Confessions of a Michigan Football Fan
11 Warriors has an interesting piece on their site where they "invite you (their readers) to spill your sins, real or perceived, against Ohio State athletics." It makes for a fun/entertaining read and I thought we Michigan fans probably have plenty of interesting thoughts to spill as well.
So I guess I'll start with my 3 confessions:
-I love Ann Arbor to death, but I don't think it's the best college town in the Big Ten. I think that privilege goes to Madison.
-I'm a Hoke fan, and I love Mattison and think Nussmeier was a great pick up, but State has the best all-around football staff/coaches in the Big Ten. Hands down.
-Here's my big one... Had we played Nebraska in a BCS Championship-like game back in '97, I think they would've won.
Bonus: I LOVE the movie "Rudy" and have no real negative feelings toward Notre Dame at all.
11 Warriors Link: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-athletics/2014/06/36200/ohio-state-athletics-confessional-2014
Going 0-4 in non-conf play, but winning the big ten. Is that considered a successful season?
Hate is such a strong word...
Totally agree that it's irritating not having anything on the boxes, but opposed to championship seasons, I'd prefer simply, "The University of Michigan."
Or bringing back the old "Michigan Stadium" heading that the old press box had and sticking it somewhere on top. I loved that thing 
This x1000. Why we didn't put those letters back up in beyond me. So classic.
Good excuse to raise next year's student tickets to $350
Because they won't light up
I hate that our fans do not give the program the same support that the other blue bloods do either through students not showing up before GA and after GA, fans not wearing the same color, noise (although that has improved and doesn't appear to be that much of an issue at least for the big games), spring game attendance, giving up season tickets after down years etc.
Come on. You're blaming low spring "game" attendance on the fans?
and I wear Maize...to every home game... So there!
What games have you been going to? I graduated from UM almost 50 years old and wear maize everything, even pants sometimes to the games. I see a lot of other old folks into the same spirit.
Good for you! Too bad the rest of the old folks aren't in maize with the same precentage as the student section.
Oh, I haven't missed a home game since 2008.
I used to get upset over fans not wearing maize (especially for big games), but I think I have gotten over that in the last few years. The main reason is because I think fans who criticize it have to sit back and think about it for a second. First, the wear maize thing really hasn't been "a thing" at Michigan that long. Go watch old videos, there's very little maize. And we have seen improvement. Whether people see it or not, I believe that the crowd has steadily been progressing each year. I think it's about people finally buying maize and students who wore a ton of maize becoming alums. Second, our main color is blue. People who pay $75 bucks for a jersey want to wear it to a game they paid $100 to attend and frankly, I can't blame them. It's just tough to criticize someone who really supports the team for a color they're wearing. Plus, I think maize is just a tough color is general to pull off, especially in colder temperatures.
Personally, I always wear maize to the games, but I think many of the criticisms don't account for the reality of the situation. I will say, for basketball, I absolutely think they need to get over the pom pom and rally towel things and just hand out t-shirts. That really does work.
I agree. I know some people on here liked them but I thought they looked awful.
only to find out that ....
Also I hate raining.
Thank you. Michigan had more NFL talent than Nebraska that year (which means something IMO). Many people (possibly including the OP) were snowed by the pro-Nebraska PR, Scott Frost's whining, and Sean "Monotone" McDonough's Husker sales pitch on CBS.
Nebraska's recent success ('95 and '96) had a big impact on perceptions.
don't get me started. What a whiney little bitch.
I think it's because a good portion of college football fans have always gotten caught up in margin of victory, style points, impressing the pollsters, etc. Teams that continue to pour on the points against an overwhelmed opponent are always given more credit than they deserve. This is doubly true when talking about the most recent game.
Nebraska got a split because of Osborne and because Tennessee threw in the towel in the bowl game. That is what was fresh in everyone's mind when they voted, not the kicked ball vs Mizzou, not Michigan's better MOV against common opponents, not us throttling undefeated #1 Penn State in Happy Valley earlier in the season.
I also think names on helmets matter a lot, too. Say we had beaten a 10-1 USC team instead of WSU and that maybe Mississippi State or Arkansas had replaced Tennessee in the SEC standings that year. The voters would have been more impressed by us and less by Nebraska even if the rosters had been identical. This sort of thing has been an issue in every poll since people started voting.
Of course, when Michigan fans talk about losing to Nebraska that's a whole other story. That can probably be chalked up to a level of self-loathing that far exceeds what you'll find in any other fan base.
back then? How bout "Michigan has great difficulty stopping running QBs."
that I just had to create multiple profiles on here and quickly get them all up to 100 mgopoints just so I could upvote Cali Wolverine more than once.
I hate clumps.
We have a 6-3 record against MSU and have won 3 straight against Ohio in bball so either we have just lucked out with players and Matta and Izzo are still better than us or our coach can develop talent that beats their 5 stars and 4 stars. I like the 2nd option.
What? How on earth does the basketball program get worked into there? Over the last 2 years, Michigan has dominated MSU and OSU and is turning out more pro talent than either. I'm struggling to find your reasoning here. You can go back 4 seasons and Michigan has been better and achieved more than MSU. Probably not OSU, but it's at least neck and neck over the last few years and Michigan has been way better the last two.
Maybe this is a confession of its own, but I care much more about the MBB and football teams than any other teams. I think of them as playing a mini-Director's Cup.
I'm saying I fear that the MBB and football staffs - when combined - are third among Michigan, MSU, and OSU. In other words, I fear that the football staff is so below what MSU and OSU bring to the table that they pull Michigan down to third despite what the MBB staff does.
Ok ... ? That seems like a pretty pointless distinction to me. I mean, what's the equation? Each coach accounts for 50%? Most people value football more, so do the football staffs count for more? I just don't see how you have a fruitful discussion when ultimately, you're comparing John Beilein against Urban Meyer and Mark Dantonio. It's apples and oranges.
I can structure it however I like. Yes, each is 50%. Is that hard to understand?
Sure. Nobody's saying you can't structure it like that. What I'm saying is that it just doesn't make much sense as a comparison. I mean, we might as well combine the Mock Trial and football teams.
...it involves Mock Trial with Judge Reinhold.
So I think what you're saying is that our football coaches are really bad, considering the MBB staff is top notch.
I hate that a .250 to .333 win% would be an improvement over current state of affairs with OSU.
We could, but it would require an elite coaching staff of our own. Now whether that is what we have is obviously a key question.