Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon wasn't too excited about her attire. After all, it meant her Wolverines lost to Michigan State.
"I love it. This makes my day even happier,'' Ann Arbor City Planner and Michigan State University alum Chris Cheng said after seeing the mayor in green. "I hope she wears it every year at this time.''
Sheldon, a lifelong Ann Arbor resident and University alum, was prompt in her payoff Monday.
The Ann Arbor mayor ordered the Spartan flag flown on the city's four-story flagpole, wore her only green suit and doled out $8 for a white scarf from Meijer to go with it.
"You can't mope,'' said Ms. Sheldon who got her master's degree at Michigan and was elected mayor in 1993. "Life does go on.''
East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows couldn't be happier with the results.
"It warms the cockles of my heart to know that flag is flying over the city of Ann Arbor.
"I love that Ingrid has dressed so finely, so attractively in a green-and-white outfit,'' Meadows told the Lansing State Journal.
Rep. Lauren Hager, R-Port Huron, a Michigan State alumnus, said Michigan State's 34-31 victory makes Michigan's official nickname as the Wolverine State ''a misnomer of significant proportion.''
He gave each state representative a milk cow eraser on Tuesday and encourage them to vote for his resolution, which would change the nickname until Sunday.
Hager also suggests the creation of a special ''Give Michigan a New Nickname Committee,'' co-chaired by Michigan State graduates Gov. John Engler and Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, that could recommend a permanent change after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Hager said the cow is a more appropriate Michigan symbol.
Biologists are uncertain whether wolverines ever were native to Michigan, but Hager said about 300,000 milk cows live on Michigan dairy farms.
''The history of the cow and its continuing prominence in Michigan is well-documented,'' said Hager, who grew up on a dairy farm near Marlette and paid his way through Michigan State by selling cows. ''It's cow power versus the phantom wolverine.''
The Wolverines were impressive, posting wins over Michigan State, Indiana and Illinois.
The Wolverines, playing at an invitational tournament hosted by Northwestern University, capped their strong showing with a convincing 20-4 win over Indiana on Sunday.
On Saturday, Michigan held off Michigan State, 13-10, in the event's first game. The Wolverines lost their next game to a Chicago-area team made up of former collegiate stars before posting a 14-5 victory over Illinois in their final game of the day.
Senior co-captain Eric Lancaster led the team with 14 weekend goals.
Junior Brett Grill added eight goals. The Wolverines are 16-1 overall and 12-0 in the Big Ten.
By Andy Latack
10-13-99
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