ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It doesn’t usually matter from year to year who has the better football team. Or basketball team. Or volleyball team. Or cafeteria. The die-hard Michigan State University and University of Michigan fans will stand by their schools and their teams no matter what.

They’ll dress up their Poodles, Pugs and Pomeranians in school gear whether they like it or not. They’ll fly their flags, paint their faces and talk trash to their opposing “enemies” whether those enemies are their bosses, pastors or grandmothers.

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It’s an in-state duel that separates friends and families even more than religion and politics. The upcoming yearly matchup of the college football game, which first happened in 1898, is a rivalry that’s always anticipated, always celebrated and always talked about and when the day finally arrives, it is practically a state holiday.

Michigan families are divided into their separate clans of maize and blue or green and white and Michigan restaurants and bars brace for a barrage of swear words, yelling and beer throwing.

It’s the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans and they will meet on a football field in Ann Arbor on Saturday, October 29th at 7:30 p.m. The Michigan Wolverines are 7-0 and first in the BIG Ten East Division. The Michigan State Spartans are 3-4, not quite in last place. That honor goes to Indiana. Not much is expected of Michigan State but even if they were sitting at three wins and a gazillion losses, they would still be giving it all they had to beat the Wolverines.

Local authorities in Ann Arbor are expecting about 112,000 people at the stadium and more around town. It’s only the second time the two teams have met in a night game so it’s possible that some of the tailgating will involve breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

Speaking of food… there is more to both schools than just the football game. There is the food, the marching bands, the mascots and the fight songs.

WHERE’S THE BEEF? AND THE TACOS…

This year’s big football game is in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan Stadium, otherwise known as the “Big House.” Wikipedia experts say that it’s the largest stadium in the United States and the 3rd largest stadium in the world. To feed all of the fans in the stadium, they have to have a lot of concessions and they do. Their concessions map boasts 15 different vendors scattered throughout the stadium including hot dogs and bratwursts from Wolverine Classics; pizza from Cottage Inn Pizza; BBQ specialties from Char; loaded waffle fries from Flock; tacos from Distrito; kettle corn and cotton candy from Sticky Stuff; burgers from Big House Burgers; nachos from Nachos Cantina; ice cream from Carvel Ice Cream and more.

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When the rivalry game is played in East Lansing at the Spartan Stadium (nicknamed “The Woodshed”), MSU fans and visitors from the “other side” can look forward to burgers from Sparty’s Grill; pulled pork from Saddleback BBQ, pretzels from Ben’s Pretzels; Subway sandwiches; street tacos, coney island hot dogs, roasted almonds, chocolate covered pretzels and lots of other culinary delights that your mom would frown upon.

THE MARCHING BANDS & THE FIGHT SONGS

“Victory for MSU” and “Hail! Hail! To Michigan, the Champions of the West!” Michiganders have heard both fight songs all of their lives while watching Michigan sports and listening to the music and words at local events and parades.

Michigan State University’s fight song was created in early 1915 when they were known as Michigan Agricultural College (MAC). The fight song was created by an MSU cheerleader named Francis Irving Lankey along with lyricist Arthur Sayles. Bleacher Report has called it the #6 college fight song and it’s been called one of the NCAA’s best fight songs by ESPN.

The original lyrics reflected the rivalry with the University of Michigan and were written for a MSU/University of Michigan game. The current lyrics are longer than most think but the main part that people know and sing aloud is “Go right through for MSU, watch the points keep growing, Spartan teams are bound to win, they’re fighting with a vim! Rah! Rah! Rah! See their team is weakening, We’re going to win this game. Fight! Fight! Rah! Team, Fight! Victory for MSU!”

The music to go along with the fight song comes from the Michigan State Spartan Marching Band. Founded in 1870 as only a ten-member student group, the band is now made up of approximately 300 members and is one of the premier college bands in the nation. They’ve performed for five U.S. presidents and at five Rose Bowls, two World Fairs and one World Series.

According to the University of Michigan’s website, their fight song “The Victors” was written in November of 1898 by Louis Elbel, a music student at the university who wrote both the words and  music in celebration of a last minute victory against Chicago, giving the college their first Western Conference football championship. The fight song was first played in public in 1899.

Like the Michigan State University fight song, there are more words to it than most people realize but the main part that echoes throughout the football stadium and other sports arenas is, “Hail! To the victors valiant, Hail! To the conjuring heroes, Hail! Hail! To Michigan, the leaders and best, Hail! To the victors valiant, Hail! To the conquering heroes, Hail! Hail! To Michigan, the champions of the West!”

The University of Michigan’s marching band, tasked with the responsibility of keeping the fans in the stands fired up, was a grassroots student effort started in 1896 when 17-year-old Harry dePont invited all the musicians on campus to a meeting to organize a university band. 30 students showed up. They held their first rehearsal that year and gave their first public performance on a football field in the fall of 1898. The marching band now consists of over 400 members.

THE MASCOTS?

So, those of you who don’t follow college sports may be surprised to know that the University of Michigan doesn’t actually have a mascot. They are called the “Wolverines” but they don’t have a mascot running around the stadium and at sporting events like the Spartans have “Sparty.”

In 1920’s, after putting up with a stuffed wolverine mascot named Biff in a trophy case in an administration building, Fielding Yost, longtime head football coach and athletic director, decided to switch it up with live Wolverines – two in fact, named Bennie and Biff. But they were a disaster. They chewed through their cages and were aggressive towards the staff. Both wolverines were rejected as mascots and sent away to live in Michigan zoos. Yost said, “It was obvious that Michigan mascots had designs on the Michigan men toting them, and those designs were no means friendly.”

Since then, the college hasn’t come up with a warm & fluffy, edgy or intense mascot to represent the college and the athletics department has said in the past that a mascot was unnecessary and undignified and they argued that it would not properly reflect the spirit and values of Michigan athletics.

Michigan State University, on the other hand, has had a mascot named “Sparty” since 1955. It debuted at a Jenison Field House pep rally before the Notre Dame football game in the form of a papier-mâché head made by three fraternity brothers. Another fraternity brother wore the head. In 1956, it was replaced by a fiberglass head. Later, at the end of the ’80’s, it was revamped and it became what we know today as the “approachable, fierce yet kind, man for all seasons” to reflect the school’s strength and character.

The popular Sparty doesn’t just appear at MSU sporting events either. Sparty is also available (for a fee) for appearances at anniversaries, baby showers, corporate events, graduation parties, nonprofit fundraisers and other occasions. But probably not at any paid events in Ann Arbor.

No matter what the outcome is of Saturday’s game and regardless of who is the new temporary owner of the Paul Bunyan trophy, the fans of losing team will undoubtedly talk about how the game was rigged, the referees were bad, it was a one-time thing and they will vow to beat the pants off the other side next year.

That’s also something that happens on a yearly basis – about five seconds after the game is over.