Why do we care so much?

As a father of 3 with the oldest being a 14 year old girl, I'm just looking to escape reality for a few hours on Saturday afternoons. The escapism hasn't been great since Thanksgiving, hoping for better things next year. Cheers, happy New year's all!

I’ve (and my wife) asked myself this exact question year after year.   Why do I care so damn much?  Other than the health and emotional well being of me and my family, Michigan football is the most important thing in my life.  My life happiness is predicated on Michigan wins and losses.  I’m so emotionally invested. 

But why?  I don’t remotely care about the Michigan professional teams even though I’m a lifelong fan...I don’t care about my job.  I just need enough money to live.  I don’t care if I have a lot of friends or not.   I don’t post on message boards about anything else.   

I feel like I’m some guy from Texas, Alabama, Georgia where football is religion and a way of life.   It’s a sickness and there is no cure.  I want Michigan to beat OSU and win a National a Championship so bad that it consumes me.     The end.

My fandom comes from my pops and his father before that. Love the MGOblog community so I like to interact.

I'll be diehard blue until the end of my days. Going to UM at UMD here in DC area in march, then gonna watch blue vs UMD in baseball in spring. 

Football games are exciting but no doubt a let down, particularly 2 of the past 4 seasons when it seemed like we had legit shot at winning something big. Gonna start doing the emotional hedge next year and bet against UM in big games until Harbaugh proves otherwise.

I miss not knowing what a 4 or 5 star had for breakfast.  With 24/7 access there is way too much info out there and that access has taken away from the fun of following your team.  I can’t imagine if I was a player that I would even have any social media because the scrutiny some put on these student athletes is beyond the level of insanity.  

I like the idea of it more than I actually like it

I reached the low point in 2014.  By the end of the year I just didn't care about Michigan football.  Only Ohio State game I have never even watched.  

Then we hired harbaugh and immediately reignited my insane devotion.  

I'm about back to 2014 levels now.  Seeing a full harbaugh season with a truly talented QB with this result has shredded any glimmer of hope I had.

To me, I’ve only really known mediocrity. Being 20 years old the earliest memories I have are the later Carr years. For me a loss has always been just a loss. Occasionally(including yesterday), I’ll go off simply because I have never seen Michigan football do a damn thing. And it’s frustrating. But for the most part I couldn’t care less after a loss. 

No mystery.  I've been caring for all of my conscious life and that's more years than I often want to admit.  My dad started taking me to games when I was 5, and he took my son to his first game when he was 4.  Dad still pays for the season tickets, son, daughter and I attend.  My undergrad years at UM were the best years (and sometimes not the best, learned more when things were not the best). I remain grateful for the experience, decades later.

There have been times where it was necessary to employ coping mechanisms such as what people have described here, like detaching for a short while.  Through it all my fandom does not waver.  Whatever my faults, I am a very loyal person.  

We never should have fired Moe

Because I cared too much when it really sucked, it's about time for some karmic f-ing justice and I'm sick and tired of waiting.

Other than that I don't really give a shit.

Stop knocking 23 year olds.  That was the life expectancy not many centuries ago.

Why?  

It all stems back to my attending UM.  If I didn't I wouldn't care about the school or any of its programs.  I started the indoctrination as a freshman and it continues to pump in my blood to this day.  I've had glorious memories both as a student and alumna and it taints every view I have, as much as I try to maintain some semblance of objectivity in criticism.  

In the end it is my alma mater and I care how it is perceived in the greater world view both in academics and athletics, as a research institution and an agent of change in society, as a cultural icon and the kaleidoscopic addition to the tapestry of life across the globe.

Maize and Blue now, Maize and Blue forever.

I don't care as much as I used to. I have a much easier time letting it go. 

Because my wife has put on a lot of weight since our wedding.

Interesting topic here....

I have to say I don't know why I care so much about M football. But I do, and that's why these 10-win seasons, while nice on the surface, are just so damn frustrating. That has been rehashed a million times, so I'll leave it there.

I'm a Lions fan (nominally) too, but when the Lions suck, I can still watch the game and be somewhat entertained, or at least be able to say, "well, no big deal". I can't do that with Michigan games. When I see Michigan have trouble, I literally have to turn off the game. I have so much stress over the games that I just can't watch them live. Why the HELL is it this way? Why can't I manage to re-calibrate my expectations for this team? I have done it for all the Detroit teams, as we are in a horrible period for Detroit sports in general.

Pisses me the hell off. If I could just enjoy our consistent 9-10 win seasons, I'd be much happier in the fall.

This is why my friend:

Because College Football is by far the greatest game and our university is pretty fucking great too.  That's why I care.

As I get older it becomes harder to emotionally invest when adult stuff takes up my time. I still care but football has lost its identity amid the cash grabs, blatant cheating and me mentality. I’ll be back next year, jaded as ever.

I still care a great amount, but at the same time the outcome of a game has no direct impact on anything in my life. Wake up tomorrow and it's a completely new day. Am i still disappointed after a big loss? Of course.

I just hope before my dad passes we can celebrate a national championship together. Too young for 1997.

I care because this is one of the very few things that careers, a wife and kids can't take away from you.  My enjoyment of everything else has diminished on account of those 3 time suckers, but nobody can take away MGoBlog when I am at my desk (self-employed), or my DVR recording of the Michigan game that I can watch on Saturday nights.

Outside of throwing the remote and getting visually pissed off, I would say my fandom has actually increased since I was a kid.  Instant access to team news, forums and recruiting news is so much better than it was growing up in the 90's.  We never care less, we just behave more maturely, lol.

Go Blue!  Now enough with this philosophical bullshit.

I care because of Bob Ufer and had some of my best years and met some of the greatest people in A2. Definitely tribal.

Get pissed for a day after a bad loss in any sport but then move on. For football, the end of season flows right into basketball and hockey so it is easy. Beilein and his teams respresent everything a UM fan should want. The wins are very nice but it's just the humility, development of fundamentals and integrity that make me love his program from day one. Hutch is my second favorite UM coach for the same reasons.

Because we are all competitive and we want to win, whether it is something we are doing or something our school or home town team is doing. And because we don’t like it when people talk trash to us when we lose.