"The rankings – which are now in their fifth year – are based on surveys of academics and graduate employers about which they consider the best universities in their fields, the ratio of students to academics, the proportion of overseas students and staff at each university, and the number of times research by each university’s academics is quoted in other journals."
First, what drives my MSU buddies crazy is, and I quote, "Those toothless UM zombies [non-Grads] who buy their UM t-shirt at Walmart and then talk smack about the inferiority of MSU as an educational institution." I get that.
But as far as supporting a college's athletics teams is concerned, every college has its share of non-Grad fans -- UM probably more due to the relative success and profile of the football team. And all colleges should be glad they do, otherwise their athletic department budgets would be a fraction of what they are.
When mgoblue re-launched its website last year, its first-ever poll question was "How did you become a Michigan fan?" The 12,685 responses broke down as follows:
Born into it 48.9%
Saw a game live 6.3%
Saw a game on TV 8.3%
Michigan is my alma mater 24%
Of course, the results are unscientific and the "born into it" option can mean anything from "my parents went there" to "my dad was a toothless Walmart UM t-shirt wearing zombie". But I'm willing to bet that, as a general rule, one-quarter alum percentage of fan base is probably not that far off, especially for high-profile schools like Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, USC and the like. And even if the Grad fan base is a higher percentage at other schools, let's say DOUBLE, that's still no more than 50%. Even if Grads don't love you, the ADs do. And most Grads are smart enough to welcome fans who represent 50%-75% of the customer base (although Grads are much, much more likely to make donations so would be over-represented in total revenue contribution.)
All is to say, it's nobody's "right" -- UM grad or grad of another -- to deny you the right and pleasure to cheer the Wolverines (or anyone else). But, talking smack about, say, MSU, as an institution of higher learning when you yourself may have attended the Kalamazoo School of Beauty and Hair Design displays an incredible lack of self-awareness and is highly ironic (in the real way, not the Alanis Morrisette way).
Go Blue!
The Alumni Association holds tours of Michigan Stadium Sundays at 11 a.m. (20 min. presentation by book author, then on to the field to chuck footballs around, then into the locker room). Loved this.
But the secret must be out or demand way up this year with the renos, because it's already sold out for the year. Bummer. Guess you'll just have to get loaded at the game and then run onto the field semi-naked. On the plus side, you're saving the tour fee and get to see the security office.
A couple of years ago we began trying to schedule our trips to Ann Arbor for football at the same time another UM team was in town (specifically, women's volleyball, but we've done it with hockey later in the season). For example, last year when we came in for the Sep22 football game against Penn State, we also took in UM vball v. Illinois on the Friday night (and, actually, went back Saturday night for the vb match against Wisconsin). Volleyball at the NCAA level is a terrific (and, um, "attractive") sport and you're very close to the action in Cliff Keen arena.
We've found that going to the additional event makes for a more complete weekend. Plus, these lower profile sports are inexpensive. A volleyball ticket is something like $5. Soccer may even be free.
A quick glance of the mgoblue site shows that the UM men's soccer team plays at home Fri Aug 29th at 7pm. Go see that, then go out.
In my first post (a comment in the"Perfect Weekend Trip to UM" thread) I didn't use HTML tags to create (about four) paragraph breaks because its stated this happens automatically. But I see my post is one unbroken paragraph.
Recent Comments
From The Times site:
"The rankings – which are now in their fifth year – are based on surveys of academics and graduate employers about which they consider the best universities in their fields, the ratio of students to academics, the proportion of overseas students and staff at each university, and the number of times research by each university’s academics is quoted in other journals."
The Alumni Association holds tours of Michigan Stadium Sundays at 11 a.m. (20 min. presentation by book author, then on to the field to chuck footballs around, then into the locker room). Loved this.
But the secret must be out or demand way up this year with the renos, because it's already sold out for the year. Bummer. Guess you'll just have to get loaded at the game and then run onto the field semi-naked. On the plus side, you're saving the tour fee and get to see the security office.
Alumni site tour page
A couple of years ago we began trying to schedule our trips to Ann Arbor for football at the same time another UM team was in town (specifically, women's volleyball, but we've done it with hockey later in the season). For example, last year when we came in for the Sep22 football game against Penn State, we also took in UM vball v. Illinois on the Friday night (and, actually, went back Saturday night for the vb match against Wisconsin). Volleyball at the NCAA level is a terrific (and, um, "attractive") sport and you're very close to the action in Cliff Keen arena.
We've found that going to the additional event makes for a more complete weekend. Plus, these lower profile sports are inexpensive. A volleyball ticket is something like $5. Soccer may even be free.
A quick glance of the mgoblue site shows that the UM men's soccer team plays at home Fri Aug 29th at 7pm. Go see that, then go out.
In my first post (a comment in the"Perfect Weekend Trip to UM" thread) I didn't use HTML tags to create (about four) paragraph breaks because its stated this happens automatically. But I see my post is one unbroken paragraph.