How did you get hooked on Michigan?

Grew up about a half mile from the stadium, and walked to games every Saturday with my Dad. For me there wasn't really another choice, it was inevitable. I think the Braylon game against MSU or Manningham game against PSU were my faves.

I never had the grades to get in, but my grandfather (who was an assistant coach and Bishop Gallagher in Detroit) had become friends with Bo, Gary, and Lloyd through coaching a lot of the Detroit kids in CYO football when they were younger.

Didnt give a single thought to college sports, let alone Michigan football, till the day I stepped on campus as a freshman. I was an NFL / NBA kid.

I was honestly more interested in partying / tailgating than the actual team. But fell in love with Mike Hart and that was all she wrote

Lived internationally for a brief time when my dad was transferred out of the country for work so the first college game I can kind of remember on tv was Texas (no idea how that happened). Thought the burnt orange color was cool.

Moved to East Lansing when we came back to Michigan when I was 6 and grew up there so I went to a lot of MSU games. Hockey, basketball, and football. But, my first MSU game in person didn't happen until I was 9 or 10 I think.

My first ever college football game in person was 1998. #8 Wisconsin in the Big House against #15 Michigan. Brady was QB and Michigan upset them 27-10. I can still vaguely remember walking into the Big House and just stopping in the middle of the walkout to stare at the size of it. My dad had to pick me up and move me out of the way. Been a fan ever since.

I am also a Spider! Law School so not the really the same but super nice campus.  I loved living in Richmond, still miss it. Beilein was the coach when I was there.  Had some great teams. 

Grew up in Kalamazoo and starting going to the Big House as a kid in the early 80's with my Dad, grandpa and uncles.  Hooked ever since.  Only branch of my family to leave Michigan (went to high school in VA) lots of cousins went to both MSU and UM.  Don't really hate MSU more indifferent. 

It's the same reason I am a Tigers, Red Wings, Lions, and Pistons fan.

Grew up within 20 minutes of Ann Arbor. Dad was a Michigan fan so we watched a bunch of games together. I remember watching the 1995 OSU game with my dad. He kept telling me I needed to watch with him because this running back with a funny name was doing something special. Five year old me did not quite understand what I was watching at the time. 

First game I remember going to was in 1997 against Baylor. I vividly remember walking through the threshold to the seating area and just being blown away at the size of the stadium. I had gone to games at Tiger Stadium, Silverdome etc to that point but those stadiums always looked big on the outside. Michigan's hit different because it is built into the ground. 

Michigan going on to go undefeated, beating OSU and winning the Rose Bowl definitely cemented my lifelong fandom. Also skewed my expectations moving forward and you could imagine my disappointment when Donovan McNabb showed up and shredded us in the Big House in 1998. 

Grew up in Upstate NY where we essentially didn't have college football (other than Syracuse and we all hated them).  This was back in the day when you'd only get a game or two on television so the B1G was usually what we saw.  First game I recall was '85 Michigan/Iowa.  The uniforms hooked me.  Jaime Morris hooked me.  That was all I needed.

First game I went to live was at Boston College in '91.  Desmond returns the 2nd half kickoff for a touchdown and Lance Dottin punctuates the win with a Pick 6.  Glorious

My grandfather finished his dental degree from UM in 1902. My father got his DDS in 1951.

That's it, that's the comment.

Harlan Huckleby was the greatest name I'd ever heard. I've been hooked ever since.

Growing up on Long Island, there is no default or even local major college football teams but on TV, most fall Saturdays than not, was Notre Dame on NBC and Michigan on ABC. Michigan had the banner and the helmets and Desmond Howard and to a 10 year old kid, it was one hell of a trifecta! 

Grew up 20 minutes north of AA. When I was real young I would watch the games with my Dad and he would tell me the game was being played 20 minutes down US23. That fact always stuck with me. The biggest crowd in the country watching a football game was right down the freeway. My favorite color has always been navy blue therefore I loved the jerseys and helmets. And then my Dad would flip over to check the Spartans score. I'd see that ugly ass stadium and those ugly green and white jerseys. It was a no brainer as who to root for even from an early age.

