RCMB: Ask a REAL Wolverine Anything about Michigan
October 25th, 2016 at 7:08 PM ^
Anyone who is a Michigan fan is a real Wolverine.
Anyone who says otherwise is a jealous blowhard that can suck it. Of course they don't think non-alums can't be fans because no one gives two fucks about msu outside of MI.
October 25th, 2016 at 7:40 PM ^
It is absurd the way Spartan fans act like you have to be an alumnus to be a Michigan fan. I don't see them checking for Alumni Association cards at Spartan Stadium.
Then they have the nerve to call us arrogant.
October 25th, 2016 at 9:55 PM ^
I always correct them and say the word you meant to use was "accurate." They are easily confused.
October 26th, 2016 at 8:47 AM ^
Perhaps if you spelled it for them: "Accurate. You know A-C-U-R-A-T-E. Accurate."
October 26th, 2016 at 10:23 AM ^
from the fact that it's not a national program. I'm not sure the percent of non-alumns of the respective schools that live within the state of Michigan that are fans of each team, but MSU has very, very few fans outside of the State.
It's simply not a national brand, whereas Michigan is one of the top 3 brands in all of college football, whether up or down in performance. It simply eats at them, and their 8 year run of onfield success did nothing to change this.
Even in our worst year and their best, people were confusing their program for ours. Now that we have Harbaugh, (a top 3 coach in all of football - NFL included - imo), they know its over. Couldn't make hay when big bro was down.
They are not a blue blood, they play in a shit stadium, their facilities are crap, and the university is levels below UM in academic prestige. Many may still be in the denial stage after their nice little run, but its over for them.
The best players in Michigan (and in the country) go to Michigan.
October 26th, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^
A-C-U-R-A-E-E
October 25th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^
Funny how it's always the non-alums that are the first to make this argument.
October 25th, 2016 at 9:48 PM ^
Bando gon' Bando.
October 25th, 2016 at 9:57 PM ^
But, I agree with the statement in its entirety.
UM '90, BS AeroE
October 26th, 2016 at 8:59 AM ^
And I'm in the camp that believes that if people sincerely support Michigan as their favorite team, they're plenty "Wolverine" for me. And I'm not saying that Njia or Bando are taking a contrary position.
I think it's more that some non-alums are thin-skinned about the issue. How people came to their fandom is interesting to me, and there are many ways. I know folks who are rabid Michigan fans because they grew up in the heart of OH, and the Buckeye mania turned them off. I know folks who like Michigan because they were always on TV when they were growing up, and they liked their uniforms. I know folks who like Michigan because they were (properly) raised that way. They're all legit in my book - and some alums don't make the cut in my book, since they don't support the team.
Plenty of room on the fan train. Choo choo, and all that.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^
but it doesn't matter when it comes to football. I'm a pretty big Michigan football fan, but have nothing on thousands of non-alum fans who attend every game and spend thousands on gear (i.e. WD for an easy example).
In my experience, as an alum, your love for Michigan goes beyond just the football. It is love for the campus, the memories in the dorms, the parties, the professors, the Arb. All things that shaped us in some formidable years.My love of Michigan does not separate the University from the football program, where as many non-alums focus more on the sports aspect, which is understandable as they most likely have their fondest memories of Michigan watching with their friends and family either on a couch or in the stadium.
I'm also sure that kids at Mott tie in the sports with Mott, and that is their connection.
I really don't understand why people care so much why others have a connection to a certain team. As long as they aren't tweating at recruits, hurting opposing fans, and keep cheering for the good guys, it seems like it should all be good.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:08 PM ^
And this is exactly it. As alums, our connections to the university are much deeper and far more meaningful than those who basically think of Michigan as an athletics program with a university. And as someone else mentioned, it's the thin-skinned "well, I've always been a Michigan fan, but I didn't go to Michigan because of XYZ" that gets old.
I'm sorry if it's arrogant or elitist, but there are people who are alums, and there are people who aren't. Everyone has a right to follow the program, everyone has a right to love Michigan. And not all alums are great fans, just as not all non-alums are great fans. But there has to be an acknowledgment that a diploma means something far different when it comes to fandom. That's all.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^
And who are you to decide how meaningful someone's connections are to a university? This is stunningly elitist... and stupid.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
The alum supremacy stuff is what gets old because it doesn't make you better.
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October 26th, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^
For what it's worth, Bando doesn't speak for many of us.
October 26th, 2016 at 5:09 PM ^
November 16th, 2016 at 6:45 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 12:50 PM ^
Maybe technically I agree, but you also don't have to be a huge dick about it. You're a person who goes out of his way to be a huge dick about it. Insert Big Lebowski reference.
