Negatives of the Michigan Man
In Unverified Voracity yesterday Brian linked You Were Killed By A Bear And I Am Sad (I thought it was brilliant) and one specific part stood out to me.
There is something to the sometimes annoying “Michigan Man” thing. There is a mindset, an attitude, some characteristics that are shared by enough people that they characterize a program and a fanbase. (The annoying part is when people pretend all these things are positive.)What stood out to me the most is the last part. I'm torn because I kind of agree with with Brian, but I don't. I think that because "Michigan Man" is an idea that it can be perfect, that is without negatives. At the same time I do see some negatives that come from that idea, those being arrogance and entitlement. My question to the mgocommunity is: Does the "Michigan Man" have negatives and if so, what are they?
We are too good looking. Girls never try and get to know us because all they care about is trying to get a piece.
for a new one of these every day until the season starts.
Please.
So many potential outlets for self-satire...
All we've done can be found here:
http://www.wolverineliberationarmy.com/blog/?p=1257
definitely spend my fair share of time over there - love the comic generator.
I still think that more could/should be developed as the season approaches. Keep up the good work over there.
it is great
Sometimes we volunteer too much. and sometimes we work too hard
To me it is simple. A Michigan Man (it can be a woman as well) is someone who values the University of Michigan above $$ and personal fame.
The best single example I know of is when Bo was pursued by Texas A&M for lots more money. Bo held a press conference to announce he was staying. his reason?
"Some things are more important than money. Michigan is one of those things."
I don't see a negative to that when it happens.
Sounds ideal. The only problem is that people seem to define it as it relates to themselves. There isn't really any clarity on the subject as can be evidenced by Ryan Mallett believing he has the right to proclaim himself a Michigan Man forever...
The best single example I know of is when Bo was pursued by Texas A&M for lots more money. Bo held a press conference to announce he was staying. his reason?
"Some things are more important than money. Michigan is one of those things."
Well, that and Monahan gave him a Dominos franchise in Columbus.
There is no such thing as a Michigan Man. It was just a phrase Bo mouthed after he fired Frieder.
There always was such a thing as a Michigan Man, the phrase just came into existance in that statement. I look at it like this. Those of us who are a part of UofM are like a family. Not every member of your family is or acts perfect, but they are all held together by a special bond and are defined by our surname. "There goes one of those Smith boys", etc. A Michigan Man is a member of the Michigan family. What Bo said that day was, I'll be damned if I am going to let some other guy come sit at the head of my table and cut the Thanksgiving turkey. Bless you Bo.
I really don't understand this compulsion to romanticize what Bo did (which was, BTW, the very first explicit reference to a "Michigan Man"). His basketball coach was leaving for ASU, but wanted to coach in the tourney before he left. Bo considered that an insult, and said no. That's it.
This whole "A Michigan Man is a member of the Michigan family" is a ridiculous and false assertion, because a family is something that doesn't involve churn among the members. Who is part of the family, and who isn't? Aren't members of family inherently permanent? So then the impermanence of people who are Michigan Men makes the assertion that we're a family false, doesn't it?
Please tell me if you considered Scott Shafer to be a member of this family last year. I imagine you did, but...now he isn't, right? Just WTF is going on in this "family" if people are moving in and out of it all the time? That's not a "family," that's an organization.
A Michigan Man is a touchstone for Michigan fans, nothing more. In reality it is impossible to define, thus making it impossible and silly to praise. Stop trying to make the Michigan Man out to be more than it actually is.
No one has ever been divorced in your family?
I don't think anyone would consider divorce to be a good part of being in a family, yet all I hear from you is how great and wonderful it is to be part of this Michigan "family" (that is apparently getting divorced a lot).
This is exactly what I mean when I say you are romanticizing what a Michigan Man is- you are extolling the virtues of something without acknowledging the drawbacks, all with the aim of trying to make this something that it's not.
Only now when someone calls you on it do you want to add disclaimers to your original assertions:
"A Michigan Man is a member of the Michigan family"...until he's not.
