Milestones

17 years ago (and a week) I started this blog.

10 years ago today I moved from Seattle to San Diego. I packed whatever I could fit in the back of my Camaro, drove down I-5 and stayed with Jello in SF. The next day we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping in Santa Barbara for the night. After making our way through LA we arrived in San Diego and celebrated by having a beer at the bar inside the Hillcrest Whole Foods.

Jello and I at the grocery store bar

0 years ago Michigan won the National Championship. Their first since 1997, when I was 9. At the time I was young enough to think it would be a somewhat regular occurrence. But it was a long arduous road to get back to the top of the mountain. Many better writers have waxed poetic on this journey and what it means. For me it's sheer joy and elation, having stood in the Big House and watched us lose to Toledo in 2008. All those low moments and having to watch all the players who graduated without ever sniffing a Championship, or worse, a win against Ohio State. Those lows make this high feel even higher.

I'd love nothing more than a Michigan dynasty. But it's a rapidly diminishing marginal return. That feeling of the first win against Ohio State after losing 8 in a row doesn't compare with their feelings if they had won a 9th. Just getting back here, even once is enough for me. As Blake Corum said "Business is Finished". I will still be a huge fan forever and watch every game, but that weight of them desperately needing to win each game feels like it's been lifted. Maybe not against our rivals who we need to beat to keep talking trash, but if we lose to USC or Texas next year, I think I'd be immediately at peace with it. I don't want to wait another 26 years, but I'm content to ride this championship for at least the next 10.