Time machine to one M game
If you could hop in a time machine to attend one past M game which would it be? I realize this is a tough question but please limit your response to one game. Is it a bowl game or perhaps a great home game so you could experience the home crowd and take in the game day experience in A2? For me, I think I would have to settle on the 1998 Rose Bowl for reasons I am sure I need not explain.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:23 PM ^
The 1997 Penn State game. It would be amazing to watch the d-bags in Happy Valley grow more and more silent as we mack-slapped the #1 team in the country.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:25 PM ^
This is exactly why I started this thread. I remember that game well but, I wouldn't have thought of it.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:57 PM ^
The PSU fans were yelling for us to sit down. They stopped when the score hit 24-0.
I would have loved to been at the 2006 ND game to watch the crushed Irish souls file out of the stadium.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:02 PM ^
And you can't have one without the other...
August 16th, 2009 at 3:22 PM ^
That would be my pick as well.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:14 AM ^
To be there live would've been an unending, ever increasing, orgasm of schadenfreude.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:49 PM ^
Carr arguing for 2 more seconds of time, Manningham catch on the last play of the game to wreck Penn State's perfect season and keep our win streak against them going in a down year. This set up his huge day against Notre Dame the next year where Super Mario was unstoppable.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:58 PM ^
I was at the PSu-UM game that year. Flew in from Omaha and sat with two friends (yes, I have them) who were very bitter anti-Lloyd guys (I'm ain't gonna lie--I was too).
Welp, PSU goes up with that TD with about what, 7 seconds to go? You figure NO WAY? Yep. My friends storm out, and I guess I didn't want to walk from Ann Arbor back to Warren. So we leave, but hear the roar of Breaston's kickoff return and stop to watch the end on one of the TV screens in some concourse. The rest is history, and I haven't talked to those guys since.
In fact, their bodies are buried in my back yard.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:16 AM ^
Similar situation happend to me for the Virginia game. Not sure what the rules are now but my senior year if you played football you could contact universities and they would just give you tickets. Anyway, there with a couple guys from my team who were not fans either way and they drag me out of the place. Ended up watching the end on some guys tv in his front yard and hearing the Big House go crazy. Haven't left a game early since. All of my girlfriends over the years have hated me for it.
August 16th, 2009 at 4:40 PM ^
I will be telling that story for years to come...
My friends and I left Ann Arbor Friday night in order to camp just inside the Michigan border so we could get to South Bend with plenty of time to tailgate. Unfortunately the campground was an alcohol free venue. We got caught having a beer and a bong at 3am by the overzealous Camp Ranger, who walked OUT OF THE WOODS to confront us (dude was spying on us). He promptly confiscated our 8 fifths of liquor and dual 30 racks of PBR, and told us to leave at 6am (in order to have time to sober up I suppose)
Fine by us, we got to Southbend extra early (after stopping at the first liquor store we saw to reload). We tailgated close enough to see the stadium, in a sea of green we were holding it down for Michigan. Before the game a group of ND fans next to us (ND fans in general are extremely nice people IMO), invited us to play a game of Beer Pong. We promptly destroyed them and ran their table for a couple hours before we retired and let them play again.
Anywho, the time finally arrived and the mass exodus from the parking area toward the stadium began. Lots of good natured taunting between the fans of both teams. The air was tense and electric, I felt like a kid on christmas. And of course we all know what happened in that stadium on that day.
On the way out, all that could be heard echoing around under the stands and throughout the walkways was "It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine." alternating with the Victors over and over again. I can not stress enough how amazing that felt. I actually felt bad for the NOtre Dame fans, they looked so sad and dejected (the ones who watched til the bitter end anyway.)
Thanks for starting this thread and letting me relive that amazing moment.
August 17th, 2009 at 10:07 AM ^
That would be the game that I'd choose.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:26 PM ^
Monumental upset. Launched UM back into the national spotlight and validated the hiring of Bo.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:26 PM ^
Me too. My father was at the game (even though he was a student at Eastern at the time). I watch it every time it is on ESPN Classic/BTN the week before The Game.
Without that game, I don't think Bo vs. Woody is the same, I don't think The Game is anything special, and I don't think Michigan becomes the premier program we all know it is. If we had lost, we might just be some middle-of-the-road team. We'd still have the NCs and Rose Bowl history from the first half of the century, but we might not have continued that tradition, so to speak. Before Bo, Michigan Stadium wasn't ever sold out. Hard to imagine, now that we look back to that game on a basically unbroken chain of success. A year or two more, and Rodriguez will do the same thing, I'm confident.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:49 PM ^
This would be my choice also.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:27 PM ^
Ohio State, 1971 - TOUCHDOWN, BILLY TAYLOR!!!
