By “Richie Tenenbaum”
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
November 25, 2015
January 21, 2008. That was the day the general public received confirmation that Tom Cruise was crazy. Sure, his antics with Oprah and her couch a few years earlier, as well as his contentious interview with Matt Lauer, had put people on notice that something probably wasn’t right with him. But we didn’t know for sure until January 21st, when a 9-minute video of Cruise talking about Scientology leaked onto the internet.
Seeing Cruise talk intensely and, at times, manically about Scientology forced people to view him in the harsh light of reality. And the only rational conclusion one could draw after watching the video is that Tom Cruise’s beliefs are not the beliefs of a normal, sane man. He was just TOO out there and hard to relate to. With the release of that video, Tom Cruise stopped being someone the public admired and respected and, instead, became an international laughingstock – a guy who you wouldn’t want to get stuck sitting next to at a dinner party.
November 24, 2015 very well may be the day that Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan’s hardcore fan base begin a similar transformation in the eyes of the public.
Because on the night of the 24th, Jim Harbaugh joined a group of 200 Michigan alumni and fans at Forest Hill Cemetery to tour the graves of Fielding Yost, Bo Schembechler and Bob Ufer. During their visit, they sang The Victors at Yost’s grave and Harbaugh decided that Bo’s gravesite was the perfect location to take a hammer to a buckeye.
Unbelievably, these antics were met with adoration from both the mainstream media and fans on social media.
Alejandro Zunia (former writer at the Michigan Daily) tweeted this:
Let it sink in: During the week of The Game, Jim Harbaugh spent his Tuesday night walking through a cemetery to honor Bo, Ufer & Yost. Wow.
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) November 25, 2015
Brian Cook of MGoBlog was falling over himself praising Harbaugh for being a part of it because it proved he “gets” Michigan and that he is “of” Michigan.
Please excuse me for a few minutes while I go barf.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of nostalgia. My two favorite channels on SiriusXM are Lithium and Backspin. If VH1 is running a marathon of “I Love the 80’s,” I’m there. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with celebrating past accomplishments. But the obsession Michigan fans have with their past is at an entirely different level. It’s just not normal.
(This Week’s DSR Podcast)
I get the love for Bo, since many fans had a personal connection with him or, at the least, have fond memories of him. But Fielding Yost died in 1946. Anyone who could possibly remember watching him coach is pushing 100 years old. Yet Michigan fans still pop a collective boner whenever anyone mentions his name.
And I would love to ask these people who make the annual pilgrimage to honor the fallen heroes of Michigan football how often they visit the gravesites of their own grandparents or relatives – you know, people they actually KNEW. I’m sure their answers would not shock me.
To be fair, if you take away the prism of sports, there are many aspects of fandom that look ridiculous – wearing a shirt with another man’s name on it, letting a bad loss ruin your week, following a 16-year-old boy on Twitter in hopes that he commits to your favorite school, etc. But this particular strain of fandom is unique to Michigan.
The Michigan fans who participate in this cemetery walk are mental. They have become so consumed with the “culture of Michigan” and the idea that it makes the school, the football team, and, ultimately, THEMSELVES, special and unique that they’ve lost touch with reality. And make no mistake: all of this pomp and circumstance to “honor the past” is really all about THEM. So they can use it to prove that they are better and more special than other fan bases and even other UM fans.
Slightly disappointed that word did get out because it’s maybe 10% less cool, but I mean… he gets the place. He is of the place.
— mgoblog (@mgoblog) November 25, 2015
This bothers me because, as a Michigan alum, I WANT to root for the Wolverines and to have fun being completely invested in the team. But I can’t because I refuse to be lumped in with such an embarrassing, infuriating and delusional group of fans. In fact, it’s come to the point that I now get more enjoyment out of seeing these fans being miserable than I do seeing Michigan’s teams do well. And I don’t see that changing until the majority of Michigan fans see things like the cemetery walk for what they truly are: desperate and pathetic cries for attention.
(The author goes by the nom de plume of “Richie Tenenbaum” because his vocation doesn’t make it possible for him to post articles on the DSR under his Christian name. Way to go, Baumer!!!!!)