Someone on Wikipedia made Illinois our football rival
Here is a screenshot from the bottom of the Michigan Wolverines football Wikipedia page:
Note the first rival listed.
The series has its own wikipedia page.
Not even Rutgers did this during the Chris Ash era.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:40 AM ^
Illinois does have a rivalry with Michigan, it’s actually their biggest. They’ve just been bad for so long that it kinda fizzled out, kinda like what M-OSU would be if M lost the next 10 in a row.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:49 AM ^
When would you say this rivalry fizzled out, before WWII? Maybe just after. Well before the Internet and Wikipedia.
If it weren't for the fact that we have a trophy with Minnesota, I'd have the same complaint.
Being in the same division as Ohio State will continue to keep our fizzling rivalry on life support. Also, they have no one else to pay attention to. But even if that series totally went the way of Michigan-Illinois, at least the Wikipedia page would have been created at a time when there was a rivalry.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:08 AM ^
All-time series: Michigan leads, 70–23–2
In the last 50 games played between us, Illinois has won 6 and we've tied twice.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:17 AM ^
They miss Red Grange in the backfield.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:04 PM ^
C'mon, how many times do you have to be told "don't believe everything you read"?
Wikipedia has millions of inaccuracies posted by devious humans.
For instance, they have had Keith Jackson listed as deceased for months.....
October 10th, 2019 at 8:57 AM ^
kinda like what M-OSU would be if M lost the next 10 in a row.
I think you spelled when wrong.
*weeps*
October 10th, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
Real talk, Michigan has to have the most rivalries out of every team in the nation right?
if we include Illinois (LOL) that’s 5!!!
Notre Dame has USC, MSU, UM, Stanford...
October 10th, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
Does ND still count Purdue?
October 10th, 2019 at 11:57 AM ^
There is a wikipedia page for it so...maybe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame%E2%80%93Purdue_football_rivalry
October 10th, 2019 at 12:00 PM ^
ND also has Navy. I suspect things will change for them as they are forced further into their participation in the ACC.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:38 PM ^
Does ND really count MSU as a rival? Serious question, I'm out here in NY and the ND people I talk to never mention MSU. But they aren't die-hard fans, so I don't know.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:35 PM ^
There are a lot of ND fans in West Michigan (sadly), and I think for them the MSU-ND rivalry is a big deal. I was really surprised that ND gave it up, actually, because even though the ND-UM rivalry has always had more bad blood and generally involved better teams, ND playing MSU was a crucial aspect of their getting into big-time college football and, tragically, into the Big Ten.
October 10th, 2019 at 3:23 PM ^
Growing up in Grand Rapids (Wyoming), our neighborhood on any given Saturday was a mix of MSU, UM, and ND flags flying out in front of everybody's porches. It was friendly all around, but you would have thought ND was a local school. I guess it's about the same distance from GR to South Bend as it is to Ann Arbor.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
Notre Dame also has Boston College.
October 10th, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
Notre Dame also has Navy.
October 10th, 2019 at 5:10 PM ^
Good point.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:40 AM ^
Good job OP.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:50 AM ^
I wonder if osu is starting to view UM as we view Illinois.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:21 AM ^
They're not
October 10th, 2019 at 8:25 AM ^
Reading this comment literally made my heart hurt.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:35 AM ^
No, because OSU would care if we beat them. If Illinois beats us, I would just think, "Wow, we're bad. But good for those little cuties. Look at them thinking they won a football game that mattered!"
October 10th, 2019 at 7:52 AM ^
Someone on Wikipedia made this post a rival, too.
I don't mean to be rude, OP. Ok, you got me. I meant to be super crass. But still, there is a point: anybody can put anything on Wikipedia. It is--...never? I think never!--never thread-worthy.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:58 AM ^
can't wait to see the 'rivalry' page between rgard [insert monkey picture here] and mean joe [koala goes here]. i bet that would be a dandy.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:31 AM ^
Rgard in a landslide, but not without catching the clap
October 10th, 2019 at 9:27 AM ^
i lean toward the chimp, too, but i'm afraid to discount the special craziness that is mean joe. and he is 'mean', after all.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
Craziness can only take a lower form of mammal so far. Thanks for the lean!
October 10th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Your confidence in simian superiority over pouch dwelling, short-tailed rats with very small brain cavities is well founded. Thank you.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:17 PM ^
His confidence in bald, shit throwing, little retarded barbarians is concerning.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
I'm liking that appellation.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:11 PM ^
I'd love to see RGard die in landslide too.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:39 AM ^
I did successfully edit the wiki page for the the place my dad worked for 35 years, so maybe I can build the page. Just have to figure out how to prevent the page from getting an STD.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
Don't let the page get near your mom.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:06 AM ^
Jon, I went back to the wiki page to look for your addition and do not see it there. I am disappoint.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:33 AM ^
I did it in an editing sandbox instead of publishing it because I don't want my IP address banned for vandalism. But you can do it yourself if you want. Just click the E in the top left of the box (where it says VTE) and you can make it say whatever you want. Anyone can do this. That's what a wiki is.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:47 AM ^
Right, but you didn’t save it because you actually care about what you put on Wikipedia.
