Lakeyale13

September 17th, 2019 at 9:12 PM ^

I think the thing I am most embarrassed of, in my Michigan fandom, is the level to which I have gone to "emotionally protect" myself.  Been a LONG 15 years.

Not gonna lie...I am not gonna watch this game and expect us to come out well prepared and executing efficiently.  That is equal parts "emotional protection"...and equal parts I haven't seen anything from last year's OSU game, Bowl game, and our first two games to believe differently.

MGoGrendel

September 17th, 2019 at 10:58 PM ^

Years ago, many years ago, Michigan lost a bowl game, barely beat a weak Northwestern team in the opener the next season, then lost to Norte Dame and South Carolina.

They went on to will all their remaining games, including the Rose Bowl.  

Just sayin’ it can happen.  It’s always darkest before the dawn.  Shea is just cocky and talented enough to make it happen.

Blue-Ray

September 17th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^

I think that game was when my numbness started; when team sports ceased to make the same sense anymore. 

That was the game that was gonna make up for the deeply buried Fab Five pain. 

Now I just try to enjoy the journeys, like the recent basketball and baseball teams, and believe it or not, the Revenge Tour. 

I just realized long ago that I'll never want to win more or be more disappointed than the people actually playing in the game. It's much more enjoyable to me looking at it from that perspective. 

 

M Ascending

September 18th, 2019 at 7:47 AM ^

I guess I was lucky. I came out here in 1968 as a HS senior for an interview and to tour campus.  Decided to stay for Saturday's game.  It rained like crazy, but Ron Johnson ran for 347 yards (then a single game NCAA record) and 5 TDs against Wiscy. The stadium was pretty empty, but I was hooked.

My first game as a freshman was Bo's first game as coach. None of us could pronounce his name.  But what a ride it was. I was there for the 24-12 upset of OSU; watched Woody tear up the sideline marker; agonized during the 10-10 tie and it's aftermath.

It was heaven and hell all at once.  Just what college football should be.

Marvin

September 17th, 2019 at 11:04 PM ^

Hard Edge was bad. So was "Barwin porn" and that stuffed animal Greg Robinson jiggled in Kenny Demens' face. The worst, though, was when Rich Rodriguez, about to be fired, quoted Bo's "the team, the team, the team," speech to show that he was indeed a Michigan man. Then we lost to Mississippi State in the bowl game, our first in three years. When we lost to Toledo in RR's first year I didn't even watch the game. I listened to it on the radio as I refinished a door. There are so many awful memories from that time. Even the "good" memories, like the comeback against Wisconsin or the amazing Notre Dame comeback, have a garish quality to them, like we didn't earn those wins but lucked into them somehow.  So much weirdness. Martavious Odoms shouldn't have been that wide open, Sam McGuffie's high school highlight tape shouldn't have been that crazy, we shouldn't have been excited about "landing" Demar Dorsey. On and on. 

BeatIt

September 18th, 2019 at 5:59 AM ^

Just make sure you count the final poll, not their ranking when you play them. The final poll is the one that counts, that’s the grade for the year. In 97 I believe, Colorado was ranked when they payed UM, by the end of the year they had a losing record. 

Blue-Ray

September 17th, 2019 at 10:58 PM ^

A lot have been expecting since Year 2, based off of Year 1.

This year is pivotal for every team in the conference besides OSU and Rutger. 

We're fighting for 1st place but 3rd place is on our heels. When we beat MSU and PSU this year, those teams will have bigger questions than us. 

That MSU-PSU game this year is gonna be huge for the direction of both of those programs. They're both basically fighting for 3rd in the conference. 

Wisconsin is just the first step that gives us some breathing room and keeps the fans from flipping out.