Anyone else planning on riding off into the sunset after this season?

I feel like burnt out is a good way to put it. We just went 15-0 and won our first national championship since 1997, and yet the strongest emotion I think I feel (even more than joy, excitement, etc.) is exhaustion. More than anything else I'm just happy for a break. And I've lived and breathed Michigan football all my life. I'm not even sure that I'll renew my season tickets. I mean I probably will, but I'll probably wait until the last day, and if I forget about it and miss the deadline, oh well I guess. I have no explanation for why I feel this way, but I'm just exhausted...

I don't think any amount of winning or losing will ever lessen my obsession. I watched or attended every game of this past season and I watched every game in the Dark Days.

Winning the national championship might dampen the (hypothetical) pain of (potentially) having a subpar season next year, but it certainly doesn't dampen my interest.

I think you're equating things too much. You should try to modulate your fandom to a level that fits your life best and feels healthy. If you feel that you've been too into it, scaling back makes sense. But you should find a healthy balance regardless of how good the team is.

For me, I was really into this year but it never feel unhealthy and it provided some great lifelong memories with family and friends. This is a big hobby for me that I love and brings no guilt, so my fandom isn't changing. 

I'm done with CFB if Michigan isn't in the pay to play business and O$U is winning everything.

The stars aligned in 2023 for a magical season. But a bunch of that was our own doing, too. 

The stars seem to be lining up to make 2024 a difficult season for us. Unfortunately, a bunch of this is our own doing (or not doing) as well. This may be a huge wake up call for Michigan vis - a -vis the evolving college football landscape.

I'm still enjoying being National Champs though!! I'm not gonna get worked up for a while yet. I'll get worked up later, I'm sure, but not yet.

Impossible. That's like stopping caring about your kids.

I've have said to several people this year, "I hope we win it all this year and then I am going to deprioritize college football in my life."

So I totally get it. I have been a fan since my first game in 1974 and will still get my season tickets at least for a while (although I live in Colorado and rarely go) but I won't schedule my weekends around the games anymore. If I am home to watch, I will probably watch but there is going to be less emotion invested for sure.

Honestly I think college football has deprioritized the football part of itself the last few years so I would be dumb not to follow suit. The clock rules effectively making for less football and not shortening the games was a final straw. If they don't think the actual football playing is very important, why should I? 

I will be okay with being slightly more casual, but I sure hope those in football program are not okay with “riding off into the sunset” 

You're lying to yourself, OP.

Yep.  After dropping a gazillion on travel for the Rose and CFP games, it was definitely a Last Ride, Last Dance, whatever you wanna call it, for me

Will be kicking back on the couch for football season for now on!

You sound like you are getting soft in your old age.

You are definitely not alone.

I fear the game will never be the same for all the reasons you mentioned.

We need a governing body at a time when the powers that be are trying to get rid of the NCAA.

Even if things eventually get straightened out, the next 3-5 years will more than likely be college football in a free fall like it is now with the usual suspects looking to capitalize.

We knew this day was coming … Harbaugh was leaving just a matter of when … the team the team the team gave us the greatest moments in Michigan football history the last three seasons capped of by beating two Bama coaches!!! … next season will be a challenge without JJ at QB which is an absolute enormous hole in our offense … I watched and attended through the RR and Hokey years so my attention and attendance will be there this coming season … however I can guarantee that I and the vast majority of fans will bitch at turnovers and play calling because hey that is a Meechigan fan … but the high of this past January will last forever more… GO BLUE 

I am taking a CFB break until the sport is fixed. This year was the mountaintop for Michigan fans, but the sport is devolving into uncapped MLB spending free-for-all, but with no player contracts, tampering enforcement, or free agency. It's bonkers. (not to mention conference realignment ruining long-standing traditions).

Mediocre coaches like Ryan Day will be able to successfully buy their way out of X and O cluelessness. I'm not interested in watching that. Pay the players, but they should be paid directly by the schools with, you know, employment contracts, like real pros.

