OT: What's a Wal Mart Wolverine?
Hey everybody! I was poking my head around ESPN's NCAA page and I came across a conversation board or what ever and the term "wal mart" wolverine kept coming up and I honestly have no idea what they were talking about? I take it that it's suppose to be derogatory? I don't understand why though.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:52 PM ^
those kids are showing toughness.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
your girlfriend, woof.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:51 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^
for Michigan fans who didn't actually attend UM. In other words, state fans are pissed because Michigan has a larger fanbase.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^
Not everybody has that kind of money and can go to expensive schools. That's actually really offensive. You don't have to cheer for teams in your state or city if you don't want to.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
You're new here, so it's okay, but "MSU" and "offensive" are usually in the same sentence.
Unless you're talking about football.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:58 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 5:47 PM ^
Yeah, it's Sparty rage over not having a national fan base.
It's one of the most ridiculous charges one fan can levy against another.
For example, although I went to Michigan and was born in the state, growing up, I lived much closer to Chicago than I did Detroit. So, seeing as I am not from Detroit, and lived closer to Chicago, does that make me a Walmart Wings fan? Do I have to root for the Blackhawks, and all other Chicago sports teams?
I also cheer for several local division II and III schools. Am I no longer allowed to do that? Does that lessen my fandom?
It's dumb, and typical Sparty behavior.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:47 PM ^
I would have to start rooting for the playoff-fearing Blue Jackets! Maybe I could just pull out my toenails with a pair of pliers.
In all seriousness, Sparty isn't a factor in central Ohio and Michigan is, and that's pretty much the way things are, and have been as long as I can remember. I didn't see any State fans until I came to Michigan.
November 6th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
I did that once...seriously...toe got infected...it was nasty...hmmm nothing to see here, keep moving.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:39 PM ^
Actually, you're a Walmart Wing because you're not part of the franchise. If you didn't play for the team or work in the front office somehow, rooting for the team makes you a huge, delusional loser.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 9:57 PM ^
When clearly Meijer has better gear?
November 6th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
It's the epitome of jealousy breeding resentment. Success creates a larger fanbase. People in the state who didn't go to to MSU that support MSU basketball are just "smart fans" while non alumni Michigan fans are denigrated. Welcome to the logic of Sparty.
November 6th, 2011 at 10:25 PM ^
most die hard sparty fans didn't attend MSU and that sparty swag is sold at Wallmart.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
They also deep down wish that somehow they were born UM fans. They secretly wish they had some childhood event, even something as minor as watching the game with their father---or having a trip to the Big House as their first ever sporting event, to remove the burden of being stuck with MSU.
November 11th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
A lot of Michigan students and alumn use it as well. I've always used it to describe people who are Michigan fans but have no other meaningful affiliation with the university (e.g. not an alumn or someone who has a parent/sibling/mentor who attended and imparted the spirit of Michigan Men, ect.) and equate them with the people who aren't from New York and wear Yankees hats and all Duke fans.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 10:00 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
I thought you were past clarity?
<br>
November 7th, 2011 at 12:00 AM ^
It's still the liqour talking
November 6th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
It's the call of the insecure.
They're typically green with envy.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
And having people who cheer for your team is bad how? I could care less if you went to school at M or not. If you support this team and aren't a total asshole, you are in club M. Period.
November 11th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
Interestingly enough, they stole their color combination from a certain school in Ypsilanti.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
They're no better than anyone else? I don't get it :/
November 6th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
Nobody does.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
No one outside the state of Michigan cares about State. They don't have much of a fan base outside alumni. They cope with this by acting like having fans outside the alumni base is a bad thing.
Don't worry. Nothing they do makes sense to us, either.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
Michigan has a huge following of both alums and just regular people who want to cheer for Michigan. MSU's fan base is mostly alumni and family members.
Or so goes the common wisdom.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^
I actually have a friend who went to Michigan with me and is a huge Spartan fan. He hates Michigan with an undying passion but realized that it was a better school so he chose to attend U of M over MSU.
He once called a friend of mine who was visiting a "Walmart Wolverine," so I started calling him a "Save-a-Lot Spartan," which irks him to no end seeing as he and I received the same education.
I don't refer to any other non-MSU alums who happen to be fans as Save-a-Lot Spartans (in part because that would make me a hypocritical douche), just him.
Serves him right.
November 6th, 2011 at 10:42 PM ^
Does he wear axe?
