The Michigan experience is one not to be missed

By Chris Farah
Daily Sports Editor

Nov. 25, 1995.

The brilliant light of the digital score stood in stark contrast to the black background of the scoreboard that day.

The numbers were mesmerizing to each and every one of the 106,288 fans still standing in the Michigan Stadium, in a near-silent reverie after the game's conclusion.

31-23.

No. 18 Michigan had just beaten highly favored No. 2 Ohio State, knocking the Buckeyes out of the Rose Bowl and out of contention for a national championship.

Obviously, there had been big Michigan-Ohio State games before. The rivalry is one that stands out not only in each school's history, but in the storied tradition of American college football as well.

But this game was special.

Somehow, everyone in the stands that day knew it.

Every single Ohio State fan had entered the stadium confident, brash, with the name of soon-to-be Heisman winner Eddie George dangling eagerly from their lips. Michigan fans, on the other hand, were a bit antsy and nervous, and seemed almost defensive.

Not one of them really expected Michigan to win.

But at the end, after it was over, all of them - Buckeye and Wolverine alike - simply stood there, mouths gaping, eyes staring.

Winner or loser, elated or depressed, everyone know they had just witnessed something epic, something historic. Something that would never be forgotten.

And, as fans, as eyewitnesses, they were a part of that storied battle, a part of that singular day.

So, for five minutes, 10 minutes - the amount of time doesn't really matter - they stood there, savoring it, loving it. Breathing it.

I also stood there, in the stands, a part of that day.

That day, nearly two years ago, will always symbolize what it means to be a Michigan fan, to be part of Michigan sports and mythology.

Oh, there will be other days, of course, and there have been other days in the past - for other students, for other fans, in other sports besides football.

But the opportunity to have one of those days - to own one of those days as a part of the living, growing Michigan sports tradition - belongs to each new Michigan student. It is promised to each new Michigan student.

And, as new participants in the Michigan tradition - as new fans or athletes - that is what you have to expect from your next few years.

True, there will be less-than-memorable times as well - or memorable for the wrong reasons. (The men's basketball program seems to be doing its best to ensure that.)

And there will be times when Michigan doesn't beat Ohio State. When the Wolverines don't have the perfect season or the perfect game in any given sport. It's inevitable.

But despite the disappointments that are bound to occur in any college athletic program, one thing holds true.

When you graduate from this place, you will have one of the great days - one of the days when everything does go right, when Michigan does win the impossible game or a national championship - that you too can claim as your own.

A day, a moment, a part of Michigan history will be yours forever - a memory that can never be taken away.

And you, too, will have a chance to relive that experience, to tell that story - your story and Michigan's story - to all those future students who will have their own opportunity, their own day, after you.

And those who won't have their day - who aren't going to a school with a sports history like Michigan's - but wish they could.

Summer Orientation 1997