Michigan football fans eagerly await Gator Bowl, return to the postseason
Like so many fans that built rituals around the Michigan football team’s annual bowl game, Lee Level has struggled to fill the hole in his calendar the past two years.
Born on Dec. 30, Level’s wife has given the 69-year-old retired CFO a bowl trip as a birthday gift nearly every year for decades.
“I was a really cheap date the last two years,” said Level, a Detroit-area native who now lives in southern California. “We just stayed here.”
No more. This year, the Wolverines return to the postseason for the first time in three years with an appearance in the Gator Bowl against Mississippi State on Saturday. (1:30 p.m., ESPN2)
Level is one of about 650 fans who booked a three-day trip to Jacksonville through the University of Michigan Alumni Association. Approximately 1,500 fans are signed up for the alumni association’s pre-game tailgate in Jacksonville. For Level, the bowl experience didn’t start right away. Although he graduated from Michigan with multiple degrees in the early 1960s, he was busy studying and working a full-time job.
“We weren’t winning anyway,” he said.
But he always maintained his loyalty. He took his soon-to-be wife to a game on their first date, and his interest in the Wolverines was rekindled when his daughter attended Michigan.
About that time, he came up with the idea of the bowl trip as a regular birthday gift.
“I had everything I needed and wanted and I told my wife, ‘Let’s stop getting ties I don’t like and you can take me wherever Michigan goes for the bowl game,’” he said.
His favorite memory might be his most recent - Michigan’s upset of Florida in the Capital One Bowl that sent Lloyd Carr into retirement on a winning note in 2007.
It wasn’t only the victory that he remembered. He met Carr in the hotel restaurant afterward, and appreciated that Michigan’s former coach stopped to take pictures with children in his group.
“He was very generous,” Level said. “He came to our table and he needed that like a hole in the head, but he talked there with our friends and two sons. Such a memory.”
Like most Michigan fans, he hopes there are new ones right around the corner.
Pete Bigelow covers the Michigan football team for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2551, via e-mail at petebigelow@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @PeterCBigelow.
Comments
azwolverine
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:34 p.m.
Lorain, After Michigan lost to PSU, you got on here and spouted off how they would win their last 4 and go 9-3. UM instead got blown out by Wisconsin and OSU by a combined 50 points. You were WRONG! Kind of par for the course for your RR assertions and predictions of future greatness (because it sure isn't happening now). Once again, for clarity, you were WAY OFF in your final game predictions which RR fell WAY SHORT of achieving. Just sayin'.
townie54
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 10:33 p.m.
You dont have to argue with anyone Ghost. Just wait until around january 4th when theres a news conference saying bye bye RR and everything will become clear to his supporters.Michigan State is in a BCS bowl and the people that donate big bucks to Michigan you can be sure have let Brandon know they are not happy.This chapter is over and if you dont think so your not paying attention
Blu-n-Tpa
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 5:50 p.m.
LS It has taken two years to get the offense where it is now. You have stated that there is still work to be done getting the QBs where they need to be. So how long before the defense and special teams are average? And why are they so bad if RR's such a "great" HC? Since RR's not a defensive COACH and we apparently don't have a special teams COACH, how long do we have to wait for the other two thirds (2/3) of the football to show up? After next year the O-line will need rebuilding and I don't see much of a running game with no offensive line and DRob can't pass lying on back and won't last a year running for his life. And, what about competing with the top half of the BT? Your hope lies in the other teams losing players so UM will have a chance to win. That hasn't been successful to date, do you think? I know you don't argue about the present, it's all about Coach Carr and games gone by. It's not like he promised to go undefeated and win a NC or anything. No, wait. You didn't include 1997. 12-0. Won the Rose Bowl. Share of the National Championship. He was so lucky.
umgoblue47
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 4:52 p.m.
and the winner by a double KO is LS... GO BLUE...
Lorain Steelmen
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 4:41 p.m.
