OT Your hometown and fandom origins
I've not seen a thread like this and I thought it would be interesting and build a greater sense of community if we all shared a few things:
1. Where you were born/hometown
2. How you became a UM fan
3. (optional) high school you attended
I'll start. Born in Battle Creek (Mich, for those who aren't from mich) and went to Athens (just south of B.C.) until high school when my family moved to Omaha, NE. (On a side, the timing of the move couldn't have been better as it was in '97 when UM and Nebraska shared the NC; needless to say there was much smack talking that occurred that year)
Became a UM fan in about 4th grade because all my friends who had older siblings liked UM and hated State and OSU (in other words, it was cool to like UM and not cool to like State). Plus I was into comic books and thought it was pretty awesome that a team was named the wolverines since Wolverine was my favorite comic book hero.
What about you guys?
August 15th, 2009 at 5:36 PM ^
1) I was born in Highland Park, MI. It's in the middle of Detroit.
2) I was left alone at home by my parents at the age of nine. I turned on the television and began turning the channel selector (no remote). I settled on a football game that looked like it was pretty intense. The date was November 22, 1969. U-M 24 - OSU 12. I was hooked.
3) I grew up in various cities in the Downriver area. That's between Detroit and Monroe along I-75.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:04 PM ^
Garvie, you played really well that game...you should be proud.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:37 PM ^
Saw my first game in 1975 when I was 8 years old. We played Missouri. I was in Cub Scouts and my dad took our whole troop to the game without tickets. We paid, they let us in, we sat in the aisle facing the scoreboard. I remember it as if it wasn't quite that long ago! I was born in LaSalle, MI and went to Erie-Mason High School. Met Bo in 1989 while on a recruiting trip with my younger brother. They were recruiting him to grayshirt. Took a tour of the stadium and weight room with I believe Jerry Hanlon. Moved to SC in 1994. I get terribly nervous before every game and insanely angry after a loss! I really believe we should win every game we play!
August 15th, 2009 at 5:39 PM ^
Grew up in Bellevue (over by Battle Creek).
After 4 years in SEC purgatory in Augusta Ga now in Fort Wayne, In.
Became a Michigan fan when I was young, probably because they were the only Big 10 team on TV at the time.
Attended my first game in 1997 against Ohio State. I can still see Woodson make that punt return.
The best part is my second daughter a Michigan Fan and now we need to make our annual trip north for a game.
Of course that also means we saw the App State debacle and sat through the sleet at Northwestern one year - all the way to the end even though she was freezing she wanted to stay for the entire game.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:44 PM ^
1. Canton, Michigan
2. My dad and uncles were Michigan fans when I was growing up so I had a interest in them but really didn't understand what was going on. That changed when I was in the fourth grade in 2001, my teacher was a huge Michigan fan and I had always liked Michigan to that point so I really became a big fan that year and have been ever since.
3. Plymouth High School
August 15th, 2009 at 5:51 PM ^
1. Arcanum, OH
2. Mid 90's or so. My buddy's older brother was a big Michigan fan, and he got me hooked in Jr High. Oh the Cooper days...
3. Arcanum High School
August 15th, 2009 at 6:01 PM ^
Grew up in Wyandotte. Dad and uncle went to Michigan. Dad never graduated, but uncle got his BA, MA and PhD from U-M and taught there for a while.
I started going to games as a young'un. Dad had season tix. I grew up Catholic and HATING Notre Dame, which didn't go over well at our parish. My mom always said just because we were Catholic didn't mean we coudln't hate Notre Dame.
Go Blue
August 15th, 2009 at 6:14 PM ^
Theodore Roosevelt High School.
Did undergrad elsewhere, but working and going to grad school at U-M.
Wife also went to U-M, so I have chosen . . . wisely.
August 16th, 2009 at 11:54 PM ^
what year WRHS?
I'm 04...