August 16th, 2009 at 2:30 PM ^
I would go back to the 97 Ohio State game. It was just such a intense and hard fought game and Woodson put on a show.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:30 AM ^
I would love to see that Woodson/Boston matchup again, it was as fierce as it gets IME. I will never forget that game or the way he and Boston fought it out with Woodson getting the well deserved last laugh.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:38 PM ^
I would say the 1997 Michigan - Michigan State game, but I'd have to be at about the 30 yard line, so Woodson's one-handed interception was right in front of me.
A framed picture of that INT has been in the Laurel Village M-Den for about 3 years now, and it will come home with me in 3 weeks when I visit Michigan for the home opener.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:39 PM ^
I would like to have been in the Rose Bowl when UM finished off their perfect season by beating Washington St.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:47 PM ^
I was watching this game the other night on BTN and literally got chills. The crowd was amazing and the performance by Braylon was incredible.
August 16th, 2009 at 4:40 PM ^
Yes. That was the most exciting game I have ever watched. Too bad I wasn't there.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:46 AM ^
I was an usher at my cousin's wedding that day (yes, he's hopelessly whipped). I spent the bulk of the reception watching the 4th quarter and OT on a 13" TV plugged into the lighter of a Saturn during a rainstorm outside the Grand Ledge Opera House, surrounded by MSU fans. It was seriously one of the funnest times I've ever had watching a game.
August 17th, 2009 at 12:48 AM ^
Maybe my M fandom will be called into question here but I shut that game off halfway through the third or fourth quarter because i could not believe we were losing to effing sparty...one of my CHICK friends IMed me with "woo michigan" and i turned it back on just to see the last TD....
August 17th, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^
A lot of people at the stadium walked out when it got to 27-10 or even before (it was also getting really chilly after the sun went down). For those of us who stayed to the end(maybe 70,000), it was amazing.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:14 AM ^
I was the only person in my section wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Being a native Texan, that high in the upper 70s was cold, especially in the shade. Made staying to the end that much easier.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:34 AM ^
That was the biggest temperature change I've ever experienced at a football game (or any sporting event). For most of the game I thought I had been crazy to bring a windbreaker and then at the end I was shivering right through it. It was a good thing everyone in the stadium was standing up at that point.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:57 PM ^
i stayed because i was bitter, it was the last home game of the season, and i was not planning on getting tickets for the next year.
my favorite moment was just the murmur that ran through the crowd as little light bulbs flicked on over everyone's heads: "wait a second. we have braylon. they can't stop him. we're going to win this game." the best part is that this happened when we were down 14 with like 5 minutes to go. i've never witnessed anything like it.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:36 PM ^
It was when we recovered the onside kick down 27-13. Lots of people were pissed that we had attempted the FG just before, and few people even cheered when it went in (a surreal moment in itself). But then we recovered the kick and everyone knew it was a ballgame again.
August 17th, 2009 at 4:07 PM ^
I was in Phoenix at a Fantasy Baseball Conference and attending an Arizona Fall League game. Sitting near me was an ESPN.com writer, who went to Michigan; a Wall Street Journal reporter, who went to Michigan; and an LSA advisor. We were following the game on my Blackberry. Early in the third quarter, I had to leave to return a rental car before the next day clicked in. No one cared because of the score, but I continued to follow the game on the BBerry. I got to the airport and remember how pissed I was that Lloyd went for the field goal in the fourth quarter. Then I got back to my hotel where seminars were starting up. The speaker knew me and knew I was from Michigan and was ribbing me. Just at that point, Michigan scored to make it a 7 point game and I got up to leave. The speaker said what's up. I said 7 points, ran to the bar, and found the same three Michiganders sitting at the bar -- and the bartender was an MSU alum who was literally turning green. :>) Anyway, we watched the overtimes and imbibed generously. Notwithstanding that game, I'd love to watch the 69 game in person all over again. That was the day Michigan football returned to glory. As noted, before then, Michigan was lucky to get 60,000 for a game against anyone other than MSU or OSU. People forget that about a third of the tickets sold to the 69 OSU-UM game were sold to OSU fans.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:50 PM ^
... go forward in time to this season. Even just to the Western Game.
