See, but that's the problem. When you look for information "with as much realism and humility as possible", but only get your information from extremely biased sources and only discuss that information with extremely partisan parties (who all agree with you), it leads to a perpetual cycle of groupthink and increasing levels of departure from reality. When you shun other perspectives by simply dismissing them as inane ramblings of a "little brother" or a "troglodyte" and ban them because they're trolling (that is, not agreeing with you), you're dismissing valuable information that could actually help you form a more nuanced and objective perception of reality. You don't get all your world news from one news source, right? Why would you do it for football?
I mean, it's fine you don't care about what we say about you. You shouldn't. I don't care much either - I've avoided posting in a large number of "Lil Bro" bashing topics on here for a long time, so it's not like I'm personally offended by it. I didn't come here to troll or to offend you in turn. But when someone mentioned how we only care about Michigan, and a 1-11 season would be great if we beat Michigan...well, considering where we're at right now, it honestly sounds a bit silly. I know not everyone here thinks like that, and I'm always impressed by some of the rational discussion that goes on here regarding the conference, but I can only assume he's trying to soften the blow of the past season by taking comfort in the idea that "they may have success, but they still only think about Michigan!"
Unfortunately, it's simply not true. To me, it sounds a bit like the Spartans who, under JLS, would celebrate when UM stumbled against OSU, as though it was some sort of moral victory. Sure, we hate Michigan, but as evidenced by the general vitriol directed at me on here, the feeling is mutual. We also hate Ohio State and Wisconsin and Notre Dame - there's plenty to go around. Ultimately, that's a good thing, and I'm not fooling myself into thinking I'll be able to change your perspective in a couple paragraphs. I'm just saying, right now, we're focused on far more than beating Michigan. That game is important to us, and always will be important, but I guarantee you more Spartans are thinking about Oregon, about a Big Ten Championship, and about getting to the playoffs than about beating Michigan alone.
That's simply not true. You guys talk about Peppers...rather often. It might be some form of attentional bias on your part, honestly. If you talk about Michigan all the time, you'll likely see corresponding conversations when presented with a large sample size from other fanbases. It also probably explains why I tend to notice the frequency of MSU threads on here, when there are likely less than I perceive.
Again, you're projecting what was probably heard once or twice to apply to the collective opinion of the Michigan State fanbase, but fine. I didn't come here to troll, but if it's impossible to speak reasonably without resorting to name-calling...well, I'll try to avoid it anyway. In response to your platitudes about MSU always being little brother, I'll just have to remain content in our success while you work yourself into a tizzy about it.
You attend Michigan State, openly cheer for Michigan and call Michigan State Little Brother, and complain that they talk about Michigan negatively around you? Is that surprising?
Look, every fanbase has its bad eggs. But trying to judge the mindset of a fanbase based on comments on the Freep is an exercise in futility. My friends who cheer for Michigan in real life are very pleasant people, in general; online, it's impossible to log in without some fluff piece followed by UM fans crowing about returning to glory, Peppers' imminent Heisman, and putting Little Brother in his place. It goes both ways. If you speak logically and reasonably, chances are good you will find like-minded people on both sides of the fence who genuinely want to talk football. If you talk about how Little Brother only cares about Michigan, how Nuss is going to hang a hundred on Sparty, and how Peppers is going to win all the Heismans, you'll attract similar extremists wearing green and white.
I also hang out on Black Heart Gold Pants, Off Tackle Empire, Hammer and Rails, Bucky's 5th Quarter, the Daily Gopher, etc.
Does that make Michigan State Little Brother to Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Big Ten as a whole? We have plenty of Wolverines who comment on TOC quite regularly; does that mean that you're Little Brother?
I've lurked here for awhile, and it seems like you (not you in particular, but "you" in general) spend a lot of time talking about how MSU doesn't matter to you and debating just how much they're still Little Brother. If things were as you say they are, wouldn't it be an unspoken truth? I mean, it's not like you have threads about how inferior Eastern Michigan is compared to UM.
What makes you think that Michigan State "[treats] Michigan like it was the only game on their schedule", and that "a one-win season would be considered a success if Michigan was the one win"? We just won the Rose Bowl, and people are talking about the potential of making the first college football playoff. It seems to me that being arrogant about MSU's perceived inferiority is such an integral part of your identity as a UM fan, you're finding it difficult to adjust your expectations now that we're a legitimate threat. I'm not trying to be provocative, but it does seem remarkably strange that in this particular offseason, you're still convinced that our goal is just to beat UM, that nothing else matters. We went to the Rose Bowl, and didn't have any Michigan-themed signs; you went to the Sugar Bowl, and prominently displayed a sign taunting Michigan State. I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that regarding the mindset of the respective fanbases, but I'm not sure your characterization of our fanbase is entirely accurate.
