Michigan Football: What It’s Like To Be A Fan Abroad
Because Michigan football has a global reach, many fans have to enjoy the Wolverines from entirely different counties. This is what that’s like.
The best way to be a Michigan football fan, of course, is to live in Michigan, preferably within easy commuting distance of the Big House. That was me a few years ago, when I lived in Ann Arbor and walked to the stadium on game day. I loved it.
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Today I live more than 4,000 miles from Ann Arbor, and that makes being a Michigan football fan tough.
But not impossible.
Of the 300 or so channels on my cable television package here in Zürich—Switzerland’s largest city—there is one channel devoted to American sports. That channel shows a lot of NHL games, which can be tiresome when the playoffs stretch into late June, but every Saturday in the fall there is a full menu of college football games, including, most of the time, the Michigan Wolverines.
Now that Michigan is relevant again, mostly due to the arrival of new head coach Jim Harbaugh, just about every Michigan game is televised over here.
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Unfortunately, not every game makes it to the schedule. For early-season games against second-tier opponents—I’m thinking about you, Cincinnati—I will have to rely on the live streaming radio voices of Jim Brandstatter and Dan Dierdorf, which is not so bad. In fact, it’s fun to listen to those familiar voices when you’re so far from home.
And then there’s the issue of time difference.
As you can imagine, I really like a noon game because, with a six-hour time difference, a noon game starts here at 6 p.m., making for a nice evening of Michigan football. Even a 3 p.m. starting time isn’t bad. But those night games… I could do without them.
The first game of the season this year against the Florida Gators, played in Arlington, Texas, won’t start until 1:30 Sunday morning here in Switzerland. I plan to watch it, but please don’t call me Sunday afternoon. I’ll be taking a nap.
You would think that being a Michigan fan so far from home would be lonely, but it’s not. There are a lot of Michigan fans all around the world. I see the familiar block M on someone’s shirt or cap just about every day. Michigan’s alumni association famously claims that it serves “those who leave Michigan, but for whom Michigan never leaves.” True enough.
More than 575,000 alumni can be found all around the world, and I ran into quite a few of them in Rome back in April, when the team held three days of practice at Olympic Stadium—excuse me, the “Stadio Olimpico.” The Thursday and Friday practices had smaller crowds due to rain, but Saturday’s practice saw hundreds of fans in Maize and Blue gear.
It was quite a sight, to be honest, and I think the players were amazed too. They hung around quite a while taking selfies and chatting up the faithful.
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One more thing. Let’s go blue!