University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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FOOTBALL SATURDAYS Saturday football traditions ranged from pre-game house parties to Greek tail- gates to maize and blue body art. Saturday By Cn6lS63 football traditions also varied amongst the And6rSOn graces, as upperclassmen enjoyed pre-game parties and underclassmen brought about their own traditions. Upperclassmen living in houses scattered around the Big House and State Street often had pre-parties and tailgates with friends, while blasting loud music around the campus before and after the game to celebrate Michigan victo- ries. We started partying at our house on Friday after class, and it lasted through Saturday night. Friends and family came in for the game on Saturday, too; I think we had fifteen to twenty extra people staying over during the weekend, said Annie Dunsky, LSA sophomore. Dunsky, as well as the six other girls who lived in a house on State, celebrated the MSU blowout with friends and tons of food. Underclassmen decided to blaze new trails and start their own Saturday football traditions. A unique group called the Buckmasters consisted of about 10 students who wore flaming orange hunter baseball caps to every game. Hans Papke, a freshman in LSA, claimed the tradition started to commemorate his grandfather ' s fatal mistake. Papke ' s grandfather was a Michigan graduate of 1942. As the legend goes, one Saturday morn- ing, he decided to go hunting and skipped a Michigan football game, said Papke. Unfor- tunately, Papke ' s grandfather died in a tragic hunting accident that day, while the Wolverines suffered the sole loss of the season. While Papke was shopping at Meijer Madness, he discovered the hats in the hunting section and instantly thought of his grandfather. He bought them as a reminder to never skip a Michigan football game for a hunting trip. He and several of his friends wore the hats to every game. Together, students embarked on the tradi- tion of wearing maize and blue to the football games. Throughout the season, students had two maize outs and one blue out. The blue out against MSU was the most prevalent by far, as the student section was a sea of blue in support of the Wolverines. In addition to wearing school colors, a few crazy student fans would coat their bodies in paint and shiver the entire game while rooting for a Michigan win. High in the stands, the Buckmasters ceeorate between quarters at a foot- oall game. With one season under their be ' t. these freshmen hoped to turn their fun into a tradition. K. Maher photo Recording engineer Chaz, second year social work major Rob Herman, and second year psychology mapr Tom Vamcelli heckle passing cars from their home at 923 State Street. Even if not taking place m a footbai ' Saturday tradition, motorists honkeo at houses like these and joined m on the fur T. Akinmusuru photo MICHIGAN LIFE 35

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. ' w 1 Third year English and psychology major Kyle Meteyer sorays third year economics major Brian Horr with a hose before the Utah game while amused spectators look on. Talgate parties before a game tended to be crazy and unpredictable, often yield- no tne unexpected. T. Ajunmu. uru photo ...Friends and family came in for the game on Saturday, too; I think we had fifteen to twenty extra people staying over during the weekend. Mli.-:t!GANENSIAN

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By Erica Chernick and Lauren Rutledge The University of Michigan Student Alumni Council sponsored Parents Weekend this year from Friday, October 1 1 through Sunday, October 13. The Student Alumni Council, in conjunction with the Alumni Asso- ciation of the University, organized this year ' s events. Parents Weekend gave parents the opportunity to visit the University ' s campus while classes were in session in order to get a sense of the campus community and a feel for what it was like for their children to live and attend school in Ann Arbor. During the week- end, filled with entertaining activities and infor- mative sessions, parents experienced a sampling of classes that their children could be taking. On Friday, parents attended a series of events that featured a few of the most renowned professors at the University, including biology professor John Shiefelbein, chemistry professors Robert Sharp and Brian Coppola, economics professor Janet Gerson and English professor Ralph Wil- liams. These lectures gave parents a feel for the academic options available to their children at the University of Michigan. The action-packed weekend also included student-led campus tours, which highlighted the main buildings on campus for parents, as well as the most celebrated myths and traditions that abound at the University, among them the practice of avoiding stepping on the big M on the Diag, for fear of failing one ' s first blue book exam. Although the primary purpose of Parents Weekend was to inform parents of the prolific aca- demic opportunities available to their children at the University, the weekend also provided various forms of entertainment. Parents Weekend featured a number of dramatic performances, including the musical Children of Eden, the play Imaginary Invalid, and a dance performance entitled Full Cycle: Tamango and Urban Tap. In addition to the wide variety of Parents Weekend activities held on Friday, the weekends ' festivities continued onto Saturday, at which point parents were able to experience a football tailgate in the Indoor Track Building. A more exciting ele- ment and highlight for some visitors was the oppor- tunity to attend a football game at the Big House against Penn State. After the football game and tailgate party, parents had another occasion to experience student performances on campus. The 2002 Michi- gan A Cappella Festival was held in the Rackham Auditorium on Saturday evening, during which more than a dozen University a cappella singing groups, including 58 Greene and the GMen, which performed for both parents and students. Junior psychology major Jana Kantor saw Parents Weekend as an opportunity for her parents to get to know her friends, and for her to get to know her friends families. I went to Daniel ' s with six or seven friends and all our families. It was great; we all made speeches and had a big banquet dinner. It was so much fun. The scoreboa ' d displays the tied score at the end of the fourth quarter. The Penn State game, which fell on Parents Weekend, Barked the first . Big House history. S. Thomas photo i O N