What is your pre-game tradition/ritual?

Kielbasa and sauerkraut either breakfast or right around kickoff for noon games. For later games, I have it for breakfast, then either grill or have wings for game time.

I paddle my canoe from the Indiana Dunes lakeshore in Chesterton, Indiana all the way across Lake Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. I then hike by land, barefoot across the UP until I get to Whitefish Bay. I then proceed to swim across to Canada and hunt a moose and kill it with my bare hands. I then journey home and watch the game.

usually get a workout in, stop at party source on the way home.

Put out the Michigan flag on my front porch.  Eat.  Shower.  Take the dog out for a walk.  Put on my Michigan battle gear.  Drive the 4 miles to the Big House.  Walk by the tailgate of the people who sit next to us and say hi.  Go into the stadium.  Buy a program and food.  Watch Michigan win.  Go home.  Drink.  That is all.

the same clothes/jewellery every Saturday if I'm at home watching. if we lose I change it up. I drink my beer out of the same mug also. if we lose well you know.

Bout 30 minutes to kick we blast the fight song and play every hype video possible so the goosebumps happen

I road my bike to the stadium before Braylon fest. Since then I try to ride my bike before kickoff. It's worked a few times, i.e. the Forcier ND game I was in camping near Silverton Colorado and road 50 miles to a bar to watch, my wife picked me up. 

For 30 years there were 3 of us. Randy always had control of the rum. The amount of rum depended on the quality and strength of the opposition. Big games meant lots of rum. This drink was always made just prior to walking up to the stadium. The last drink. Randy died last year and the tradition died with him. Cancer is a terrible awful thing and when it takes someone so young with many joyful years left in him is just plain cruel. My buddy Alan and I are trying to figure out what to do to continue the tradition in some way but no matter what it will never be the same. There was only 1 guy who could pour the rum. He's gone. Cherish those you share your traditions with guys. In the end that's all you have. The memories. GO BLUE!!

Then I listen carefully for the call of whether we are going Inside Zone or Outside Zone (sadly, it has often been tackle for loss).

This year, DG has me covered and promises to call out the Mike before the hike so that I know which hole(s) to hit.

No running on gameday

I usually love to get McDonald's breakfast on game

but I got my son a Brady Patriots jersey and he will wear it for the first time Saturday.

Masturbation.  Helps make sure I make it to the 4th quarter.....

I'm usually up early because I can't sleep. I'll spend the morning watching Michigan highlights and getting ready. About an hour before the game I'll start blaring the fight song to wake up my girlfriend. After that it's just tons of nervousness and pacing until kickoff. I crack open the first beer during the kickoff. 

Not going to game: first beer at 9am, when College GameDay comes on.

Going to game: first beer at 6am, when the train pulls out (no, I am not the driver, ever).

No shots of Jack Daniels allowed. That is solely for the opening faceoff of any and every Red Wings playoff game.

I have two chocolate cake shots before heading out to my tailgate.

If you don't know this one:

In shot glass: Equal parts of Frangelico and Absolut Citron
Have ready: Slice of lemon dipped in sugar

Drink shot, bite lemon. Oddly like chocolate cake. Even if you don't think so, it's super tasty.

I'm not gonna mention everything but here are some of the things I do. I've dialed the NCAA video game part back since I'm in college now and am pretty busy. When I was in HS, I played the game 4-5 days a week with one game a day because of my free time. 

I play the team Michigan is playing multiple times during the week on the NCAA video game. 

Play them on Monday after I watch the newest episode of Inside Michigan Football, and play the game while listening to the Monday presser.

Play them on Friday, multiple times if time allows me to, at any time of the day while listening to Football pressers/WTKA podcasts. I then take a picture of the final score on any game of my choosing that I play against them, but once I take that photo, I can't play that team anymore and am done playing the video game for game week.

When I'm not at the game-

I set my alarm clock for 8:48am (8 Rose Bowl wins, the #48 is the last Legend number that I can set on my clock) and watch College Gameday in bed. At 10:30am, I make my bed and then get ready. I then go and get my food, but I will jump and touch the M Club banner replica above my doorway. At 11:45am, I say a prayer for the game and the team that day. I only snack on Cheez Its and drink water on game days. I only drink water during halftime. If it's a night game, I usually order Chicken Shack. Postgame food varies from Pizza to White Castle. 

When going to the game

I set my alarm clock for a time that has Michigan significance. It's usually pretty early, even if it's a 3:30 game. I make sure to say a prayer before I leave and the last thing I do before I leave is run and jump to touch the M Club banner replica. Every game, we always stop at the A2 Denny's for breakfast. Been doing that for many years. I get the same thing every time, an All-American slam with Orange Juice. 

As soon as we arrive and set up tailgate, I go to the M-Den tent on the corner of Stadium and Main and buy something. Then, I hang around for a bit at the tailgate before going into Michigan Stadium as soon as the gates open. I buy a program as soon as I walk in and put it in the MDen plastic bag I stuff in my pocket so I can keep it safe.

I stand by the tunnel and wait for the players to come out. Yelling Go Blue, patting them on the helmet, etc. Once they're back in the tunnel, I head over to my seat and watch the MMB pregame. At halftime, I get just a bottled water that I sip on during the game (I yell a lot, so I usually desperately need the fuel by half) and 2 hotdogs. 

When the stadium attendance is announced, I take a photo of it on the scoreboard. When Michigan wins, I take a photo of the final score. When I leave my section to find the people I tailgate with to talk to after the game, I make sure to jump and touch the Section sign on my way out of the stadium. I then talk with them about the game and wait for a lot of people to exit. I then go back in and watch the MMB postgame. 

After that's over, I'm one of the last to leave the stadium. When I come back to the tailgate, I eat and drink a lot because I'm usually very thirsty and hungry. 

Keep in mind, these are only some of things I do. 

For home games, we tailgate with my in-laws and watch the step show at Revelli. As our son gets older, we hope to have some family traditions. When we first started going to games, before we were married with a son, we tried to make bagels on the way to Ann Arbor our ritual. But sometimes we didn't leave enough time or want bagels. Sooo that didn't last very long haha

We also put our M flag out, sometimes the night before, sometimes the day of.