Letter to fans from Jim Hackett

however, sad that it's even necessary.

We need to all be mindful of this school is and isn't about. And Mr. Hackett's message clearly says what this team, program and school are all abour: winning with respect and doing it the right way. Those who make hateful and spiteful comments and do so anonymously to a person via social media are ignorant cowards, and don't understand what competition is all about.

While I found this to be a terrific letter, I was astounded and saddenned that he felt the need to compose it.

Few lay people probably take Michigan football more seriously than I, but, people, it IS a game. It can be a pleasant diversion from the rigors of real life, or, in this case, a source of heartbreak.

In this case, I'm sure no one feels worse than Blake, himself. Yet the outcome could have been different had other players made some plays or if the coaches had made different decisions before that fateful final snap.

Ridicule? Death threats? Are you kidding me? Get a grip!

It's just so easy to post anonymously in this day and age ... and say something that you would never say if your name needed to be attached or say if you had to do so in person - particularly to the face of the target person.

Well, that was booze does in games like this. Some of them are real jerks, especially when they are drunk. Your Dad is more of a Wolverine than those jerks.

This behavior and attitude sucks beyond comprehension.  I hate that student with all the hatred I can muster today (much hatred was spent on the game yesterday).   Tell your father that this Michigan alum is thankful for his support.  

Is there a worse joke than Wal mart Wolverine? I'd say the majority of all fanbases actually didn't attend the school they root for. It's one thing when it comes from MSU fans because it's just a childish insult that rivals use, but our own blood saying it... geez.

with the whole "Walmart Wolverine" label.  Paging Sylvester McMonkey McBain

Was he ordering the "Bacon & Jalapeno Mac And Cheese", perchance?

has to hear that crap.  Just like that "If you are not a Michigan grad you are a peasant" sign I saw yesterday during College Gameday - absolutely classless. 

Being a Michigan man or woman has NOTHING to do with pedigree. It has EVERYTHING to do with the condition of ones heart. When you become a Michigan man or woman it's because you tied your heart and spirit  to and out of love for the University and what it represents!!!

Your father is more of a Michigan man than 1,000 graduates who would make a comment like that. 

My Dad is from upstate New York. He graduated from Georgetown in the late '60s. Growing up, he was a fan of the Yankees and (football) Giants. College atheletics weren't really on his radar, because he simply didn't have a local team of any prominence.

In the early '70s, he moved to Ann Arbor. He showed up right in the middle of the Ten Year War. All of his acquaintances in the area, all of the friends he made, themselves die hard sports fans like my father, were naturally Michigan fans, many of them also naturally alumni. He experienced Michigan football as Bob Ufer and Bo Schembechler. My Dad is a passionate guy, and it didn't take long at all for him to be swept up in it and become a Michigan fan.

That's what I was born into. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother (a Michigan alumna) taking my brother and me to watch the Michigan Marching Band practice. I remember gathering with friends to watch Michigan in the Rose Bowl. I remember being incensed that Desmond Howard was blatantly tackled in the endzone, but no interference was called. I remember Tim Biakabutuka dismantling Ohio State.

I remember being immersed in Michigan fandom, and feeling that passion my Dad, even moreso than my Mom, had for Michigan. I asked my Dad a few years ago what he'd do it Michigan ever played Georgetown in the NCAA tournament, and the answer wasn't at all surprising: he'd root for Michigan, and wouldn't think about it for a second. Converts are sometimes the truest believers.

I got lucky. I wanted to study Computer Science, and I desperately wanted to attend the University of Michigan. That Michigan is an excellent CS school was a stroke of good fortune. It's the only school I ever applied to, and the only school I ever considered attending. It took me three tries (don't slack off in high school, kids, it matters!), but I was eventually admitted to the University of Michigan and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelors of Computer Science. If it weren't for my Dad's passion for Michigan, it's unlikely it would have turned out this way.

Anyone who says my Dad isn't a real Michigan fan is an ignorant jackass of truly shameful proportions. Guys like my Dad and your Dad are the guys who are raising the next generation of Michigan die hards. They're the guys who raise kids who spend their entire childhood with one dream: to attend Michigan. They're the guys who make Michigan fandom special, guys whose love for the University is a pure love, a love not of any obligation to an alma mater, but a love of something good and great for its own sake.

When I was preparing to attend Michigan, I had a conversation with another woman who was taking the placement test for French. She mentioned that her whole family were Michigan fans, but she was the first person in her family to attend Michigan. They were so proud of her, and she was proud of herself. And rightly so.

I salute your Dad for his decades of Michigan fandom. It's guys like him, and families like this woman's, that give Michigan that special status for so many of us from such an early age. GO BLUE!

Your avatar does show true class...............