OT: What is the lowest moment of your fandom?

Submitted by sarto1g on

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.

sportsfreak0819

August 3rd, 2017 at 1:17 PM ^

Like others in the thread I would say 2014 somewhere.

Probably not Notre Dame even though it sucked but the Utah game at home. I stayed after the torrential downpour to watch a game I knew they would lose with mostly Utah fans left in the stands.
Or the Minnesota debacle where I left early in the 4th quarter and missed the concussion fiasco.

That whole season made me apathetic and question why I did it anymore. The worst feeling in the world.

Michiganguy19

August 3rd, 2017 at 1:35 PM ^

We were a rather entitled fanbase when App State happened, that doesnt bother me anymore.

Numerous RR/Hoke era wins and losses are devastating because of how bad we were at football result wasnt even important ( Loss: Halloween @ Illini has not been mentioned much, or the 5-0 team getting embarassed at home by MSU in 2010 leading to a season meltdown)

The 2015 MSU game hurt because the team deserved to win and didnt, to the same but lesser extent last year vs. OSU.

711 Arbor

August 3rd, 2017 at 1:39 PM ^

1.  Leaving early out of ND stadium in Hoke's last year getting beat 30-0 or whatever it was.  

2.  The MSU punt return for a TD.  This wasn't very low, but made me the most angry.  I immediately got 30 texts from MSU fans rubbing it in and it didn't stop for 1 year. I ended decade long friendships after This play ant subsequent texts.  They were relentless in their actions.  

1VaBlue1

August 3rd, 2017 at 1:48 PM ^

My saddest moment as a Michigan fan occurred when Brady Hoke apologized to MSU for Bolden having stuck a railroad spike in the sideline turf, and thus `forcing` them to win a blow out - tacking on a last second score out of spite.

Fuck you, Brady Hoke, for apologizing because your team attempted to fire itself up to play a good game.  Just fuck you...

That was the moment that UM officially hit bottom (at least for me).  From that moment on, I became a vocal opponent of Brady Hoke until he was fired.

The thing that makes it so sad for me is that, from then on, I advocated for a man (and his staff) to lose his job.  Something that, if it came to pass, meant that Michigan would lose more games, and/or play so poorly that it could no longer keep a man employed.  That is a sad thing...  The worst part is that I would do it again in the same circumstance.

Don

August 3rd, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^

I was in the stadium in '73 to see the two missed kicks, and saw Lantry's successful FG waived off by the gutless refs on TV in '74.

20-1-1 in two seasons and no bowl game.

CompleteLunacy

August 3rd, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^

I don't know, man, but something about the shittiness of that game on the heels of the shittiness that was the Iowa game has completely muted any excitement I have about college football going forward. Sometimes it just feels like the universe conspires to make M fans miserable any way it can, even in years where the football team is borderline elite. No way in HELL would a game like that against OSU ever happen the other way around, not in a million years. Meanwhile OSU replaces half its team, sleepwalks through half a season, doesn't even make the conference championship game, and then gets selected to the playoff anyway because OF FUCKING COURSE they do. At least they got blanked. But still...

Even in Hoke's last year there was a beacon of hope, because there was HARBAUGH on the horizon (though the post-Minnesota fallout might be the only other time I would consider here, because damn it was hard to be an M fan during that time). But this shit happens to M even when they have probably the best coach they could possibly have. 

Anyway, thanks OP for such an inspirational thread. 

stephenrjking

August 3rd, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^

I don't know. There are so many heartbreaking moments. But "low" seems like something reserved for moments where I questioned the wisdom of even being a fan, or felt like there was nothing to root for.

'94 Colorado, '15 MSU, those stunk, but I was still glad to be a Michigan fan and dishearted partly because there were hopes for the teams involved. Michigan hockey fans have had their guts ripped out and their souls crushed any number of times in the Red era.

But the lowest of the low is when you question the existence of football (or your other sport of choice) at all. Like when Michigan got killed in the BWW bowl by an ok-but-not-great Kansas State team, or when they were losing to Rutgers, or when I knew I could take my kids to their first ever home football game and decided not to because it was the last home game of the season against Maryland when I knew nobody would show up and the ones that would might boo the team off the field and I realized that it was the last place I wanted to be.

On Michigan terms, those are the worst.

But actually the lowest moments come as an auto racing fan, because in that sport people actually get killed. Ayrton Senna dying. Jeff Krosnoff (whom I built a photography class project around pictures of) getting killed in Toronto. Greg Moore. And attending the 1998 Michigan 500 and seeing four people get killed by a flying tire in the section next to me, seeing their bodies covered and lying on the bleachers.

That was pretty low.

Reader71

August 3rd, 2017 at 2:49 PM ^

Halftime of the 2014 Minnesota game. It was clear Hoke had failed, which hurt personally. But what was worse was I just didn't see who could be our next successful coach. Harbaugh wasn't a real option, remember.

All I remember thinking is we will have to hire another outsider, and we would chew him up and spit him out again. I still don't think someone without Michigan ties can succeed here.

