How did you get hooked on Michigan?

My father took me to the Baylor game in 1997. He was always a fan, and had been attending at least as far back as the '69 OSU game. From then we went to about one game per season, and as a kid learning sports, it was good to be a fan of a team that won all the time (like the Red Wings of the same era, and unlike the Lions and Tigers of the late 90s). I became a fan in those days by reading the News and Free Press Sports sections and watching games on TV. By the time internet coverage of the team (like this blog) came around, I was hooked. I was super excited by the Rose Bowls in 04-05, and unbelievably excited by the 06 run. I started college at Michigan with Rodriguez in 08, but the love I had for the football team was already embedded.

Moved to Michigan in sixth grade. Was abundantly clear that I wanted to be friends with the kids who liked Michigan and didn’t want to be friends with the kids that supported state. They were…not my speed. Ended up with a sister who went to UM, went to UM myself a few years later. Been hooked in football since my first game in the Big House. 

Born and raised in Kentucky. Pretty much most everyone here is a UK fan unless you live up around Louisville. Born in 1978, my early childhood I watched Michigan playing football  on ABC a lot. Became an early fan.  Where it really turned for me was watching the Fab 5 and I was still a UK basketball fan at the time but I became enamored with them and I’ve been a fan of the entire program ever since. I think they were uniquely different and everyone here was UK like a cult and I think I wanted to be different. I try to make a football game every two years and catch a basketball game at least once every two trips. 

As the youngest of four I generally liked to be a contrarian. The majority of my family were MSU fans and alumni so I chose Michigan (I even cheered for the Avalanche until I was like 12. I dislike them now but still have a soft spot for Peter Forsberg. ANYWAY). The earliest games I could remember being a true fan were with John Navarre and Marquise Walker. My brother even got me a custom Walker #4 jersey last year for the holidays which was bizarre/awesome. 

Now it gets dark. My first game I attended was Michigan/Wisconsin in 2008. It was actually a pretty incredible environment considering everything else that year and it was loud loud when Thompson got that interception. I then went to Toledo(!!) and MSU that same year. Remember Blair White? While that Wisconsin game is probably most memorable because of the comeback, my favorite was Michigan-MSU 2018. Dantonio's last game against Michigan. 44-10

I became a fan in 1985 at the age of 13.  The first game I remember watching was #2 Michigan at #1 Iowa, a 12-10 Iowa win on a last second FG.  The main draws for me were Jim Harbaugh and Jamie Morris.  And I also liked Michigan's helmets.  Then when I reached high school I knew I wanted to go to Michigan because my older brother became a student there.  I was a good student and knowing that Michigan was the flagship academic school in the state the decision to go to college there was a no brainer.

Got accepted to the school in early November 2006.  Hadn't really paid attention to CFB before then, but that's when I started.  Everything's been great since!

Woody went for two.

I got hooked "ushering" at Michigan Stadium when I was a Cub Scout.  Our troop did it a couple of years. It would have been around 1960.  Can't really  remember the games or the opponents, except for one detail: We were seated about 3/4 of the way up in the South end zone after discharging our "ushering" duties, and it was a bright sunny cold day with the occasional snow squall.  At one point, it snowed hard enough that the field was completely covered with a light coating of snow, and then the clouds passed and the sun came out.  The sun quickly melted all the snow, except that it remained in the shadow of the South goalpost, with a perfect silhouette of the goalpost on the field, until the sun moved enough to melt it all.

Being a Wolverine fan in the early 60's as a kid required a bit of a contrarian streak.  Notre Dame was the  favorites of the vast majority of my family and classmates, and the remainder backed MSU.  Both were far more successful at the time, until of course the '64 season, which vindicated my fandom, and a few years later the tide had turned on the MSU rivalry. 

As for most memorable games, it's hard to choose.  

Ohio State in '75 was an exciting, though ultimately disappointing game.  We had the lead midway through the 4th Quarter with Freshman QB Rick Leach and then Calvin O'Neil came within a whisker of sacking Cornelius Green for a safety, and I was making Rose Bowl plans with my girlfriend at the time, but the d*mn Buckeyes escaped and pulled it out.  

