Ann Arbor, Michigan, Oct. 5 — It’s a cloudy, dreary day in the Midwest, raining early but then warm enough to keep the coat off. In other words, it’s midseason Big Ten football weather. After some early roadgeeking, I was on my way to see the winningest football team of all time on its Homecoming. Michigan and Minnesota were playing for the 100th time with the Little Brown Jug on the line.
The Jug is one of the few things in college football that was around before Iowa State won its last conference championship. The Michigan football program has the most all-time wins in NCAA Division I-A. Michigan Stadium is one of the Cathedrals of Sport that followers of college football have on their bucket lists. I have been to Michigan Stadium once, in 2002, before a renovation that expanded the press boxes and luxury suites and before the stadium was closed to the public on a daily basis. I wanted this day, seeing a football game in the stadium, to be special.
After studying the parking options online, I figured my best bet was to park in the northeast corner of Ann Arbor and take a shuttle bus. Although I was literally on the second bus to leave, I got to the stadium only 45 minutes before game time. It’s on the bus that I heard a Minnesota fan remark that coach Jerry Kill suffered a seizure and will not be at the game.
The gate area and concourse were filled with people. I came in at the entrance beside the Crisler Center and checked out the pillars listing every Michigan championship in every sport. There are many pillars, and many engraved years. Nearly every spectator was decked out in maize or blue.
And no one is wearing a sundress.
Like Minnesota, Michigan has also emblazoned the name of every county in stone around the stadium, only here it’s on the inside of the supports for outer stadium seats instead of the outside. Unlike Minnesota, though, Michigan isn’t the only big fish in the state, and while the county thing is a neat idea there’s also the undercurrent of “representing everyone in the state” that might rub Michigan State fans the wrong way. Iowa’s the Hawkeye State, sure, but at least every state highway sign here doesn’t have a Tigerhawk on it.
The really interesting part of Michigan Stadium’s architecture is the preservation of the original stadium within. The brickwork that used to mark the exterior now serves as the gateway to the seats about two-thirds of the way up. My seat was just a couple rows down from that demarcation. There are plenty of concessions, both attached to the stadium and surrounding it. The exact same style cup that cost me $5 at Kentucky cost $7 here, but with a lid.
When the band came out to play, and then the “M Club” unfurled the banner I’ve seen many times on TV and at the College Football Hall of Fame, and the team runs out, I admit: I got a few goosebumps.
Minnesota, coming off a loss to Iowa, did not have a good game. (In fact, it would be one of the team’s worst performances of the season, despite ending with a better record than the Wolverines!) On one of the Gophers’ few good plays, a great touchdown catch in the end zone, I got a couple dirty looks for cheering a little too loudly. I hastily explained I was here as a neutral observer, merely excited to see good football. Other than that — and that incident isn’t a complaint at all — I enjoyed being in the crowd.
During a late timeout, when the game was well in Michigan’s control, the band played the theme to “Rocky and Bullwinkle” while the cheerleaders ran around with megaphones on their heads like dunce caps. It is a rivalry, after all, even if a lopsided one. Michigan 42, Minnesota 13.
When Bo Schembechler said “Those who stay will be champions,” he should’ve directed the comment to the fans. The student section, slow to fill (it didn’t), was quick to empty. Fans began leaving midway through the fourth quarter and especially after a late Michigan touchdown that wasn’t even the last score of the game. It’s hard to express how frustrated this made me. This was the most expensive football ticket I’ve ever purchased, and I was not voluntarily going to miss a single second. Plus, as someone who has endured his share of homecoming losses, I know a good trouncing on a nice day is something to be treasured. And you’re Michigan Men and Women, fergodsakes!
The worst part of the day was getting back to the car. It was an hour wait for my shuttle bus (as at least six to a different lot passed by), and then a long crawl through Ann Arbor traffic that I couldn’t see because I was standing up and the sun had set. The time it took to get from Michigan Stadium to the parking lot was more than the time it took to get back to Toledo. It gave me a little view into the mindset of Michigan fans. If I had to routinely go through this after every home game, then yes, I might be demanding double-digit win totals every year too.