When I Fell in Love with Michigan Football

I don’t remember a time before Michigan football. I remember the sound of the band, the maize and blue, and standing in crowds that felt bigger than anything else in my world.

I was eight years old the first time I remember my parents taking me to a University of Michigan football game.

Eight-year-old me, already under the spell of the Michigan Marching Band.

It was one of those perfect fall Saturdays—the kind you don’t realize is perfect until years later. The sun was shining, the air was crisp, and everything felt alive. I didn’t know the score, the opponent, or even the rules all that well. What I knew was how it felt.

With my mom and my sisters at Reveli Hall and a band member (I don’t think we even knew him!)

Before the game, we started at Revelli Hall, where the Michigan Marching Band was practicing. I watched in awe as the band director inspected every uniform, every plume just so. Then we marched together toward the stadium, singing “It’s Great to Be a Michigan Wolverine” at the top of our lungs. I had maize-and-blue pom-poms in my hands and goosebumps on my arms.

By the time we entered the Big House, my eight-year-old brain could barely process what I was seeing. Over 100,000 people. The roar of the crowd. The band. The pageantry. The feeling that something very important—and very magical—was happening.

I don’t remember who Michigan played that day. I don’t remember if they even won. But I remember the excitement of being surrounded by college kids, the electricity in the air, and the sound of 105,000 fans cheering as one. I remember thinking, without hesitation or doubt: this is where I belong.

From that moment on, there was never another school on my radar. No backup plan. No “maybe.” Just Michigan.

Decades later, I’ve been to countless games, traveled the world with my Michigan flag, and built friendships rooted in maize and blue. But it all started that day—an eight-year-old girl, a perfect fall afternoon, and a lifelong love affair with all things belonging to the University of Michigan.

To this day, my family still meets at Revelli Hall before games on football Saturdays. I take pictures and send them to my dad in San Diego and sometimes we will FaceTime him so he gets to be a part of the game day experience even though he’s 3000 miles away. He started this tradition for us and my sister and her kids and I continue it.

Go Blue. Always.

From Juju with love 💙💛