Texas A&M in '77 was a huge, exciting game with an incredible buildup.  I'm glad I went, even though I was heavily medicated from having my wisdom teeth removed at the UM Dental School a couple days earlier. 

Ohio State in '78 was an incredibly exciting game with  a fantastic defensive performance. My brother snatched the scarlet  and grey beret off a middle-aged OSU alumna, taking a good chunk of her bleached blonde hair with it at the end of the game, while I shielded her view of the culprit.  I think he still has that beret.

And, then there was a game that I decided to go to at the last minute, bought a great midfield ticket cheap on the way to the stadium below face value notwithstanding it was homecoming because it was after kickoff when I got there.  It was a boring, frustrating, poorly played game that I was half thinking about leaving as the 4th Quarter ran down to what was an almost inevitable disappointment.  Then this happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqoRX2FW5iY 

Yeah, I'm sure that roughly 1 million people claim to have been at that game. But I was, and luckily I didn't leave early

This man.

I was in 2nd grade.

born at UM hospital and was decked out in M gear the day I arrived on this planet. could see the Big House from the back porch of the house they brought me home to.

raised on campus until I was 16 (parents worked for university). uncle lived across the street from yost.  played hockey on that ice and dressed in the home dressing room a ton of times. brian wiseman tried to snipe top shelf and smoked a puck off my mask.  he felt bad. i felt dizzy. it was awesome. skated with steve shields too. took a few lessons from him and red berenson

i remember going to M spring games as a kid and them letting us run around the field and get autographs (1984 is the first year I remember). Harbaugh, Morris etc.

i remember the washington/Zona St/USC rose bowl games on campus and everyone being either really sad ('87 '90 and '92) or really happy ('89 and '93).

never went to UM because by the time i was ready for college, i was living in indiana and there was no way i could afford out of state tuition. for grad school, Cal was a better program (roll on you bears and fuck stanfurd). i got to know a few future nobel prize winners and drink with them. smoked weed with one.

after grad school i moved back to michigan. and went to a couple games a year for the last 12 years or so until moving to take a job in ohio. fuck ohio.

most memorable game on tv was the 1998 rose bowl. in person it was the first year nebraska was in the b1g and came to the big house. michigan smoked them, nebraska fans were great and my brother and i tailgated with them for a few hours after the game till we got kicked off the lot. more memorable because of the time i spent with my brother and tailgating etc than the actual game.

the end

October 9, 1976 - Watched the Maize and Blue team trounce a Green and White team 42-10 (I was 9 at the time and lived in a really small town in SE Michigan).  Then saw the same Maize and Blue team on New Years Day.  I was hooked at that point....

October 15, 1983 - Michigan trounced NW 35-0.  My older brother was a Sophomore and took me to the game.  Again coming from a small town in Michigan I remember walking into the stadium and being in awe.  Thinking that it was big enough to fit 5-6 times the total population of my town within the stadium.

Most remember - I have been to the Timmy B game vs OSU, Manningham game vs PSU and Braylonfest.  I will give an edge to Braylonfest as I was in the 7th row in the corner of the stadium where all the key scores happened late in the game.

My parents married as students and I was born in Ann Arbor. We lived in married housing.  Dad was an All American wrestler for Cliff Keen.  His summer job was construction building Crisler Arena.

They would take me to football games as a baby and pass me around to other students to hold.  Some of my 1st words were Go Blue. 

My parents, my sister, and I all went to Michigan. 
 

Best game was 2003 OSU (freshman year).

I was born in Grand Haven, Michigan but my family moved to Florida soon after I was born. Most of my aunts and Uncles went to college there(Michigan), and I grew up being a fan as both my parents were fans(Dad went to Ferris State, Mom Muskegon Community College). The only Florida team I like is the college I went to, UCF, and even then I still consider myself more of a Michigan fan. When UCF played Michigan, I still wanted Michigan to win. I was born a Michigan fan, grew up a Michigan fan, and will always be one. 

