Question on being a fan

Fuck that. Even if I didn't come here I know I'd still root for UM, no matter what.

the vast majority of residents are OSU fans ... most of which did not attend the university ... and they are some of the most dedicated fans I have ever met. I think UofM needs all the die hard fans it can get.

You can't be a fan, just like that good for nothing "Coach" Schembechler! He didn't go to Michigan and he's a symbol of the school! UNACCEPTABLE!!

/I was talked into going to a small school and regret it, but I'm still a huge fan.

I feel like there was a topic very similar to this a few weeks ago

Edit: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/can-you-be-michigan-man-if

Just tell him you're sorry that your school is reputable enough that it draws a crowd of general fans instead of just alumni and their offspring.

"Walmart Wolverines" are nothing to be ashamed of, they are a testament to the university's tradition and influence. Its why Spartan Stadium only holds about 75,000, while Michigan Stadium could sell out 150,001 (You see that there? That's a little more of what we call tradition, Sparty) most games if we had the room for them.

Plus, you seem to be pretty well connected. Definitely enough so that you're far more than an average general fan. Even if you weren't though, I'd find the fact that he's criticizing Michigan for having a general fanbase to your face somewhat insulting given that you are not an alumni. I don't know the context in which this "friend" of yours said this, but to say that to someone his hot air is meant to impact is pretty rude.

Slightly OT, but but just because this is a convenient place to mention it too, I totally ran into a pair of Spartys (Or is is Sparties?) at a Speedway in Ohio today. I was at BGSU for the day and stopped to take advantage of the cheap gas on the way out. After I thought about where I was for a second I found it funny that I should run into them (I was wearing a #2 football jersey). They seemed to be intentionally avoiding my presence in line behind them.

so you can't be a UM fan because you didn't go to UM, so unless you went go to MSU you can't be a fan there either. I know this team down in south bend..... =)

Honestly just call him a mouth breather, it always makes me feel better when I encounter stupidity

Sparty is trying to capture the "Walmart Wolverine" portion of the fanbase. They ridicule these people in an effort to convert them. There are already tons of Michigan State fans who didn't attend the school, and anyone who says otherwise is completely naive.

I've been a huge Michigan fan my entire life, and this wouldn't have changed had I attended another school. You don't need to be a student/alumni to be a Michigan Man.

K-Spartans.

Like they don't have any bandwagon fans, simply due to basketball. I'm sure none of that ever happens.

I myself never attended Michigan. Born in Michigan, fan of michigan since birth. My grandfather went to Michigan and I believe I would have gone too had I stayed in the state. My family moved when I was 10 and paying my way as an out of stater was just not a possibility.

you won't ever see a bandwagon sparty. Because they just don't have a national presence. Certainly not as much as Michigan does.

Tell your friend that his argument is just another reason that Michigan is better than MSU.

I rock U of M logos on my car (and usually my jacket or hat) and live in St. Louis, MO. This past weekend, when I pulled in to the Valvoline station the attendant saw the sticker and gave me a resounding "Go Blue!"

As it turns out, he's just always been a fan. How does that happen? Who the heck cares. It's awesome! Neither he nor we should be ashamed.

My dad and uncle earned their graduate degrees from Michigan, Business (dad)and Law and History (uncle), respectively. My dad had season tickets from 1956 until they allowed the one-time transfer several years ago when my borther received those and I bought the pair next to him.

I am 45 and have always been and for shall be a Michigan fan.

Sparty can die in a fire!

is a fucking loser. Someone knock his ass down a peg or two please.

Insecure people say and do funny things.

Clearly, in order to be a "real" MSU fan you have to be tremendously ignorant. I went to GVSU and knew just as many Sparty fans as Michigan fans.

I never had a father til i was 15 and he was the biggest Wolverine fan i knew, which is why I'm a dedicated Michigan nut and more so, since he passed away only being physically my father for a year, it has made me a much more dedicated Michigan fan. Michigan helps me to never forget that I do have a dad!

