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 11:54 AM ^
Reading the last two random thoughts threads.
EDIT: The last three random thoughts threads.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:32 AM ^
Can we not? I would prefer not to relive my lowest points of fandom. Most of which occurred in the last 10 years.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:35 AM ^
The way I see it, every low point was a brick in the road to where we are now. If just one of the worst events of the last ten years doesnt happen, maybe the program's future isn't so bright
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^
My thoughts about this thread:
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
The first rule of random thoughts is "No one talks about random thoughts."
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:23 PM ^
Well you're lucky to be so young you can't recall the FG that was called wide, the Phantom TD, kicking to the Rocket AGAIN!...
And of all those painful memories, I'd actually say last year vs osu was my lowest. The frustration & helpless feeling that it'd been stolen from us and wasn't a Damn thing we could do but bitch about the refs.
Of course, changing sports, there was the TO...
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^
Minnesota/Rutgers, no question.
I was really, really close to not caring anymore. That wasn't a good feeling.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
Seconded. 2014 felt like the entire program was careening off a cliff with no bottom in sight. I wondered if/when Michigan would ever be relevant again.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
My seat in the stadium was directly on the yard line where the ball was set for the ending of The Horror. Need I say more?
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
I didn't even watch that game, I was fishing up north. Caught the replay at a bar later that night, it took me several minutes to register that it wasn't some past replay, but that we actually lost. Then the next week I was there to see us get whomped by Oregon, all while sitting next to four Oregon frat brah's. Not a good start to the season.
WTF, op? Thanks for dredging that up.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
I'm with you about '15, though I'm convinced Nothing Bad Happened!
Since you brought it up, I've noticed that this blog uses certain nicknames for certain games, and it can be confusing. For example:
"The Horror" seems to refer to the App State game. The "M00N" game is the NW game of a few years back which was scoreless at halftime. The "Spartan Bob" game was the final looong second which allowed TJ Duckett to catch the winning TD. The "Trash Tornado" was the MSU game in EL a few years ago that was not just a loss, but an ugly one. The 2015 MSU game is "The Punt," for obvious and tragic reasons. And I've seen some refer to last year's OSU game as "The Spot."
Do I have these correct? And what are some others? What, for example, is the Colorado game called?
Not trying to threadjack, but since the OP brought up bad memories, I figured I should at least know what to call them. (Pardon my ignorance if this has been done before.)
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
I was on the field after state game a few years ago. pretty low elevation compared to where i was sitting.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^
... I remember watching that at a bar with some friends and thinking "why do I do this? this isn't fun. The game is painful to watch and not enjoyable even if it is close." For the first time ever, I actually just stopped watching the game even while it was competitive. it was apathy. And apathy, to me, is the lowest point in fandom. Worse than anger, sadness, etc... because those are critical pieces of fandom.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
Uhhh the Horror. Woke up, gathered a bunch of friends and went to the bar. I live in Ohio, so the bar was filled with Buckeyes. That day will never leave my memory, the amount of shit I got that day was insurmountable. The next week I went to a party and all the Buckeyes had App State shirts on. Not only did the day of the Horror sucked, but I was still getting backlash weeks later.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^
2013, I attended the Florida @ LSU game in Baton Rouge with some buddies. After, we were in a bar and I watched the utterly awful ending to the 2013 M @ PSU game when Brendan Gibbons missed the game winning FG. I was pretty drunk by that point and found myself getting far too into the game, watching it on a tiny corner TV in a bar, with only an OSU fan buddy with me. After that ended, my OSU buddy was like, "dude, what is wrong with you guys?"
That was maybe the lowest moment for me.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
Ohio making sympathetic comments about us. That is a low point.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
I was 13 at the time. When Bob Stanley threw the wild pitch that let the tying run in, I was pretty horrified. When Buckner let the ball go through his legs, I lost it. I sobbed like a little girl with a skinned knee.
My father is a pretty stoic guy. He was reading something and I saw him glance down at me as I began trying to dehydrate myself with tears. He let me go for about 15 minutes and didn't say a word. Then he nudged me with his foot and said, "That's enough. It's a new day tomorrow."
That was the last time I ever cried over a sporting event. Hell, that might have been the last time I ever cried. After that, sorrow was just turned into rage.
Maybe 10-15 years ago, after a particularly painful loss that not only ruined my weekend, it ruined the following week and the weekend after THAT....I started thinking about how envious I was of people who weren't sports fans. THEY didn't let a critical fumble make them miserable. It dawned on me that sports could be a bad bargain. When you get to the point where the losses hurt more than the wins feel good, you've entered yourself into a very poor arrangement.
Bill Parcells once said that after the wins, he only felt relief. There was no joy. Then there was anxiety and pain until the next game. If they lost, he was devestated.
That's no way to live your life.
After that, I turned the volume down on sports. I like it. I just don't let it dictate my mood.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
How many WS have the mets won since then? I'll wait.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
brutal
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
I didn't go to games in 1994, so there was an insulating distance there. Being there for kick six and having to listen to braindead Sparty fans for another year was just infuriating.
The Horror's pretty bad, too.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:45 AM ^
who has it better than us?
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
I only watched 6 games from start to finish that year
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
Every Rich Rod and Brady Hoke loss.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:46 AM ^
Getting interviewed as a young high school buck on channel 4 in the parking lot after the Appalachian State debacle. Then Oregon the following week was the cherry on top.
But the most devastating moments I've attended are definiely:
- 2006 M football @ OSU
- 2016 M football @ OSU
- 2013 M basketball vs. Louisville
- 2011 M hockey vs. Minnesota Duluth
- 2013 Red Wings @ Blackhawks game 7
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
Sounds like you have enough bad luck and that bad luck impacts the rest of us that are fans.
I forgot 15 Sparty on my list. Came back from South Africa for only 1 game that season and it turned out to be that one. Rough trip.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:50 AM ^
Shane Morris being sent out there to play when everyone who was watching the game on TV knew he shouldn't have been. Hoke standing there looking clueless, and Dave Brandon on the sideline in a trench coat and suit smiling. It was disgraceful.
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
I’m not sure if it was that moment or the early AM press release way too late trying to justify sending him out. Either way it feels like splitting hairs. The entire event is a low point in the program and athletic department for me. Callous, stupid, cover your ass first and lacked any care for the student
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
I don't understand why any of us would want to relive low points in our fandom. The outside world gives us enought grief to do this to ourselves.
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:58 AM ^
is negging everybody?
August 3rd, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:07 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
Man that Pittsburgh game 7. That still makes me mad almost 10 years later.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:14 AM ^
Was in the Minneapolis airport between flights, saw the news on ESPN and stopped cold in my tracks. Will never forget that moment.