Ghost, you continue to distort and mis-state my comments. I think the problem you REALLY have, is that,I have challenged you directly, on your negative attacks, and distortions regarding the current UM coach, and this program! I'm not sure why you feel the need to do that, but just for kicks, lets take a stroll down 'memory lane', and look at the years 2001-2007, shall we? 2007, losses to Applicatian St, Oregon, osu, and Wisc., 32-34,7-39,7-14, and 21-34. Yet,the team that lost to App. St, beat UF in the bowl! Hmm, did UM underachieve? Yes! Where was LC, during this pitiful year? AWOL! Was there a 'country club'entitlement culture here? You bet! Was that team ready for that season? No way! 2006, losses to osu and SC,39-42 and 18-32. Was this defense a sieve in the last 2 games? Yes. Were there underclassmen playing. No,not like now! Were they ready for osu? Nope! 2005, losses to ND, Wisc, MINN., osu, and Nebraska, 10-17,20-23,20-23,21-25,28-32. Was LC's record any better than RR's record was this year? No. Did LC play the number of sophs and freshmen that RR had to play this year? Nope! Clearly, UM had stopped being a defensive force. 2004, losses to ND, osu, and Texas, 20-28, 21-37, 37-38. Underachieving again? You bet! Where's that vaunted LC defense? 2003,losses to Oregon, Iowa, and USC, 27-31, 27-30, 14-28. This was the year when it started to dawn on people, that LC's philosophy, wasn't keeping up with the rest of the football world. 2003! 2002, losses to ND, Iowa, osu, 23-25, 7-34, 9-14. Even Iowa was making UM look bad! 2001, losses to Washington, msu, osu, and Tenna, 18-23,24-26,20-26,17-45. Tressel shows up and comes to AA with NOTHING, and still beats LC right out of the box! And all JT did was play 'not to lose'! UM draws UT in the bowl, and the Vols embarass UM. OMG, even their TE's are faster than our DB's! Is anybody else noticing this! So there you are, LC loses his last three Rose Bowls, and goes 1-6 vs osu! And yet you still claim that LC did NOT let this program slip! OMG..You want to blame RR for 7 years of that! Your problem, Mr Ghost, is that you are taking your frustrations out on the WRONG guy! RR is NOT the problem, he is the SOLUTION to the problem! He has a 6 year contract to fix the problem. Granted, he is an Offensive coach first..OK, I understand that! But he needed to fix that side first, to confirm his program. Recall he started with Sheridan and Threat at QB. Mallett ran, instead of being a Michigan man, and staying & re-building the program. He was and is, a 'me first' guy. Ditto Boren, who thought he was entitled to a startiig job, without earning it! Do you have any idea, what Bo would have said to these two kids! Trust me, Mr Ghost, it would NOT have been pretty! One final comment. I had a conversation with Jerry Hanlon when RR came to Toledo to meet the Alums. Hanlon, made it clear to us that the fans would need to be patient! I can't begin to tell you how much respect I have for Hanlon and Moeller, who BOTH have gone out of their way support RR! That says everything to me. Kovachs' HS coach, @Oregon Clay, has told me several times how much these players, love and respect not only RR, but the other coaches as well. The players believe that there WILL BE, a big turnaround next year, since much of the hard work has been done! So when I see Bo's coaches, and the current players ALL supporting the current coaches, I go nuts when I read negative comments by poeple who have NO CLUE, about the efforts being made, and whats going on! My gut tells me that, having been there, Brandon will do the right thing after the bowl, and will give RR a vote of confidence. I have no dislike for Harbaugh, but the idea when RR was brought in, was to move UM into the 21st century! JH, as great a player as he was, will only take UM backward! I go back to Bo's comments, about 'Those who stay..' He was saying it takes work and commitment..and RR and these kids are doing JUST that! They will continue to have my support, because I fully believe that when RR gets this defesne up and running, that this program WILL be scary good! And Mr Ghost, its' been since 2000 that we can say that!
Sean T.
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 3:36 p.m.
And the winner by KO is.........ERM GHOST!
tulsatom
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 3:09 p.m.