Neither of us went to Michigan.

See not everyone who goes to MSU is even a Sparty fan, I went to that shitty school for three semesters ( for the parties and the sluts ) and since have transferred out. I am a Michigan fan til I die and I didn't attend the university. Shit the students at state aren't even state fans(both of my roomates were also Michigan fans).

Going to school at U of M, or any other big sports university for that matter, creates a special connection that is difficult to be replicated. However, family ties and a lifetime of caring about Michigan and the program most certainly replicates these ties.

Bo didn't go here. Neither did Yost. It's what they did later that counted. If you really care and have a history of caring, thats enough to say you are a true fan. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just wrong.

In the words of David Cone, "If the haters they don't hate you then you're doing something wrong."

Honestly, does it really matter what people say about you? If you enjoy watching any of the university's athletic teams, then tell anyone who gives you shit to piss off. The rules and stipulations of fandom that people give are just ridiculous. The mentalities of "true fans are Michigan grads" and "true fans support Rich Rod" are just asinine opinions.

And, FWIW, your buddy is completely wrong about the number of Sav-Mor Spartans. I can't figure out why, but MSU does get a large bandwagon following in Michigan.

I may be wrong, but fan is short for fanatic. No one can tell you what you are fanatical about. Some men like to wear women's underwear, some prefer to burn couches to celebrate. I don't judge, so don't judge me. I never attended U of M, but I have loved them since I can remember. People have ties to Michigan for other reasons than just attending the University. Family, proximity, and many other reasons bring people to love the winged helmets. This doesn't make you apart of a bandwagon jumping team, this makes you a proud Wolverine fan(atic). Band wagon jumpers, would be those that will claim they were Saints fans since the Lions beat them back in 2005.

played for the Yankees or worked for the Yankees organization should be considered true Yankee fans.

I guess I'm one too. I don't attend Michigan but personally I don't care what people say I love the Wolverines.

The big fans of State are “alums and you rarely find anyone who is not an Alum claim they are bug(sic) fans of the University”.

OK, so he's using this statement as a rip on UM.. not MSU?

wow. yeah, tell him what he just said is the equivalent of, "unless you are employed at MSU or giving the U thousands of dollars every year, no one in their right mind would willfully be an MSU fan."

Your friend was a Michigan fan before he went to Michigan State. I have seen this so many times. Just because you don't get in, doesn't mean that you have to give up who you root for.

Tell him you're sorry his school sucks so bad that nobody would want to be a fan by choice. Or that anyone who was raised a Spartans fan and didn't go there was absolutely thrilled to have an excuse to dump their MSU fanhood the first chance they got.

We've just gone through the two worst years in over forty years. What kind of bandwagon fan stays on the bandwagon during this?

Honestly, it's not worth my time arguing with anyone who tries to criticize my credentials as a fan because I'm not an alum. I chose to go elsewhere. It was a good decision for me, but I'm still a Michigan fan.

http://salspartans.blogspot.com/

I wouldn't be surprised if they outnumbered WalMart Wolvies in the state of Michigan. Outside SE Michigan and especially in more rural areas, for sure...

Well, you know the rest

going to school somewhere is really just a business arrangement.

You pay a university for the privilege of having a learned employee use their acquired knowledge, and the resources of that university to make information available to you in a somewhat structured environment.
If you follow the rules of this contract, and are able to demonstrate that you retained enough of said information to correctly answer relevant questions, you get a piece of paper stating that you fulfilled your end of the business agreement.

There are some Michigan alums (often out of state) that can be described in this way.

This has about 0% to do with being a sports fan.

Being a sports fan is about emotional investment.

If you go to particular school (whether you grew up a fan or not), you are perhaps better able to immerse yourself in the traditions and culture that help foster that fandom, but it is certainly not a requirement.

