82nd Mudbowl In Jeopardy

Submitted by Michiganguy19 on

There are few things at the University of Michigan that have existed from generation to generation on our fabled campus as a production of the students for students without University administrators, no Lochdog, just good old fashion'd collegiate fun... The Mudbowl is just that and it is in jeopardy of not having a 82nd installment. Presented for your commentary and support...

MLive on this years event: http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/09/ex-sae_fraternity_members_will.html#incart_river

Barstool sports on this years event: http://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/michigan-mudbowl-in-danger-of-bein…

John U Bacon on the annual event: http://annarborchronicle.com/2013/10/18/column-in-praise-of-the-mud-bow…

MVictors from 2014: http://mvictors.com/2014-sae-mudbowl-photos/

B/R on the 2013 event: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1840336-the-mud-bowl-at-michigan-the…

The 1992 PDT vs. SAE tilt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLbIJtqYfc

 

 

Bando Calrissian

September 24th, 2015 at 11:15 PM ^

How about we discuss the fact that one of the fraternities involved has been rightfully booted from campus for hazing, has been living in their house as an "unofficial" fraternity, and is finally getting the boot for good?

It's not about playing football in the mud--it's about there being real consequences for doing terrible things to people in the name of "brotherhood."

But, oh, university traditions.

Bando Calrissian

September 24th, 2015 at 11:27 PM ^

So the chapter was kicked off campus by its national organization for nothing? The allegations were as follows:

 

"Brothers shot Airsoft guns, threw eggs, poked and tripped them with broomsticks, poured buckets of flour on them." "Brothers taking hockey slap-shots at the pledge class using tennis balls as hockey pucks" and "brothers violently kicking pledges in the groin to ensure that they were wearing athletic support cups." ...pledges were were forced to "drink regurgitated water with goldfish in it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/university-of-michigan-sae_n_8… That's brotherhood.

BornSinner

September 24th, 2015 at 11:31 PM ^

Okay nice to know you can Google things from 4 years ago... 

Here's a recent quote... 

Devin Berghorst, one of the assistant directors of U-M's Office of Greek Life, said that prior to the suspension from the national chapter SAE was back on track for reinstatement. He said the group had several meetings with Greek Life officials and members of the IFC and he was led to believe the group would be a recognized chapter sooner rather than later.

"We had a lot of meetings with SAE students, advisers, alums, parents—working with them to explore possibility of them coming back as an IFC-recognized fraternity," he said.

"Things were going well. They were going really well. We had a meeting with some people from SAE and we left that meeting acknowledging that it might be a process getting them recognized by IFC, but that it could happen. A week or two after that meeting we got word from the national organization that the chapter was closed."

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/09/famed_mud_bowl_at…

Their nationals must've just said fuck it with Oklahoma and Dartmouth giving them bad PR after Michigan's chapter fucked up. 

 

Bando Calrissian

September 24th, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^

Which means the Mud Bowl ends. At the end of the day, IFC only has so much power. If the national organization saw something they didn't like, the guys probably weren't sharing everything with the IFC.

SAE made their bed here. It's hard to feel sympathy for a group that apparently didn't do enough to eradicate a fraternity culture bad enough to get them booted four years ago--especially when it seems they were all still in the house operating unofficially.

BornSinner

September 24th, 2015 at 11:37 PM ^

Mudbowl being hosted by SAE ends. I'm willing to wager another frat will pick it up, or the frat that rents out SAE's house will bring it back or... even SAE's replacement chapter will bring it back in 4 years once the current members graduate. 

It's too easy to not do it. 

BlueNine

September 25th, 2015 at 3:45 AM ^

Long time listener, first time caller here. What's sad is that the current group of SAEs has done a lot to improve the image of the house. Speaking as an old-timer, the current members have distinguished themselves from the SAEs of old. It's a good group. On the merits, they don't deserve to lose the right to organize their event. They're suffering because the national fraternity's views of the UM chapter were colored by actions taken by students that haven't been on campus for many years. This is unfortunate. Tradition aside, Mudbowl is a fun event that brings the community together for a good cause. It generates around $20K per year for Mott, which probably puts it towards the top tier of student events in terms of dollars raised. We don't have enough events like this one. Hopefully, the administration takes a careful look at the facts on the ground before making a decision one way or another.

BornSinner

September 24th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^

Um... SAE was well on its way back to re-joining IFC at Michigan according to Devin. Their national chapter pulled the plug on them. 

SAE's nationals must've discovered something they didn't like. 

This is just sad if you ask me. Just another U tradition going to the wayside. Smh. 

I wonder if another fraternity can take the reigns to keep it going. Theta Chi or Phi Psi maybe? 

Those 2 were always heavily invested into the Mudbowl as well. 

BornSinner

September 25th, 2015 at 12:28 AM ^

Sorry I like to keep traditions alive... South U is unrecognizable these days with all the apartment high rises... Just keep changing shit until we lose our identity...

Mudbowl was enjoyable for a lot people. SAE on the other hand... not so much. 

OMG Shirtless

September 25th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^

So you just didn't talk to people in your classes? My Intro English class was about 25 - 30 people and I would say I knew everyone in the class. I didn't give a shit about most of them. There were DBag frat guys, bitchy sorority girls, athletes, nerds, band kids and hippies. That class alone and I can say that I know someone who has taken part in almost every Michigan tradition small and large. That's why I find it hard to believe that people don't at least know someone who has been to the mud bowl.

pescadero

September 25th, 2015 at 1:42 PM ^

know: have developed a relationship with (someone) through meeting and spending time with them.

 

I talked to SOME people in my classes. I may have know the names of 10-20% in my classes outside Engineering. Even among the ones whose name I was cognizant of - I didn't "know" most of them.