I live in an area where NFL is a MUCH bigger deal than college football, and I've often chided my friends for "rooting for laundry" (not a Jerry Seinfeld fan, but that lines rings true).

Rooting for Michigan (or any school) felt like you were rooting for something more than a corporation. It represented you in a way, whether you attended the school, grew up in the area or felt some other type of connection. Professional teams simply set up shop in the area where you lived, or maybe you liked a particular player as a kid who's long since retired, etc.

Now it feels like college football is every bit as bad in that regard.

2023 doesn't mean the end of my Michigan fandom, but I do feel the erosion of what made college football different or special.

But I was born in 1979... my dad said the same stuff around the turn of the century when the BCS came in. Hopefully the next generation finds some enjoyment in it.  

 

There’s a BIIIIIIIG difference between “I want to be more balanced in life and not let my life be dominated by sports (or a particular sport) anymore” and “I’m not going to be a fan anymore.

The reality is this: it’s not a routine thing to just stop being a fan. However, it isn’t abnormal, and is healthy, to choose not to spend so much effort on something.

And most of us have done it. How many on this thread are watching less basketball this year compared with 2020-21 when Michigan was a top four team all year? How many thousands skipped out on going to the Maryland game in 2014 because it just wasn’t fun? In contrast, how many have watched the Lions more and closer this year because they’re good?

You can still be a fan and choose not to be quite as plugged in. I’m a different kind of fan now than I was 20-25 years ago.

So, to those: go for it. Enjoy family more, other hobbies. Be willing to live a life that doesn’t revolve only around a sport. You can still be a fan, care about the team, and on a rare Saturday find yourself doing something else that’s good and you’re checking the score and highlights instead of glued to a tv. 

I even did that this year. My wife and I took our first ever trip overseas for our 20th anniversary and I got to go to a soccer march in Barcelona. While there I was checking my score app to see how Michigan was doing against Rutgers at the same time. I had a great night, got back to our place, and we spent good time together. 

I enjoyed this season not one bit less.

But, to any who wonder if they’ll still be fans: of course you will. Here’s how you know if you will ever not be a fan of Michigan football: imagine Ohio State beating Michigan and winning a national title and you not caring at all and being happy for them. If you find that desirable and realistic, you may be able to stop being a fan. If not…

Even as you say the words, you know that it’s impossible. You’re trapped, fan. There’s no joy in saying it. 

But you need not make your mind a sunless space. We’ve shared our dreams together. We saw the sunrise. 

Probably the best course of action because it appears things are gonna get lean

You are not alone.  The direction college football is taking is not to my liking.  This year felt like a culmination of fandom.  I'm sure i'll still watch and care, but not as much.   

Idk about riding into the sunset, but I am at least reconsidering whether I truly want to move forward with becoming a season ticket holder next year. Increasingly worried that I've maybe missed the moment on the high times of Michigan football. At least for for the foreseable future.

From:
"Wow, we can be at Saban/Alabama or Kirby/Georgia dynasty level of football for the next bunch of years!"

To:
"Wow, what a debacle.  Maybe it can still work, but maybe we go back to 7-5 or 8-4 seasons."

All within a few weeks.

Admin/regents reportedly:
-- Knew in 2023 what it would take to keep Harbaugh (and thus also to not have coaches strip mined),
-- Sat around into 2024 until it was too late (despite common knowledge that things get decided a week or two into January),
-- Then said "OK" AFTER it was too late.

Is that remarkable, bungling ineptitude?  Or purposefully malevolent because a clique of regents have Harbaugh Derangement Syndrome?

Ohio State, Pettiti, the anti-Harbaugh NCAA, the loser contingent of Big 10 coaches -- they got EXACTLY what they wanted.  They must be laughing so hard and derisively at Michigan right now.  Seeing a clown show with endless stepping on rakes and ridiculous pratfalls.

I think things like this get fixed -- only -- if somehow the bewildering incompetence or intentional sabotage of the admin/regents gets fixed.

