It’s that time of year again — this weekend MSU is taking on its in-state rival, the University of Michigan, in my favorite football game of the season.
It’s a storied rivalry dating back as early as 1898. For me, since my father grew up in Lansing and my parents met while my mother was attending MSU, I pretty much came into this world a bona fide Wolverine hater.
The word “rivalry” implies divisiveness, but the exact opposite has always happened around this time of year for me. Because here’s what you sometimes tend to forget when you look too closely at touchdowns and win records — rivalries are fun.
I went to a Catholic school my entire life before attending MSU — that’s 13 years of wearing a school uniform, day in and day out. But the Friday before the MSU–U-M game, both my elementary school and high school allowed us to have “dress-down” days where we were allowed to wear the colors of our respective teams. Sure, we trash talked each other mercilessly. But at the same time, not only did it get us pumped for the weekend, but we got to swap stories about why we supported the team we did.
Many people who grew up in Michigan and grew up with this rivalry have a story that might go a little like mine. My mother met her best friend to this day waitressing at Emil’s, a Lansing restaurant that’s still open today on Michigan Avenue. My mom was dati ng my father, and her new friend was dating another MSU student, and the four of them soon became inseparable.
After graduation and marriage, new homes and jobs, they began having children around the same time as one another. Now one of my best friends, and one of my younger brother’s best friends, are the sons of that couple my parents met at Emil’s. And of course, we were all born and raised Spartans.
Life is busy, and we don’t get to see our favorite family friends as much as we’d like to. We often make it a priority to get together for pool days in the summer, holidays and — you guessed it — football games, and MSU–U-M is always a favorite matchup. Sometimes we all get together to watch the game or to attend it; other times, it’s just the second generation now, huddled in an East Lansing bar. But the tradition goes on.
A football rivalry like this might not be a big deal to some, and that’s okay too. But if you’re willing to get into the spirit of it, something that, by nature, implies a separation can also mean an opportunity to come together with friends, family or peers.
For me, it’s a chance to appreciate the meaningful relationship my parents and their friends made when they were at MSU, and to know I’ll carry it on. Twenty years from now, I’m confident I’ll be back here tailgating with my family, my brother’s family and the families of the friends we’ve had since birth.
This rivalry game is also a chance to connect with people you don’t see as often as you like. I’ve often seen or gotten in touch with friends from high school who went to U-M when one of us visits the other’s campus for this very game. Relatives who I don’t regularly talk to almost always reach out with a “Go green!” text this week, whether they have a stake in the rivalry or not.
At The State News, we’ll play a rivalry “touch” football game of our own against the U-M student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. And as much as I hope that we kick their asses — as I have no doubt our football team will do in their own matchup this Saturday — what matters to me more is how our staff will come together this Friday and bond.
So don’t read too much into the negativity of a word like rivalry. Because if you let it, a rivalry can be a chance to forge connections that will last a lifetime.
Celeste Bott is the editor-in-chief of The State News.
