ATTENTION ALL MICHIGAN WOLVERINE FANS... This coming Saturday, is the annual MSU v. UM football game. The Facebook chatter is likely to get heated, and, perhaps, a bit ugly. Many of my FB friends already know where I stand and why. I have explained my position numerous times, however, it is usually in the context of a comment string, and not as a status post of my own. Here goes (please read to the end): I am a firm believer that everyone has a right to be a fan of whatever team he/she want to support. Cheer for your chosen team until you are blue in the face (pun intended). By all means, support your team in any positive way you can. After all, being a fan, should be a positive experience. Unfortunately, too many U of M fans (usually those with no connection to the university) believe that being a fan begins with disrespectful, unsportsmanlike trash talking of the other teams. As I said above, cheer for your team all you want. Unfortunately, trash talking has become a part of the sports experience. If you want to talk trash, however, you gotta have skin in the game (i.e., you attended the school for which you claim to be a fan). Purchasing a U of M shirt from Walmart does not give you license to trash talk someone else’s university. Being a “lifelong U of M fan just like your Dad” likewise does not give you skin in the game; it just means you come from a long line of Walmart Wolverines. To a Walmart Wolverine it is all about a game. Since Walmart Wolverines have no real connection to a university, this presents an asymmetrical relationship. Similar to fighting with a pig...you both get dirty, but the pig enjoys it. For the Walmart Wolverine, there is no down side, nothing to lose...no skin in the game. It has been my experience that the vast majority of U of M graduates are respectful, sportsmanlike fans. It is unfortunate, however, that the stereotype of the U of M fan has been hijacked by Walmart Wolverines. It is now the Walmart Wolverines that define the U of M fan, and these people do not know the first thing about sportsmanship. The Walmart Wolverines are the first ones to store their Wolverine gear in the back of the closet when U of M falls on hard times (e.g., the RichRod years). The Walmart Wolverines are the first ones to jump back on the band wagon when U of M gets things rolling again. Walmart Wolverines are also the most sensitive to being accurately labeled “Walmart Wolverines.” I actually had a Facebook “friend” unfriend me, because he had no response when I called him out on being unsportsmanlike in his trash talking of the Spartans. This “friend” actually played football at an FBS university, but refused to acknowledge that affiliation. Instead, he was a Walmart Wolverine! I laugh every time I think about it! The really sad thing about Walmart Wolverines is that they are raising another whole generation of Walmart Wolverines. These children of WWs will never learn what good sportsmanship is all about. They will grow up thinking it is ok to ridicule someone just because that person supports a different sports team. They will never learn to shut their mouth, and let their actions on the field (and within the rules of the game), speak for them. They will never shake an opponent’s hand after a game, win or lose, look him/her in the eye, and sincerely mean it when they say “nice game.” They will miss out on so many of the positive life lessons that sports has to offer. The further degradation of sportsmanship and common courtesy is the unavoidable result. I’m not saying that WWs are responsible for destroying the moral fabric of society; it is probably more a symptom than the cause. I am proud to be a MSU graduate. My support for the Spartans has never wavered. I proudly wear the colors regardless of the current status of the football or basketball teams. My connection to Michigan State University goes beyond rooting for one of the Spartans teams. When you trash talks the Spartans, you are trash talking my university. As I say above, trash talk has become a part of sports. If you are going to trash talk my university, however, you better be doing it on behalf of your university. If not, you are just an a$$h@!e. Living in southeastern Michigan, I understand there will always be a large number of Walmart Wolverines. I also understand that Walmart Wolverines want to cloak themselves in the rich traditions of U of M, in an attempt to make themselves feel more important than they really are. It is infuriating to me, however, that they disrespect my team and my university in the process. Such disrespect is unnecessary, and reveals the classless, lack of character they can never change. As the saying goes, “You can put perfume on a pig, but it is still a pig.” (Yes, I recognize the multiple pig analogies. If it walks like a pig, oinks like a pig...whatever). I have many friends who are U of M grads, as well as respectful, sportsmanlike non-U of M grads. They know who they are, and they know I support them. I will never bother anyone who is cheering for their chosen team. However, I will always call out every disrespectful, unsportsmanlike Walmart Wolverine. If my position offends you, please “unfriend” me now. I do not need you, and it is better for both of us. Feel free to share this status. Maybe there is a Walmart Wolverine out there who will read this message, and improve his/her sportsmanship. If we can help even one Walmart Wolverine, the world will be a better place!
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 16:35:17 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015