The Game is the most important day of the year for Michigan fans. You can call it our Super Bowl if you want. Unless we are playing for the national championship, the game will always matter more than anything else.
I can remember when beating OSU during the Cooper years seemed like near certainty. Sadly I was too young an naive to truly appreciate the dominance that was so special. Cooper was 2-10-1 against the Wolverines and had OSU national title hopes dashed in consecutive years in 1995 and 1996. He was fired primarily for not being able to beat Michigan.
Michigan hasn't beaten Ohio State since 2003. I wasn't even able to watch that game live because I was playing in our school's first playoff game in a long time. I remember being certain that Michigan would win the game because they couldn't possibly lose to the Buckeyes three years in a row. My gut feelings were pretty accurate back then too.
It has been 7 years since Michigan sniffed victory against the Buckeyes. 6 straight defeats. I don't even have many gut feelings anymore because this is a different Michigan program, one that I support and believe in, but not yet one I can figure out. Sometimes Michigan has lost because of talent deficiencies (2008, 2009), sometimes your two best players are so banged up you have no chance (2007). Other times your coach decides give your opponent a chance to win (2005) and they take advantage. Sometimes your Rose Bowl bound but lose to a 7-4 team who isn't playing a new years game until they beat you (2004). Sometimes you can't win when finally the game after the Game will matter even more (2006).
Life as a Michigan fan has been humbling over the last three years. It's not supposed to be like this. But I can tell you that I am learning an awful lot. I'm learning to appreciate things more like the Game. I have held out hope that we can beat the Buckeyes for the last few meetings even when things were bleak. I hype myself up and immerse myself in stories of the past and present during what is called Hate Week. There is no productive work that gets done and everything else that is in my mind is background noise during this week.
This year's game brings new opportunity and a chance to make the season a success. It's a chance to shed the negativity surrounding the program and a chance to feel something I have no real grasp of yet. I never experienced OSU dominating the rivalry like this. I imagine that a win on Saturday will be akin to our 1997 National Championship. It will mean that much, so I'll continue to hold out hope as we open up as 19.5 point underdogs heading into Columbus.
My brother and I will be venturing in Ohio Stadium on Saturday expecting the worst treatment that we have ever received at a sporting event. The fact that were each sitting alone makes things even worse. Defeat may seem like an inevitability to some and the chance of psychical abuse is high. We'll go anyways. I will risk putting myself through absolute torture for the chance to see one of the greatest victory's in Michigan history. I want that feeling where your so happy you cry. I want to stand in Ohio Stadium and soak in the moment. I want my memory. Go Blue!
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