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See, but that's the problem. When you look for information "with as much realism and humility as possible", but only get your information from extremely biased sources and only discuss that information with extremely partisan parties (who all agree with you), it leads to a perpetual cycle of groupthink and increasing levels of departure from reality. When you shun other perspectives by simply dismissing them as inane ramblings of a "little brother" or a "troglodyte" and ban them because they're trolling (that is, not agreeing with you), you're dismissing valuable information that could actually help you form a more nuanced and objective perception of reality. You don't get all your world news from one news source, right? Why would you do it for football?
I mean, it's fine you don't care about what we say about you. You shouldn't. I don't care much either - I've avoided posting in a large number of "Lil Bro" bashing topics on here for a long time, so it's not like I'm personally offended by it. I didn't come here to troll or to offend you in turn. But when someone mentioned how we only care about Michigan, and a 1-11 season would be great if we beat Michigan...well, considering where we're at right now, it honestly sounds a bit silly. I know not everyone here thinks like that, and I'm always impressed by some of the rational discussion that goes on here regarding the conference, but I can only assume he's trying to soften the blow of the past season by taking comfort in the idea that "they may have success, but they still only think about Michigan!"
Unfortunately, it's simply not true. To me, it sounds a bit like the Spartans who, under JLS, would celebrate when UM stumbled against OSU, as though it was some sort of moral victory. Sure, we hate Michigan, but as evidenced by the general vitriol directed at me on here, the feeling is mutual. We also hate Ohio State and Wisconsin and Notre Dame - there's plenty to go around. Ultimately, that's a good thing, and I'm not fooling myself into thinking I'll be able to change your perspective in a couple paragraphs. I'm just saying, right now, we're focused on far more than beating Michigan. That game is important to us, and always will be important, but I guarantee you more Spartans are thinking about Oregon, about a Big Ten Championship, and about getting to the playoffs than about beating Michigan alone.
You just said "I don't care", then went on a paragraph long rant about why you care.
That's simply not true. You guys talk about Peppers...rather often. It might be some form of attentional bias on your part, honestly. If you talk about Michigan all the time, you'll likely see corresponding conversations when presented with a large sample size from other fanbases. It also probably explains why I tend to notice the frequency of MSU threads on here, when there are likely less than I perceive.
Again, you're projecting what was probably heard once or twice to apply to the collective opinion of the Michigan State fanbase, but fine. I didn't come here to troll, but if it's impossible to speak reasonably without resorting to name-calling...well, I'll try to avoid it anyway. In response to your platitudes about MSU always being little brother, I'll just have to remain content in our success while you work yourself into a tizzy about it.
You attend Michigan State, openly cheer for Michigan and call Michigan State Little Brother, and complain that they talk about Michigan negatively around you? Is that surprising?
Look, every fanbase has its bad eggs. But trying to judge the mindset of a fanbase based on comments on the Freep is an exercise in futility. My friends who cheer for Michigan in real life are very pleasant people, in general; online, it's impossible to log in without some fluff piece followed by UM fans crowing about returning to glory, Peppers' imminent Heisman, and putting Little Brother in his place. It goes both ways. If you speak logically and reasonably, chances are good you will find like-minded people on both sides of the fence who genuinely want to talk football. If you talk about how Little Brother only cares about Michigan, how Nuss is going to hang a hundred on Sparty, and how Peppers is going to win all the Heismans, you'll attract similar extremists wearing green and white.
I also hang out on Black Heart Gold Pants, Off Tackle Empire, Hammer and Rails, Bucky's 5th Quarter, the Daily Gopher, etc.
Does that make Michigan State Little Brother to Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Big Ten as a whole? We have plenty of Wolverines who comment on TOC quite regularly; does that mean that you're Little Brother?
I've lurked here for awhile, and it seems like you (not you in particular, but "you" in general) spend a lot of time talking about how MSU doesn't matter to you and debating just how much they're still Little Brother. If things were as you say they are, wouldn't it be an unspoken truth? I mean, it's not like you have threads about how inferior Eastern Michigan is compared to UM.
What makes you think that Michigan State "[treats] Michigan like it was the only game on their schedule", and that "a one-win season would be considered a success if Michigan was the one win"? We just won the Rose Bowl, and people are talking about the potential of making the first college football playoff. It seems to me that being arrogant about MSU's perceived inferiority is such an integral part of your identity as a UM fan, you're finding it difficult to adjust your expectations now that we're a legitimate threat. I'm not trying to be provocative, but it does seem remarkably strange that in this particular offseason, you're still convinced that our goal is just to beat UM, that nothing else matters. We went to the Rose Bowl, and didn't have any Michigan-themed signs; you went to the Sugar Bowl, and prominently displayed a sign taunting Michigan State. I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that regarding the mindset of the respective fanbases, but I'm not sure your characterization of our fanbase is entirely accurate.