I love Michigan football.

I don't love admin/regents.  (Other than Ono and maybe Acker -- they seemed to be doing the best they could to make it work.)

The players deserve whatever they can get but as a fan, I’m just not as interested when players change dramatically every year. I enjoy and celebrate their development and in turn, follow their pro career. 
 

it’s why everyone I know only cares about college hoops come March madness and it’s mostly for gambling 

"I can die now" never seems like a good idea after some time to think about it.

No.  I couldn’t quit if I tried.  Yes, college football will be different, but it’s different today than it was just a few years ago.  Players not being able to transfer without interference, and not being able to profit off of their own name, image, and likeness?  That was wrong and I’m glad it’s gone, whatever it means for the future.

Personally, all I see changing for me is fewer games in person - it’s a big PITA.  But I’ll always watch.  

I've been a fan since 1969, and I have been grateful for the past three years. I did not expect to ever see a national championship again. That said, I have grown tired of what has transpired in college sports over the last few years. It really is becoming what someone described earlier as post-USSR "Gangster Capitalism." So my whole fandom will now be about rooting against those Neanderthals in Columbus. Our winning a NC has really put them into overdrive.

This identical thought has crossed my mind.  Seeking a “sports/life balance” may not be the worst thing, for all the reasons you mentioned.

Regardless of what might be swirling around in the world, the young men of Team 145 will strap on their helmets and run out of the tunnel this season. And nothing else matters.

Absolutely or at least until some sort of order is restored. How can this possibly go on the way it’s trending. There’s a reason the NFL  has a salary cap. It’s to create some kind of level playing field. The way college football is headed is anything but that. I’m just glad we got our natty when we did, earning it the good old fashioned way through team work and coaching kids up versus just opening some giant check book.

I said in October or so to my wife "I really hope U-M wins it all, and not just for the obvious reasons". Yes...for so many reasons, yes!!! I have a strong feeling the NFL-ization of college football will be a net negative. I will (maybe soon) wish for "the old days". But with super conferences, a big playoff (& less meaningful regular season), and fully professional players w de-facto free agency, I just can't see that I'll have the same passion for the game as I've had. 

I suppose its nice timing for me as my boys will be 7 and 10 at start of season and I'll be busy with their sports and activities. As OP said...I'll watch when I can, and I'll sing The Victors, but I'm going to try to take an emotional step back from fandom.

I also said this. So far I have not followed through. The odds of me following through this year seem slim. But Ill be with you eventually.

You're definitely not alone. Only I started living and dying on M Football in elementary school. I consider 1995 my first year of "religious" fandom as you describe it. 

So 20 years more pain than you've had lol. 

It's easy to say you're going to do this when it's February, though...

Been there for awhile...maybe it was the Richrod years...or becoming a father but I knew I had to loosen the grip the games had on my mood. 

Just not healthy...and the Internet blogosphere makes it a 1000% worse. 

the goal is to spend less time watching college football games. I'll watch every Michigan game and I'll attend as many as I can but making college football an all day event. Ill pass 

You’ll be back…

I was lucky enough to see the 1997 team win in the Rose Bowl and the 2023 team win in NRG stadium. That is like seeing Halley's comet twice in a life time. The post game euphoria is bound to have a bit of a let down.

But having seen the team win and do so in such a classic Michigan fashion (stout defense with a power running game) was just more satisfying.

Even the down times can have good moments and we just have to learn to enjoy them. The Richrod and Hoke era had Denard Robinson - still the single most amazing player I've seen in person. That he turned out to be a decent person and not just a ball player helps make his memories even better. The downturn also caused a lot of fair weather fans not to renew, and I was able to move way up in the seating ranks for season tickets - just in time for the years under Harbaugh.

I'm OK if I won't live to see another national title game, because it is enough. There is only one thing left on my life to-do list after the Houston game. I've renewed my tickets and will be at the game but won't fret if things aren't perfect because I've already experienced it and it was glorious.