October 26th, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^
I don't even agree with him. I'm going to take his words and substitute in another distinction between some fans and other fans--whether we grew up as Michigan fans. I don't believe what this says either (i.e., I think this is arrogant and stupid, too), but to me it doesn't sound any less reasonable than what he wrote. My edits are in bold.
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October 26th, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^
I should have clarified.
I was in the band as well, and I'd say that band members have a pretty deep connection to Michigan athletics and we get a closeness that most other students don't get.
However, I have no problem saying that the closeness of someone like WD to Michigan athletics far exceeds a ton of students who actually attend the university. I'm an engineer, and there were crowds of people in my classes who barely knew we had a football team. Bando is arguing from a self-serving viewpoint. He's wrong to do so and it wouldn't matter if he were right; WD is correct that if you cheer for Michigan, you're a real Michigan fan.
October 26th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
October 28th, 2016 at 2:04 PM ^
Oh yeah? Well, that's just like, your opinion, man.
October 26th, 2016 at 1:27 PM ^
I was with you until your second-to-last sentence Bando. A diploma means something far different when it comes to the university as a whole, but not, IMO, when it comes to fandom.
JD'96
October 26th, 2016 at 1:41 PM ^
"well, I've always been a Michigan fan, but I didn't go to Michigan because of XYZ"
Wow! It's like you know me!
I've been a huge Michigan fan since 1973, long before I went to college.
When the time came to pick a school I weighed a lot of different factors.
But at the end of the day, I couldn't ignore the importance of XYZ.
ABC and DEF were up there ... but XYZ tipped the scales.
* * *
Look, I get the broader point you're making, and I am in general agreement that being an alum creates a greater degree of attachment to the school than mere sports fandom.
Being an alum makes you ... an alum. It does not make you a better football fan.
October 26th, 2016 at 2:04 PM ^
Being an alum is special and something you don't take for granted. You got to live and breath Michigan everyday for 8-12 months out of the year for 4-5 years (or more if you got a phd or masters). But not everyone is able to get to experience that. I love the marching band and pep band, but you being a member means you are way more passionate and have a much deeper connection to that distinct part of Michigan that I never did or can experience. Players who've played for Michigan have a special connection that I will never have as well as a "muggle". Yet I'd be upset (and wsa when they said it) when the football players said I as a fan shouldn't have a say in how the athletic department was run.
That decisiveness and arrogance is what brought down Dave Brandon, and is how your message is getting percieved. I honestly don't think that anyone disagrees with you that your experience and love for Michigan is different as an alum. When it comes to Michigan football, you just don't have more of a right to the fandom than non-alums.
October 26th, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^
Fuck you!.
I've been a Michigan fan since I was 10 years old.
I remember a chilly rainy Saturday in 1980 when my stepdad was ready to leave The Big House because Michigan was up on Illinois 31-14 BUT I insisted that we had to stay so I could watch the Michigan Band perform.
I did not have the grades in HS to get into Michigan (and didn't even apply)...I was accepted to MSU and turned it down.
I surrender my Michigan fandom to no one, alum or not...
October 26th, 2016 at 3:33 PM ^
Wow. I understand why people call us alums arrogant pricks now.
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October 27th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^
With the academic record I maintained in high school I am keenly aware that if I were applying to college today there is little chance I’d get accepted to Michigan. I am proud of my 2 degrees from U of M but am humbled by the fact I was very fortunate to have had the opportunities that were afforded me. I also appreciate the fact many people either didn’t have the same advantages that I did or simply chose a different path.
Just because we took different routes to the restaurant doesn’t mean we can’t all enjoy our meal together. In fact, it makes for better dinner conversation.
October 26th, 2016 at 9:42 AM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 10:28 AM ^
I grew up a huge Michigan fan, I attended but did not graduate from Michigan. I have other family members that did. I am not less of a fan simply because I did not graduate.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
Non-alum fans are absolutely, 100% real fans, and to say othewise is dumb.
That said, there's something special about fandom for your alma mater, especially when it's Michigan - to say otherwise would be to deny that there's something special about spending 4+ amazing years at the University of Michigan, and that's something no alumnus will ever (or should ever) say.
October 26th, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^
I'm the only one with a degree (actually two) from that august institution in Ann Arbor. My family members that are non-alums are in many ways more passionate than I am about the Wolverines, and I'm pretty damn passionate about my team. They all grew up rooting for the Maize and Blue, and due to geography, grades, etc., did not attend school at UM. I still consider them 100% real fans. They love Michigan.
