OT: Settling a Debate

Samesies, my girlfriend understands that the fun-ness of our Saturday nights depends entirely on how Michigan football performs. if she gives me shit for being grumpy then I introduce her to Chief Smack-a-Ho. i joke...I joke. But seriously.

depends on how we lost. My life wasn't in limbo durring the coaching search, but I was definitely watching it intently.

stand when i was throwing half full beer cans across my basement during the bowl game???

 

Totally agree with the no more football after losing thing.  Losing ruins football for the day for me.

and I check MGoBlog more than facebook now. Yes my mood during Autumn Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays depends entirely on whether or not Michigan or Green Bay win their games. The OP is just your average MGoJoe. 

because football is still awesome even though we're not currently getting along, but I get pissed/change channels to avoid the score line at the bottom of the screen. 

When we win I'll sometimes sing the victors as the score line goes across, and by the way I'm totally normal and think the rest of you are a bunch of freak shows. 

Mrs.KrisGoBlue,

Your husband is not alone.  Us diehards... die hard.

My wife takes the kids and leaves on Michigan football Saturdays. There has been way to much yelling and screaming the last few years. Lets all hope and pray that Hoke can right the ship. Go Blue

 

Hail

I wouldn't want to go out to the bars on Sat night if Michigan lost.  My friends would have to force me to go out.  Most of those nights it would have been better if I had just stayed at home, I would drink too much and just be a general pain in the ass.  On the rare nights I was actually having a good time in spite of the loss, if there was a tv showing highlights of the game the mood would immediately be ruined.  The next morning, the loss was the first thing I would think about.  This feeling would persist until the next win.

I'm much better now... really, I am.

If Michigan loses, especially if it's a really bad loss(like PSU last year), I'm no fun to be around for at least 3-4 days. I don't think I got any actual work done during the CC. I also didn't sleep much. There were many nights I found myself up at 3 or 4 in the morning checking mgoblog for the most recent flight tracker.

... I watch the game once per day during the week when we win.

I can rarely watch the game with friends at the bar, because "they don't care enough."

There is a 75% chance I will get in a fight with my wife for asking me difficult questions, like "What do you want to do for dinner?"

Also, if we lose, I can't read ESPN for a week and will avoid this site for the rest of the weekend. 

I've found the older I get, the more neurotic I've become.  The only positive is that I'm able to compartmentalize the losses so they don't hurt as much.  While I will do everything to avoid reminders of the loss, I don't meltdown anymore.  If I hadn't managed this, I'm certain the last three years would have ended our relationship.

I've also implemented wife saturday during our bye-week per the idea of another MGoPoster.  That has helped too.

A few years ago I gave my wife  a day of shopping for her birthday and she chose the weekend of the Sparty game. A gift is a gift, however, and I kept up my end and took her to Birch Run. I stood for hours as she shopped and did not say a word. However, by about 2 she could see that I was fading so we walked over to the bar in the parking lot (srsly, there is an Applebees or something half way across the West parking lot) and I watched the 3rd quarter while having a couple pints. She went back to Ralph Lauren and I enjoyed the fourth quarter as well. God bless her; she gets it.

I attribute my fanhood to the fact that I don't have a wife or gf.

But if M loses, I can still watch other football.  

I watch like 20 of the bowl games, even the ones that don't matter.  

I have a problem.

     I remarried at age 53 to a wonderful woman who is simply not competitive and obviously not into sports.  She will never understand my passion and emotional swings but she accepts them.  My nature and occupation dictate that I virtually never swear except when watching M on Saturdays.  The first time she heard me open up at the Big House was an eye opening experience for her-she reminded me there were children in our vicinity.  She still doesn't condone the furniture pounding (95 yd td pass-Notre Dame) but she knows I won't change.

     My sons (also wolverines) introduced me to the blog one year ago and my obsession has only gotten worse.  There is no reason I should know the names of high school juniors living in Ohio but I do.  I routinely read the blog while on vacation and at work.  We exchange texts regarding new posts.  Had I grown up in the age of the internet, my academic record would have greatly suffered.

     The real question is why otherwise rational,mature individuals have such an emotional investment in a group of young men playing a game.  I think all of us need an outlet where we can be free of the stresses in our mundane lives.  I don't do drugs and rarely drink (how can you drink during a football game-what if the coach calls and asks for a play?) so M football is how I vent all the frustration that builds during the week.  Of course, that has been slightly more difficult the past three years but I digress.

   If the time comes when I don't care about football Saturdays and don't plan my work schedule around home games, then I will know I have truly become old.  I am not one of the blue hairs that receive criticism on this site-I have been told on many occasions to sit down at the stadium.  I still believe RR would have been successful if given a real opportunity but I will pledge my loyalty to Brady Hoke and anyone else who chooses to coach our team. 

My friends know not to talk to me or mention a game in which we lost. I refuse to discuss anything unless it is with a fellow mgoblogger. My day is ruined to the point I feel literally depressed, dont feel like going out, etc.

During the firing/coaching search I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned in bed thinking about what I would say to Dave Brandon and coming up with possible scenarios in which I could influence the process, get RR back, etc. When ignorant friends would talk about michigan football during this trivial time, I was almost brought to tears of frustration and ANGAR on multiple occasions.

To sum up...

OP 1  -  OP's Wife 0

The blanket coverage now with the emergence of the internet is a good and bad thing. Good because it feeds our intensity and thirst for information. Bad because it feeds our intensity and thirst for information. Football is so popular for Michigan fans that it feels like there is very little emotional rest for the hard cores. It's a coaching controversy, it's a bowl game, a coaching search, recruiting, signing day, the following year's recruiting, spring practice, more recruiting, fall.... etc.

