OT: What is the lowest moment of your fandom?
What are the losses that kept you up at night? What games made you question why you watch sports in the first place?
October 17, 2015. Through sheer luck and the kindness of strangers, I was able to procure tickets to Michigan-MSU just about a week or so before game time. Had never seen the rivalry live in person and the pregame hype machine was in full force. The game turned out to be several hours of push/pull and I vividly remember scanning the crowd with about 30 seconds left like it was all so surreal. Then it got more surreal-er seeing both teams sprinting away from the end zone where we were sitting, seeing the score, seeing the clock, and that was it.
I appreciate now that I saw maybe one of the craziest cfb endings ever but man that one hurt and put me in a fugue state for a good 3-4 days after.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:19 AM ^
So many moments during the Rich Rod era and it has to be the shut out loss to ND in Hoke's last season. The feeling of hopelessnes was what made it so bad. It was like I lost my Saturdays for a whole year.
We have had bad losses (MSU) but often times I was proud of the way the team played up until some historical event happening that devatasted me for the day. I can live with those, but getting physically embarrassed and appearing incompetent was real tough to take.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
Worst moment I was there to see live was Colorado in 1994. I have heard never 105K people that quiet. I have watched my team lose in games that were never competitive, but that one was worse.
Lowest Fandom Lifetime achievement award? Being a Detroit Lions fan. The best moments would barely equate to mediocrity for a better franchise. 1 playoff win since 1957 with an unvictorious season as the pièce de résistance of failure.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
it was as if a pall fell over the entirety of campus that day. How depressing. What a way to start freshman year (although we did beat BC and ND to start).
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
This was the worst I've ever felt about Michgan football. To be beaten at home by Maryland, fergodsakes. It was obvious that the team was in complete disarray and the people in charge were not capable of leading Michigan football. The only redeeming part was the certainty that the Hoke era would soon be over.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
I hate this thread, but I will reply in agreement...
that game was horrible and it felt horrible to be there.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:51 AM ^
That whole day was horrible. Sheet of ice on the ground when we woke up, cold and rainy most of the day, Randy fucking Edsall jumping around on the sideline after the game.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
The Blocked kick return..I can barely say the words or the Colorado Hail Mary
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
there is a 3rd.. It was The Horror, that shall never be mentioned by me, anywhere.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
When we lost to either Maryland or Rutgers and it was like 45 degrees and rainly walking a mile back to the car
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
Freshman year at Colorado State and I had to watch what I believe was some weird ass version of football at the height of the RichRod era.
That brand of football was so fucking strange to watch and resembled nothing I had ever (or wanted) to see before. Actually remember turning off my tiny tv on top of my mini fridge in the dorm and willingly go for a jog on most Saturday afternoons. A. Fucking. Jog.... during Michigan football games which I hadn't missed ever.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^
Interesting selection of threads today.....
Anyway, I guess if I had to choose a moment that had some poetry in it for a low point, it's the 2008 game against Northwestern. That had a bit of everything - shitty season, shitty weather, shitty mood. It all seemed to come together in that walk back to my sleet-encrusted car during which I probably came within minutes of frostbite thanks to a stiff northerly breeze that was lashing everyone and everything.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
I'll agree with you on this one. I was in attendance with my girlfriend (now wife) and she kept begging me to go. I told her I wanted to stay til the end which she still gives me shit about that decision to this day. I'll admit, we should have left. We were both soaked by the wet snow and freezing our asses off. We lost at home to a not good Northwestern team and sat through some of the worst football weather you could ask for.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
probably the oregon game in 2007--game after app state where we got crushed like 40-10--was a real bummer to travel ten hours to watch. On TV, probably the 1 vs 2 game at the shoe in 2006 or whenever it was, the fluke loss to michigan state, or the fourth down call this year against OSU.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:06 PM ^
I was there live for The Horror and Oregon 2007. Seeing how they dominated us in contrast to my hazy memories of the year before was sobering. After that, it has to be Minnesota 2014 or any Hoke game at MSU, for varying levels of incompetence exhibited before, during, or after the games.
For non-Michigan related moments, it's the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. Malkin should've been suspended, the back to back in the Finals was asinine, and fuck Bettman in general. The 2012 series loss to Nashville and 2013 series loss to Chicago are pretty high up too.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^
Getting manhandled 31-0 like that was deflating. I just kept drinking and drinking and just got more pissed off as my friends tried to defend Hoke/Borges. Yes, they tried to defend the coaching staff. That game was just fucking awful on so many levels.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:55 PM ^
I agree with this. That game, coming off the "impressive" week 1 win that appearted to show a rebound was happening, was a kick in the soul dong. I realized then that all of the problems Michigan had during 2013 were *still* there in 2014 with ZERO improvement, even on defense were we had Greg Mattison. This was the realization that the current staff wasn't going to get it done. That we'd have to start over AGAIN. And there was absolutely no hope of Harbaugh at that time. I don't think the SF rumblings were that bad yet.
Minnesota might have been just as bad, but ND was first. With Minnesota we knew that Hoke wasn't going to survive, but we really had no idea what was coming next. And the general ridiculous / slimy handling of the Shane Morris situtation. UGH.
It's great to look forward to a season not with desperate hope ("it has to get better, doesn't it?) but instead confidence. We know we have the right coaching staff in place. The pinnacle may still be a few years away, but it's coming.
After most losses you can at least say "At least we..." and come up with something to complete the sentence.
