OT: Michigan license plates for Sparty?
We recently got my wife a new used car, and with it she needed a new license plate for whatever reason. As most of you know, Michigan has a ton of different license plate combinations you can choose from. Among those options is the classic, retro blue-and-yellow plate first offered about two years ago. These are the "water-winter wonderland" plates from the late 1960s with a fantastic color combination:
Now I find out that there are a couple of variations on this theme, including this one, first offered this year:
The State's official story is that this plate commemorates the 1963 plate as a nod to the civil rights movement. Apparently 2024 is the 60th anniversary of Dr. King's Walk of Freedom in Detroit.
But alas, Mgobloggers, rumors abound. In particular, that the second plate was to pacify all the Sparties in the state who were not thrilled about the blue and yellow version. And with no mention of civil rights on the plate, one is left wonder whether MSU's inferiority complex has simply reared its ugly head once again. Color me surprised.
You're in sample?
Sampee
The maize and blue water-winter wonderland plates always worried me. I won't let my wife drive her car with that plate through the Windsor Tunnel.
As someone who only lived in Michigan for college and is not a native Michigander (or midwesterner, for that matter), what's the deal with Windsor Tunnel? All I know is I drove through it a bunch of times to go drink, gamble, and eat at Chinatown when I was in college.
Just saw one of these last week. I gotta say (and I just had to get a new plate the old one was toast from salt) the 'maize and blue' aspect of the current ones didn't even register for me - it was just a new yet 'retro-style' plate that looks like the old ones nailed to the garage wall!
They can have their green plate, but no blue jeans they should have to wear green ones all the time.
Why doesn't the Staee Sample plate have "Winter?"
Because Sparties can't handle anything tougher than a light summer breeze.
Wikipedia shows a 1963 plate with just "Water Wonderland" on it
The green & white plate is an ode to the 1955 "Water Wonderland" plate which came before the 1965 "Water-Winter Wonderland" plate. I don't know why they went with the Pure Michigan font but they ruined it with that. It's funny how often people say "MSU isn't a rival" or "I'd be fine not playing MSU every year" but we constantly have these threads about the smallest thing about MSU or in this case assumed to be about "lil bro" when it isn't and people just don't know their history. These threads are what actually scream lil bro.
It's 1:30 pm, BTB, have a drink. Have some fun.
If you read the original post carefully, you'll note "rumors abound".
It seems appropriate that Sparty would get stuck with the vapid "Pure Michigan" on their plates.
I've seen these out in the wild near Lansing, and they have 'water wonderland' instead of 'pure michigan,' so i wonder if the design got changed after the sample version came out. The green is a little darker to my eyes too, more like a forest green.
Edit- sorry, i missed the pure michigan logo on top, I misread your initial post. My mistake!
If it were a real Sparty plate something on it would have been misspelled.
That is acurate
Brilliant. (I was gonna copy your joke with my word but your stunt deserves to crow alone.)
I heard from EMU faculty that MSU is taking on more enrollment and pulling from EMU.
Why is our state so dedicated to de-funding the 94 corridor?
If EMU were the sole safety school, this area could really boom.
It's rough. Here's how 10-year numbers looked in 2023:
Too many schools, not enough students.
SEMPLE
SIMPLE would work on a couple of levels.
I’ll never forget the time I saw a guy with a Sparty branded plate driving on I-94 with a fuel filler nozzle and about 10ft of black hose dragging. Gold, Jerry!
Holy cow, that photo would have sold millions.
Was it this car?
Or did it look more like this?
This is the true signature plate for a Sparty.
Not gonna lie, when I saw one of those green and white plates on the road, my first thought was that some prominent Sparties got butthurt about the blue and yellow ones and threw a fit to get their own.
So let me get this straight. They repaid their U-M rejection letter by rejecting a license plate? What a huge "win" for them. Protect your couches, everyone.