I had no interest in college football until I was a student at Michigan. I was hooked after attending Braylonfest v MSU in 2004.

I ask myself this question every December.

Saw Harbaugh beat Ohio State when I was 3 or so in 1985, and have vast memories of crisp football Saturdays in Ann Arbor. There was an energy you could feel even when you didn’t exactly know the significance of what was going on. My dad would also take us to the stadium just for kicks back when it wasn’t locked up like a prison.

My best friend in 3rd grade turned me on to the Victors, all done from there. He also helped instill my hatred of all things Notre Dame.

How did you get hooked in Michigan?

I grew up in rural SE Michigan. As a little kid I liked football right away. (Who doesn't like football?) The Lions sucked. (That's a lifetime thing for me.) I needed a team.

Were there other contenders for your fandom?

This will be rough to read for some, but I followed Sparty just about as much as Michigan for a long time. I kept up with the directionals a little bit, too.

What was your first Michigan football game?

Details are murky here. I think it was Northwestern during the Bo years. I don't remember any forward passes.

Most memorable game you went to?

Much like the fabled Indiana game of 1979, neither of these games meant squat in the big picture, but ND in 2009 (Forcier!) and 2011 (UTL, Gallon, etc.) had "plus" atmosphere.

Dad went to UD but listened to UM football, as we were seldom on TV.

I remember wondering who the guy with the wooden leg was - "Timberleg"

Actually "Timberlake" QB on the 64 team.

Leaf burning in the driveway was legal, so I sat by the fire listening to the games.

I was arrogant in high school so only applied to UM.

First game was Georgia in 1965. We lost.

But what I remember was the GA fans card show of the Confederate flag.

I believe Auburn at Penn State decades later was the next time an SEC team played north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Next game I saw was 1968 over Wisconsin, Ron Johnson runs wild.

Favorite game: easy, November 22, 1969.

My grandfather went to UM and was a varsity baseball player (LH pitcher) in the 1920s.  He was drafted by the Tigers but opted to go and get his MBA at the Business School and then into Public Accounting instead.

Like my Grandpa, I followed UM growing up (Ron Johnson was my favorite player), went to UM Ross School of Business, and became a CPA.

Bo and 1969 Michigan OSU cemented my love of Michigan football.

My family wasnt to into college sports but I loved playing football, hockey, soccer, and baseball as a kid. That love of playing turned into a love of watching the same sports both professionally and at the college level. My family has no affiliation to UM, but my favorite color was blue - and as an elementary student thats where my alliance started. 

Most memorable games? I was at the App State Game and more recently the 49-10 whooping of Penn State in '16. I didnt attend the game but this game is probably my favorite of all time 

https://youtu.be/jxAFmTR0m1M

Growing up there really wasn't much sports fandom in my house outside of baseball and the Tigers. So growing up I'd watch Tigers baseball when I could on TV and I'd fall asleep listening to Ernie Harwell and Tigers baseball on the radio. I didn't really start getting into football until my college years in the late 80's-early 90's. I grew up in western Michigan where the Spartans tend to rule and at first I was drawn to them, but in my freshman year of college (went to school at a small private school in TN) I made the final switch and proudly based on believe it or not the uniforms and the history of the athletic program.

This switch was made just in time to enjoy the 1989 NCAA basketball title run and from that point I was hooked. So I came in with Bo in charge of the football program and the "Michigan Man" mantra.

I grew up in Suburban Chicago and my first memory of seeing the winged helmets was the 97 Rose Bowl. I got hooked. As I began playing football, I always wore Michigan shirts under my shoulder pads. I would get Michigan gear for Christmas from a very large extended family, I remember crying my eyes out as like a 10 year old after the Vince Young game. Then again after App state. I went to the football camp 3 years in high school to just get to AA and see the facilities.
 

My favorite game(s) would be Tate Forcier freshman year vs. ND, Under the Lights, and then Wisconsin 2018. I took my dad to that game which was the coolest thing. Only Michigan fan in a family full of Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana and Wisconsin grads. Didn’t do my undergrad here but a graduate degree is the goal! Go Blue always and forever!!