Ben, I appreciate your honesty and respect your opinion even though I am one of those who think RR should go. The RR spread offense is scary to other teams but there needs to be more balance to it, in my opinion. It all revolves around Denard, and when he gets hurt (which tends to happen almost every game because he carries the ball so much) the wheels tend to fall off the U-M Ferrari offense because none of the reserve QBs perform to the same level as Denard, especially in the running game. Also, good teams know how to slow it down or stop it (Example: 7 total points versus OSU). The thing that will probably get RR fired is his inability to rise above the lower tier in the Big Ten in three years and the dismal performance of the defense. I was on a Miss State site earlier today and even their fans respect Denard and the offense but call the U-M defense "pathetic". In the end, the head coach is responsible for the team's overall performance on both sides of the ball and is not just judged by how the offense does. Therefore, the buck must stop with him.
umgoblue47
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 2:51 p.m.
3andout... this probably just slipt your mind because iam shure you don't want to just post negative stuff about michigan? you know the young men that make up the MICHIGAN football TEAM... justice hayes a 4-5/star recruit decommited from psu and gave is verbal to michigan! he thinks michigan will prepare him better for "the next level"... on the field and off the field! GO BLUE...
umgoblue47
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 1:15 p.m.
the ghost motto: i will blame everything that may go wrong, possibly go wrong, will go wrong, in the future go wrong with the michigan football program on richrod and i will haunt this site untill i get my way! the buck stops.. well i don't have a buck so i guess it won't stop? (now that's what i call a nightmare)... happy new year.. GO BLUE!!
Lorain Steelmen
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 12:49 p.m.
Ghost, I just checked back in. Naturally I found your post, above, about my saying that Bo supported RR, AFTER he died to be a continuation of your negative rants from YESTERDAY. Wow, are you still ranting? Bo was supportive of RR, BEFORE BO DIED, and he was following RR's career at WVU. Naturally this was due to the Nehlen association. Ghost, ALL THIS WAS BEFORE BO DIED...got it?!? Perhaps, I'll need to post here everyday, to let you know that BO supported RR, BEFORE BO DIED, not AFTER he died. You just don't seem to get it do you? Your distortions and negativity, only confirm that you are NOT a UM fan but a UM detractor! That's fine with me, but don't pretend to be something that you a obviously are not.
Blu-n-Tpa
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 8:46 a.m.
I was at the last UM bowl game vs Florida at the Capital One bowl in Orlando. 70,000 fans and about 10K were for the Blue. It was a treat to watch Coach Carr get the "Gatorade" bath and then hugged by many of the players before being raised up onto their shoulders and taken to mid field. I hope the same thing happens this weekend in Jacksonville. It would be great for the coaches, the players, especially the seniors, the fans, the conference and the University. Then, in a couple of days, the hard facts of coaching college football will have to be addressed by Michigan's AD. This decision wont be easy due to the fact that families will be uprooted and people will be forced to say goodbye to friends and school-mates. But it is the reality of the job and it's what coaches, and their families, agree to when they enter that profession. DB understood this when he took the job as AD. He didn't get where he is without having to make those hard choices. People get complacent, distracted, or are promoted into a position they're not equiped to handle. Bad hires, bad fits, happen every day in corporate life. Corrections need to be made. That's the job DB was hired to do and he will do it. This isn't just about the coaching staff of the football team. This is the powerplant of the Michigan Athletic Department. Hundreds, thousands, and TENS of Thousands of people depend on what happens with THAT team. DB has to look at what's happening on the field and judge if what he sees is enough to stay with the status quo. He can't afford to wait "another year" to see if things get better because if they don't HIS judgement will be under the mircoscope. Some say three years isn't enough time to "rebuild" a football program. I think DB might actually agree with that in some part of his brain. But three years is long enough to see if things are progressing and, with the exception of the offense vs lower rated teams, the defense and special teams are nowhere near what they should be for a program such as Michigan. So David Brandon will take the football team in a new and different direction following what is hopefully a win this weekend. That would be great for the new coaches, those players who aren't seniors, the fans, the conference and the University.
NoBowl4Blue
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 8:28 a.m.