August 17th, 2009 at 8:33 AM ^
I'm a geezer by this board's standards.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:04 PM ^
1. New Haven, CT.
2. Alumni - didn't follow the football team specifically before attending.
3. Snobby New England Prep School
August 16th, 2009 at 12:05 AM ^
3. Snobby New England Prep SchoolNever would've guessed. :)
August 15th, 2009 at 6:22 PM ^
1. Born in Lansing, lived in Detroit til I was 11 and moved to Florida. Now I'm back at U of M.
2. Honestly M was just on TV growin up and I never stopped watching. Stayed a fan through high school in Florida. Coming to U of M was pretty much my motivation to get good grades in high school and get out of Florida.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:32 PM ^
Where in Florida are you from? I'm from the Ft. Lauderdale area and my motivation was the same as yours: I had to get out of FL (in addition to always being a Wolverine).
August 17th, 2009 at 1:14 AM ^
I'm from Tampa. People don't seem to understand when I tell them I gotta get out of Florida cus I can't stand it but I"m sure you're in the same boat.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:22 PM ^
1. Detroit/Macomb
2. Received a UM football when I was young, been a fan ever since
3. De La Salle Collegiate
August 15th, 2009 at 6:29 PM ^
I've been reading this board for several months now so I guess it's about time to start posting.
1. Springfield, OH. Roughly 45 minutes from the Horseshoe.
2. Even though everyone around me is a buckeye, I never particularly liked them. I loved college sports but never had a favorite when I was younger. When I was about 11 I started watching Michigan football starring Charles Woodson. That was all I needed, been a huge fan since. I go to A2 so much I like to imagine that it's home for me instead of Ohio. I go to all the home games for football, try to get to 3 or 4 basketball games a year, and I throw in a hockey/baseball game every once in awhile.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:32 PM ^
1. Born in Indiana
2. My dad is a UM fan3
August 15th, 2009 at 6:32 PM ^
1)born in St. Paul Minnesota
2) My dad is an alum so I was brainwashed at a young age
3) Mounds Park Academy
August 15th, 2009 at 6:34 PM ^
1. Im from a tiny island in the Caribbean. I was a nerdy kid and with a limited exposure to American culture so my interest in sports was non existent as well as my knowledge of American universities. After giving serious thought to my future in High School I decided to pursue my life long dream of becoming an engineer and I knew I had to take a boat to the US for the best opportunities. I told my mom about this spectacular place called "Ann Harbor" that I wanted to go to for their elite engineering school and I convinced her to help me go after a year of begging(no joke).
2. My interest began on my first game in the big house against Miami but what sealed my love forever was Braylonfest 04'. Never Forget.
3. Catholic All-dudes High School.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:04 PM ^
Nuff said.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:38 PM ^
1. A native of Livonia, Michigan
2. I blame my mother, and by conjecture, her mother, for being huge Michigan fans. Ironically, of my three siblings, I am the only one who picked up the Michigan fandom, as my siblings largely became Spartan fans just two tweak me. Since I was in fourth grade, I wanted to go to Michigan and worked at getting in to Michigan from that point on. Now a proud alumnus.
3. Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Livonia, Michigan, the alma mater of former Michigan quarterback David Hall.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:48 PM ^
Sparty City. At first I thought it was just in the Stevenson section of town... but I've come to find out the who city leans slightly to the Sparty side. It was a depressing realization.
Good to see another SHS Spartan on board, though.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:03 PM ^
I've never really noticed that (still live over there), but I guess that could be because I didn't actually go to Stevenson. Seems pretty even to me. Plus, my next door neighbor is a colossal, huge Michigan fan and his grandson is former blue chip LB recruit Jim Presley. Everything else seems to get overshadowed by that.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:18 PM ^
It's as evenly split as anywhere in Detroit... like 60/40. I think it's because more people from Livonia end up at State.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:32 PM ^
I'm not gonna lie -- I've always felt there was a bigger UM presence throughout most of Metro Detroit.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:38 PM ^
I do too, I guess I'm just phrasing this all wrong haha. I think in general it's 60/40 UM/MSU. And in Livonia it's the reverse.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:22 PM ^
Not sure about all of metro Detroit, but almost all of Oakland County is 80/20ish or better.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:34 PM ^
Yeah, when I was growing up (in Oakland Co.), it seemed like the only people who rooted for State were those who had family ties there. Most everyone else (aside from a small number of ND fans) rooted for U-M.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:41 PM ^
Glad to see SHS #47 this year, they were average at best when I graduated in 2000.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:36 PM ^
Stevenson grad here as well. I would say that Livonia residents tend to follow whatever program is having the better season. I am not including myself in that group, but did notice this. Most graduates who stayed local, definitey were more likely to head to State to party than A2. Yet all acknowledge the historical and academic superiority of UofM. Sorry for the generalizations, just my 2 cents.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:38 PM ^
1. Where you were born/hometown
New York City
2. How you became a UM fan
Enrolling at the university. (Last minute, my step dad recommended I apply to Michigan. He was from the midwest, and thought it was good for me to apply to some schools out there.)
