Some thoughts about the game for someone born in this century
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!
November 27th, 2019 at 5:53 AM ^
It is kind of odd that you would have been eating Turkey and mash the week before Thanksgiving in 2006, but I otherwise appreciate the sentiment.
November 27th, 2019 at 6:10 AM ^
Maybe he meant he was drinking Wild Turkey and also some cheap sour mash whiskey.
November 27th, 2019 at 6:51 AM ^
Ah, ok, makes total sense now. He just got an early start on the important stuff.
November 27th, 2019 at 8:41 AM ^
I had the same thought when I read that. Up until the last few years The Game was the week before Thanksgiving.
November 27th, 2019 at 6:39 AM ^
I believe Saturday will feel just like it did in the late 90's. We were underdogs because OSU was loaded every year and when UM won it was crickets here in Ohio. I can't wait for the silence. Go Blue!
November 27th, 2019 at 7:35 AM ^
I was there (as an alum) in 1969 so know from experience that we can win again Saturday.
November 27th, 2019 at 7:45 AM ^
I was there in 2011 when we won and went on the field and I remember everyone (students) thinking that this was the beginning of a shift in the rivalry, and we were all wrong.
I think we needed to take care of business in our own backyard before turning to OSU. We really needed to break MSU. This year we finally did. That gives me optimism for Saturday. MSU is no longer the threat it was during the middle of the decade and I think the team knows that. I think they are going to come out fired up and ready to try to do the same thing to OSU.
November 27th, 2019 at 8:10 AM ^
As someone born in ‘97, I agree. That ‘06 game is my fondest memory. The RR and Hoke years are basically when I started to fully ‘know’ UM football. (I was a little still too young during the Carr years plus I didn’t have much a fondness for football then.)
Before Harbaugh arrived, my only seasons that interested me were the ‘06 and ‘11 season’s.
November 27th, 2019 at 8:13 AM ^
I grew up with the Rich Rod and Home years.
God bless you for being a UM fan.
November 27th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
Born in Michigan, grew up and still live just south of Columbus. I am 34, and basically from my birth year until I was 18, Michigan won 13/18. Such a great time to grow up being a Michigan fan! Now, it seems that NOBODY in Ohio remembers anything prior to 2000. Its like it doesn't exist. People my age and younger either don't even realize that Michigan ever had the upper hand OR choose to dismiss it. In their mind Ohio State has owned Michigan forever.
Just this morning I wake up, open up social media and one of my OSU FB friends posted this:
"All we used to hear was "back in the day," or "when i was a kid.... LIES. Don't believe them.
FACT. Since 1928, Ohio State has had an advantage of 47-37-4."
First of all, its funny how they can conveniently decide what year the rivalry matters. Second- up until 2007 Michigan STILL had the advantage even if you use the starting point of 1928, so the people he is referring to that were saying "back in the day and when i was a kid" were correct!!!
This is the sort of thing that annoys me about Buckeye fans.
November 27th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
I grew up very happy; family wise, friends wise and sports wise.
Between the ages of 5 - 21, we lost to Ohio State just 3 times. THAT was how spoiled I was. Our latest win over the Bucks was mentioned at almost every Thanksgiving feast growing up.
Buckeye quarterbacks in the 80s and 90s were our greatest friends, almost always throwing to Michigan receivers instead of their own. OSU players, despite constantly talking trash that they couldn't back up, looked devastated, destroyed, depressed on the sidelines every year. It was beautiful.
One summer while at Cedar Point, I saw a redneck looking OSU fan wearing a t-shirt with the final score of one of our rare losses on it. I laughed to myself thinking how pathetic that was because if the MDen had sold shirts for every time WE beat OSU, my closet wouldn't be big enough to hold them all.
And their fans? Same dickheads they are now, only back then they had nothing to show for it. Once we had won, they were silent for a few days. Then would immediately start talking trash for the NEXT year's game until reality would smack them in the faces again. It...was...glorious.
I wish I could give THAT to the younger fans instead of memories of a close loss. You deserve so much better.
November 27th, 2019 at 11:04 AM ^
Growing up I started following Michigan as a kid because of Hoops. I kept with them because of the spectacle of rivalry, the history, and the players were polarizing. Some things as a kid just stick with you, and now as a 36 year old guy that has never lived in Michigan with a bunch of kids that are Michigan fans I can appreciate the fact I've rode with this team for so long. It has to be some of that magic someone else referenced. Perhaps my blind fandom has helped build character in me through the tough years. To this day I never really cheered for anyone because they won all of their games, or because they ruled the world. I can say my fandom has been more agony than elation.
Hopefully this Saturday Michigan can turn the tides, but if they don't it won't change anything for me. I will just move right into hoops season, watch the games, and root for Michigan all the same.
November 27th, 2019 at 11:10 AM ^
What’s sad is I didn’t become a huge fan of Michigan football until 2007, at 11 years old. I always semi watched and rooted for them but I really only liked hockey when I was younger. Went to a ton of games at yost. But I feel the same way. To me they are lions-lite. They have always seemed to find new ways to lose or struggle. Again this is from someone who hasn’t watched them closely for as long as most people on the blog have. My first time being angry at a game was the 2006 OSU game. That was when my fandom started ironically. I’ll always root for them tho. My interest in them may dip to different levels. I was at a low this year up until that second half of penn state. I was proud of the way those guys fought back. I had never been a bigger Michigan then after that loss. They didn’t quit, they didn’t lay down. Nothing would make Saturday better than a win for maize and blue.
November 27th, 2019 at 1:40 PM ^
One of the first games I remember losing to OSU was the year I think they had Rex Kern as QB and Jim Otis was their primary running back. That was a LONG time ago! Late 60’s??? I remember being heartbroken as a kid watching those two shred our D in one of those years.
November 27th, 2019 at 11:06 PM ^
Having seen a Michigan football National Championship, 2 Heisman's, 3 Rose Bowl wins, a bunch of other New Years Day Bowl wins, countless Big Ten championships, and numerous wins over Ohio State . . . I have a lot of respect for Michigan football fans that started this century.
It has given you nothing back. I'm surprised you are still fans.
You get a fan endurance award just for coming back each year.
You deserve a win over Ohio State on Saturday.