I am a New Years birthday.  My family would come over for my birthday party and would watch the Rose Bowl.  Growing up in the 80's/90's, Michigan was playing in the game majority of the time.  Watching Desmond Howard, Elvis Grbac, Tyrone Wheatley, Chris Howard, A Train, Woodson, Brady, etc hooked me.  Can't tell you how many times me and my friends tried to replay the Desmond Howard diving catch vs. ND in my front yard.

My main sport is hockey and would go to Michigan's Summer camp almost every summer.  Always thought Red was going to offer me a scholarship while I was at the camp, hahaha.  Crazy how they would let us 11-12 years old's just roam around Ann Arbor once we were off the ice.

I come from a blue collar family. Dad had Lloyd Carr as a history teacher at John Glenn in the 70s so the whole family was blue. My uncles were friends with Tony Boles.

When I reached the age of 10 or so I started paying attention to football and my best friend's dad had season tickets in the 90s and aughts so we would watch most games casually and go to one or two. In middle school we actually got pretty invested in the games competitively. I think this coincided with my friends and I starting to play organized ball.

We also played a butt load of NCAA on PlayStation 2 so that's how I came to learn about all the division one team names and traditions apart from the Big Ten and the directional Michigan schools.

Some competitors for my fandom were ND because of the history and mystique around the program in addition to Sparty because they were local, they seemed harmless, and I never thought they'd seriously compete with Michigan, so it couldn't hurt to pull for them once in a while. It didn't hurt that their fans were mostly seen and not heard up until the Dantonio era. Seriously, only weird kids in our school would wear Sparty stuff.

I was in college during the Rich Rod era. I joined mgoblog during the Denard years and I started following recruiting coaching hires, and UFRs in deeper detail. 

Some memorable games I've attended are 2010 Illinois, 2012 NW, 2012 MSU, 2015 BYU, 2016 Indiana, 2017 OSU was almost the best one, 2018 Nebraska, and 2019 MSU(the most recent one at all, unfortunately). Can't wait to see the Washington game this year in person after almost two years away from the Big House. My lucky wife even got to go last spring to get her vaccines.

Dad took me to games beginning when I was 5, never looked back. 

Grew up an MSU fan because of family and proximity, enrolled in UM for other reasons, walked into the stadium for my first game just before the start of freshman year. That’s when I got hooked.

I have been a Michigan fan for as long as I can remember. But, I was really hooked after attending my first football game. It was the 1983 game vs. Iowa. I was a freshman in high school at the time. My mother got 4 tickets through work, but two of them were in the student section. Of course, I sat with my sister in the student section. Michigan won 16-13 on a last second field goal from Bob Bergeron. The place went nuts! Still one of my all-time favorite football memories. 

I'm one of those weirdos with no affiliation. None of my family went to college and really weren't even in to sports that much. I was a sports fanatic. Michigan was on TV a lot and I just sort of picked them as a little dude. I liked other teams as well in the late 80's/early 90's but I always liked them best. Tyrone, Dez, Toomer, "the QB's", Woodson, etc.  I just liked it all. It stuck through HS and even in college. I obv root for KSU, but i've been a UM fan for way longer than I ever even knew I would go to college. Took a bit after college, but I started making the trek to AA about every other year, sometimes more. It's harder to do now with kids, but I'll take my kids up there some day to experience a game there. 

I bought some of what Brian Griese, Tai Streets and Charles Woodson were selling and that was it. I've thought about rehab but I said no, no, no. 

They were good when I was a kid. How the turn tables. 

My oldest brother (10 years older than me) went to Michigan in the mid-1960s.  I remember visiting him many times and also being with him the day he had to sign up for classes at a field of tables in the Diag.  To me, Michigan became what college is supposed to look like.  I went to a few Michigan football games, but these were the last days of the Bump Elliott era, so the team was pretty mediocre.  Bo became the coach the year after my brother graduated.