I grew up in Ann Arbor in the 1970s/80s, and it seemed every local kid then with a remote interest in sports was an avid Michigan fan.  Something that was true in that era more so than today I'd guess with the Bo/Woody storyline, and fewer distractions in terms of entertainment options.

There were no other college contenders for my loyalty though I supported the Detroit teams whenever there was something of interest happening (the Bird, '84 Tigers, Billy Sims etc).

I'm pretty sure my first in person Michigan game was '76 vs. Wisconsin when I was 9.  A friend's family took me.  Michigan won 56-0. Though I was far too young to partake it was a different era of both Badger football and in terms of drinking in the stadium. The group in front of us were having mixed drinks (my friend's parents were disapproving). Later my buddy and I ran onto the field after the game (not allowed exactly but not as big a deal) and congratulated some players.  I remember there were drunk Wisconsin fans in the stands holding cans of beer and singing "from one beer lover to another" which was a popular jingle.

I think the most memorable game I attended was the first Under the Lights Notre Dame game -- though a close contender with a less happy outcome was the 1994 Colorado game.

Was born into it through my mother.  That was our "thing".  Saturday's were spent in front of the tv watching Michigan.  My earliest memory is Desmond's catch against Notre Dame.  I adopted a second school (sort of) when my mom told me where my favorite athlete of all time, Michael Jordan, went to school.  Only paid attention to their basketball team though.  No idea what my first game was that I attended.  I'm guessing Purdue or Minnesota early 90s, we used to go to a lot of those.  The most memorable game I've attended is probably Under the Lights 1.  A contender, though I wish it turned out different, is 2013 OSU.

Even though they were both one point losses, it was the basketball games against IU during the 1989 season. I fell in love with the basketball team, especially Glen Rice, as a young kid (6 years old). I live in Indiana and my parents were huge IU basketball fans. They were trying to get me on board as a fan as well, but failed spectacularly! I was Michigan all the way once I saw that '89 team. Fab Five strengthened my unbreakable fandom even further.

Desmond Howard is what got me going with the football team, but I'd truly say Tyrone Wheatley hooked me. He was so good and that '93 Rose Bowl against Washington is unforgettable. He was my all-time favorite football Wolverine until Charles Woodson came along. 

I unfortunately didn't attend Michigan. Had the grades and test scores that got me accepted, but got cold feet staring down the amount of debt I'd have to take on to attend. Picturing being about $200K in debt after four years of out of state attendance was pretty terrifying for me at 18 years old. 

First game in Ann Arbor was 3/8/1992 against IU at Crisler. Boy has Crisler improved since then!

First football game in Ann Arbor wasn't until 9/1/2001 against Miami OH.  That was my first year in college, so I had more free time. High school and AAU sports made it very difficult for me to make the trip for a football game before that. I was able to attend most games at Purdue and IU growing up, but couldn't make the 8 hour round trip for a Saturday in Ann Arbor. 

As a 5 year old, my parents took me to the big house to watch Michigan play Purdue.  Jim Harbaugh was the QB.  Michigan won 47-0.  Could not get over the sight of being in a stadium with 100,000+ people.  I was hooked from that day on. 

Also, the marching band did a 'Back to the Future,' themed halftime show, which is my favorite movie of all time.  So that was a very good day. 

First football game I remember watching was Jim Harbaugh handing off to Jamie Morris running behind Jumbo Elliott. I was hooked.

Listening to Bob Ufer when I was little.

Born in Grand Rapids (Wyoming to be specific) and also lived in Milford.  We moved all over growing up (CA, UT & FL).  I guess it was a way for me to stay "grounded / attached" to the state of my birth, but I can't remember not rooting for Michigan.  My parents weren't fans.  I just always rooted for the Wolverines.  Probably due to my neighbor who was a huge Michigan fan in Milford.

It's funny you ask today, because it is the 26th anniversary of my Michigan fandom. 

