Five Scores by them and one by me.

This afternoon I attended the field hockey game against Bucknell. While any game would seem small compared to the spectacle of the game last night, this field hockey was the extreme opposite. While not unattended, it felt at most like a High School game. A large part of this was because of the large section of Bucknell parents who get points for coming out to the game, but lose some for coaching from the stands. I could go into a theological exposition of why that happens, but I will spare you. Still the Bucknell shirts with a picture of a buck and "NELL" on them are pretty cool. Another reason it felt like a high school game, was the complete lack of a student section. While I beleive that students were present as given evidence by a man in blue waving a Michigan flag, they were generally outnumbered by what can be best described as Michigan field hockey enthusiast. Where do they come from parents, local coaches, alumnae? I have no clue.

I enjoyed listening to our field hockey enthusiast, they discussed how field Hockey is more of the domain of private schools and east coast schools. In the Big Ten, Michigan is the second closest thing to an east coast school after Penn State and the second closest thing to a private school after Northwestern. I find our general demeanor very strange. We are definitely Midwestern, but we are not as informal as the schools west of the Mississippi. As my dad pointed out, we are more uptight and less rowdy than Wisconsin or Michigan State. I guess making your own ice cream can make you restless. We do not have to cope with being in the middle of nowhere like Illinois. I've been to UIUC enough to vouch for that. And while we are northern, we do not center our focus on being northern as much as Minnesota. We are also not as monolithic as Ohio State, since we share the local spotlight with MSU.
What we are is a cultural blend that somehow puts studying, and awesome professional endeavors on generally the same level as sports and partying. We are active and progressive like a west coast school, focused and elite like an east coast school, and relaxed  and sports crazed like a Midwest school. What this gives us is an awesome blend in just about everything as can be seen in our addition of Lacross this year, to which my response is, "Why did we not have this earlier?". We are unique and anyone who has ever been here can vouch for that.
 Finally a little discussion of the game
It was a dominant performance by our ladies with a freshman forward getting a hat-trick and an assist. With plenty of great action and some awesome moves, it is a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I strongly recommend that you come out for a game. We could totally get a good student section going. Just remember to make some creative chants. I may very well be back. It might be because I received a prize bag with a Michigan Flag, some Wolverine-aid, "M" rubber bands, and a water-bottle. Total score!

My Next Adventure will be either Monday or Tuesday Morning. Men's golf is hosting a tournament at the U of M Gold Course. I have never played, let alone witnessed a Golf Tournament. I will try to get there as early as possible and maybe stay for a front 9 or something. I might become bored out of my mind, but I never accomplish anything on Monday mornings anyway.

By the way, I apologize for the lack of action shots in this web-log. My camera does not like moving targets.

What: Wolverine Intercollegate
Who: Baylor, California, Detroit, Iowa State, IUPUI, Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, North Carolina and Oakland.
When: 8:00 AM Monday September 12th and 8:00 AM Tuesday September 13th
Where: University of Michigan Golf Course.