Other school's opinion of Michigan/Rivalries
I'm a grad student at Illinois and finished being an undergrad at Michigan. People ask me from time to time whether I was cool with going to Illinois considering the ongoing Michigan-Illinois rivalry, which I was completely unaware of. Apparently Illinois fans think they have a rivalry with Michigan. One random fellow in a video store told me something along the lines of "we don't like those colors in here". (These are the exceptions, not the rule, over my year here. The remarks also seem to be mainly a way to start a conversation, not a threat or anything.)
My question is, have other Michigan fans had similar experiences going to Big Ten schools that are not Ohio State or Michigan State? And how would you all define a rivalry?
For instance, I'd say that we only have "rivalries" with Ohio State, Michigan State, and Notre Dame, in that order. Does this one-sided definition of rivalry come up a lot for other schools?
For some reason this pops up every once and a while. Michigan and Illinois are only rivals in that they play against each other. I don't see how they could be a rival like tOSU, MSU, or ND. The history just isn't there.
I completely agree. Although history is odd, because it's not enough by itself... We have history against Minnesota, but it doesn't really count as a rivalry to me or a lot of other Michigan fans, not compared to the other three.
I could see why Penn State would be angry (1997-2007) and Wisconsin would be angry (2006, or just even years honestly). I really don't get Illinois, Purdue, and especially not Indiana. We haven't had overlapping strengths, and I think it takes that + history (or some weird stunt by one team) to really make a rivalry.
I guess other schools just define rivalry differently than us; by their definition, we'd probably have Wisconsin as a rivalry. It's been quite even the past five years, the programs had similar styles until last year, and there was the glorious upset last year to add some flavor. But it just doesn't mean much compared to what we already have.
"We have history against Minnesota, but it doesn't really count as a rivalry to me or a lot of other Michigan fans"
Don't be so sure. The hate burns deep.
Fuckin' geauxfurs.
From my experience, everyone hates Michigan. Penn State doesn't like us too much, I can assure you of that. Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana don't either.
But I agree with you. The only teams that I consider "rivals", are OSU, MSU and ND...maybe with a little Penn State peppered in if they can beat us more often.
I've been to PSU, UW, NW, MSU in my time as a student and WE think that we are only rivals with OSU, MSU, and ND (I really hate ND seriously I'd rather beat them over OSU *please don't down point me I just have a thing against ND it didn't really start happening until fat Charlie got there).
Anyways, like Raback said pretty much every big ten team hates us (probably because they envy us). I went to NW after we beat them (and after we had lost to App State) and there were these nerdy NW guys playing on a crappy guitar singing a song making fun of Michigan and how we lost to a D-1AA team (this being after the game). I was like "Didn't you just lose to the team that lost to App State?" He was like "Yeah so what you guys suck hahaha"
So yeah every school hates us because they have penis envy
nerdy guys, misfits, self-taught guitarists, the socially retarded and criminally unfunny at every school in the universe. On game days, those same people are frequently drunk.
What I'm saying is that you may not have chosen a representative sample of the NU student body.
By the way I wasn't the one who voted you down.
But it's NW they shouldn't talk trash to anyone about football.
But yeah for whoever keeps going through and -1'ing me for everything that I post it's getting really annoying and it's starting to piss me off.
But it's Northwestern, not North Western. We're NU. NW is however useful when orienteering.
Oh, and while NU was at one time a joke of a football program, during my lifetime we have one outright and two shared Big Ten Championships. I'm not saying that Northwestern is an elite program, but we're far from being cellar-dwellers any more.
Edit: and that's still not me voting you down.
of the above mentioned groups I've offended. The guitarists?
Not me, but that's likely because I took private lessons for 8 years.
ARROGANCE
When I lived in the Chicago area, I was amazed at how some fans hated UM. I think that there is a direct relationship between the number of times a team beats you and your perception of a rivalry. Ergo, many Big Ten teams see UM as a "rivalry game."