3. (optional) high school you attended
Xavier HS (all boys, Jesuit). Notable alumni, Al Roker, Antonin Scalia.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:40 PM ^
I'm from Dayton, OH (and currently live there totally against my will).
I grew up AN Ohio state university well-wisher, not so much a fan, and senior year in high school I still didn't know where I wanted to go to college. I played trumpet, and when the MMB halftime show at the 1993 Rose Bowl was televised featuring a trumpet quartet, that's when I started having serious thoughts about Michigan.
And then later that year came the Fab Five's Final Four run, and the hockey team's Frozen Four run, and that was all she wrote.
I'm still riding on the roller coaster that is MGoFandom. Where else would you rather be?
August 15th, 2009 at 6:41 PM ^
I was born and raised in East Lansing (East Lansing High School) and grew up cheering for Michigan State (I was a kid...I didn't know any better). As soon as I made my decision to attend UM, I became a die-hard fan and haven't looked back since.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:43 PM ^
Started out in Grosse Ile and Wyandotte. Moved to Tampa area as a kid. M football was just my way of keeping a piece of home with me forever.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:48 PM ^
Toledo
Not sure, mom and dad said I would watch in amazement and would run to my room crying when M would lose (some things never change). Whitmer, class of 89!
August 15th, 2009 at 10:48 PM ^
1) Born and raised in Seattle, WA, family moved to Spokane, WA between 7th and 8th grade
2) Two stories here. I have liked Michigan football since the early 90's when I saw my first live college football game. My parents are both U of Washington (UDUB) alums. They took me to the Rose Bowl games in '92 and '93. I had no particular fondness for the Huskies other than to please my parents but I knew the other team had cooler helmets so I rooted for them during both games (the rest of the UW alumni in those sections were not happy).
I attended USC for undergraduate, but always followed and rooted for UM whenever they weren't playing the Trojans. I'll call them my 1A and 1B teams.
Moved here to Ann Arbor for graduate school in 2006 and really started following the Wolverines like a true fanatic then.
3) Gonzaga Prep High School
August 15th, 2009 at 7:00 PM ^
Your mom is a wise, wise person.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:29 PM ^
Detroit. Attended Cass Tech for 9th and 10th grade, then family moved out to Westland (MI). Played two years for Chuck Gordon (Lloyd Carr's successor at Westland John Glenn).
I knew when I was six years old that I was going to go to the University of Michigan, and told anyone that asked. It was the only school that I applied to as a junior. Got in, and the rest is history. I now live in Chicago, but I am FROM Detroit.
Redwings, Tigers, Pistons and even the Lions.
But UM is number one in my heart.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:44 PM ^
1. I was born in Ann Arbor; the UM Hospital saved my life when I was born premature with Cerebal Palsy, and ever since then, have loved Michigan with a passion. My hometown is about an hour away, but I hate it, and consider A2 my hometown.
2. Most of my family went to MSU (my mother has two degrees from that horrid place), but as per my origin was at UM, my fandom began literally at birth. My Dad went to CMU, but took me to a lot of UM football games as a child in the early 90's. When I wasn't at the games, I adored watching them on television and spent a lot of time in Ann Arbor. I would go ballistic if we ever lost, which I still do. After high school, I applied to UM, got in, just graduated, and it has been THE love affair of my life ever since. Now I'm looking for a job, and the only sad part about leaving the State of Michigan for me will be missing Ann Arbor.
GO BLUE!
