Michigan football national championship parade: Fans brave cold in Ann Arbor
Bundled up Michigan football fans are braving shivery temperatures Saturday, standing in the snow along State Street, and standing in line to buy Michigan merchandise, all to cheer the university's new national champion team at a parade in Ann Arbor.
Students stood along the parade route and outside the U-M President's House on South University Avenue wearing maize and blue hats and scarves, to protect them from the blustery, windy conditions.
The parade, with a 4 p.m. start outside the president's home, stretches about three-quarters of a mile, ending at Schembechler Hall.
The Wolverines on Monday defeated the University of Washington Huskies by a score of 34-13 in the College Football Playoff National Championship game in Houston to secure U-M's first national title since 1997.
After the parade, fans were to meet the team for a 7 p.m. celebration at the Crisler Center indoor arena next to Michigan Stadium.
More: Michigan football championship parade details: Where you need to be Saturday
Some fans brave the cold, while others get their gear (indoors)
About an hour and half before the parade was scheduled to start, a few fans had found spots near the start of the parade on South University. Moises Rodriguez, 31, was shivering even though he wore plenty of layers and was tucked under a blanket. Rodriguez left his home in Ottawa, Ohio at 6 a.m. and got his chair set up outside at 10:30 a.m. Ten of his friends were supposed to join him but they all backed out because of the weather. To him, though, the cold weather and the drive was a small price to pay for what the University of Michigan football team had given him and other fans.
“Let’s hope people show up,” Rodriguez said. “I hope we can pay them back.”
Vincent Jacobson, 22, wouldn’t describe himself as the biggest Michigan football friend compared to some of his friends, but still the senior found a spot near a tree right off South University Avenue at 1 p.m. so he could get a good view of the parade.
“It’s once in a lifetime,” Jacobson said.
In the few hours preceding the game, it appeared many fans had found a different, warmer spot to congregate: The M Den, the official merchandise retailer of Michigan athletics located on South State Street, where the line to pay started on the second floor and weaved down the stairs and across the store to the cash registers at the front. - Adrienne Roberts
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football national championship parade: Fans brave cold
