Have you ever experienced a championship rooting conflict?
Greetings!
I feel very lucky and a bit sad this championship morning. I am so excited to see the University of Michigan compete for a football championship!
The last time they did this - coincidentally - was also against a Washington school (WSU - 1998). And the last time a university beat Michigan to win a national championship was against this very school (UW - 1992). Both on New Year's Day in the Rose Bowl.
Unfortunately, this game will not be played there, but it will be very special.
However, not all is going to come up roses for Shorty this time around. You see, my father was born and raised in Ann Arbor - and I was indoctrinated in the ways of the one true school from the earliest of days. I can remember being a small boy when Michigan and Washington squared off in back-to-back Rose Bowls as we traded victories and UW won a national title. Our family, decked out in maize and blue, hosted some friends who were die hard Huskies in 1992. The following year, they hosted us when it was time for our revenge. We wore blue both times. They wore purple.
A couple of years later in New England, I remember running up to my parents' bedroom to avoid watching Scott Dreisbach toss a desperation miracle to Mercury Hayes to cap an incredible comeback in Lloyd Carr's first game. My dad yelled at me to come down when we won. And then, being a kid from Spokane, Wa, watching Charles Woodson win the Heisman and lead our team to the title in 1997 against the Cougars was just magical. It was easy to feel spoiled and certainly cemented my fandom for life. It was all Maize and Blue in the 90's.
Twenty years and lots of numbing losses to Ohio later, it was time for me to consider grad school. I had already achieved a life goal of getting my bachelor's from UM after a stop in the Marines. Living back in Seattle at the time, I remembered that I had learned that so much of my mother's family had gone to UW. I couldn't quite process what it was for her to root for UM in those early 90's Rose Bowls and push aside the school of her own family for my dad's. So many of my loving relatives from my mom's side had passed on and I felt I had missed connecting with them by never embracing UW so completely before. So, I decided to attend for grad school and connect with the other side of my roots and much of a family I never knew.
It was only a fitting kick in the nuts to still manage to lose to OSU that year as Urban beat the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. A regrettable 4-4 in losses to Ohio during my years of education.
I still bleed maize and blue, but feel much more connected to a side of my roots I felt I never knew as a kid.
So, on this championship night I will be beyond ecstatic to see my team win a national title. I'm so proud of both schools to see how far they have come. But, I will be very sad to see that other part of me lose. I still hate the damn playoff and want a split title more than ever! I already told the Lord to take me now before the game while both my schools are on top! If a Bond villain was looking for assistance to realize the Armageddon he might find me a willing participant for the next few hours!
Picking this is like picking one kid over another for me, I imagine. As a true parent, I don't think you can do it. I feel you simply root for this game to be a good one and to elevate both programs and love the loser all the more while celebrating the winner. You want everyone to feel like a champion even when the rules say that's not possible.
This led me to wonder, how many of you have ever had two favorite teams in the same sport - or two kids on different teams - face off for a championship? Was it meaningful for you? What sport and what teams were they? How did you deal with it and what was your experience like? It would be fun to know.
Prediction: UM 34 - UW 26. UW drives to tie at the end but gets stoned and McCarthy kneels it out for the win.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:04 AM ^
Oh and Fuck USC in 2003. Reggie don't do skool.
January 8th, 2024 at 7:17 AM ^
The only conflict I could see is if Michigan were playing a team of mini Ditkas.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:44 AM ^
Is that like mini Petitti's? Sounds like it.
Speaking of, someone should anonymously call MeLLLLLL and see if he's pulling for us.
January 8th, 2024 at 12:25 PM ^
Well, we know he's pulling, we just need to clarify his inspiration.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:09 AM ^
Ooof, tl;Dr
I am a graduate of Michigan and North Carolina, but the Webber TO thing happened when I was in HS. Think that might be similar to what you're asking.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:10 AM ^
No.
Go Blue
January 8th, 2024 at 1:17 AM ^
Your desperation for armageddon is kinda how I feel when two of our rivals play. When Ohio State played Notre Dame earlier this season, I was really hoping for a giant meteor to strike the stadium or a tactical nuke or something. Maybe I should hope for less violent ends like a weather cancellation or a 20OT thriller that forces the NCAA to call the game a draw due to player safety, but the hatred runs deep.
That’s as close as I’ve ever gotten to not wanting to see either team lose (except in that case, not wanting either to win). My alma mater (Liberty) is barely D1 and are decent but they’d only ever play Michigan in a playoff game under the 12-team format. I’d 100000% root for Michigan though. I also work for UVA and will root for them in any other game, but not against Michigan. I actually have a little nod to Mercury Hayes at my desk just in case people forget who’s boss.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:28 AM ^
No. Sports bigamy should be a crime.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:29 AM ^
Read it all, respect your POY. Also, split titles suck, playoff settles it on the field. 😀
January 8th, 2024 at 1:45 AM ^
Agreed. I don’t understand how anyone who lived through 1997 and has had to listen to Nebraska people chirp for a quarter century can argue in favor of split titles. My biggest fear this playoff season was that FSU would pound Georgia 63-3 rather than vice versa, and the coaches would decide to “right a wrong” and steal half of Michigan’s championship. Again.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:30 AM ^
It's this a cry for help? You'd rather end humanity than watch your two favorite teams play one another? Either way you're a winner. Stop whining.