1) Minne$ota. obviously
2) Chicago Maroons. Amos Alonzo Stagg eats babbies.
3) ND. Catholics... [shakes head]
4) Army. Damn you, Doc Blanchard!!!!
5) OSU. they are a better Ag school than you, sparty. deal with it.
6) Michigan State Aggies.
This is literally how the list would look in 1935. Awesome.
LOLPHER$
" Rivals, in order of importance:
1) Minne$ota. obviously"
THANK YOU! Just. Fucking. Thank you. Sometimes I don't understand our fans. The greatest trick the geauxfurs ever pulled was convincing the world the rivalry didn't exist.
Fuckin' geauxfurs.
People thought I was crazy talking about how wack Illini fans are.
http://mgoblog.com/content/msu-rivalry-bigger-we-think?page=1#comment-1…
There is NO rivalry Illinois . . . EAT IT!
What do you expect from any school in the Big Ten that has mass-produced "Muck Fichigan" shirts?
That's pretty much all of them.
for it to be a rivalry they have to be playing for something. M and Ohio because they have run the big ten. M MSU in-state dominance. M ND who can be most arrogant( come on you have to admit that it's true). I agree that penn state is the next closest thing but no one else is even close
I'm sure Minnesota thinks they have a rivalry with us (they kinda do I guess-just not as good as the othere 3) because we play for a trophy.
I would say PSU is a bigger rival because the game (at least recently) has been significant in the big ten title picture
Actually last year during the Minnesota game the commentator mentioned that a lot of Minnesota players don't even view it as a rivalry anymore because they never ever ever win.
Brewster made that comment in the context that he wanted to make it a rivalry, obviously this backfired.
Damn right.
Pretty anti-Minny sig. I nothing them.
You're not a MICHHHHHH MAN unless you hate the LOLpher$.
You are a true Michigan Man.
Bullshit! The rivalry is alive and well, and those burrowing rodents know it.
I once went to a lolpher$ game with my Grandma. Those classless Gofur fans swore at her, called her a dried up old whore, threw cups full of beer and pennies at her, pulled her wig off, stole her orthepedic shoes, threatened not to fund medicare or social security, hacked her 401k account, and years later after she died they went and pissed on her grave.
That's a geauxfur fan for ya, and that's the rivalry. Never forgive; never forget.
i think hockey may play into it too since you know, the whole state of minnesota thinks they have a monopoly on hockey and michigan is one of the few schools with a better hockey program
I never had the impression that the average fan considered Michigan a rival, or felt any particular dislike for Michigan in general. In fact, everyone I knew there was well aware that I'd grown up a Michigan fan, and would still root for the Wolverines against all non-NU opponents. Nobody ever bothered me about it.
Before the University administration destroyed all of our fun, NU had some of the best tailgates in the conference, and I recall partying with Michigan fans quite peacefully.
I live in Central Illinois and man do Illinois fans hate Michigan... I have seen shirts that say Fuck Michigan, Muck Fichigan, and Ann Arbor is a Whore...
They just don't get that UM doesn't care much about Illannoy... The games mean alot to me because I have to deal with all the Illannoy fans on a daily basis...its awful!
win games every once in awhile against a given team to call it a rivalry? How many times has IL beating UofM in the last 30 years?
IL has only beaten MI 6 times (6!) since 1966.....
http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/FBSeriesRecords.h…
I was recently informed of our rivalry w/ Illinois. I was not aware of it for the past 25 years. I also recently had a Wisconsin fan be upset w/ my MIchigan shirt but when I said that is something I would expect from a Buckeye he said "we hate them too." Personally if I were walking down the street in Ann Arbor I wouldn't look twice unless I saw an Ohio State shirt. I acknowledge ND and MSU as rivalries but I don't worry about them or what they are doing too much. I guess when you are such a successful team and beat programs year in and year out people are going to want to beat you more and not like you.