I anticipated a mental rest period after signing day that never happened. Maybe next year when there isn't all the stories about the transition, things will cool down?  That will likely get filled up by back and forth about what people liked and didn't like about the new coaches in their first season.  Or something along those lines.

If we know nothing from Mgoblog, it is that football alone can be talked about from countless angles and points of view in a year round cycle, and never get boring.  

I guess.  My wife is more of a fan than me.  Now that I am a M Grad Student, we will go to all games this year.   We are in joint counseling together for our illness.

You mean to tell me Saturday is the ONLY day that is ruined for you when Michigan loses? What is your secret to coping so well? I too have a problem. Your story could very easily have been my story.

I found a proven remedy to a Michigan loss. After the Utah game in 08 I stopped by Campus Corner and got a handle of Jack and a bag of ice. I decided I was going to drink until I was happy again. Several hours and a very sizeable quantity of Tenesse whiskey later I suddenly found myself very happy - perhaps akin to a "moment of clarity". I only tested this remedy the once, but it still should provide hope to fellow fanatics.

should have married a Michigan Woman!   /jk

The drawback to that is double the shouting during the game and double the sadness if we lose.

The dog, on the other hand, does not understand our obsession.

While none of the above applies to me specifically, it all applies to me generally.  At the same time some of it does in fact apply to me specifically, but not necessarily generally.

We all live and die and bleed with Saturday afternoons and our loved ones either take the hit or ride the wave.

Let's all remember that as much as we love the Maize and Blue family is both more important   and something we can affect directly.

Let there be more waves in the near future.

Go Family and Go Blue!

Last year, games like Iowa and PSU really stung, probably for three or four days.

But the games like msu, wisconsin, NTmsu and osu where we were blown out  were games that just didn't hurt like they should have. I was over them in probably a day. These last few years have really gotten me accustomed to losing like that and it really sucks.

 

I'm right there with you, and it's gotten worse since the basketball team has been better.  Luckily I found a woman who understands.  She wanted a fall wedding and I told her Sept 29th of 2012 was my choice.  Knowing that I would have spent the reception checking scores/watching the game on any other date she agreed.  Love that woman.

This is the perfect opportunity for me to apologize to the families that sat in the seats to my left and immediately in front of me at the Gator Bowl. The family to my left departed the game in the third quarter and the father of the family in front of me said he would never go to another game again. At the time, I blamed their disdain on our poor performance, but recently have come to terms with the fact that it was actually my blackout swearfest that ruined their game experience (allthough, the root of the evil can be traced back to our on-field meltdown).

My wife of seven years, whom was never a Michigan fan, now wears the colors proudly and prays for a win every Saturday just so she can stomach co-existing with me during the fall. Sad to say, I'm not getting any better over time. Thank God for a somewhat understanding wife and three kids.

Yes, right in front of my wife. Thats how bad the past 3yrs have been for me. I know it runs counter to many here, and thats fine because opinions are like.......... I'd taken to a terrible habit of spitting whenever I said the mans name(Rodriguez that is). I'm not sure exactly when it started, sometime in year 2 I think. Many games I watch in my garage where I have a decent TV and when the weathers good, why not. It was the PSU game this year and I was watching inside(bad weather maybe?) and wife was noodling about the house when she saw the incident. She just stood there looking at me like.... really?? on the carpet?? She was damn near as happy as I was when Rod was fired. Hopefully no more such uglyness need occur.

they say Im a Michigan fan and Im not the only one.. 

My obsession prevents me from doing many things.

I cannot - absolutely cannot - watch a Michigan game with someone who isn't equally obsessed as me.  I'll explain the rules of football to someone when we're watching a Pac-10 game or whatever, but not when Michigan's playing.  If you can't discuss the defensive two-deep, stay away while the game's going on.

-I also will never, ever watch the game with a fan of the opposing team, no matter how good a friend he/she may be.  I cannot understand what would drive someone to ever sell a ticket to a fan of the opponent.  Seeing fans of the opposing team in OUR stadium/arena (outside of the designated visitor's section) stirs up an anger in me on par with someone discovering that their best friend slept with their girlfriend.

-I never discuss any non-game-related topic while the game's going on, except possibly during halftime.

-I never drink before or during a game.  My fandom requires sober concentration.  While I recognize that some fans drink to loosen their inhibitions and be louder during the game, being loud isn't a problem for me to begin with and I don't like the idea of ever not being able to remember a game very well afterwards.

 

I love Michigan football as much as the next guy, but if a good game is on later in the day, I'm still going to watch if I can.  Football's just a fun sport to watch.  There's nothing better than a fall Saturday.

Same problem for me, but the last three years have made the losses less painful. Maybe it was because they were so frequent. On a different note, after reading the suggestion of another mgouser, I've been training my baby in utero with hail to the victors. We play it for her two or three times a week and I push on my wife's belly when there is a "hail". I think my baby is starting to understand the idea, because sometimes she'll kick back on cue. Maybe that's wishful thinking.

If MIchigan loses, I want to watch another game as soon as possible to get the bad memories out of my brain.  Luckily, as I've gotten older, I've gotten pretty zen about things and don't stay pissed nearly as long as I used to.  

My wife excepts the fact that I'm an Id10t when it comes to College Football. I get thirteen Saturdays a year and that’s it. I know changing clothes a halftime of myself and the kids won't help but maybe it does. Also one day my Sith powers will work when I try and use the "Force Choke" on a ref or opposing players and my vulgarity will pay off because they will hear it at the game. I too am grouchy till about Wednesday of the next week if UM loses but I was also this way when I played back in the day, Nature/Nurture. All my friends are the same way but worse and I point that out to the Wife when I'm freaking out in the basement/M man cave.  

"BAD CALL REF"