Madness. Hail.

After my mom got married to George a lot of things in my world – for instance, when it was time to watch TV, we usually watched what I wanted to watch.  After we all moved-in together, suddenly his vote counted.  Unfortunately, for me that vote usually didn’t include “The Cosby Show”, “227”, “Growing Pains” OR “Who’s the Boss.”  What it almost ALWAYS included was Westerns, “Unsolved Mysteries” or sports. 

It was when my vote had been over-ruled that I began watching basketball one winter.  Me on the sofa and George in his chair, with my cat (who he hated) curled up at his feet – basketball on the television.  It was 1992 and The Fab Five was all I heard about.  I watched, quietly, not wholly understanding the game or why these five were such a big deal.  I asked questions.  And sometime along the way, decided to join George in cheering for the Michigan Wolverines and this “Fab Five” team…It was here this love for the Maize and Blue began… and what would drive me to Ann Arbor in the fall of 1997 to fall in love all over again.

 Sadly, that love of Michigan basketball took a backseat to my love of Michigan football until recently.  Because of the Fab Five, and the accepting of “gifts” from boosters – the basketball program was in the midst of a tournament ban during my entire time in Ann Arbor.  It seemed like it was taking forever to pull us out of that hole.  How do you hire a good coach or recruit great players when they know they can’t play in the tournament?  You can’t.  For what seems like foooorever.  My love faded.

Back in December, with a fellow Wolverine I cheered on an undefeated Michigan team.  I watched some incredible wins and some devastating losses this season.  This team was incredible – oftentimes inconsistent – completely young – but, whoa… when they were on, it seemed like they couldn’t be stopped.  I think we were all skeptical of their performance in the tournament… but with a tournament stop in Dallas, I jumped at the chance to go to see my Wolverines play.  I watched as Kansas worked us – with two minutes left, it seemed silly to be optimistic for a comeback – they were down by like 10 points and kept sinking 3s.  And then… seconds to spare, Trey Burke threw up what seemed like the craziest shot ever.  It hung for what seemed like an eternity…and swiiiish… OVERTIME.  Just reliving that moment in my head makes me smile.  I later read that with 2-minutes left of the clock, we had a 0.06% of winning that game.  I was part of the 0.06% of people who believed we might pull it off.

Now, I can continue babbling on about basketball – but that’s not really the reason I feel compelled to write.  It was through this time – through the Madness that is March Madness – that I grew more and more proud of this part of my life, this not-so-small part of who I am.  My Facebook feed was each and every one of my classmates, friends and fellow Wolverines showing their pride for our school.  Congratulatory text messages came from Buckeyes, Spartans and Brits.  It was Block M default pictures.  “Go Blue!” and “Hail” status’.  It was pictures of children, cousins, neices, nephews and pets wearing Maize and Blue.  It was links to story after story of what Burke was thinking in that moment.  It was each Wolverine and every person who loves us being incredibly proud of this team, our program and school. 

Something special happened back in the Fall of 1997 when I first walked onto the University of Michigan campus and moved into the dorms – I met some of my best friends (to this day) and became a part of an incredibly tight family of Wolverines.  A family that doesn’t care what your major was, where you lived, when you graduated OR what your name is – but who will see you on the street or in a crowd wearing Maize and Blue and knows that you’re part of the family too…and feel compelled to yell, “GO BLUE!”

So thank you, Fresh Five for this reminder that whether I’m at music festival in Philadelphia, visiting Portland or lost in this sea of Longhorns – that my Michigan family is every where.  Thank you for reminding me that I’m so incredibly proud and honored to be a Wolverine.  Then.  Now.  Always.  Hail.