Most of what gets posted here (including UVs on the main page) is from the Internet. Wikipedia is vetted as well as anything at this point.
Anyhow, most people here are yelling at me because “duh, we have a rivalry with Illinois, everyone knows that” which is kind of the opposite of your point. You should join me in pointing out how absurd this Wikipedia entry is.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
Caring about what someone put on Wikipedia is absurd. This post is stupid. So was this one. So was this one. So was this one.
If you want the focus of the post to be about Illinois fans believing that we have a rivalry, instead of the fact that somebody said so on Wikipedia, then I'd just join the chorus of old-news boo-birds. But yes, they do think that. And yes, it is pathetic.
October 10th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
The three things you linked are about hacking Wikipedia. That's not what I posted. I posted a legitimate entry.
The fact that it is a legitimate entry is what surprises me. Given our fanbase's complete lack of recognition of any rivalry with Illinois, I didn't think it even existed.
It does not surprise others, apparently. So I would say I have joined "the chorus of old-news boo-birds" as you have suggested I do rather than violate some "don't post Wikipedia hacking" rule.
Furthermore, I don't see what's wrong with posting about Wikipedia hacks for a chuckle. I didn't think it was a banned topic from the board. But it's not your cup of tea.
October 10th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
Posting about Wikipedia "hacks" is analogous to posting about a joke you heard. It had better be a really good joke.
Likewise, the existence of the Illinois-Michigan "rivalry" article is not surprising. There are wikipedia articles about damn near everything.
October 10th, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
Just wait until next week when I start a thread in which I state:
"Given the existence of so many Wikipedia entries, is it not very surprising that no Michigan-Penn State Football Series article exists on Wikipedia?"
October 10th, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
That is extremely surprising to me, but I (perhaps unusually) tend to think that PSU is our third best rival after OSU and Notre Dame.
Everybody here seems to care a lot about beating MSU. But beating MSU is the natural order. It is what is supposed to happen.
Beating PSU is an accomplishment. I still remember my dad's overflowing joy when we beat PSU in 2000. Nobody had ever beaten JoePa 4 times in a row before.* He informed hundreds of people of this fact in a gleeful shout, his voice cracking, as he delivered high fives left and right to passing fans, as the crowd flowed around him towards the gates after the game.
*It could be that this happened in 2002, and that it was 6 times in a row. But I think it was 2000, and 4 times in a row.
October 10th, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
I think people agree that PSU is more of a peer program than MSU. But for those of us living in Michigan, MSU inevitably becomes a big game, if only so we can just avoid a loss. (Winning is more relief than anything.)
October 10th, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
It's probably worth noting that the article calls Michigan-Illinois a "series" while all other articles say "rivalry."
October 10th, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
I think the real point to be made is that it takes a special kind of someone to be an Illinois football fan, so let's be nice.
October 10th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
Yeah, for some reason people struggle to grasp that Wikipedia is by design a collaborative thing. If you don't like what someone added to a Wikipedia article, you can delete it.
October 10th, 2019 at 7:54 AM ^
My first road game at Illinois was a fascinating experience. People were tailgating everywhere and drinking heavily. It felt very festive and fun, like you'd see in many B1G college towns on a fall Saturday.
Several Illini fans educated my friends and I on the rivalry we "have" with Illinois, of which my alum friends and I were unaware. They were rather confused that we could have missed this rivalry. It felt a bit like entering another dimension in which Illinois was our OSU. As the hour approached for us to make our way to the stadium we were confused again as everyone stayed at the tailgates as we walked past. We asked people "aren't you going to the game?" to which they either replied "no," and kept drinking/went home. A few people said "basketball season tickets are going on sale today, so no."
We filed into their half empty "stadium", watched Michigan pummel Illinois, and went home. It was the most surreal B1G football experience I've had to date.
October 10th, 2019 at 8:38 AM ^
If you were an Illinois football fan, you would also be drinking heavily on game day. You cannot hold that against them. At least we have winning seasons and some occasional hope. They have Lovie Smith.
They. Have. Lovie. Smith.
Feel a little sorry for them...
October 10th, 2019 at 9:27 AM ^
Lovie Smith was an NFL coach for 12 seasons, won the NFC North 3 times, and coached in a super bowl. He left Chicago with an 81-63 record.
The things Tampa Bay does to a man...
October 10th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
I know, right!! I didn't want the Lions to even interview the guy after his stint in Tampa (and honestly, I was surprised Tampa took him!). But I legit thought he could do something decent at Ill. Alas, he cannot... And we all knew last year (at the latest) that it wasn't working. But who can Ill get that would have a punchers chance of being a 'better' coach? I mean, they'd have to try a retread that has fallen on hard times.
(Heh! That's how they got Lovie!)
October 10th, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
If I were a struggling Power 5 program, I would go for Chris Creighton at Eastern. That program suuucked and he's got them punching way above their weight class.
Norvell at Memphis too, but idk who he would leave Memphis for right now. Fickell could be an option, but I doubt he'd give Illinois a look.