I go to a small DIII school in Minnesota with a lot of gopher and badger fans and they all hate on Michigan, uw fans especially. I think its just due to the fact that Michigan has owned the Big Ten for so long that we just have a target on our backs. Despite last years 3-9 season at least we beat Wisco and the Gophs so that I could still have bragging rights, which is why i love yvgeni's "45th parallel" wallpaper.
http://nothingisilluminated.com/?attachment_id=137
didn't know anyone noticed this one. glad you liked it.
The Illinois thing is weirdly one sided. We did something to piss them off and Bo was apparently mad over Moeller being shitcanned and their AD voting for Ohio State over us in '73 after promising to vote for us... it's complicated and weird.
My dad always told me Illinois didn't like us because they thought we turned them in for recruiting violations back in the 1980s under Bo. The kid they were recruiting ended up at Michigan so they assumed we were the culprits. I'm not sure if anything ever came of it or if this can be confirmed but I think that is where I heard their hatred of Michigan started.
On another note, the idea of everyone hating Michigan was on full display when I was at the Big Ten tournament a few years ago. When a school's fans were shown on the video screen all other fans of the school would begin cheering as well, with little or no reaction from fans of other schools. This continued on until they eventually showed a guy in a Michigan sweatshirt and the entire place started booing. Ironically, I've never been happier to be a Michigan fan. It was awesome.
Bo poured it on Illini one year after Mo got canned. I think Tony Eason may have been the QB, Illinois was a good team and jumped to a 21-7 lead on Michigan. I was shitting my pants worried we were going to lose but Michigan put 63 unanswered on them to win 70-21. This is to the best of my recollection.
EDIT: I see Tater beat me to this further down the thread
just read Bo's Lasting Lessons, and he talked about running it up on the Illini the next season too, because of how Moe was treated.
I have hate in my heart for ohio state and ND so that a rivalry . I love playing MSU because i have a lot sparty friends so it's fun to argue and fight so i would consider that a rivalry but there isn't anyone else that i care about. I don't memorize the date of the Illinois game(10/31) like i do MSU(10/3), ND(9/12), and OSU(11/21)
I consider USC a rival. It's definitely one-sided in their favor, overall, but it is a bit like how tOSU feels in our rivalry with them, I suppose. For the record, we are undefeated against the Trojans in regular season play, which makes it a bit more "rivalrous".... let's drag their sun-baked candy asses up here more often and see if things change direction. Maybe have a Froze Bowl in the Big House with 'em on Jan. 1 some time
As for the Illini who think there's a rivalry, I'm glad they're the exception and not the rule
I agree with this.
This is the same thing as Illinois just we are the illini. USC doesn't give a damn about us. They don't even give a damn about the pac10. The only thing USC fans care about is National championships. M hasn't been a national title contender in november (except 2006) in 10 years. so no that is not considered a rivalry.
I think you need to play a rival every year or at least every other year. Everyone loves USC-UM games, but it's not a full-blown rivalry because we don't play them that often.
I think the term "rivalry" is WAY overused. There are a few games each year that I think classify as a rivalry game. Michigan has two. Most other schools have one, maybe.
Mich - OSU
Mich - ND
USC - UCLA
Wash - Wash St.
ND - BC
Texas - OK
Michigan - MSU is a one way rivalry. Seriously. Are you ever scared to play MSU? It's not a rivalry if it doesn't boil your blood.
There are lots of other big games that happen, often time every year, and I'm sure I don't know enough about other schools to place nearly all of them. But I think these are some of the only games that should be classified as "rivalry". Rivalry games should bring out the colors and the hate and the fear and the joy from BOTH schools like nothing else.
It does boil my blood. More so than ND.
There needs to be hate for it to be considered a rivalry. Both sides need to want the other to lose every game they play.
i want ohio state to win every game. that way when we win it makes the win that much more meaningfull. if we kicked a ohio team that lost every game it wouldnt be as meaningful as if we beat a 11-0 team
You have a rivalry with America
Do you realize that if you switched your avatar for the pic, and the pic for the avatar; that this post would be just as sublime.