Michigan plays other sports, too!

To recap, we spent a week in Michigan (Part 1 about the football game is here, and Rob's permanent souvenir is here).  When I was a student at Michigan I went to all the football games but rarely ventured out to see all the other sports the school had, this is one of my biggest regrets.  Now, I subscribe to to a special sports package on my cable so I can get the Big Ten Network and take in as many Michigan sports as possible.  So while we were in Michigan I thought I'd take advantage and try to attend some other fall sports!

I really wanted to go to the women's volleyball game against Nebraska.  Our volleyball team has recently gotten very strong and the big ten has become a competitive conference, even more so now with Nebraska.  Sadly, the game was sold out by the time I got there so I wouldn't get to see them play.  I had actually attended quite a few volleyball games while I was a student and it is a very fun atmosphere in their arena.  They play in a smaller arena than basketball and it makes it very loud and exciting in there.  I'd never been much of a volleyball person (I suck at playing it) but I now understand it better and have since become a big fan and love watching it!

We did make it to a men's lacrosse game.  On Sunday, after the football game, they were playing in some exhibition games in Michigan Stadium.  Our lacrosse team just got promoted to varsity level (they were very successful at the club level) so I thought it was a good time to check out the sport.  We had a great time watching it (even though we still don't understand all the rules) but its a fun, fast paced, scrappy game.  Sadly, Michigan lost in OT but we still had a good time and I am now very interested in the sport, hopefully they'll be showing some games on TV this spring!

Go Blue!


And finally, we went to a men's soccer game. I LOVE soccer, I've loved the sport for much longer then I've loved football.  Michigan men's soccer went the the semi-finals of the college cup last year, so they are coming off their best season ever.  Unfortunately, they've had quite a let down year (so far).  I really wanted to go to one of their games because they just built a new soccer complex.  The new field was really nice and the student section (which was nearby where we sat) is right on the field!  Sadly, we lost the game but it was a really great game to watch.  The student section has a lot of good chants and although there weren't a lot of students that night I could see it being a fun group to cheer with. (side note: the men's basketball team sat right next to us, I was a little star struck when I realized I was so close to Stu Douglass and Tim Hardaway Jr!!)

UPDATE: The men's soccer team just (well two days ago) beat #4 ranked Akron in OT!!  It's one of the biggest wins for this team, ever. Maybe this will turn their season around, keep it up boys and Go Blue!