August 26th, 1995 -- Mercury Hayes in the corner of the endzone. My dad was always a Michigan fan but I had decided earlier that summer that I would watch more closely (I was 11). I bought one of those Street and Smith (or similar) guides at the grocery store Up North and I remember absolutely pouring over it at our cabin. It was then I was like "yes -- I'm going to commit myself to this". 26 years later I hate so much that I care as much as I do and wish I'd never made that decision. BUT I CAN'T QUIT. 

 A local dealer was giving me Michigan for free for a few weeks back when I was 12....after a while, I couldn't even get through 4 hours without getting Michigan withdrawls....then he made me pay him for the Michigan.  I am still hooked.  That local dealer was Mitch Cummstein, my roomate 

88 nd vs Michigan game. Saw it on tv, saw those helmets and was immediately hooked. 

I was born and raised in a small, one horse town out in the middle of nowhere. Michigan is pretty popular there for some reason. It's called Ann Arbor. Maybe you've heard of it.

My first Michigan game was Bo's last home game, a 28-18 win over Ohio State in 1989.

The most memorable game I attended, unfortunately, was the 1994 Hail Mary game against Colorado.

I grew up a UM fan in a small town between Flint and Saginaw.  I used to pretend to be Anthony Carter when we played neighborhood football games.  

My favorite game memory was in 1987 Northwestern game.  Not an important game in an 8-4 season, but my younger brother was being lightly recruited by UM, he didn't get a scholarship offer, but he did go to this game with a group of recruits.  

Anyway, I went to the game with my other brother and my dad.  We saw the group of recruits before the game and my brother gives us a wave to join the group.  We were escorted into a small room off the locker room and in walks Bo.  He gives a bit of a rah rah speech to the recruits and walks out.  Maybe less than 5 minutes.  

Anyway, it was a really cool moment.

they took $200,000 of my money.

and i grew up a notre dame fan.

Moved to Ann Arbor when I was three after my dad took a job as a professor at the university. My first game was that fall and I have to share I was an embarrassment. Went with my dad and spent more time upside down on his lap than watching the game. He took me to McDonalds at halftime and I cried when he said we couldn’t go back into the stadium. 

I was a bigger NFL fan as a kid, but 4 years of college football (and just being on the campus) makes the connection to a college team feel more intimate. Also the culture of a big time football school - the community wide obsession, the band and the students, mixed with national TV coverage - makes it an amazing mix of grass roots community and big time sports. My first game was Chad Henne's first start against Miami (NTM), and that year was Braylon-fest. The next year was Henne-to-Manningham. Two years later was The Horror. All 3 were memorable (the last in a bad way) and all 3 I think went a big way in cementing my fandom - the last kinda giving us a "Michigan against the World" feel, especially with what was going on in Detroit with the Great Recession just a year later. Go Blue! Good times.

My dad was doing his residency at a UM hospital (I think it was then called St. Joseph's Mercy or something like that?) so I lived in Ann Arbor until I was 3... we later moved to Texas, but I grew up with stories of how my folks would take me to Michigan Stadium to watch the band practice.

My earliest memory was the winged helmets and Anthony Carter on TV. I was just starting to understand football but didn't quite get it... but I kept saying "WHY DON'T THEY JUST GIVE IT TO #1 EVERY TIME HE ALWAYS SCORES TOUCHDOWNS"

Come to think of it, I still don't get it.

When I was little my sister would tell me to say Go Blue in a house full of osu fans lol, so that's how I became a fan.

First game was 2002 vs Utah

Favorite game I've been to is a tie between 2011 OSU game and the 2016 Wisconsin game

I grew up in Troy and had family friends who were Michigan fans.  We were watching the OSU game at their house in either ‘74 or ‘75 which is the first college game I remember seeing. After that, I was hooked

My dad was a Michigan fan and I guess that's how I got hooked. He was one of those "state of Michigan" people who wanted all the state teams to do well, but he loved the University of Michigan. I was not as mature as him and wanted MSU to go winless in every sport.

My first Michigan football game was 1989 vs OSU (Bo's final home game).
My first Michigan hoops game was the 1989 Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight (UNC/UVA).