This waiting is getting ridiculous.
August 16th, 2009 at 2:55 PM ^
it other than highlight videos, I'd go to the 97 Michigan-OSU game.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:09 PM ^
michigan - O$U game. just watch tim tear them apart for 300+ and the chants of "Eddie who?" after the game was over.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:18 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing, had to go watch some clips on youtube.
August 17th, 2009 at 5:06 AM ^
best games i have ever been to. the whole day was crazy. my dad and i got to AA early to meet up with his buddy on the golf course, as we were walking over there i had this super wasted O$U female fan come up to me and say "SPELL IT" i asked spell what? she said "OHIO" i looked at her and said screw off...... as we walked away i asked my dad why she wanted me to spell ohio and he said because she couldn't because it more than 3 letters......
August 16th, 2009 at 3:23 PM ^
This is a tough one to answer, but I think I'd pick the 1993 Rose Bowl when we beat Washington 38-31. I was a student at Michigan at the time and SHOULD have taken advantage of the opportunity to go out there. But, as always seemed to be the case, funds were lacking.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:23 PM ^
I'd go way back - maybe something from the 1947 season with the Mad Magicians - perhaps the Rose Bowl thumping of USC, or even better, back to Regents Field to watch a Yost team.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^
I may change my vote. I dated a girl in high school whose grandfather played on and contributed to that team. I believe he scored TD's in the Rose Bowl. I have been to games with him and he doesn't like to toot his own horn but, I can tell you when an usher or stadium staffer catches a glimpse of his National Championship ring he gets the treatment. Jack Weisenburger is his name.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:48 PM ^
I looked him up. He was the starting fullback and the backup left halfback behind Michigan legend Bob Chappius. That was the first year that Michigan had a seperate offense and defense (though they'd done it before, it had only been used in certain games rather than for the whole season) but Chappius and Weisenburger still played both sides of the ball.
I looked up the stats from the 1948 Rose Bowl. Weisenburger scored three touchdowns in the game, each on 1-yard runs. He scored the first two touchdowns of the game as well as the first touchdown of the fourth quarter (which made it 34-0 at that point). He carried the ball 20 times against USC, racking up 91 yards to go with his 3 TDs (4.55 yards per rush). I think he certainly earned the treatment he gets from the stadium staff.
One other interesting note--he wore #48, just as Gerald Ford had a little over ten years before.
Here's the team photo from '47. He's smack in the front row, second from the left:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?;c=bhl&ei=1&quality=3&v…
August 17th, 2009 at 1:21 AM ^
Yep that is him. In addition, I think he held the record for TD's in a single Rose Bowl game outright until recently. I think someone matched him in the past five or six years.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:31 PM ^
You would have had a great gene pool for the kids. Future All-Americans...
August 16th, 2009 at 3:26 PM ^
So since you didn't mention football: The 1996 hockey National Championship game.
I think I'm still hoarse from it.
August 16th, 2009 at 6:25 PM ^
i dream of seeing michigan win a hockey championship in person
August 17th, 2009 at 12:21 AM ^
this year in Detroit...
//a guy can hope!
August 16th, 2009 at 3:28 PM ^
We came from behind to beat USC, there was something completely cathartic about that game- a true RB win for Bo (the '81 Wash game really didn't compare- half the conference was on probation even though Wash was the true Pac-10 champ). Not even the '98 RB felt like this game...!
August 16th, 2009 at 3:33 PM ^
I'll go way outside the box. 1973 Michigan-Ohio State. It's a thrilling, piss your pants game even if it ends with a tie.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:44 PM ^
1997 Iowa. It's the game that saved the season. I remember being so angry, yet amazed, at Tim Dwight (four plays of more than 50 yards on special teams) and being down 21-7 going into halftime, I know I thought "Here it is, this is the inevitable crashing down of the season."
I tend to forget, but Iowa was #15 going in to that game and was really giving it to Michigan. It also would remind me of the magic of Jerame Tuman, one of Michigan's long line of great tight ends.
(Not that any of the above suggested would be bad choices. That Iowa game just always stands out in my mind.)
August 16th, 2009 at 3:45 PM ^
'97 OSU
August 16th, 2009 at 3:50 PM ^
Amazed that no one has yet gone with OSU 1969.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:15 PM ^
My bad--missed that one. -7 points; you guys are ruthless! I'll have to keep on my toes =o)