Sports are about numbers, and that isn’t just because scores are kept. A player’s height and weight matter, they’re ages, too. But the best moments are when things occur that haven’t happened in a long time, as sports are also a marker of time. We just witnessed the best seven days that a place with two peninsulas has ever had in sports.
See? Numbers.
Any real Michigan native will tell you a secret that most outsiders don’t realize — Michigan is a basketball state, not a football one. But that wasn’t the case when an ESPN 30-for-30 documentary-like run for the 26th state started and ended with decades-long worth of frustrations replaced with euphoria due to football.
First up, the Wolverines.
When Michigan beat Ohio State for the third time in November, it was a precursor for what was to come, given that the last time the Wolverines had a three-game win streak over the Buckeyes, they went on to win a national championship. Welp, last Monday night, history repeated itself when Michigan’s defense showed the world why Michael Penix Jr. didn’t win the Heisman after all. The Wolverines’ 34-13 win over Washington gave them their first national title since 1997, as they went 15-0 in arguably the wildest season a college football team has ever endured. Their head coach was suspended, twice. There was a sign-stealing investigation that caused many to question their resume over the last three seasons. The NCAA and the Big Ten were breathing down their necks, and a gauntlet of Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama, and the Huskies stood in their way.
How did it all end?
With a parade down the streets of Ann Arbor. As I previously wrote, “Michigan vs. Everybody isn’t just a catchy phrase on a t-shirt. It’s more than a rallying cry when the entire sports world is cheering against you. It’s a declaration that anybody can get it — line ‘em up and knock ‘em down.”
Next up, the Lions.
I’m not a Lions fan, but as a Michigan native, I remember the last time it happened and where I was when I watched it — in our living room looking at our floor-model TV as an 8-year-old. That was the last time the Lions won a playoff game until history was made on Sunday night when they beat the Rams, 24-23, at Ford Field. I watched it on my flat-screen TV, on my couch, as a 40-year-old.
“If you want to text a Lions fan congrats on the playoff win. Do it, it’ll be the first they’ve ever gotten, texting wasn’t around the last time the Lions won a playoff game,” said Mike Tirico during the broadcast.
Dan Campbell and the Lions actually did it. And now a franchise that’s never been to the Super Bowl, and only has two postseason wins since 1957, is two wins away and they have a shot.
Wolverines, come on down — again.
After what Michigan’s football teams had accomplished on the field, it felt as if nothing could match it. But, in a week in which the unimaginable had already occurred twice, it decided that three would be the magic number.
“It’s really cool to be here, but it’s better to be here as family,” Chris Webber was quoted as saying on Monday. “If it took 100 years, I’d wait that long to be here, sincerely. So it feels great.”
For the first time since 1993, the Fab Five — Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson — reunited on Michigan’s campus as the Wolverines, led by Howard, defeated Ohio State (of all teams), 73-65. The Blackest team in the history of college basketball came back together on MLK Day, and the broadcast team featured two Black men — Gus Johnson, a Detroit native, and Jim Jackson, a former Buckeye.
Despite the decades-long beef between Rose and Webber, the federal case, the taking down of the banners, the vacated wins and the university acting like the team who forever changed basketball didn’t exist, all felt like it had been forgiven on Monday afternoon in Ann Arbor.
“Family always support family,” Howard told his team after the game, standing with the other members of the Fab Five. “You see what the real ones are. The real ones come out when things are a little bit rough. The real ones don’t run away. And the real Michigan fans that support this team right here, you’re looking at them.”
In some form or fashion, the heartbreak and pain that I and millions of other Michigan natives, fans and alums had carried for decades was healed in a matter of seven days. It’s truly a week that the entire state will never forget.
And if the Spartans fans feel left out, they shouldn’t. Michigan State had a heartwarming moment last week when Tom Izzo’s son scored his first career points. “I love the fact that my players were probably more excited than I was,” he said.
And, oh, yeah. The Pistons won a game on Monday, just their fourth of the season. Detroit defeated the Washington Wizards, 129-117, on the road. “We’ve had an unreal losing streak this year (28 games), and I don’t think I’ve ever seen our guys consistently go in the tank,” said Pistons coach Monty Williams. “Everyone’s all in and wants to see each other do well.” Anything is truly possible in the state of Michigan right now. If you’re reading this, I’d advise playing the lottery.
