to receive a resounding "Go Blue!"
Also met an ex-MMB member on a boat heading to a small island (Vieques) in Puerto Rico. Proceeded to have an half hour discussion on Michigan Football.
Never fails to make my day to meet great Wolverine fans around the world
The most unusual place I ran into a Michigan fan was a a soccer game in Switzerland, although the guy probably and rightfully thinks I'm the weird and obscure Michigan fan ;-) I'm from the Prinicipality of Liechtenstein and in 2008 the local soccer club I follow (FC Vaduz) managed to advance to the highest Swiss soccer league. The first game took place in Lucerne and in the guest sector I came across a Michigan student travelling through Europe who was really amazed to meet guy who had "The Victor" as a ring tone ;-)
Jogging near the Waterfront shopping area. It's always nice to hear the "Go Blue".
Young guy working behind the check-in gate pulls me out of line as we are about to enter the plane and upgrades us from coach to first-class because I am wearing my "M" hat. Says he is a huge M fan and hates Buckeyes loud enough for all to hear. Classic.
I had a near death experience.... God loves rocking the maize and blue (though he seems to have a thing against our DBs)... He also said the devil always wears red.
I will be going to Turkey next week. I will be wearing my Block M hat. We'll see what kind of response I get.
April 24th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
You'll get beaten up by Galatasaray fans thinking you're wearing a Fenerbahce hat.
...I figure I just tell them I'm half Ottoman and call it Constantinople, I should be OK
not sure that'll endear you to any Turks/Ottomans.
"Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks!"
April 24th, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
My brother and I were buying a memory card at some camera shop in Beijing, and the cashier asked us where we were from. We said "Michigan," and from the back of the store, an old man yelled, "University of Michigan- many great champion!" He turned out to be the owner. This was 2006, and he really really wanted to talk about the Pistons and their great champions as well. Awesome.