I want to comment on the on-going debate about Michigan fans.  I hope
that though some of you will disagree with what I say, I don't get
flamed.  I was born and raised in Michigan in a small town fourty five
minutes from East Lansing, and every since I was in grade school I
wanted to go to Michigan State.  I had family that went to Michigan
State, and many of my favorite teachers went to Michigan State.
Eventually I ended up there, and I love it here.  It goes without saying
that there is quite rivalry between Michigan State and Michigan,
regardless the sport.  Only Michigan and Michigan State fans that are
around this rivalry can truely understand.
 
As with any school rivalry, the fans are an influence.  In the past four
years, the winner of the Michigan State/ Michigan football game has gone
to the home team, dispite that fact that Michigan has more talent each
and every year.  MSU beat a better Michigan team at Munn Ice Arena, and
squeeked out a victory at the Joe where the fans where about 50/50.
Michigan crushed the Spartans 5-1 at Yost, in front of a huge Michigan
crowd.  This rivalry,  as with most throughout this country, is
something fun to get into.  Married couples that graduated from the
different schools don't share the same bed the night before the big
game.  Neighbors are seperated by opposing flags hanging from their
porches.  People really are getting into it.
 
Unfortually for Michigan, they are a popular school.  People love
winners.   It's that simple.  Everyone has to respect them, they are
good at almost everything.  I know first hand the quality of their
academics, the strength of their sports program, and the national
influence Michigan has.  You can't help but love "Hail to the Victors",
the sharp blue and maize, and their impressive presence on the playing
surface.  This kind of success for this school brings about problems.
As i said, everyone loves a winner.  So much so that the true Michigan
fan is kinda left out of the picture.  Just because you wear a hat with
the blue Nike (tm) swoosh doesn't make you a fan. It takes more than
that.
 
You need to love your school when they are down,
when they lose; because everyone will sometimes lose.  You need to
support your team dispite the odds and shortcomings.  A true Michigan
fan supports the Wolverines, National Champions or not.  There are a lot
out there. But there are other fans of Michigan that are fans only when
they win, only when they play and beat MSU, only when they are ranked
number one.  And it's too bad.  It's too bad for Michigan because I see
people in Yost that have a love for the game of hockey and a love for
their school that is unmatched.  And they are sitting next to a jerk
wearing their colors, blind to the game, yelling at the opposing teams
band, at the older gentlemen proud wearing his school colors.
 
I see a lot of this in Ann Arbor.  I have visited there on many
occasions, to watch a great game, but end up with food thrown on me by a
drunk fan who doesn't even know what conference Michigan is in.  I have
been spit on by a teenage who never stepped foot into a Michigan or
Michigan State classroom,  and probably never will.  All because i was
wearing Green and White.  Because i was singing our fight song.  And
they think they are fans. It is countless the number of Michigan fans
that are embaressed by these guys.  Because everyone loves a winner,
Michigan get stuck with these fans.  And all the truley good fans get
thrown in with the bunch.  Every school has them.  If you talk to
Michigan fans, many will tell some bad experiences they
had on other campuses.  But the guys that make the visit so bad often do
not reflect the truth about the school.  As a Spartan fan, an educated
fan, I know that the drunk yelling "State Sucks" is not Michigan's first
choice.  I hope the Michigan fans understand as well that the same goes
with all schools.
 
You just can't get through to these people that they are making an ass
out of themselves.  Stay home.  We don't want to see you there.
Everyone loves a winner, but fans like that are losers.
 
 
 
 
Derek Gordon
[log in to unmask]
http://pilot.msu.edu/gordonde/hockey.html
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.