January 8th, 2024 at 1:47 AM ^
No. I only follow one pro team in baseball, football, and basketball. I'm also a double graduate of the University of Vermont, and there's little chance they will play Michigan in the championships of any sport. In the unlikely event that happens (hockey, if UVM gets their act together? Skiing, if Michigan starts a ski program? Basketball, if UVM has a shocking and unprecedented tournament run?), I would root for Michigan
January 8th, 2024 at 5:18 AM ^
Not to be a Debbie Downer but if UVM makes the NCAA tournament, I'm 100% we won't need to worry about them playing Michigan.
January 8th, 2024 at 9:07 AM ^
If UM and UVM engineering had a make Bobby fly competition, I'm rooting for UM.
January 8th, 2024 at 10:06 AM ^
This also isn't a conflict unless you're a UVM/UM grad, like me and...H.H. Holmes.
January 8th, 2024 at 10:03 AM ^
UVM frequently makes the tournament--they are killers in America East. The autobid generally earns them a 14-16 seed. You know where we go from there. UVM has one big win I remember, a huge upset of Syracuse maybe a decade ago. Making the tournament is mostly enough as a point of pride. UVM does have awesome skiing program though.
January 8th, 2024 at 2:22 AM ^
Horrible post. Go Blue and nothing less.
You should feel ashamed.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:41 AM ^
It's not a horrible post. It could be accomplished in 1/3 the words, but OP is excited. Sometimes adrenaline gets the best of good intentions. Go Blue!
January 8th, 2024 at 2:24 AM ^
Can’t say that I’ve ever had a conflict in a championship game. The only sport that I have multiple teams that I root for is college basketball and those 3 teams - Michigan, DePaul and Dayton in that order are highly unlikely to ever meet in any kind of championship match. Heck neither of those 3 schools have ever played each other in any sort of match since I’ve been a fan of them. If it ever happened it would be very clear where my loyalties lie - Michigan and I wouldn’t even feel bad rooting against the other school that I avidly follow and root for.
January 8th, 2024 at 2:25 AM ^
Sports is our replacement for militarist Nationalism. In politics, yes there is room for the other side. In sports, Hell no, there is only Michigan.
January 8th, 2024 at 3:35 AM ^
I went to UW and so root for them in every instance outside of when they play M. Because rooting for them in this instance would mean rooting against M, which is inconceivable to me. As a quasi-academic stoner from Toledo, I understand why M did not admit me. But while UW is my school, M is my team. There is a dissonance if only because part of me wishes I went to M, but I'm also happy with my life as is and so don't regret not going as much as I did when I first learned I wouldn't be going. All of this is to say that there is no satisfaction without an M victory this evening. Every wish I have made since I was in fifth grade has been for M to win this title. The time is Now. Go Blue
January 8th, 2024 at 3:47 AM ^
What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is going on here? This is like the third post that wants me to play Sophie's Choice with the national championship. No! I want to win all the titles! I will bitch like Veruca Salt if I don't get them and I won't feel a bit guilty for doing so.
January 8th, 2024 at 3:58 AM ^
Despite living in Seattle the past 5+ years and formally adopting the Huskies as my second team before it was cool - "Won't it be fun to have a team in two different conferences!", he said - the answer to your question is no. I am not in any way pulling for the Huskies or tempted to do so.
I do respect the hell out of their team, their coaches, and (similar to Michigan) their many senior players who came back with the explicit goal of making a title run. Losing to them would be less painful than pretty much any other team in the country.
But god damn do I want to see Michigan win a title.
January 8th, 2024 at 6:33 AM ^
I lived in Seattle from 2004-2016 and my wife has a graduate degree from UW, and I feel exactly the same way. Congrats on a great season, Huskies—but Go Blue all the way.
January 8th, 2024 at 5:05 AM ^
No.
She's not going to sleep with you.
January 8th, 2024 at 5:49 AM ^
I understand your quandary. And I might have shared it, coming THIS close to grad school at UW, on its gorgeous campus. (I did attend grad school at Northwestern but for rooting between them, it's always Michigan.)
But, though I'm hoping the Lord doesn't take you prematurely, still...
Go, Blue!
Beat Washington. (In respect to you, I refrain from any snarky reference to UW.)
January 8th, 2024 at 6:18 AM ^
Rooting for Dook to take Staee out of the basketball tournament.
January 8th, 2024 at 6:36 AM ^
No.
Go Blue.
