Alumni Bar Heresy?
If you are a Michigan alum in Baltimore, you were treated to this news on Monday night, via your email box:
Maybe it is just me, but I can't think of anything more unpleasant than going to a Michigan bar and being forced to watch the game with a bunch of MSU fans. After sleeping on it for a couple days, I still think that it is a horrible, horrible idea. Am I wrong in this or does this qualify as alumni bar heresy and should be forever banned? I'm sure that some MSU fans are perfectly pleasant people, but this week I would prefer that you stay the hell away from me. Shame on the Baltimore alumni bar organizer(s) for this. I may have to make the trip into DC instead..."Hey fellow Wolverines, For the big MSU game this week we have decided to spice things up and get some (friendly) rivalry going with the area Spartan fans. We have invited them to come watch with us...so come prepared to do some eating, drinking and cheering with your friends...and some rivals! Thanks to [name redacted] for reaching out to their alumni contact and setting this up! Crazy Lil's in Fed Hill is the place to watch.... THIS WEEK IS HUGE so come out and show everyone that you bleed maize and blue. Let's make sure that our MICHIGAN BAR is full of MICHIGAN FANS!!!!!"
September 30th, 2009 at 1:04 PM ^
OSU fans is worse. It's like dining with the uncivilized.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:46 PM ^
Wiping the drool off the tables sucks.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:07 PM ^
If they want to come at their own accord I'd be fine with that but to be an invited guest is most definitely heresy.
Reading through the quote I'm thinking this is less Alum Bar Heresy or and more Local Alum Association Hersey. Correct?
September 30th, 2009 at 1:11 PM ^
That's spot on. Although I can't help think that the bar may have put pressure on them (or at least encouraged the idea when it was initially brought up) to help boost attendance.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:06 PM ^
the M alumni bar is also the nd alumni bar. it was fun to watch the game and out-cheer the nd fans, mostly because we won.
however, the difference here is that the seattle M alumni club did not invite the nd alumni club; rather, we both watch our games at the same place. i think inviting a rival fan group is just silly.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:20 PM ^
Yeah, I would be pretty unhappy if my alumni chapter invited the Sparty chapter. Well, this would presume of course that my city had an alumni chapter. Anger.
But regardless, I think part of the enjoyment of watching the game at a Michigan bar is being surrounded by Michigan fans. If you wanted to watch it with Sparties, you could just go down to any local community college and watch it with a few of their potential recruits.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:23 PM ^
we almost did this in nola.
luckily i changed my mind.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:40 PM ^
... I really got under a Sparty friend's skin by saying this every time their kicker lined up for a field goal.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:17 PM ^
The DC Alumni Club held a joint hockey-watching event at a bar last year, and although it went just fine, we weren't inviting them to 'our' bar - it was a meeting in neutral territory, and it was hockey, which only draws a couple dozen people, total, maybe. It was alright, but we also won. I can't imagine how annoying it would be if we had lost. I'm at least partially against this.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:50 PM ^
This event--a UM vs MSU showdown gathering seems like it would be fine, even if they did it for football. Similarly, a joint UM/ND bar (as mentioned above) would probably have an electric and fun atmosphere for the game. There is certainly value in doing this sort of thing and I can see the benefit/fun factor. However, I'm glad to see that those that have responded seem to think that a line has been crossed with this.
An alumni bar is a place for UM folk to get together in a unabashedly pro-UM atmosphere. You don't need to deal with the stress of talking trash to the opponent or dealing with obnoxious rivals. You can cheer, commiserate, drink and facepalm together without somebody being on your case about it. With this week's game on the Big Ten Network, most people out here need to go somewhere to watch the game. It is just sad that there isn't a little Michigan safehaven for us to do so.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:29 PM ^
The NoVA bar where the alumni club watches UM football pretty much did this (forcing rivals to pack together) last year - when I arrived for the OSU game, there were Buckeyes camped out in front of the big TV. It was a bunch of horsesh** - they owed us the favor for patronizing their bar week after week and instead we got secondary seating and short-shrift service. The place had three huge rooms, when they arrived they could have easily asked them to find another squat spot (for example, Bailey's has TVs in the restrooms, which might have been quite comfortable for the Buckeye fans.)
Inviting rivals is a bad idea. This sounds like it was proposed by the Baltimore bar to up the business.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:02 PM ^
...Michigan games at Michigan bars where a few fans from the opposing team happened to be. I always thought "Don't you have your own bar to watch this? Why are you here?" I don't like the invitation one bit.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:15 PM ^
to passing a law that allows guns in bars, is that really a good idea?
September 30th, 2009 at 3:18 PM ^
Don't you guys have any friends who went to State or are State fans? Or do you all only socialize with Michigan fans? Watching with them and talking smack is fun.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:45 PM ^
I've watched a UM/MSU game with friends from both schools before and it was a blast. But friends are one thing, and strangers in a bar is another. If you want to watch the game with a mix of MSU and UM buddies, by all means, have a great time. You can even personally invite them to watch at the Michigan bar with you, but an "official" invite to their entire alumni base goes way too far.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:24 PM ^
How is inviting some State alumni to a public bar to watch a football game way too far? What do you honestly think they are going to do?
September 30th, 2009 at 5:09 PM ^
I think we're on different wavelengths here. If an individual wants to invite state fans to a Michigan bar for the game, then that is fine. If they want to patronize that public bar on their own accord, that is fine too. Personally, I don't think that the State fans are going to *do* anything, other than be rooting for the exact opposite of things that I am rooting for. But if I am going to go to a Michigan bar I want to be surrounded by Michigan fans. That's the point. The very group charged with maintaining the Michigan atmosphere (the alumni group), has chosen to intentionally dilute this atmosphere by inviting the State alumni group. I don't think that the state fans are going to be trouble makers or anything of that sort, I just expect them to be generally obnoxious, drunk, loud asses during the course of the game, and if I'm going to go out of my way to go to a Michigan bar then I don't want to put up with it. Regular bar, fine. Random meeting of Michigan and MSU fans, fine. Coordinated effort by UM Alumni? No, thanks.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:30 PM ^
I wouldn't want to deal with Sparties after a loss, but I have plenty of friends who went to state and think its not that big of a deal. If the Spartan's act like jerks, don't do it again.