November 11th, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
a sparty fan in Lansing. Unlike your friend though, I was able to utilize the higher education I received at UM to become a Wolverine. Grandparents, aunts/uncles were/are die hard State fans, my parents have graduate degrees from state... but my older brother and sister paved the way out of town to a better education.
The funny thing is, I used to root for State except against UM of course. Then I lived in socal for many years and came to see and experience the irrational and "udder" hatred of most State fans for anything UM. So now I'm back in A2 and living with no respect for MSU's football program. Izzo I can respect but the rest of the fans/program? No thanks.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^
In their minds, it's somehow qualitatively different if you cheer for MSU but did not go there. I think they welcome the publicity in some odd way.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
Ok then what about State fans that didn't attend MSU?
They seem to take some pride in the fact that there aren't any.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^
I happen to know more State fans who went elsewhere for college than I do fans who actually went to MSU.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:51 PM ^
I know many people who are MSU fans but couldn't even get into MSU. They actually are, in fact, no better than anyone else.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
You're right that it is supposed to be derogatory. It is usually used by Michigan State fans to describe a fan of Michigan who never went to the school. As a graduate of Michigan, I still don't understand the logic of the insult.
Let's take a family as an example. Say that I have kids, and being an enormous fan of Michigan I will of course raise them to be fans. MSU fans couldn't possibly make the argument that since my young kids haven't gone to Michigan (yet) that they have no right to cheer for the program. But say now that my kids grow up watching, cheering, supporting, and loving Michigan their entire childhood and early adulthood. If my kids choose to go to other Universities, why should they suddenly stop being a fan of the program they have always loved?
The fact that it is meant to be an insult is beyond me.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
my two favorite things...walmart and wolverines
November 6th, 2011 at 5:45 PM ^
Wal Mart Wolverine is actually a derogatory term utilized by other Big Ten schools' disdain for Michigan alums' prowess for identifying low-cost retailers to fully stretch their food and incidental budgets in the midst of economic uncertainty.
Basically, State alums are angry because they spent their income on cases of Natty Ice and upholstered couches in 2008 while we Wolverines adapted.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:49 PM ^
Were promptly burned.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:47 PM ^
That is so wrong and judgmental. People like that are the reason society sucks. I'm sure East Lansing is a Harvard like town filled with yachts, mansions and people with Armani suits. That's disgusting.
I'm glad we kicked the shit out of them now.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:54 PM ^
It's quite a relief to hear this from a fan of another school.
Each and every year, regardless of the outcome of the game, I get showered in shit from my State friends (from high school; I'm from the Detroit area) about how the fan bases and students of each school are just as dickheaded and classless as the other.
It's just not true. Michigan State has a major douche infection and I'm glad you're acknowledging this.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:49 PM ^
....for making sure MSU basically couldn't start a sentence, much less an offensive series.
I know we play Nebraska in a couple weeks, but I can respect a fan of any team more once they have seen the real Sparty.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
Welcome to the B1G!!!! You have experienced the douchery of Sparty. Michigan Ski-Mask University. Taking into account how bad you guys killed them, just imagine what you would be experiencing if you guys had actually lost to them.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:52 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 5:52 PM ^
Sparty's have changed their tune somewhat... more recent defintions include "Michigan fans who cheer for MSU in basketball" (who generally don't exist outside of people who don't care about sports at all) or "white trash Michigan fans who would be the object of scorn in Ann Arbor" (not even remotely accurate).
Still the single most idiotic "insult" ever
November 6th, 2011 at 6:41 PM ^
I liked MSU basketball last year. That offense they run is top notch. Everyone just hovers around the three point line and throws up bombs. Throw it in with shitty defense and terrible rebounding and you have the post cavs debacle Spartans. Can't wait to see them again this year.
November 6th, 2011 at 5:57 PM ^
I grew up in Michigan, but went to a private college that didn't have a football team. Not that it mattered much, I was raised watching guys like Howard and Edwards play so I became a fan. I'm willing to bet that a large portion of any state school's fan base is made up of people that never attended the university.
November 6th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
And I grew up in Michigan and went to another state school that didn't gave a D1 football team, Michigan Tech. I started rooting for Michigan when I was about 10 or so during the early Schembechler era and have consistantly supported them since, even when they've been down like the last few years.
I ended up marrying a Michigan alumn and my daughter is a freshman there, so I guess I'm sort of legit now. But my wife's brother, who is an UofM alumn, actually questioned my right to wear a Michigan hat a couple of years ago, so MSU fans aren't the only ones who look down at non-alumn fans.