January 8th, 2024 at 6:46 AM ^
When M faced Louisville for the NCAA hoops title in 2014, I received a few texts from people to the effect of “you can’t lose tonight” because I did my undergraduate at UM and went to law school at Louisville. Yeah, they were wrong.
You can really, truly have only one team. Go Blue.
January 8th, 2024 at 6:48 AM ^
I had no interest in college football when I started grad school at UW. And they were terrible when I started - they had that 0-12 season. But the next year they upset #3 USC which made me think "hmm, maybe college football is fun." So I went to their home game against Oregon where they got shitbeat and that was that for a while.
Until I went to Michigan for law school and decided to get season tickets based partly on that inkling of fun I experienced at UW. And oh man what a difference! The highs are higher, the lows are lower, and the whole damned thing just grabs onto your emotions and doesn't let go.
So no, I'm not conflicted today. Go Blue all the way. I've kept following UW as a distant second favorite team and I'm happy they're doing well. But I'll be as devastated as the rest of you if they beat Michigan tonight.
January 8th, 2024 at 7:42 AM ^
Undergrad over Grad. That's the rule.
I am a USAFA undergrad and Michigan grad. When USAFA has played Michigan(admittedly NOT in a championship game) I have been all Air Force Blue and Silver.
However you play it is however you play it, but that's my rule.
Enjoy the game!
January 8th, 2024 at 8:27 AM ^
Came here to say the same thing. You don't cheer for your grad school- that's a business transaction.
January 8th, 2024 at 10:09 AM ^
Nope. Not the case for me. To each his own.
January 8th, 2024 at 7:46 AM ^
Yes and not that long ago. My parents are die hard Louisville fans and I left for college in Ann Arbor only to return to Louisville after graduation. I'm a big basketball fan and the proximity of the Yum center (great venue btw) and occasional free tickets allowed me to get my live basketball fix watching the Louisville team while I watched the Wolverines on TV throughout the season. When it was apparent that the title game would be Michigan vs Louisville, my friends and parents wondered if I would be conflicted, but at the watch party, I was decked out in Maize and Blue. It was an easy decision, there was no question which team was in my heart.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:02 AM ^
Well, let's see...
Lions, Jets....lol, nope
Tigers, Mets...lol, nope
Michigan, Vanderbilt...lol, nope
Red Wings, Wild.... I suppose it's conceivable at some point in the next few years. Will keep you posted!
January 8th, 2024 at 8:03 AM ^
I have similar ties to both schools, but my first loyalty is and always will be for Michigan. That said, the beauty of this matchup (for me) is that there are no truly bad outcomes. Michigan winning would be a dream come true; Washington winning would be, at worst, mildly disappointing.
Still can’t believe it worked out like this.
Go Blue!
January 8th, 2024 at 8:05 AM ^
Considering I've always been a fan of one team in each sport I've never had this problem.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:13 AM ^
No. GBOD.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:32 AM ^
Talk to your therapist about this. I say this respectfully, but fuck off with your whining about who to root for on the premier Michigan sports blog on the planet.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:33 AM ^
I have, yes, in a Stanley Cup Final and what I will pretty much guarantee is that you have a subconscious moment of choosing that bubbles to consciousness on a big play. When that happens, you’ll know who you really cheer for. I highly doubt you’ll have the parent-like, cheer for both experience that you described.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:38 AM ^
This is simple. Your undergrad is Michigan. Period, the end.
I'm sure there are people who prefer schools they attended for grad school or schools they did not attend. That's fine, they have their reasons.
But you are not such a person. You grew up a UM fan and seem to still be very much a UM fan. It takes a clear priority over UW.
Be grateful that a UW win will still be satisfying for you, unlike the rest of us. In other words, you can't lose.
When having multiple rooting interests in a sport, there should always be a clear order. Yes, I've had teams that I like play other teams that I like. But I've never doubted which team I preferred.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:41 AM ^
Jack Harbaugh says, "Hi".
January 8th, 2024 at 8:42 AM ^
If you really care about both teams in a National Championship game, you don't really care about either team.
January 8th, 2024 at 8:45 AM ^
My father was a Villanova alumni. I grew up rooting for Nova and the 1985 National Championship was a big deal in my house.
He passed away about a year ago, and part of my eulogy was a discussion of the Michigan vs Villanova championship game in 2018. I viewed it as a win-win, not a lose-lose scenario. I’m glad my father lived long enough to see Nova win championships in 2016 and 2018.
Now it’s my turn. I’ve been waiting since ‘98 to see Michigan win a Natty in a sport I follow (apologies to gymnastics and swimming and softball). Tonight is the night! GO BLUE
January 8th, 2024 at 9:00 AM ^
You owe a double apology to field hockey for not following them or even acknowledging their title. First UM women's team to win one (2001).
January 8th, 2024 at 1:43 PM ^
Yes, Yes, Field Hockey too. Once I left Michigan I really only had time to follow football, hockey, and hoops.
January 8th, 2024 at 9:25 AM ^
I did catch a great pass from Scott.