Born in Pontiac, MI and raised in metro Detroit. My Pop Warner team was the Madison Heights Wolverines, and we wore UM uniforms and helmets. Maize and blue.
High school, I played alongside Jon Jansen, captain of the 1997 National Champion Michigan Wolverines, who, in high school, was the biggest MSU fan I ever met. Our school colors were maize and blue.
College, I took a few years of community college (6, actually) before heading off to UM. I think you know that they wear maize and blue.
I hated UMichigan. The people are INSANELY liberal. It's not that they voted for Gore and supported Dean, these people are INSANELY liberal. Tons of socialists, tons of members of the revolutionary worker's party. The campus newspaper speaks about the need for "diversity" every single day, and people like Dean are seen as far too conservative to be president. Joseph Stalin would be considered a moderate. You cannot be white, male, Christian, or heterosexual on that campus, and if you are, you have to hate yourself and denounce your race/gender/religion/sexual preference or else you are tabbed as a "racist" or whatever "ist" fits.
The people are rich and stuck up, and as someone from a meager background, I never fit in. Ugliness abound.
I left UM for law school this past fall. OSU was my first choice, but I was waitlisted there, and I had offers elsewhere. I went where the money was, taking a free ride at UToledo. They wear, as you know, maize and blue. (ok, so they call it yellow...)
Law School was miserable, and I realized that I wanted to do something else with my life. I want to research college athletics and hockey, which is an extension of what I did in undergrad. The best program in the world for that is OSU. I didn't think I'd get in, but I did.
The people at OSU have embraced me with open arms, so I return the embrace. I never hated OSU like I was supposed to. I hate Stanford, Oregon, Wisconsin and most of all USC.
Before I even got my acceptance, I was pulling for either UM or OSU to get Ginn. I assumed I wasn't getting in at OSU, but still I was pulling for them to get Ginn just so USC couldn't get him. I HATE USC, and this year made it even worse.
So anyway, I am a new Buckeye. Takes time to make that transition, but I have embraced the Bucknuts as they have embraced me. I am excited for this fall and hope I will get football tickets so I can experience a football stadium where people actually care.