October 26th, 2016 at 1:02 AM ^
So you think only alumni should be fans? So what, UM would have 600k fans roughly, not that you have any say in the matter but is that really what you want?
October 26th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^
not go to UM. I joined the US Army post high school, deployed, came back home (Oakland County) and did not want to be a number in a large school, my mental health depended on it. I needed to be at a school that was smaller, and provided an opportunity for me, so I chose NMU.
Having said that, I have and always will be a huge UM fan, and if that bothers you in some way, I truly apologize, but really just wonder why you seem to care so much. I would think that you would be happy or not really be bothered by anyone who is a real fan, alum or not.
My first game was 1986 against Illinois in the Big House, and it changed my life, for the better. I was hooked for life.
I appreciate your passion for all things Marching Band related Bando, and for your passion for the school in general, and hope that you can at some point see that people like me also have some passion for Michigan.
October 26th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
This alum ('03) is glad you're a fan. Go Blue.
October 26th, 2016 at 10:30 AM ^
I attended (83-84) but dropped out and joined the Marines I have always been a huge Michigan fan.
October 26th, 2016 at 2:09 PM ^
Semper Fi, brother.
October 26th, 2016 at 3:30 PM ^
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October 26th, 2016 at 11:21 PM ^
Who the hell negs a Marine?
October 26th, 2016 at 12:47 PM ^
I don't think anyone is questioning your loyalty to Michigan or your fandom. Both those two like to invoke the nuclear option in this argument -- it escalates quickly.
By the way, that was my first game too!
October 26th, 2016 at 9:50 AM ^
You should've went to a D2 school with your attitude. Because that's what you have without non-alum fans.
You have none of what you see on Saturdays on national TV networks.
Someone who became a fan only because a piece of paper told them they could compard to someone who grew up a fan? Wonder which one has more attachment.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^
Funny that you think it's only the piece of paper.
It's 4 years (or more) spent on campus as a part of the university community.
But, OK.
October 26th, 2016 at 2:01 PM ^
I grew up in Ohio loving the Wolverines because I didnt want to be like everybody that surrounded me (Buckeye fans). Since I can remember watching Michigan and playing football was my favorite thing to do as a young boy. My parents (Big OSU fans) took me to Ann Arbor every year to the Michigan football camp because they knew how much it meant to me. I was very lucky to meet Bo while I was there, and he told me to never give up on my dreams after I told him I was too small to play college football. That meant a lot to me.
I didn't go to Michigan. Out-of-state tuition was too much and I grew up in a low-income family. I joined the Marines instead. I'm still in the Marines today. I'm proud of that. I'm also still a die-hard Michigan fan and I always will be. I wish I could have attended UM, but that wasn't in the cards for me.
I understand you're proud of being an alum. Who wouldn't be? I'm proud to be a Michigan fan too, and I will cheer for Michigan just as much as you. I hope that if someday I were to meet you at a tailgate in Ann Arbor, or in an airport anywhere in the world that you would look at me as a Michigan fan. Not a non-alum Michigan fan. We all root for the same team. This is all that matters. The background is something to be proud of, but not used to belittle fellow fans.
Beat State.
Go Blue and God bless.
October 26th, 2016 at 5:20 PM ^
October 26th, 2016 at 12:18 PM ^
Should also be added that Michigan has the largest living alumni base of any university in the world, according the Alumni Association. So the claim that Michigan would be "D2 without non-alum fans" is laughable.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
And all of them don't attend the games, all of them aren't all sports fans.
I guarantee you over half the stadium (every non-student section member) are just fans.
Your petty arrogance is so nauseating. There's a difference between the "arrogance of Michigan fans" meme and just being look-down-your-nose arrogant in general. You're either the latter or you're just a master troll with this schtick.
What's laughable are the people who think college sports would be at the level in popularity they're at without non-alum fans.
There's no BTN without the demand, which means a pretty big loss of revenues. ESPN wouldn't be as intense with their coverage so dock some more. Tickets? Dock some more.
A degree isn't just a piece of paper, but an acceptance/rejection letter is. As if I or anyone else who grew up, born and raised fans of their team should just throw up their arms like some spineless urchin and forget the first 17 years of their life because of a piece of paper is what's laughable. It makes no sense whatsoever.
October 26th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
Where do I say you shouldn't be a fan?
The point is it's different--and there you go again with the "piece of paper" thing.
But, whatever.
October 26th, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^
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October 26th, 2016 at 10:48 PM ^
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