After that one there was nothing.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
This might surprise a few people. When Hoke got hired (when he looked very much like "Lloyd Lite" in the way he was handling everything) I had a conversation about the new coach shortly afterward with some OSU fans. Nice people, all of them ... one was a co-worker. All were big-time football fans with knowledge of Midwestern types. I could tell they had no fear of Brady and that was somewhat depressing.
I didn't have much hope myself. Overall, he exceeded my expectations. The 2011 season was lots of fun (especially the "Spartan Tears Taste Like Sugar" sign at the bowl) and I thought he recruited very well. Harbaugh didn't arrive to a bare cupboard.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^
My wife and I went to the game with a friend who had a couple extra tickets. There have been worse losses, but this game stands out for a few reasons:
1) It is the only time I left a game early. Unfortunately I was okay with that.
2) Learning about how badly Shane was rocked and allowed to play while listening to game recap later that day
3) While at the game, we were seated on the visitor side and Minny's sideline was organized and efficient while the sidleline Hoke was leading was just the opposite. Utterly embarrassing for the home team to look like that
Very glad those days are only memories now.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:18 PM ^
Mike Lantry's field goal the end of the 1974 game against OSU. I watched on TV and it sure looked good. The refs stood there, not signaling for several seconds, then looked at each other and signaled it was no good. Officials screwing Michigan over in the horseshoe goes back a long time.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
Non Michigan related:
Was at the 2009 Stanley Cup Game 7 vs. Pittsburgh and watching them raise the cup after Fleury makes a miracle save at the buzzer made me never want to put myself at a game that could devastate me like that.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:23 PM ^
I guess maybe this thread?
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^
Without a doubt, Appalachian State. My expectations of how bad things could get for us were shattered after that.
I will never forget the day. I was an intern on call at the ICU at St. Joe's - Ypsi. I remember we extubated a very old, ill patient that morning and by afternoon he was apparently looking good and we were wondering if he was stable enough to transfer to the floor. I was busy the entire afternoon and didn't get a chance to check the score on a computer or on TV. I went to check on him and asked him how things were and he informed me that Michigan had lost to Appalachian state. I vividly remember walking out of that room and tihnking to myself "Man, that dude still has some ICU delirium, we should probably hold off on transferring him out until tomorrow".
And then I finally got a sec to sit down at a computer.
Doh.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:37 PM ^
1. 1979 Rose Bowl (Phantom Touchdown Game)
2. 1988 at home against Miami.
Both brutal losses and wanted to throw furniture for a week.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^
App State....that one had me wondering why I put so much time towards something I have no control over and really has no effect on my life - unless I let it.
Took me a while to come back to the fold after that one and I never forgave Lloyd for the loss.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:43 PM ^
Oh this is easy, I was at Seacrets in Ocean City, Maryland early in the season (very early) in 2007. It was the first Michigan game I didn't watch since starting college there. At halftime some mf-ing cs-er in an ohio state jersey started talking about how Michigan was losing. Me and the other 5 UM grads were all like, whatever, we've never heard of that team, its fine. It wasn't fine.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
So many will say the App State game is the lowest of the low. But I'm sorry, there is WAAAY more shame in losing to a Toledo team that went 3-9 and gave us our only blemish vs. the MAC.
App State was coming off back-to-back national titles, and won it again that year. FCS...blah blah blah... losing to a shit team from the MAC is worse, and it's not even close IMO.
I was in pure hell. I remember walking through a walmart and people were on their phones "I can't believe it either" and the like. So for me it was a different hell
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
This thread is a mistake, but I'll contribute anyway. The 1975 OSU game made young me sob uncontrollably. My poor mother tried to console me, but I was unconsolable. That was the beginning of a hatred of OSU that has only gotten worse over the years. So I guess it's not the low point, if it has gotten worse, but it was the beginning. I have never gotten over my irrational hatred of them and I know I will never get over it. Michigan could win every OSU game for the rest of my life and I still won't get over it.
Yes, I have a problem.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^
Essentially the whole 2014 season after the ND game. I hit a point where I literally just didn't care to watch anymore. I wasn't mad or angry. I was just completely indifferent to how the team did. Especially after the Utah and Minnesota games, I just assumed Hoke would find another way to lose each week. Stopped watching the MSU game after maybe the first quarter, and even though I went to the OSU game that year, and even though they put up a good fight for most of the game, there was never a shred of doubt in my mind that they would still find a way to lose.
Few things are more dangerous to a program or a fanbase in general than pure apathy. The program was a laughingstock, Hoke didn't know how to handle the pressure, and each week was one bumbling move after another. And I just didn't care. The team was no fun to watch.
And then the 2015 MSU game. I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach before we snapped the ball, and low and behold something that wouldn't happen if you re-ran that play 1,000 times over managed to happen. Hours went by before I could even say anything to anyone. Even to my then fiancee. All I could think was to just yell out to the football gods "hasn't this program suffered enough?"
OSU 2006. Henne overthrowing a wide open Manningham for six early. OSU QB escaping like 30 sacks by the skin of his ass and getting endless first downs. The Crable hit. Losing by 3. The ramifications of that game were massive not just for that season, but thereafter. It was followed by 3 crushing losses in a row to USC, App State and Oregon, and now 10 years of swoon in the rivalry. That game was easily the nadir.
In App State country after the Horror. I held my head high and took my beating. My M Go Blue magnets never left my van.
Senior team, blowing the game. Say what you want about the refs, which were essentially demon spawns, the game shouldn't have been close enough for them to change the outcome. That team should have beaten them in their own fucking house and they blew it.
It would have shut everyone up for awhile, now we have to try and beat them with a team that's reloading. It's just so damn annoying.