 

Could one of those acquantances once attended the mud bowl but never mentioned in the one or two converstaion we ever had? Sure.

 

Is that the equivalent of someone I know attending? Nope.

 

I knew people that did the naked mile. I knew people who played on sports teams. I knew people that worked with Nobel Prize winners... but no one I had a relationship ever mentioned attending the mud bowl to me.

 

It's really very much just a "Frat" tradition that those outside Greek life never cared much of anything about.

SC Wolverine

September 25th, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^

Actually, Theta Chi and Phi Psi have not "always" been heavily invested in the Mudbowl, since historically it is a game between the Phi Delts and SAE.  While the field belongs to SAE, the game itself historically belongs to the Phi Delts as well.  PDT was disbanded after a terrible accident in the 1990's but has since been reestablished as a very reputable house for over a decade.  While I applaud the SAE alums for trying to keep the game alive (the first time I have ever applauded SAE, by the way), if they want to claim historical spirit they will play the game against alums from PDT.

Brandywine

September 25th, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^

Ugh. Give me a break. Look, I was in a certain neighboring fraternity while at Michigan and freely admit I think there is no legitimate purpose of these organizations in our society. The entire purpose of any house is to drink, have fun, and attract the best looking girls on campus. Period. I don't know how anyone could argue differently unless we're talking about schools in the south wher fraternities are much more of an actual institution than they are in the midwest.

Having said that, the reality is that SAE has achieved its status in Michigan greek like as the most prominent house out there and will continue to do so as long as its around. If it gets kicked off, another house will take its place. The students are what drive the behavior, not the letters themselves. As long as there are college kids, there will be a house like SAE. If you are against greek life as an instituion, then fine, you should argue that IFC shouldn't exist at Michigan at all. Kids today are no different than they used to be, if not smarter and more aware of social consequences. Hazing will continue whether not SAE and mudbowl exists or not. I'm not sure why society can't accept that young men will do stupid things, yet at least are doing much less stupid things than they used to.

As Jeff Goldblum has said, "Life finds a way"

EGD

September 25th, 2015 at 12:24 AM ^

I have mixed feelings about having been in a fraternity at UM. On the one hand, I definitely drank and partied and experimented with substances way more than I would have otherwise, and it definitely affected my grades and--much more importantly in retrospect--diminished the academic aspect of my undergraduate years. OTOH, it connected me with lots of people in circles I would never have traveled in, and lots of my closest friends even now (18 years out of school) are people I met in or through the fraternity. So I don't regret it, but it wasn't a wholly positive experience either. I'm not sad to see some efforts being made to clean the worst parts of Greek life up a bit--but as you say, college kids are going to find a way of getting their buzz on no matter what you do.

Bocheezu

September 25th, 2015 at 8:44 AM ^

Chemical engineering.  Having a social atmosphere and making long-lasting friends is not a small thing.  I never talked to any of my former classmates after I graduated (literally everybody left the state) and I'm much better friends with classmates from high school.  In general, my college experience was not a positive one.

RGard

September 25th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^

The ΑΧΣ house (chem engineering) was a mellow place.  I lived there for 3 years as a roomer.  They were happy to have us there for their 'rush' parties, but kicked us roomers out when they had their join the frat ceremony.

Came back after their joining/initiation ceremony one time and one of them had ended up in the hospital when the alcohol bath blew up when he poured more alcohol on it while it was hot/lit. He ended up ok, but it was embarassing supposedly in a chemical way.

 

BlueFish

September 25th, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^

I'm not sure why society can't accept that young men will do stupid things

So we should condone these behaviors, because they're young men and young men do stupid things?

Should sexual assault be included in the list of stupid things that young men do, that society should accept?

From a study cited on CNN in 2013 (LINK):

Before they got to college, fraternity men were no different from other male students. They committed the same number of incidents of sexual assaults before college. But here's the difference. Guys who joined a fraternity then committed three times as many sexual assaults as those who didn't join. It is reasonable to conclude that fraternities turn men into guys more likely to rape. Our study confirmed that fraternities provide the culture of male peer support for violence against women that permits bad attitudes to become treacherous behavior. And that should concern everyone.

For the record, I'm not suggesting SAE was shut down for something related to sexual assault. I don't know the circumstances, nor do I care. I just take issue with the "boys will do stupid things and we should accept it" response. If you rush a frat and willingly allow yourself to kicked in the balls for initiation, you probably deserve what you get. But there are no exceptions for personal responsibility and basic human decency.  You even acknowledge that today's kids are likely smarter and more aware of social consequences.  But that doesn't seem to faze some kids, especially in some notable fraternities (as it would seem).

I think kids today ARE different than they used to be, for countless reasons.  Especially rich kids on a college campus.

Brandywine

September 25th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^

So I think what you're saying is that fraternities shouldn't exist at all, and that's a perfectly reasonable argument. I submit though that if there were no fraternities, kids will still gather in a different setting. Greek life probably makes that behavior easier on a larger scale, but I'm confident it will continue elsewhere. It would just be less visible and more difficult to call out.

What does being rich have anything to do with this?

Seth

September 25th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^

University traditions are cool. I for one would rather see the Mud Bowl continue in some form. The alumni who own the building seem okay with hosting it in whatever format. Get everyone with a stick up their ass out of the room, including IFC, and just make it the annual IM championship game for all IM football teams.

Michigan Eaglet

September 24th, 2015 at 11:18 PM ^

I unfortunately was never able to attend the event as a student, but everyone I ever spoke to about it, inculding many of my friends that participated in it, always looked forward to it and only had positive things to say about it. I have little doubt that the tradition will continue, even if it isn't a "sanctioned event".