University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Fans!

U of M fans are loud and proud and they have a right to be, with their team having the most all-time wins and highest all-time winning percentage in NCAA Division I-A history, there's no need to be modest. Read about this amazing teams history and traditions to become a true maize and blue fan!

How to Be a True Fan

• Wear your Maize and Blue!
• Display your Spirit with Michigan Gear; shirts, pants, keychains, ipod, iphone, or itouch cases etc.
• Know The Michigan Fight song, "The Victors"

History

Michigan began competing in intercollegiate football in 1879. The Michigan Stadium located in Ann Arbor was completed in 1927, and has a current 107,501 capacity.

Michigan's is well known for the famed winged football helmet dates back to 1938, when Fritz Crisler arrived from Princeton University with his penchant for detail and style. There was one other consideration. Fritz thought this unique helmet could be helpful to his passers as they tried to spot their receivers downfield. As early as 1861, the students and alumni began referring to themselves as "Wolverines." How the ferocious animal came be associated with the state and adopted as the university mascot remains a bit of a mystery, but there are several theories.

Origins of The Wolverine

• Many believe the animal was abundant in Michigan at one time, however all the evidence disproves this theory , as there has never been a verified trapping of a wolverine inside the state's borders, nor have the skeletal remains of a wolverine been found within the state's 96,705 square miles.
• In 1944, the great Michigan football coach Fielding H. Yost had a theory for the nickname. The trading of wolverine pelts which occurred at Sault Ste. Marie for many years, led to the assumption that the pelts had to have come from Michigan and led many traders to refer to them as "Michigan wolverines"
• In 1952 Albert H. Marckwardt presented another theory for the "wolverine" name. Marckwardt's reasoning is based on the fact that Michigan was first settled by the French in the late 1700s. The appetites of the French were judged to be gluttonous or "wolverine-like" and, therefore, the nickname wolverines was conferred upon them.
• The last theory derives from the border dispute between Michigan and Ohio in 1803, often referred to as the "Toledo War." While the two sides argued over the proper setting of the state line, Michiganders were called wolverines. It is unclear, however, whether the Michigan natives pinned this name upon themselves to show their tenacity and strength, or whether Ohioans chose the name in reference to the gluttonous, aggressive, habits of the wolverine. From then on, Michigan was labeled the "Wolverine state" and when the University of Michigan was founded, it simply adopted the nickname of the state it represented.