42-27 vs. 45-23 ; Comparing Your Levels of Joy
I know Coach Harbaugh says not to compare things as it can often diminish or take away from the other.
However, both the 2021 and 2022 victories over OSU were glorious, and as I obsessively watch reruns of this year's game, like I did all of last year for the 2021 game, I realize the joy is different, but satisfaction remains at full for both. It's almost like trying to decide which of your children you love more...it's seemingly impossible.
2021
1) Cathartic
2) Broke the rivalry curse and their run
3) Magical snowy day
4) Physical domination for 4 quarters...stole their will
5) Finally the team and Harbaugh had that win they so deserved (were robbed of in 2016)
6) The moments - O-JA-BO, and so many more
7) Glorious as the fans rushed the field in a light snow and celebrated for all the sports world to see
8) Ryan Day born on 3rd, not hanging 100
2022
1) Unexpected blowout at the Shoe - first win there in over 20 years
2) OSU fan tears, silent stadium, shock and awe
3) JJ comes into his own - Edwards becomes a star
4) OSU proves they are still soft - can only stop the run with 8 in the box
5) The moments - Johnson...wiiiiide open, Edwards, down the sideline! Sainristil with the breakup!
6) No snow, no wind, perfect weather, no excuses. 28-3 second half
7) Win by air, win on the ground. Huge plays everywhere!
8) Prove 2021 was not an aberration. 2022 is validation of what Harbaugh has built.
9) A sense that the program is back and on the upswing going forward, and Ryan Day is still soft.
It's very hard for me to pick between these 2 games. In 2021 I picked us to win, yet the victory and physical domination along with the movie like scenes from Ann Arbor made it an emotional, cathartic victory - specifically given the last 20 years of the rivalry.
But 2022 was pure joy to see OSU take the L at home. An acknowledgment that UM is not a 1 year wonder, but a program better built for specifically The Game. The shock of the fans and commentators as UM dominated by air and then by ground, and also shut down the OSU attack in the 2nd half. Rationally, this was a more fulfilling victory, as without our best offensive and defensive player, we went into the toilet bowl and flushed the Buckeyes.
What say you? 2021 or 2022
December 18th, 2022 at 9:43 AM ^
2022. When Corum tried, but couldn’t play and then Stokes came in and missed a few holes and the Edwards took the ball for the third series and couldn’t do much of anything, I had much more doubt that the team could pull it together than at any point in 2021. While the game was close at half time, both years, in 2021, the team had shown it could run. They didn’t show that at all in 2022.
At halftime in 2021, I felt way better about the team’s chances then in 2022. It was a combination of responding to the Corum loss, the bigger challenge of winning in the Shoe and feeling like the 2022 team has more untapped upside that makes 2022 even sweeter than 2021.
December 18th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
2021 - cathartic joy
2022 - Emphatic joy.
i live in Ohio and I started giving 45.23 donations to Ohio charities.
December 18th, 2022 at 10:10 AM ^
I can only imagine the looks on their faces as they first ask "why 45.23?" and then ...
December 18th, 2022 at 10:03 AM ^
YES!!〽️
December 18th, 2022 at 10:54 AM ^
'21, hands down.
I teared up. The story was perfect: Coach taking a pay cut to stay around. Hutchinson coming back with no guarantee the season would be anything but a 2020 repeat. Cade growing up game after game. Day's promise to hang 100 on us. The jeers from the media.
Even visually, the game was beautiful with our midnight blues vs OSU's red the white of the dusting of snow.
'22 made '21 better. Without it, '21 would have felt like a happy fluke. We needed to win two in a row.
December 18th, 2022 at 11:14 AM ^
I’m going with ‘22
’21 meant a lot and with everything my family and I were going through it was an awesome day that I can look back fondly on during some crappy times but, it felt like borrowed time. What I mean by that is it felt like a great group of seniors banded together and put OSU first for an entire year and put it all together to win that game everything beyond that was icing on the cake. Same thing I remember doing when we beat our high school rival for the first time in 20 years, they finished the season 9-1, we went 4-6. The very next year we got curb stomped. We weren’t able to validate that we were officially on their level.
’22 wiped all that away and validated this team and the program Harbaugh is building. From top to bottom you can tell beating OSU is a top priority but was just a step towards overall goals all the while proving the point that for now we are the class of the B1G. Plus I watched this with a literal cabin full of Buckeye fans (15 of them) where all morning I was hearing that stupid fight song. Then, silence and not a word has been said to me since, so that really added to the experience.
December 18th, 2022 at 11:26 AM ^
I cried in 2021
I laughed in 2022
Now as a grown man I shouldn’t be crying at sports ball but having time to think about it I don’t think it’s about the “sport” more about being a fan and all the memories and experiences over the years shared with friends and family some of which are no longer with us. There is also something about believing in something and “having your faith rewarded”.
December 18th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
I was on the field after 21 and it was pure magic.
22 was very satisfying as I work for a company that has Headquarters in Ohio and an office in Michigan. The Ohio folks were very confident and thought they were going to 62-39 us. I was extremely happy to not listen to these jack wads for a week. After USC lost and OSU got in they asked me if we were scared to play them again. I simply said, why would we be scared? We blew you out by three TD in your stadium after talking shit all year. Ryan Day should be scared that if he loses again, Eleven Warriors will have him fired
December 18th, 2022 at 11:54 AM ^
If. you have two children, which do you love most?
BOTH of them.
December 18th, 2022 at 12:07 PM ^
Can't have one without the other?
December 18th, 2022 at 12:45 PM ^
2022, the existential crisis begins
December 18th, 2022 at 1:03 PM ^
Why choose 1 when you can have both
December 18th, 2022 at 2:26 PM ^
2022 was incredible, but 2021 was a lot more powerful, for personal reasons.
Between 2011 and 2021, my father-in-law and my brother both passed away. My father-in-law was a Michigan man, and he and I went to several games together. My brother was severely handicapped and really could not get out of his group home later in life, but I have some great memories watching football with him and his housemates.
I was at The Game in 2021, and when Michigan won I couldn't help but think about those guys, how I missed them, and how I wished that they could have been there to enjoy it.
I don't mean to say that I wasn't happy in 2021; quite the opposite. Experiencing loss made me appreciate better the joy. And there was some serious joy in Ann Arbor!
December 18th, 2022 at 6:03 PM ^
That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing.
December 18th, 2022 at 2:31 PM ^
2021-refused to watch as I had had enough, more disbelief and relief when the final score came through. Always kicking myself for not watching it.
2022- Checked back in when I saw it was close at halftime and spent the second half awash in pure joy especially after Sainristil's swat.
Not especially close but my own damn fault for that.
December 18th, 2022 at 2:55 PM ^
2023!
Both was pure, unexpected joy but being at the ‘21 game was a better experience.
December 18th, 2022 at 7:01 PM ^
Last year felt like the best day ever. This year felt like the bestest day ever. Big difference here😂
December 18th, 2022 at 9:09 PM ^
2021. Best day of my life.
2022. Second best day of my life.
Go Blue!