The most memorable game has to be the Rose Bowl win vs. Washington State.

And there were never any contenders for my fandom. I was fortunate enough to graduate from UM, but my fandom wouldn't have waned if I attended elsewhere.

My parents are both from Lansing and I have all kinds of baby photos of me in MSU gear.  But in 1988 we moved outside of Ann Arbor. I was rather obvlivous to sports at that young age, I have no recollection of the NC in basketball sadly. But, November 9, 1991 I attended my first college football game and watched UofM dismantle Northwestern.  It was cold and the game was really awful but I didn't care.  I was sold.

We sat next to the tunnel and I got to "high five" my new heroes like Grbac and Howard.  A young Tyrone Wheatley made quite a debut that day as well.  

I grew up right near the stadium on Henry St. We parked cars in our lawn on Saturdays and during really cold games we sold hot cider and donuts too. 

Grew up in Illinois with Fighting Illini season tickets. Yes, like everyone around there I grew up thinking Illinois and Michigan were rivals...LOL...but to their credit, Illinois had won a couple years in a row when I went to my first Michigan-Illinois game in 1994.  I think Amani Toomer returned a punt for a TD, Remy Hamilton kicked 4 FGs, and the offense never scored a TD in a close win.  Nevertheless, I was struck by the jerseys and helmets (I was a kid) and there was a "je ne sais quoi" about the Michigan team even in an opposing team's stadium.

Most memorable games: 2002 Washington, 2002 PSU, 2003 OSU, 2004 MSU, 2005 PSU, 2008 Wisconsin, 2010 Illinois, 2011 ND, 2011 OSU, 2013 ND.  And lots of games I want to forget.

All started with watching Jamie Morris on TV at a friends house in Cedar Rapids. 
 

My cousin played for Iowa, so my departure from the Hacks was not received well in my family.  I think the first Michigan game was when Chucky Long beat us at Kinnick. He was a douche back then, and still is to this day. 
 

First time in big house was against Iowa a few years ago. May have been Lloyds last year?

Some older kid offered me a joint. As I was puffing away he said, "I didn't know you like to Go Blue."

Seriously, I can't remember why I really started. I grew up near Lansing. I do remember what cemented it though--an obnoxious teacher in 5th grade who was a State fan. My bedroom walls were plastered with pics from newspapers of Rick Leach, Rob Lyle, Stan Edwards, Anthony Carter, etc.

First game though was as a freshman an had to be the 6-6 1984 year.

Most memorable was taking my own boys back for an Iowa game in 2004. Hart cemented his starting spot as a freshman that game IIRC.

Watching Butch Woolfolk torch the badgers in 1979.....

I was a young knucklehead playing with Christmas toys on New Years Day, but all the adults were watching Michigan v Stanford Indians in the 1972 Rose Bowl. All the cheering and The Victors in the background was what made it for me.

Michigan had it won until 10 - 15 seconds remaining in the game when Stanford kicked what was the winning field goal.

:-(   b/c of the loss.

:-)  for being a Wolverine.

From New Jersey, but in Florida now and jumped on board watching the Fab Five when I was 6 or 7. I remember most of my christmas list each year was random things from the MDen catalog. Had Woodson and Webber jerseys, no names on the back of course. I had a hockey jersey, a helmet, and all sorts of random Michigan things. No one in my family really has a college team so no one pushed me towards them. Football is now the only team in all of sports that affects my mental wellbeing in any sort of way.

When they play in any of the Florida bowls, I try my best to go. 

I still have never been to the Big House or campus. The closest I've been was during a layover at DTW.

Other contender when I was young was ND I guess. Being from NJ, you would think PSU and Rutgers, but I never even thought to be a PSU fan and I didn't even know what a Rutger was.

First Michigan football game I attended was Rich Rod's last game, the Gator Bowl against Miss St in Jacksonville. They of course got blasted and some Miss St fans sarcastically clapped in my face in the parking lot as we were leaving.

Most memorable game I attended was Harbaugh's first bowl game as coach. Memorable because they crushed the Gators who I hate.