"They are all held together by a special bond"...until they're not.
This is an organization and an institution, not a family. Please stop.
I agree with you, but no one thinks a divorce is a good thing. I don't think that's what's being said. I think it's more like "Hey, crap happens" I have an uncle who married in, had a divorce with my aunt (which sucked) but hey, he's still my uncle. Circumstance is a biatch.
Is Scot Loeffler not a 'Michigan Man' because he's no longer at Michigan?
Monahan gave him more than that. Bo's stepson, Geoff, owns three or four Domino's in New Hampshire that he got from Monahan.
lack empathy for those not fortunte enough to be Michigan Men.
The whole Michigan Man™ thing gets a bit old. It's basically the ideal man concept which has been around since Plato. Luckily Bo rebranded it for Michigan.
The worse part of people who consider themselves Michigan (wo)Men is their propensity to shun others from their "club"
predates Scott Fitzgerald. Perhaps the alliteration has kept it alive in Ann Arbor.
"What you remember as the Michigan Spirit is still throbbingly alive. This spirit is based upon a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways; an enthusiam that makes it second nature for Michigan Men to spread the gospel of their university to the far corners of the earth, and a conviction that no where is there a better university than this Michigan of ours."
In The Big House, p. 359.
Not Bo. Yost was simply using a common phrase, not coining one.
Now that's a fantastic quote!
outsider perspective can be helpful. Or at least attempting to take a more objective viewpoint.
For the most part, in my experience, there is a tremendous amount of respect for folks who have earned a degree at Michigan.
However, as much as we cast aspersions and call them trolls, there is some truth in opponents' accusations of arrogance.
As a Michigan grad, and hopefully a Michigan Man (at least sometimes), I try to live up to a high standard of decency, etc etc., but there are times when I'm ass, and I know many other Michigan grads who make a regular practice of such behavior. Unfortunately, those are the times that often stand out to others and reinforce negative aspects of the Michigan Arrogance™ stereotype. In essence, good behavior goes unnoticed and bad behavior is punished - that's life.
*That said, ND has a much worse arrogance problem than Michigan, and I don't really believe that ANY school is immune to claims of arrogance, because everyone has a certain level of pride in one's institution, likely to be perceived by outsiders as arrogance.
with everything you say here. I'm pretty much the same way. I try to do good things, work hard, etc. but sometimes I'm a dick to people when they attack Michigan and that's when they pull out the "oh typical arrogant Michigan fan"
I guess I could say I agree with everyone's comments because I can see all sides of this and my opinion on it still isn't rock solid.
By far the most cocky, arrogant alumni are Notre Dame fans. Every time I start talking to one, by the end of the conversation I want to punch them in the face. I use the phrase "Michigan Man" to describe myself here and there, but I try not to go overboard. Can come off as arrogant if overused.
positives: when someone you like claims to be a michigan man
negatives: when someone you don't like claims to be a michigan man
(this is particularly true when you yourself claim to be a michigan man)
For me that line pretty cleanly divides Michigan athletes and people on message boards who are not my friends.
I think when it was started, "Michigan Man" was intended to represent a decent, thoughtful student at UM, and as a genesis this characterization is fine. But I think most UM graduates would admit that you are who you are not because of where you went to school or what team you root for, but who you are intrinsically as a person. Though you could never prove this, I think most people would have turned out largely the same if they had gone to a similarly-ranked and rigorous institution as UM, for by the time you reach college the foundation for person you are going to be has been, if not set, at least close to completion.
I'm all for people being proud alumni of UM, but be proud because of who you are, not whether or not someone embodies the "ideal" supplied by the Michigan Man moniker.
Next please discuss the actual meaning of the Michelin Man, the complexities and figurative versus literal meaning, misperceptions, and the symbolism of the same.
The problem with "Michigan Man" is the way some fans decide to use as carte blanche to act like massive douchebags.
