My joy over Mikey Sainristil’s interception eclipsed that of the birth of my children.
On the one hand, that is a sad admission to be dealt with in therapy.
But, then again, my children have never won a national title.
Escaping the Black Pit of Negative Expectations (aka BPONE) is a difficult climb; particularly when you’ve spent your entire adult life there. Michigan teams that went 7-6 (2013), 5-7 (2009; 2014), 3-9 (2008), and 2-4 (2020). Michigan teams with the talent to finally beat Ohio State but still failed to remove that giant ape on their back (2016; 2018; 2019).
In many ways, the climb into the sunlight was well underway. Michigan finally beat Ohio State – three times in a row, you may remember – and clinched back-to-back-to-back Big Ten titles. AND YET! The negativity lingered, thanks to a bludgeoning from Georgia (2021) and the closest thing to watching a game on NyQuil that I’ve ever witnessed (2022). Each climb towards exiting the BPONE ended with the ground giving way, hands clasping air, and helplessly crashing back down.
So when the nation’s best quarterback had the ball on the fringe of the redzone and threatens to make this the most excruciating five minutes of football in my life, you’ll have to excuse me if that Rich Rod/Hoke negativity returned.
Enter Mikey.
Perfect positioning. The ball floats over the outstretched hands of McMillan and Colson. Sainristil doesn’t even have to run, but merely leap and secure. In doing so, he not only secures the ball but also the hopes that have been deferred since before he was born. He returns the ball to the Washington eight and simultaneously returns Michigan to a glory many thought they would never reach again.
By the time Blake Corum rumbled into the endzone, the confetti was already falling on social media. The exuberant joy of every fan who – like me – was too young to really remember 1997 but was old enough to remember every painstaking failure since then. The schadenfreude of watching desperate Buckeye fans tweet out their asterisks and scream into the void, hoping that someone would come and save them from the nightmare. But nobody came. Instead, NCAA President Charlie Baker went so far as to state that “At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn’t win the national title fair and square.” Even the straws being grasped at have packed their bags and gone home.
But for Michigan? They did it. They did it for them. They did it for the seniors that could have left but believed that “those who stay will be champions.” They did it for us. They did it for every last Michigan Man and Woman and Child who wondered if their residence in the BPONE was permanent; forever hearing about the warmth of the sunlight but never basking in it themselves.
Wonder no longer. At long last, Michigan has ascended out of the Pit. Only time will tell how often we may visit, but we no longer live there. We no longer simply think it could be done one day. It’s done. It’s One Day. It’s here.
“Those who stay will be champions.” The seniors who could have gone pro, but stayed. The coaches who could have taken other gigs, but stayed. The players who could have hit the portal, but stayed. The fans who nearly gave up hope, but stayed. At long last, every last one who stayed has their hope realized.
Those who stayed are champions.
Hail! To the Victors Valiant!
Hail! To the Conqu’ring Heroes!
Hail! Hail! To Michigan!
Champions of the West!
-Jace
