U of M Grads... ?
I hear fans form opposing schools all the time (mainly the sparty grads.) that fans of U of M that did not go to school at Michigan can not be fans. You have to go to or have graduated from Michigan to support or be a huge fan of them. This really pisses me off because I LOVE Mich. Football (and all sports). Not that I care because it has not changed the way I feel... I played football in High School and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend football camp at Michigan (won the tug of war contest in '95 - i know sweet huh?). Anyway, I fell in love with the Michigan Football program. I was able to hear Bo speak, meet players, learn the tradition, etc... Unfortunately, I was not good enough to earn a "ride" to U of M (I played D3), and to lazy to get good enough grades to get accepted. Since then I have been a HUGE fan of the program...
Anyway, I wondered what some of you graduates of Michigan thought about this?
Thansk, Cougar blue
Thanks everyone for commenting on my post! Well, I have to get to Wal-Mart.. need to get my t-shirts and such for the fall... but while I am there I will double check to see if they sell MSU stuff as well... they do it was right next to the t-shirts that my Little brother wears!
Go Blue! Maybe I will see you at the Big House this Fall!
The only thing I would add is that non-grad fans are not allowed to remark/debate the educational merits of other schools under the UM cloak. I have friends who graduated from MSU who will admit that, on the whole, UM has better academics. The biggest complaint they have is when they are baited by UM fans about MSU being a crappy school by someone who did not even attend UM - and I completely agree.
So, welcome all non-grad fans. Please just try and limit the conversations to on the field activities.
"If you are a true fan that is there for the ups and downs and has a sense for the tradition and history of the program, its not critical that you were an alum. "
That would be me... I have studyed the traditionand the History! Thanks for replying!
A lot of townies have season tickets for 18+ years. I find it's students who are more often fair-weather fans. Case in point the NU game two years ago.
The more the merrier; it speaks volumes about the allure of Michigan's storied athletic history. Any non-grad Northwestern fans out there?
Plus, I've found that (at least among the ranks of M fans my age (M sophomore)) those who do not attend U-M are the most rabid fans - following recruiting closely and having a grasp on the Michigan football tradition.
I am a non-alum fan. So, Dex, unless you were kidding, you and I are going to have problems, lol.
Considering I am sitting in the same seats since the late 1970s, I guess those "worries" about we non-alum fans being the bandwagoners do not apply in this case. I agree there are bandwagoners (as there are in every single sport), but I dont think it matters if you're an alum or not. Bandwagoners are part of every demographic. Living here in Ohio, I can tell you one school's fan base is nothing but an overfilled bandwagon, but thats another story!
For me, cheering for all of UM's athletics is a family tradition, and I still tear up when I walk into the stadium thinking about the days when I attended games on my grandparents laps.
mjvancam: Good stuff in your post. It is all about weathering the ups and downs. Sometimes when I close my eyes, I can still see that cheating, rat scum bag Bob Crable jumping on top of the ND D-linemen to block a game winning field goal attempt in 1979. We lost 12-10. Talk about a ridiculous loss to ND!! So, my cure is to close my eyes again and visualize Wangler to Carter on the final play of the IU game just a few weeks later. Those were among my first games ever at the Big House, and it has been an addiction ever since!!!
As someone who grew up in the Ann Arbor area and then attended UM, one of my favorite part of any football Saturday remains the walk we used to take to get to the game. My dad and I would always walk in from the west of the stadium, passing down Pauline Blvd, cutting through Allemdinger Park, and entering through the gate on the Northwest corner at Main and Keech.
I love the way that neighborhood comes out for football. It's kids with lemonade stands and cars parked on lawns. It's grilling and footballs being thrown in the street. It's like the pre-game parties at Beta and volleyballfrat, or up and down Arch St., but completely different, because people from pre-school to retirement all join in. I can't think that everyone out in that neighborhood went to UM, but the way they came out to support not just the team, but the special type of day that's UM football, was always great to see.