I've just finished watching on BTN the Big Ten Legends episode which featured Lloyd Carr. At the end of the show, host Gerry DiNardo asks him what the whole "Michigan Man" thing is about. Lloyd's response was something like this (sorry, didn't get all the exact words):
[...that first of all, to be a Michigan Man means that you are part of something bigger than yourself, and if you don't get that, then you just don't understand it at all.]
That answer is SPOT ON.
People call it arrogance because they don't understand it because it may come across as "I'm a Michigan Man and therefore better than you." Nothing could be farther from the truth.
I knew that Michigan was WAY bigger than me throughout my time in school there. I am damned proud to have been a part of it. If "Michigan Man" describes that, then so be it.
So to answer the OP's question about the negatives... if you know what a Michigan Man really is, there are none.
without my eyes watering, just a little. Especially the images of the players taking Coach Carr upon their shoulders at the end of the Capital One Bowl.
I love the scene from within the Union. He visited the University Club fairly frequently and he'd always take the time to stop and chat with Natalie, their water girl. You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but she's pushing 45 this year I think; she's afflicted with down's syndrome, unfortunately. I don't think she understood that he was the ol' ball coach, but Coach Carr made the effort to remember her name and speak with her whenever he could anyway.
I knew that Michigan was WAY bigger than me throughout my time in school there. I am damned proud to have been a part of it. If "Michigan Man" describes that, then so be it. So to answer the OP's question about the negatives... if you know what a Michigan Man really is, there are none.Dead on, as a fellow alumnus I could not agree more.
Twas the first time I'd seen the Lloyd Carr episode... yup, a bit choked up here, too!
Out-of-State Tuition.
I think when it was started, "Michigan Man" was intended to represent a decent, thoughtful student at UM, and as a genesis this characterization is fine.
the "Michigan Man" label started when Bill Frieder took the ASU job just prior to the NCAA tourney in 1989, but was planning on staying on through the tourney.
Bo, who was AD at the time said no. a "michigan man" will coach Michigan. All it really spoke to was that if you have your foot out the door or your eyes on another place, you are not a Michigan Man.
This is not some lofty ideal that was set by Lewis Elbell, Or Mosher Jordan, or even Benny Friedman long ago.
While we may think - hey what a great idea - lets create a compilation of great characteristics and have that be what a "Michgian Man" is, that was not the original intent of the phrase. It was, dont take a job somewhere else and think you can stay here.
It is really not much different that the Rich Rod saying. "I only talk about players who play for Michigan" when asked about a transferring player.
No, the expression predates that sound bite by about a full century. Way to not read the thread before you posted. (And it's an old thread; it's not like the above comments were just posted five minutes ago.)
Negatives of "the Michigan Man"
-It's a sexist title, just sayin'
-Some of you tend to trash our beautiful city (ever driven, walked by or gone to BTB after the bar?)
-You seem to enjoy fighting outside of Rick's
-You seem to be under the impression that any other education is a waste of money (it's not even worth mentioning if you went to State or EMU and if you went a CC, I mean, can you even read?)
-You act like you didn't know 30-something white guys could hoop when I school you at Elbel
Make no mistake, I have great friends, and have had some girlfriends, that are UM alums and I love the university, but you asked.
You sir, are a genius.
and I have never stepped foot in Rick's, let alone fought there. Nor littered.
Some townies are stuck-up and disgruntled. They don't seem to appreciate that without the students, Ann Arbor would indeed lose some of its charm.
See what I did there? Generalizations, even with quantification qualifiers, still sound absurd.
If you can excuse my faux pas in logic then just realize that me being an outsider to this topic of discussion seemed to call for some generalization of the students. Sorry if I offended you at all, especially with my apparent failure to add a little humor to the post. How about a more formulated response:
The negatives of being a "Michigan Man", from this outsiders perspective, are that these members associate themselves with, not only a sexist term, but one that implies that an elitist culture exists at such a great university. A culture that certain alumnus appear proud to be a part of yet oblivious to it's often pretentious interpretation.
OR
The humorous version:
MICHIGAN MAN arrogant. What about michigan woman? Thinks he is BETTER than others. No sugercoat