Mannix

August 3rd, 2017 at 2:51 PM ^

In terms of expectations and having them obliterated by jail sexed woodpeckers, the Punt. I flew in from DFW, went to the Big House, and sat in stunned silence while Sparties chirped with glee.



In terms of low expectations but still sports sadness, the RR years, along when it became clear Hoke was not a fit.



By extension, every Rose Bowl loss under Bo. And PITCH THE BALL.

moetown91

August 3rd, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^

a few years back and getting shut out 31-0. Didn't seem real at the time.  Good thing is those dark times are behind us and even in tough losses we WILL be proud of our coaches and how the kids respond to the coaching when faced with adversity.

 

#goblue

DCmissingAnnArbor

August 3rd, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^

...until that kick was blocked, I actually did not think we would lose. The whole ugly, terrible game, I thought we would pull it out. But when that kick was blocked... oof, what a suckerpunch.

That being said, the blocked punt MSU game was definitely the worst for me. Even though I only watched it on TV at home, it hurt so much more because it was a classless, insufferable opponent. Hearing from all of the Sparty followers in my life over the next week was too much to bear.

BeatOSU52

August 3rd, 2017 at 4:43 PM ^

I remember I was so pissed off about that game that I got black-out drunk after it and started getting into all kinds of fights with MSU fans in the downtown streets of Grand Rapids outside the bars  ... at least that's what numerous of my friends told me the next morning.    I was lucky I wasn't arrested or have a giant black eye 

MgoRayO3313

August 3rd, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^

I remember App State all to vividly. And I was in shock when Michigan lost to state on a disaster of a punt attempt. But the one that I felt I was at my personal all time lowest was when Michigan lost to Toledo. Extremely abysmal performance.



The most angry I have ever been was last year at the horseshoe. As a defensive coordinator I know JT was short.

Steve in PA

August 3rd, 2017 at 5:45 PM ^

It was my son's first chance to see a live Michigan game.  He was born in 1998 so he doesn't remember the glory years.  When I tell him at one point PSU was 2-10 against Michigan it's just words to him.

We planned on the occasion for weeks both excitedly looking forward to Michigan righting the ship and having possibly the best father/son experience possible.

What we got was...WTF and Damn it's cold tonight.  That game is when I abandoned any hope that RR could possibly get it done.

Franch Dressing

August 3rd, 2017 at 6:30 PM ^

blue - webber/unc, app st., msu '15.
stones - damn u horry. 2nd, trading away billups.
Lions - who retires right before camp; never saw him live.

translator82

August 3rd, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^

The Horror was the fall from the cliff (a fall that lasted until Harbaugh was hired if you ask me...even with the MSU game ending) but I would say everything bottomed out with the Minnesota/Shane Morris/Dave Brandon Concussion debacle. That was unacceptable, awful, embarrassing and unprofessional on how it was handled. 

M and M Boys

August 3rd, 2017 at 6:43 PM ^

And was coaching a little girls softball team called The Mighty Magpies...I ordered the uniforms from the MDEN and so they wore M hats, socks and M basketball shorts with BIG M on shirts and
"MAGPIES" framed inside the 'M'.... the game after the loss parents/people who did not attend that school went out and bought ASU shirts to wear to our games when they played us.....it was not funny.
We went unbeaten for two years over four Fall and Spring seasons.
We did our part!
But, it's still not funny......
I did break a TV that day.....the memories are coming back and I am opening a beer right now....

JWG Wolverine

August 3rd, 2017 at 6:52 PM ^

October 17th is my birthday. Had an awesome day, went to GameDay, epic birthday, tailgate, etc.

Great game and day...until the last three seconds. I've never felt so deflated as a fan before, it hurt even more as it was at the expense of Sparty joy.

Much less fun to look back at than the previous time a Michigan game was on October 17, that blowout of Deleware State in 2010.

Gr1mlock

August 3rd, 2017 at 7:48 PM ^

#1 - Michigan State.  The Punt.  

#2 - Colorado.  

#3 - The Horror.

 

I was in the stadium for the latter two and...yeah, that sucked.  A lot.   Colorado was obviously less embarassing than the Horror, but the sheer silence of 100,000 people simultaneously mouthing "what the fuck just happened" will always stand strong as a memory to me. 

 

Some dishonorable mentions were 2016 OSU, Spartan Bob, and the pasting at the hands of Tennesee at the 2002 Citrus Bowl.

MichiganStan

August 3rd, 2017 at 10:17 PM ^

I could go with games like App State or Brady Hoke losing seasons but really losing to OSU last year is pretty much as bad as it gets. Senior laden team vs a young OSU team. We were winning but couldnt put it away. Shitty calls/non calls. Wouldve been Harbaughs first win against OSU. And most importantly had we won we wouldve been in the playoffs. Yet we choked

Cant get much worse than that

JTrain

August 4th, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^

Watching our D give up 60+ points to the likes of Illinois ... even tho we won.



Watching Wisconsin run the ball 30 times in a row...same play...and is not being man enough to stop it on D. I'm pretty sure Bo was somewhere with a tear in his eye....not a happy tear either.