I’ll stick with it as long as it feels real.  If it’s basically “everyone’s a free agent every year” and a kid’s association with a given school for a given year is 100% transactional, I’ll probably opt to start watching the (much) better quality ball played on Sundays.

I don’t think I’ll step back. I feel like I already did that when I started having kids. I used to be that guy that lived and died with every game. Now I still watch every game but if there’s something else going on with the fam I’m ok with missing out. I’ll probably still watch the replay later but yeah. 
 

I’m just glad I went to the Rose Bowl. It felt like what college football used to be. Now it seems like that’s dead. 

Same.  The journey was the exciting part.  It didn't feel like I expected it to feel watching the confetti fall.  I was happy and excited, but also a little sad that it was over knowing it was also the end.  It was a culmination of my entire life of watching Michigan. I'll always love Michigan football, but for my personal fandom I think I've completed a certain journey and I'm satisfied with it and feel sort of disengaged from whatever is coming next. I don't think I'll enjoy it as much or see CFB the same way again. It was the end of an era for Michigan and CFB simultaneously.  Maybe this is a normal thing and a point many people get to.  Maybe my son will get to see it all unfold in a new way and start his own fresh fandom journey with the excitement I once had. Mine feels like it's somehow over. But it was glorious.

I still think this team can make the 12 team playoff. I think we will have 2 or 3 losses. Probably to UT at home and OSU on the road but I think we can beat OR at home and WA on the road. These 2 teams will be in our same boat, losing a lot of players to the NFL. I'll be watching as many games as possible but I will not be too hard on Moore if he misses the playoffs and ends up with 4 losses.

My Michigan and college football fandom has been following the same curve for many many years. It's practically dormant February into early August, then ramps up, gets pretty obsessive by early October, peaks in late November then drops off slowly through bowl season. The last three years I was in no shape or form as emotionally invested in the playoffs as I was in the Ohio State game. After OSU everything else feels either fairly unimportant, or if we beat OSU, the icing of the cake.

Right now I don't feel very strongly about it. I still check the usual sites and all, but it's trending towards the usual off-season low level interest. I'm sure come late summer that will change though. It's going to be an interesting next season no matter what. It's a brand new start and expectations should be adjusted accordingly. But honestly I've seen the ups and downs with Michigan and being a fan was always interesting even during the lows of the Rich Rod and Hoke years.

Yes.

The current state of things isn’t really something I want to pour that much emotion into. 

I think Michigan could do more to try to win, but they’re unwilling to do so. Imagine an NFL GM who could restructure contracts to circumvent cap hits and open up cap space, whose rivals did so every offseason, but out of some misplaced altruism determined that his organization was too morally sound to engage and put his team at a disadvantage.

Michigan football is operating like a small market baseball team right now. Rivals are doing what they need to in order to win, and your team’s only chance is to get stars to align, a hometown hero to come back and save things, and then the minute his job is done you go right back to your second rate ways. 

I’d said since probably the TCU loss that this year was the last year for me, and I’m so beyond happy that things worked out the way they did. And it’s nice knowing that not every loss now ends your championship hopes. 

As the great Craig Jones once said “Bye Felecia”

Your title had me hope that you were a long-time season ticket holder and planned to not renew and that many other season ticket holders would do the same.

I don't think we'll be as good next season (I mean really how could we?) but I would love to be there every week and have season tickets so I'm hoping this is my year. 

I’m kind of in the same boat. I’ve been a rabid fan since the 80’s and the last 3 years have been like icing on the cake. I’ve thought about selling our season tickets “while the get’in is good” but they are so hard to come by, I’d prob regret it - especially when we still have kids & grandkids who love to go to games. And we still love going to the MSU, PSU & OSU home games. These new west coast teams coming in to The Big don’t interest me in the least and we’ll prob sell those tickets if the kids don’t go.

All that said, it’s still GREAT TO BE A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE and NOBODY HAS IT BETTER THAN US! GO BLUE!