That's what the WalMart types do. They have to find something in their miserable lives that makes them proud so they only root for the winners. They jump ship as soon as the team starts to lose. Real fans stay whether they went to the school or not.

So, If I understand your friend's argument, unless they attended Michigan, fans are "pathetic bandwagon jumpers." And yet, even in the miserable times in which we are living, when the tables are TEMPORARILY turned in favor of Sparty, he says you "rarely find anyone who is not an Alum claim they are bug fans" of MSU. At the same time YOU and MANY others on this board and everywhere continue to claim to be fans of Michigan. My 2 cents:

1. Obviously you and the many others continuing to claim allegiance to Michigan ARE NOT bandwagon whether we attended Michigan or not. If we were, we wouldn't be claiming allegiance to Michigan at this point in time.

2. Maybe there is a reason "non-alums" don't claim Sparty (or at least as outwardly and loudly). People gravitate toward that to which they aspire. I would like to think more people aspire to the best they can imagine, which as your friend has pointed out is Michigan...in good times and bad.

You don't have to go to a University to root on it's teams. It just shows how great Michigan truly is when you look at the fan base. Tell him to shove it.

proud of my "walmart wolverine" status now. If I was a bandwagon fan, I'd have been LONG GONE by now. I wouldn't have come back for 2009. I wouldn't be looking forward to 2010. Sure I went to CMU (and I root hard for them too!) but I've been a Michigan fan since I was a little kid. If I was bandwagon, I wouldn't have watched the Tigers for 11 years before 2006 happened. If I was bandwagon, I wouldn't still watch every Lions game (I'm very excited for 2010, by the way). Yeah, let the baby have his bottle. At the end of the day, he's still stuck being a State fan.

When he has his first kid, buy the child some Michigan gear and tell him that you have high expectations for the child even though he doesn't!

... would make that argument. It's illogical and shows lack of intellectual horsepower.

Tell your friend to see:
State of Ohio for Ohio State Fans
State of Texas for Texas fans
State of Nebraska for Huskers fans
State of Pennsylvania (outside of Pittsburgh Alum) for Penn State Fans.

The fact is people of a state like the team that wins. The only ones that don't, are those who go to the competing (and inferior) school.

1. Your friend sounds like a douche
2. If we're bandwagon fans why have we still sold out Michigan Stadium these past two years?
3. It's difficult to get a 3.7 gpa
4. How many parents went to Michigan and raised their kids to bleed maize n blue? (as in myself and not sure if I'm going to get in to Michigan)
5. How many Sparty basketball bandwagon jumpers are there? Please ask him this

I left Michigan after I graduated from M and moved to California, but when I left it was almost completely the opposite, meaning that the MSU fanbase was largely non-alumnae based and more Sparty hangers-on from rural areas.

I grew up an M fan with alum parents in East Lansing, so I actually went to a lot of Spartan games when M was playing away and my impression at their stadium was that most of the fans there were not alums. I went to all the home games in Ann Arbor and it seemed to me that way more people at least 'seemed' to have gone to UM, but that may have been b/c my parents and most of the people they hung out with did.

Either way, in my book there is no such thing as a Wal-Mart Wolverine, just dedicated fans and fair-weather fans, or those that support the team no matter what and those that turn on it when they don't get their yearly alotment of Ws.

I have plenty of friends that went to or currently attend UM-Dearborn and are huge MSU fans. Figure that one out.

But we couldn't let that get in the way of a good stereotype about a fanbase.

The worst is listening to Pat Caputo on 97.1 insist that the term "Walmart Wolverine" was invented by alumni from the University of Michigan who are so arrogant that they cannot stand the bandwagoners.

This is exactly why I have disdain for most Spartan fans. They claim that we are arrogant, but yet they have the nerve to throw labels on Michigan fans like we have no right to be a Michigan fan. It's fine for people that have no ties to State to be fans, but Michigan fans have to be (I won't even say the term). Fuck 'em, that's what I say.