I lived on the corner of Belmar and Potter from 1997-2005. Great neighborhood, though I must say I'm kinda glad I sold and moved out of Michigan before the economy got much worse.
I really miss getting to walk into the stadium at the start of the 4th Q and sit where ever there were empty seats. I wonder if they'll keep doing that with the renovations?
and she still wants U-M to do well, especially in football. I think it's because cfaller gets a little hostile/drunk/abusive to the pets when Michigan blows another fucking lead in the 4th quarter or the offense turtles again after getting a 10 point lead even though it's only the 2nd quarter or when the kicker misses another field goal or...
Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, it's ok for non-U-M grads to cheer for U-M, because it's possible to have a personal stake in U-M (e.g. not having your husband go insane) even when it's not your alma mater.
I certainly don't have a problem with non-alum Michigan fans, and Cougar Blue certainly has a legit connection to the program.
Hell, I have several degrees from UM and lived in AA for over a decade, and the only connection I have with the program is I met the center from the late 70's at the Phila. Airport who told me the damnedest story. Seems that he, along with Rick Leach and others, decided to drive a van to Atlantic City when gambling first started up. While driving at night, he noticed that several cars were swerving behind him and when they passed the van the car's occupants gave him a real dirty look. He looked back, and in the rear of the van he saw the back doors open, and Leach bending over with his pants down - he was taking a dump on the Atlantic City Expressway. Don't know if its true, but it is funny.
Anyway, back on topic, I have found the non-alum Notre Dame fans (fortunately now a dying breed now that ND has been returning to glory for what, 15 or so years now) to be absolutely the most obnoxious. Many of these fans have never stepped foot in Indiana, let alone ND's campus. I have found they are the most graceless winners.
I didn't go to Michigan.
I've loved this team since I can remember loving something. What does "alumni status" have to do with anything? You do realize, of course, that if only alums were "allowed" to root for CFB teams, there'd be a helluva lot less U of M fans than Buckeye and Sparty fans. In my particular case, I can remember years upon years of watching games. I remember punching my dad in the stomach when he tried to console me after the Colorado loss. I've been with this team through good and bad and can't imagine caring more about any sports team, anywhere.
Contrast that with the obvious reality that many U of M alums had no real connection to the football program until they became students and realized that getting drunk and going to games was the thing to do on crisp Saturdays in the fall. Who is more of a fan? I'm not sure, and I don't really care to debate the correct answer. Because, mostly, there isn't one.
Sport is, in large part, about your memories. It's about years and years of watching games with family members and friends. It's about sticking with something through the ups and downs and realizing that literally nothing can change your desire to see your team do well. Alumni stauts has nothing to do with fanhood.
Like an earlier poster said, alums may have a greater interest in the University as a whole, but that's a non-factor when talking about which team you root for on Saturdays.
er, techinically, the University of Michigan has the largest alumni association in the nation.....
I don't think that one has to be an alum to support U of M athletics, but would contend that you should be an alum to comment on any of the academics.....
BGH is right.
He grew up a fan. I spent 18 years of my life not giving a shit, at all, about Michigan. I rooted against them, even. Grbac, Desmond, Toomer, Wheatley? Hated them all. Really.
I went to Michigan because I didn't get into Georgetown, and got a scholarship to swim. I didn't want to go. Turns out, I loved it, and I wouldn't have gone anywhere else. However, my second year of giving a shit about Michigan football (my Sophomore year) gave me a National Championship.
Can I honestly say I'm a bigger fan that someone who grew up rooting for Michigan who attended a different school? Of course not.
You must be truly dedicated to the cause to suffer through the amount of crap you must have to deal with being one of us enrolled there.
Regarding RR beating Tressel before you graduate, I hope that you aren't going to be a senior this fall. Next fall in AA, I like our chances a lot better.
There was a guy at Michigan a few years ago who was a Buckeye fan
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2006/11/…
I just didn't know that it went both ways. You are a gentleman and a hero of great valor. Unfortunately, since you went to OSU, you might just be another Walmart fan after all.
I keed, I keed
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