Some thoughts about the game for someone born in this century

Submitted by Apureidiot on November 26th, 2019 at 10:08 PM

Without Harbaugh, we wouldn't be here. I grew up with the Hoke and RR years, and I don't think you guys don't know how much of an inferiority complex that brings.

I grew up not knowing what winning against MSU felt like. My fondest memory was Judgment Day back in '06, stuffing my then-baby face full of Turkey and mash as I attempted to jinx OSU out of the win at halftime.

Hope he pulls off one more miracle this Saturday. But regardless, all I want to see is UM putting up a fantastic fight till the very end.

On a side note, any good reference for implementing a thread library?

Go Blue!

WichitanWolverine

November 27th, 2019 at 7:42 AM ^

Funny you say that... On St Patrick's day this past year I had some douche bag Indiana fan try to start a "fuck Michigan" chant at a Denver bar because I was wearing my Michigan jersey. And just this past weekend at a house party some Purdue grad said she "didn't like my hat" because it was a Michigan one. 

The phrase "hate us 'cause they ain't us" couldn't be more true sometimes. 

 

Don

November 26th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^

"I grew up not knowing what winning against MSU felt like."

I was born long enough ago that when I was a small kid listening to UM games on the radio with my dad, Michigan was getting its ass kicked on the regular by MSU and OSU. Look up the career of Bump Elliott and you'll see what I mean.

In 10 years from '59 to '68, we had five winning seasons and one conference title.

We went 3-7 against OSU; against MSU we were 2-7-1.

That's why Schembechler was such a bolt out of the blue for Michigan fans of the time.

snarling wolverine

November 27th, 2019 at 12:13 AM ^

On this topic, I heard recently that in the 1950s we didn't give out athletic scholarships, while MSU did - in fact, they were one of the first programs to do so.  That helps to explain why we had such a rough stretch, while MSU was a powerhouse then.

I don't know when we started giving scholarships out, but obviously we were by the time of Bo.

Don

November 26th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^

Being called a boomer doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I don’t know why anybody gets worked up about it. It’s no worse than what we derided old people with when we were young.

Michigan4Harbaugh

November 26th, 2019 at 11:26 PM ^

I am not old enough to be a Boomer, being in my 30s. However, I sure as the sun comes up respect my elders. I suggest you do the same. I'm sure Don has had food stuck in his teeth much tougher than you are, bud.

Rapid_Response

November 26th, 2019 at 10:51 PM ^

My son is 9.  We adopted him from Russia.  His first morning home, we watched spring practice together that I had taped.  He has yet to see M beat Ohio that he remembers.  Despite that, he stands for every game, the entire time,  in his khakis with beats headphones on.  He watches the games partially crouched with his hands on his knees squinting at the screen.  Its like having Harbaugh in my living room.

This weekend I'm taking him for his first trip to the Big House.  And we will represent.  

He's been to Maryland twice, as its close to our home.  His mind is gonna be blown.     

BeatIt

November 27th, 2019 at 7:19 AM ^

RabidResponse, congratulations on taking your son to the big house. My youngest son is 31 and has just re-enlisted for another 4 years which will be his 15th. We were divorced when his older brother was 2 and he was 10 months old. Up until last year, we hadn't seen each other since bootcamp, both were born&raised in florida. My OSU fandom rubbed off on him as his mother finally gave them a choice of who to live with. My youngest chose me and I raised him from his freshman year in HS. Took him to an OSU game San Diego State. He couldn't believe how crazy the shoe was, and said he'd love to see a big game there. So last year bribed him with great seats for the "GAME" last year. We had our first father&son beers together @ the Varsity Club that morning @ 7:30 am and befriended the only 2 um fans in the place, nice conversation and,we went our separate ways, they were in one of the press boxes. Although the "GAME" was great it was getting the family together was the best part for me. Have a great time and travel safe my friend. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Erik_in_Dayton

November 26th, 2019 at 11:34 PM ^

Michigan dominated OSU and MSU when I was young. ND was always the toughest game. But anyway, I'm not predicting a win this Saturday, but I can assure you that the laws of physics don't preclude a Michigan win in the Game. It can happen!

VintageRandy

November 27th, 2019 at 12:37 AM ^

I appreciate the sentiment of this thread OP, as this is something I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this week. Apologies for the following tl;dr: 

I was 13 (living in Ohio) when I witnessed CFB Armageddon 1 in 2006 - the game that truly made me a Michigan fan for life. I remember the week leading up to the game, where I was practicing “kickoff returns” in 5v5 tag football in the street in my neighborhood. I made a point of announcing that I would receive the kick as Steve Breaston before trying to elude all defenders to a return past the designated line of gutters. 

One of my buddies/former coworkers who is an OSU fan/alum has been jawing with me this week about how it would be “disappointing to lose to M but playoffs and B1G champs are ok I guess”. Fuck that entitled horseshit.

OSU fans of my generation have no frame of reference from which they can ground their fandom. Few heartbreaking lossses, or more, unexpected wins against superior opponents, have ever entered the pampered viewing experience of an OSU fan. 

I was at the 2005 Penn State game, sitting in the south end zone as Mario Manningham caught the game winning pass to beat those Nittany fuckers. Wins like that stick with you; they build a belief that your team, your stadium, may have some magic. 

But I’ve also paid live witness to such dong punches as the 2012 game to know that the universe pays some blind pittance to those cooler pooper fuckers in some perverse cosmic irony. But OSU fans of my age cohort cannot even claim Cooper as any reasonable explanation for their antipathy towards M in a competitive sense - they simply want to be spoon fed a successful athletic endeavor. They’ve never known the struggles of witnessing the rebuilding of a program (more than twice).

I want nothing more than to show those sons of bitches how truly entitled they are. Beat Ohio State.

 

UNCWolverine

November 27th, 2019 at 1:03 AM ^

Man was my timing great. Michigan won a hockey championship my sophomore year then the last hockey and football national championships we’ve had my senior year. I would have never believed those would be our last ones at this point. 

Gulogulo37

November 27th, 2019 at 4:52 AM ^

I was at the Big House as a student in 2003 for M's last win besides the one Hoke win. It's insane. That was, and feels, so long ago.

But agreed with the OP. Even now I forget how bad Michigan was for so long under RR and Hoke. On the front page roundtable post, they have a clip of Michigan getting trounced by Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Good God.

BeatIt

November 27th, 2019 at 7:25 AM ^

Golugilo, timing hasn't been good gor harbaugh. But not giving RR at least 4 years was big mistake imo. Anyone could have won11 games with that crazy good QB/RB y'all had and hoke rode him into the ground thst year. It gave the fanbase a false sense that Hoke was better than average. Not so imo.

victors2000

November 27th, 2019 at 5:10 AM ^

My youth was spent during the Bo Woody wars. I didn't know about the struggles with Bump but I'd read about the glorious history of Michigan football, so to me growing up Michigan was always a winner. That's just how it was; back then the conference was referred to as the Big 2 and the Little 8. Coach Carr continued the winning but there was a lot of complaints about Coach Carr - can't spell Lloyd without 2 L's - always having some stumble during the season. What a spoiled lot we are. I guess pride does come before the fall. So, when Coach Rod took over and everything went to pot...that was a shocker.