Awesome 👍
Even more awesome 👍👍
Where are you getting the civil rights bit from? This is what is on the SOS website:
Honor Michigan’s rich heritage of tourism, lakes, and waterways with the Water Wonderland Plate – the original “Wonderland” plate. First issued in 1954, this plate had a 10-year run before being retired by the Water-Winter Wonderland plate.
"I am proud to bring back a green and white plate that pays tribute to the civil rights advancements of 1963 along with a new, more secure Michigan driver's license and ID," said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. "The new plate will serve as a reminder of the work that still needs to be done to achieve full equality and justice for all. "
Is Lilbro taken,?
If it is, you can always get "ELNDFILL"
Yep, LILBR0 is taken, according to the Secretary of State website.
TBH, the "cover story" for the Maize and Blue plate is a bit sus as well, but I won't argue about more maize and blue: https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/new-winter-wonderland-license-plates-are-tribute-to-detroit-woman-who-gave-her-life-for-civil-rights/69-b3cf7077-16ff-4746-aab0-fd622872866b
It honors the civil rights movement b/c that is the license plate someone who demonstrated in support of civil rights had on her car at the time? Tenuous connection, but hey, whatever works.
There is a 99.99% likelihood that the Green & White plate came to be as a result of a perceived slight to MSU. And honestly, IMO, I can understand that perspective. I think it makes perfect sense to either (1) have plates with color schemes reflecting both flagship state universities or (2) have plates with color schemes unrelated to both flagship state universities.
MSU is not a flagship university.
One can quibble about the definition of "flagship", but the MI State Constitution certainly DOES consider U-M, MSU and Wayne State as different and "above" the 12 other public universities in the state --- e.g., state-wide election of the Board members.
did NOT know wayne state was included in the same subset as michigan and msu. Learn something new every day.
UM, MSU, and WSU are the only three R1 universities in the state (PhD granting, and very high research activity). This is what puts them at that higher "tier".
WSU is a bit of a "unicorn." (1) A fairly well respected research university, that (2) doesn't compete athletically at the D-1 level and (3) is a commuter school with a lot of 1st & 2nd generation undergrads, a lot of students who have less "$$$ and support that provides a back-stop against failing" (for lack of a more eloquent way to put it).
Out of the 107 Carnegie R1 schools, only 7 don't compete at the D-1 level. Wayne, UC-Santa Cruz, Colorado Mines, CU-Denver, City University of New York, UT-Dallas, and Alabama-Huntsville.
I honestly think there's a good argument to be made for rolling WSU up into the U-M system (making it MUCH more like a CU-Denver or UT-Dallas). That will never happen, though, there are 1000 different political blockers for that.
No matter what, though, I don't think they should ever move up to D-1. The marginal extra viz that D-1 athletics would give them isn't worth it.
This board would be empty if we didn't quibble - all in good fun most of the time.
The word flagship implies a superlative so of course there can be only one and we all know which one that is.
Tugboat, then?
On a side note I've always appreciated the washtenaw county road signs that are maize and blue and not green and white.
My wife got the maize and blue plate last year. Looks sharp on her car
So driving home yesterday, from a trip to camp.... on 23 in the greater brighton/howell area... I come up on a car with the "o h i o" sticker in the back window, brutus bucknut decal, etc... I look at his license plate and its a State of Michigan specialty plate, with the University of Michigan block "M" followed by the license plate digits "Chters".
I laughed, out loud..... how little of a simp he must be to have gone through the trouble to get that personalized plate all because he can't accept the fact that his team got their asses handed to themselves three years straight.
Living rent free......
IMO, Florida has the best options for license plates. I love the Shuttle and Blue Angel plates.
https://www.flhsmv.gov/pdf/specialtyplates/tagbrochure.pdf
Holy cow do they have a lot of plate options! What's next, snowbirds can get a plate that's the same as the state they moved from? So you move from Michigan and can get a copy of the maize and blue water-winter wonderland plate but it says Florida instead of Michigan?
It's ironic that Florida has a NASCAR plate when there's literally no place to hang plates in NASCAR.