August 15th, 2009 at 7:51 PM ^
Born and raised in Saginaw
I've been a fan as long as I can remember (at least 3rd generation), but it really sunk in during Desmond Howard's heisman year (I was 11-12)
Went to Arhtur Hill HS in Saginaw - Same school as Shonte Peoples, Sam Sword (3 yrs ahead of me) and Jason Richardson (2yrs behind me)
August 15th, 2009 at 7:56 PM ^
1. Born in Manhattan, but I've spent my whole life in Brooklyn.
2. Lifelong fan (I have the baby pictures in Michigan gear to prove it). My dad is a Michigan alumnus who also grew up a Michigan fan in East Detroit. I've been watching Michigan football since before I remember. I vaguely remember the 1997 season, but can't remember any specific players and games until 1998 (Anthony Thomas, David Terrell, Tom Brady etc).
3. Stuyvesant High School (I'll be a senior this year).
August 16th, 2009 at 3:43 AM ^
represent. (MI transplant, but been here for 9 years so I'm kind of bklyn)
August 15th, 2009 at 8:25 PM ^
Anyway, I'm from Grand Rapids (moved there as a youth, I usually say I'm "from" the North Chicago suburbs).
My story of becoming a UM fan is pretty different from most, especially as someone who's diehard enough to become a blogger. My dad is an Ohio State alum, and both my parents are OSU fans from Ohio. They never really followed college football all that much (though they do have an unopened 6-pack of Coke in their house touting the 2002 National Championship). I was also not huge into sports until after high school. I probably watched 10 college football games in my whole life before... enrolling at UM. I became a fan during my first game in the Big House, and the '04 MSU game and the Rose Bowl loss to Texas really turned me into a serious fan.
I attended Forest Hills Central (C'04) in Grand Rapids.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:33 PM ^
1. Jackson, MI
3. JHS
2. Long line of family alumni groomed me. Went to all but a few football games here and there growing up. Now I'm the most recent alumnus.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:04 PM ^
1. Born in Troy, MI
2. My dad went to OSU, my mom went to State but it was my grandfather who converted me into a UM fan. First memory was watching Biakabutuka and thinking that was the sweetest last name ever.
3. Parents moved overseas so I graduated from international high school but now live in fl.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:20 PM ^
1. Born in Brazil and moved around a lot as a kid before eventually settling in Montclair, NJ.
3. Montclair High School (David Tyree)
2. Wasn't really a fan of Michigan until I decided on going to school there in early '06.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:28 PM ^
1. Born in '85, Madison, WI.
2. I'm not sure how I became a Michigan fan. My dad grew up in MN, went to Wisconsin. My mom grew up in Iowa. I lived around a bunch of Domers in Chicago. My Grandpa grew up an Ohio State fan. But despite a connection to just about every other Big Ten school, I somehow have been an obsessed Michigan fan for as long as I can remember. My mom doesn't even know how it started. Most likely the Fab Five, but I don't even remember watching them live.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:43 PM ^
1. Born in Toledo, OH but lived my entire life in Erie, MI.
2. Entire family are huge Michigan fans. My dad has 8 brothers and 5 sisters, all of whom are Michigan fans. My Uncle still holds 8 Season tickets in Section 7 at the big house. Being a Michigan fan has been ingrained in me since I was old enough to sing "The Victors".
3. Graduated from Erie Mason High School in 1998.
August 15th, 2009 at 9:57 PM ^
I was born in Sandusky, Ohio so I was a OSU fan by birth. I am catholic so I had to cheer for Notre Dame too...
I moved to Holland, Michigan in 1987 and continued to be a closet OSU fan until my wife went to Michigan for a PhD program. She was able to get student (and spouse) season ticket so the slow conversion began.(she was paid by the University and you have to follow the money trail) At the same time my two future sons-in-law were students at Michigan. (The daughters went to St. Mary's College and had season tickets for ND games) We would tailgate for all the Michigan games and about 7 years ago my future sons-in-law told me I had to get off the fence - I put on the Michigan hat and never looked back.
I moved to A2 4 years ago and have seen a lot of great action at the Big House but I think the best is yet to come - Go Blue!