Quit livin' in the past: Historical Records/Opponents
Do you ever get in an argument with an MSU slappy that brings up Michigan's easy opponents in 1898 or 1911? It is one of many MSU arguments you can set your watch to. This offseason, I will aim to help educate fellow Mgobloggers on argument flowcharts to help shut down those from opposing fan bases.
Today we focus on the argument "quit living in the past". Much is said about Michigan living in the past, and currently MSU fans only allow reaching back as far as 2010 which was Mork's first 11-win season. If a Michigan fan were to mention this, the retort would be that Michigan played Albion a bunch in 1902 or something. The truth is, teams didn't travel back then and so everyone had some bums on their schedule. Here are some teams MSU played in the past along with their records against those schools.
- Lansing High School 2-0
- Michigan School for the Deaf 4-0
- Port Huron YMCA 2-0 (they did the dance after every first down)
- Chicago YMCA College 3-0
- Saginaw Naval Brigade 1-0
- Haskell Indian Nations 0-1
- Detroit Athletic Club 2-4-1
- Michigan Freshman 4-0
- Great Lakes NTS (I've also seen this listed as Great Lakes Coast Guard) 1-1
- Scranton, PA 1-0 (Kevin Malone was their starting center)
- Private schools, lots of private schools: Alma 22-5-4, Albion 11-4-3, Olivet 18-41, Adrian 4-0, Hillsdale 7-0, Detroit Mercy 8-6-1, Kalamazoo 8-7
- A bunch of schools that may also just be street names including Ripon 1-0, Wabash 5-1-1
- A married couple named William and Mary 1-1
- Ft. McArthur 0-1 (not sure if they played against an actual Fort, or a military team, or the cafeteria workers on base)
- Centre 1-1 (I think this team was 100% French Canadian)
- Geographies: Ohio Nothern 1-0, North Central Illinois 1-0
February 4th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
Every year I try to convince myself we have never played OSU and the outcome of the game is definitely yet to be determined ?♂️
February 4th, 2020 at 5:29 PM ^
Stop, stop, your shower head is already dead.
February 4th, 2020 at 5:35 PM ^
I’ve only once talked to an MSU fan. It wasn’t pleasant, and I’ll never do it again.
February 4th, 2020 at 5:37 PM ^
Consider yourself lucky.....
February 4th, 2020 at 6:22 PM ^
So you quit as a PD?
February 4th, 2020 at 5:45 PM ^
Seems like the record against Olivet is a typo.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:39 PM ^
I don't know, Olivet can be pretty damn tough, ESPECIALLY being that they're a big rival of Staae and just 40 miles down the road from E.L.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:42 PM ^
I had the same thought and just cruising through the MSU seasons on wikipedia I think it's supposed to be 18-4-1.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:24 PM ^
The Nazarenes brought the power of Jesus against the heathen Spartans and smote them mightily
February 4th, 2020 at 6:06 PM ^
The fact that msu played bums in 1911 doesn’t really matter because they don’t use history for their argument.
Michigans argument for being a blue blood is based on having the most all time wins, so we use those wins as part of our brand in a way only Nd really does. Msu fans are dumb but this doesn’t really do anything to counteract the argument that Michigan is just a good not great program since black people could play.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
We beat the only teams available at the time. No need to apologize!! It’s not like the SEC was around and playing in Ohio and Michigan.
Imaging traveling in those days. A rickety old train or a line 40 jalopies tooling down a dirt road were your Options.
February 4th, 2020 at 7:54 PM ^
It’s not about apologizing, it’s about realizing that those games are meaningless to everyone else
February 4th, 2020 at 6:22 PM ^
Source? This information is interesting and the skeptic in me doesn't believe that MSU went 18-41 against Olivet.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:13 PM ^
That was a typo. 18-4-1. Just google MSU record vs. opponents all time and you should be able to find a few sites
February 4th, 2020 at 6:26 PM ^
Uh oh... There's a storm coming!
I hope some wins are going on vacation or at the least Mork isn't bowing out even as gracefully as he's already failing to do so far.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:54 PM ^
Sorry. The current Michigan football program most definitely lives in the past. Stop showing clips from 1930, etc., during pre-game time in Michigan Stadium and I’ll begin to think otherwise. Go Blue!
February 4th, 2020 at 7:31 PM ^
This. I am all for history so I look forward to Michigan making some again.
February 4th, 2020 at 7:06 PM ^
Wait, the Port Huron YMCA?
Oh, the early days of football were....interesting....
February 4th, 2020 at 8:00 PM ^
Isn't this what Michigan does too... living in the past?!?!? re: stadium video productions boasting of "championship football". Or claiming that historically we have a winning record against ohio even though Michigan is like 2-18 in their last 20 with them?
Not trolling, just sayin'.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:23 PM ^
What's the point of this? For the last decade we have been a lesser program than MSU, Wisconsin, OSU, and PSU. That time frame is all that matters in college football seeing as how recruits weren't born in 1997 and they've never seen us come close to sniffing a big ten championship
February 4th, 2020 at 9:10 PM ^
Exactly. This is the silliest topic I've ever seen. Who in the hell cares about what Michigan or any other team did before World War 2. Cmon.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:56 PM ^
Take my hand and we'll make it I swear.
Oooo, livin' on a prayer!
February 5th, 2020 at 8:54 AM ^
No, never got into an argument with anyone over this.
Probably because I don't really care about pre-WW2 era football, and thankfully haven't met anyone else who does either.
So you did a multi hour Google-feast on pre-WW1 opponents?, for what.
Would seem like most folks talk in terms of their life-time, and all the Spartys I know, realize the record over the past 35 years.