On top of that, my dad was a staunch Woody Hayes fan.  He was from Ohio, but never went to OSU.  He served in the Army during WWII, came back, got a job, and got his degree at night school in Detroit.  My mom was from Michigan.  My middle brother went to OSU.  I had to go to Michigan to erase the tie in favor of the Wolverines.

Both my parents went to MSU but my grandfather went to UofM. Growing up I'd root for both because my father forced me I'm sure and my grandfather would always give me Michigan gear. When I was 10 the Fab Five came out and then I went all UofM and never went back. THANK GOD FOR THE FAB FIVE. I think I'd be even more miserable than I am now due to the last few years making me dead inside.

I grew up in a Michigan household in Ohio and started watching games with my dad as a kid. 

I'm the type of person that, when everyone goes one way, I typically like to go the other. As I got older, all my friends and classmates were Ohio State fans. I think that hardened me into being a Michigan fan. 

Most memorable game? Probably 2008 Northwestern. We stayed to the end. Got my Fandom Endurance III badge that day.

Grew up in mid-Michigan as a State/ND fan: my parents both attended MSU, and have a combined five degrees from there, and I got gold football pants for my fourth or fifth birthday. Gave up on ND when Ara played for the tie in '66. In HS I was always interested in Michigan football, I didn't hate them the way many of my high school buddies did. Freshman year of college at neither MSU or U of M I remember watching Michigan games with about forty to fifty people in the dorm TV lounge. My girlfriend, now wife of 37 years, was from Saline, and we ended up in Ann Arbor after college. Her father was an OB/GYN, and we'd sit by the phone every Saturday morning hoping that a baby would decide that it was a good day to be born so that we could use his tickets. 

7 years old I went to my first game. In complete awe of the crowd and the size of the stadium. Michigan manhandled Bowling Green 42-7, Ron Bellamy and Anthony Thomas shined. I've been hooked ever since

Sitting on LZ  baldy in Nam in 1968 listening to the UM-OSU game  with some comrades from Ohio.

My dad. Simple as that. He took me to my first game when I was 10. It was 2001 and we were playing Purdue. Walking into the Big House for the first time as a kid sealed it for me. I have been supporting them ever since. We don't really go to home games anymore as were both fairly large people and its not comfortable. I still go to his house every Saturday in the fall to watch the games with him. We recently started going to an away game every year. So far we've been to Iowa, Indiana, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. This year we are traveling to Lincoln.

I grew up in the Detroit burbs and for some reason Michigan vs Michigan State was this huge thing for grade school kids. I picked Michigan and stuck with them ever since. Went to college in Canada so I don't have my own alma mater that would take precedence.

My first game in the Big House was 1986 against Oregon State. I was only 10 so I don't remember much from that game except being amazed at the size of the stadium and doing the wave. 

Funny enough, one of the most memorable games for me was one I didn't even see, the 1995 win over Virginia. My friend and I were doing community service because of a minor in possession ticket. Our supervisor wasn't around, so we sat in the car and listen to most of the 4th quarter on the radio. We were going fucking nuts! Dreisbach to Hayes!!! I've since gone back and watched that last drive on YouTube, but I think listening to it on the radio made it even better for some reason.  

My dad went to law school at Michigan and had season tickets from at least the early seventies and possibly much earlier. As a result, I went to home games from a very early age. He only had two tickets at first so I started out alternating games with my brother but in the late seventies he bought two more. I missed only two home games between 1978 and 1983 (one of them being the goddamn Indiana game in 1979).

When was I *really* hooked? The 1979 and 1980 seasons, when I was 13-14. In 1979 Bo had trouble finding a quarterback; three different players (B.J. Dickey, John Wanger and Rich Hewlett) started games, and as a result the offense often struggled. At the same time, they had Anthony Carter, one of the most dynamic Michigan players of my lifetime.

They lost three straight painfully close games to close out 1979, and they started out 1980 by losing two of their first three in a similarly painfully close fashion. The one win was by a touchdown against a truly awful Northwestern team in the rain.

At the time a lot of people thought Bo had lost it. However, they beat a bad California team, slipped by Michigan State and started improving. By the end of the season no one could score a touchdown against them, and they wound up with Bo's first Rose Bowl victory.