I appeared before a Judge today who is UM alumnus. Typically cordial - dude is not from Michigan, much less SE Michigan, so there is none of the walmarty posturing or anything.
However, in trying to continue the cordiality (which is obviously in my professional best interest) I made a major miscalculation. I forgot that, despite being somewhat better grounded than the localized, Michigan-based nutjobs, the out-of-state alumni still share the fan expectations that are a tick off from reality, at minimum.
I cheerfully asked if he had his Outback Bowl tickets. He pursed his lips, looked down at his desk, and then took a sideways look at me and muttered "Outback Bowl" with a measure of disgust. Then he said with the same glum disdain, "I'm not going to the Outback Bowl." The guy seemed to take my question as an effort by me to twist the knife. Oops.
Then my opponent (not making this up) said, "What's the Outback Bowl?"
Wolvie Judge says, "Its a crappy bowl you go to when you lose to Michigan state at home." My opponent immediately got a wide-eyed, teeth-gritted, "yikes" look on his face signifying his (late) recognition that he had hit a nerve.
This is a guy who booked a big reunion trip to fly into Michigan and meet up with college buddies and go to the MSU @ Michigan game, so he was sitting in the sh_thouse in the rain when his beloved UM lost to MSU.
His expectations for the season were clearly beyond 8-4 and the Outback Bowl, which I completely forgot to take into account.
Of course, to me that is ridiculous. Based on all of the turnover to the NFL and graduation, the youth at the offensive line (and elsewhere), coupled with the injuries to two quarterbacks, 8-4 is what you get in the real world. But UM fans, even the more reasonable ones, do not live in the real world.
They're always better than the Outback Bowl.
However, in trying to continue the cordiality (which is obviously in my professional best interest) I made a major miscalculation. I forgot that, despite being somewhat better grounded than the localized, Michigan-based nutjobs, the out-of-state alumni still share the fan expectations that are a tick off from reality, at minimum.
I cheerfully asked if he had his Outback Bowl tickets. He pursed his lips, looked down at his desk, and then took a sideways look at me and muttered "Outback Bowl" with a measure of disgust. Then he said with the same glum disdain, "I'm not going to the Outback Bowl." The guy seemed to take my question as an effort by me to twist the knife. Oops.
Then my opponent (not making this up) said, "What's the Outback Bowl?"
Wolvie Judge says, "Its a crappy bowl you go to when you lose to Michigan state at home." My opponent immediately got a wide-eyed, teeth-gritted, "yikes" look on his face signifying his (late) recognition that he had hit a nerve.
This is a guy who booked a big reunion trip to fly into Michigan and meet up with college buddies and go to the MSU @ Michigan game, so he was sitting in the sh_thouse in the rain when his beloved UM lost to MSU.
His expectations for the season were clearly beyond 8-4 and the Outback Bowl, which I completely forgot to take into account.
Of course, to me that is ridiculous. Based on all of the turnover to the NFL and graduation, the youth at the offensive line (and elsewhere), coupled with the injuries to two quarterbacks, 8-4 is what you get in the real world. But UM fans, even the more reasonable ones, do not live in the real world.
They're always better than the Outback Bowl.