Eager is not descriptive enough. Can't wait to see cry baby terminated and a return to Michigan football.
3 And Out
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 7:48 a.m.
Mick...on Zettel.... Preparation for "the next level" even if 90% of the players won't even get a shot at the next level...IS still very important to most top recruits. Zettel was quoted as saying that Penn State would "get him prepared for the next level" and Michigan, in its current state of affairs...wont... I dont have the numbers in front of me, but I saw somewhere recently that Rich Rod had less than 10 players drafted in to the NFL in his WVU days...and that is panning out here at Michigan as Lloyd's guys graduation and RR's recruits flounder. Bringing Harbaugh in...with his NFL experience and pipeline to the NFL with his Brother... would be a DREAM for recruiting top talent once again... and at the very least, if we dont get JH...we need to bring in a coach who can recruit that top NFL talent. The 1997 Wolverine NC team had 28 players go to the NFL and play...that is astounding... not many teams can match that...the 01 Hurricanes had over 30 and was very very talented...but Lloyd/Mo's team from 07 was no slouch... WE need to get back to that ratio of having 1/4 of our roster be NFL possible...and the current staff, is not equipped to get us there. Other coaches are. No doubt. Go Blue. Go Michigan!
clarklaker
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 6:49 a.m.
I agree with mick.Hopefully we can get Harbaugh and end this nightmare RR has created.
XTR
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 6:08 a.m.
Miss State is going to do what MSU, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State did, they just prevented Denard from running and then, turnovers came. RR should have a plan B when that happens which he never had in the regular season. The teams knew how to stop the offense and RR had nothing to counter them with. Lloyd Carr's coaching record is greater than RR's coaching record in every angle. What did LC's team do in his 3rd season??? The "Defense" did not collapse there, the defense started to collapse with RR where UM was regularly beaten by MSU, Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State. These teams were regularly beaten by LC for a decade. All of a sudden, UM's defense cannot even tackle in '08-'09 and '10.
Mick
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 11:38 p.m.
Well it appears that Zettel has picked Penn St. for college. Good job RR, I'll tell you what, if Harbaugh comes to AA, I think he might have a chance to change his mind.
tulsatom
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 9:10 p.m.
I'm glad to see U-M in a bowl this year for a change but think they should be in a lesser bowl based on their performance on the field. They should be playing against Baylor or a similar team rather than Miss State. Michigan is a lot like Notre Dame. The tradition and big fan base propel them into a higher profile bowl game than they otherwise deserve and it forces them to play a better opponent than them, which is not a good recipe for a victory on the field, although the money the school makes will be more than at a lesser bowl.
BlueGator
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 6:30 p.m.
Singletary would only be acceptable to me if we got Bo's written approval beforehand.
Sean T.
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 6:21 p.m.
I would certainly like Mike Singletary as our head coach.
MFANINCBUS
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:42 p.m.
I am eager to see Mike Singletary as the new coach of UM
missionbrazil
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:39 p.m.
Kenya... lol on the "The Decision 2". That is actually more of something RR would do than DB though.
EVRYBDYZGT1
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:11 p.m.
Theo212 has been quiet and we don't know why. All of these naysayers are making me cry. We love our coach and we want him to stay. Theo, please say something and make these guys see our way. Your words are like swords and cut to their skin. Theo we need you right now to do it again. Long live our king and his knight Theo2-12. Oh what the hell man I cant rhyme with a twelve.
obama from kenya
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 4:54 p.m.
Actually, I'm eagerly awaiting the post game presser at which drama queen David Brandon will finally tell us he's fired RR. Rumor has it the presser will air on ESPN and be called "The Decision 2".
Theo's Brother
Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 4:42 p.m.
I can't wait. I'm from Michigan but living and going to college in Mississippi. Got several friends at MS State and on the team and I'm super pumped for this game. I'll be a little torn because of personal friends on the other sideline but it'll be all good! GO BLUE!!! THEOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I need two things from you: 1) I need a poem for this game 2) I need to know where you're tailgating Saturday if you're going to the game. I HAVE to meet you!