The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Wednesday, August 31, 2022 — 13A Sports It was a balmy 18 degrees and windy when I remembered that I’d prom- ised my friend Hugh that I’d go to a lacrosse game with him. I’m not the best at remembering things, or keeping promises, and it just so happened that I was already at the Union studying for a test that I had forgotten was the next day. There was no good reason for me to drop what I was doing to go watch lacrosse. I was underdressed for the frigid weather. The lacrosse field was two miles away, and lacrosse was a sport that I’d neither seen, nor cared to see, played. But I must’ve felt guilty or something because I got up and went. In almost every way, it should have been a miserable experience. Michigan got walloped, and I froze so badly I couldn’t feel my feet. But it was also the most fun I’d had that month. Unknowingly, I’d stumbled upon the entertaining culture of non-revenue sports at Michigan. When everyone talks about the sports culture of Big Ten schools, they’re generally referring to foot- ball and men’s basketball. And for good reason, too, because the cul- ture around these sports in Ann Charlie Pappalardo: A case for the sport you’ve never cared about Arbor is almost as alluring as the actual sport itself. Don’t get me wrong, Michigan loves football, but the love of these events isn’t exclusively about the game. It’s also about the people you experience the game with. It’s about the emotion and excitement of being emotional and excited with thousands of others who share your same desires. That culture and that feeling is what people think of when they hear about so-called Michigan sports culture. The culture of non-revenue sports, though, is vastly differ- ent — but it’s just as entertaining. When you move away from foot- ball, hockey and both basketball programs, the crowd sizes decrease exponentially. You won’t find thou- sands of people at the average wres- tling dual, field hockey game or gymnastics meet, but you will find incredibly high levels of skill in the athletes and obsession in the crowd that shows up. Watching lacrosse, I found peo- ple that were obsessed. There were maybe 15 people in the student sec- tion watching the Wolverines play Harvard that day, but they made it fun. They heckled the nation’s aca- demic elites in the Crimson to the point of outrage, and they screamed at the referees’ apparent biases. And — most importantly — they explained everything I could ever want to know about the sport in excruciating detail. They told me about the team’s roster, its stars, their shortcomings and the recur- ring storylines. I was hooked, not solely by the sport but by the cul- ture. The culture around non-revenue sports is unique. It’s small, rabid and, above all else, fun. The people in the stands really care and being around them makes you care, too. At Michigan, you’ll find every sport you’ve ever thought about. If you played it in high school or if you’ve seen it on TV, there’s prob- ably a team that plays it in Ann Arbor — and they also probably do it well. You’ll see Olympians and national champions performing in front of mostly empty venues, but that doesn’t make the experience any less fun. These sports and the cultures that surround them are magnetic. The athletes perform at ridiculously high levels, and the fans are always losing their marbles, regardless of whether there’s 10 of them or 108,000. My best advice is that you don’t have to fully understand something to enjoy it. So if a friend ever asks you to go watch a sport in the 18-degree cold that you couldn’t have cared less about before, go watch it. I have the feeling your opinion on the sport might change. CHARLIE PAPPALARDO Five non-revenue sports to check out IAN PAYNE Daily Sports Writer KATE HUA/Daily It’s well known that football runs the Michigan sports scene, but Ann Arbor is home to many other successful athletic pro- grams. The University is one of the top athletics institutions in the country. The Wolverines are a historic titan of the college foot- ball world and have remained relevant in both men’s basket- ball and hockey for decades. Those programs carry signifi- cant popularity, and their suc- cess gains plenty of publicity. But Michigan’s athletic stat- ute extends past those three to the two dozen other exciting varsity teams on campus defeat- ing rivals, making tournaments and winning titles. And the best part: Students can watch these teams for free. The Wolverines won 13 Big Ten titles last year, 11 of which were in non-revenue sports. While it’s easy to overlook some of the smaller programs and instead focus on football and basketball, the non-rev- enue sports at Michigan are an intriguing entertainment option. Here are five exciting sports to check out this year on campus. Volleyball The environment at a vol- leyball game alone is worth the trip — and that makes it a great place to start. It has one of the liveliest sporting atmospheres on campus, with passionate fans and the talented volleyball band on the sidelines. “I remember against Michi- gan State at the Crisler Center after losing the first set,” Engi- neering sophomore Nicho- las Debelak said. “(Michigan) bouncing back … (and) storm- ing ahead and the crowd danc- ing along. (They won) the game three sets to one.” Most volleyball home games are played in Cliff Keen Arena, a short 15 minute walk from the Diag. But some matches take place at Crisler Center — and it makes for a next-level atmo- sphere. Women’s soccer Last season, the women’s soccer team won its third Big Ten Tournament, its first since 1999. After finishing the sea- son ranked No. 7 nationally, the Wolverines found momen- tum in the conference tourna- ment and rode it all the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. “When there’s a full student section, the crowd can be just as electric as some of the bigger sports, and there’s a lot of fun chants,” Education junior Siob- han Stemme said. “The section has a great location right on the sideline.” The team makes for an excit- ing viewing experience at the University of Michigan Soccer Stadium for soccer diehards and sports fans alike. Gymnastics The women’s gymnastics team is Michigan’s most recent national champion, taking home the hardware in 2021. Along with the men’s team, the Wol- verines also won the Big Ten regular season and conference titles in 2022, and both teams made deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. With the elite skill level the Michigan gymnasts possess, every meet is a must-watch event. “There’s definitely a lot of energy,” LSA senior Ruby Mur- ton said. “There’s moments when one of the athletes is on the beam, and the team needs a hit routine. The feeling when they stick their landing is incredible.” The women’s team hosts its meets at Crisler Center, draw- ing large and energetic — some- times even sell-out — crowds. Meanwhile, the men’s team makes its home at Cliff Keen Arena. With both squads look- ing to run back similar triumph next season, both should make for electric atmospheres. Wrestling Coming off a Big Ten Cham- pionship and runner-up finish in the NCAA Wrestling Cham- pionships, the wrestling team is an exciting group to watch. After falling just short of the national championship — and with mul- tiple elite veterans graduating — the team will enter the season with something to prove. Redshirt junior Cameron Amine, redshirt senior Will Lewan, fifth-year senior Mason Parris and redshirt sophomore Dylan Ragusin are names worth seeing at Crisler Center and Cliff Keen Arena. Field Hockey Finally, a sleeper sport that many students — myself includ- ed — may have never even heard of before college: field hockey. While the sport is not as wide- ly known, field hockey makes for an entertaining and exhila- rating viewing experience that is pretty easy to pick up due to the similarities it shares with more widely known sports such as ice hockey and soccer. But more importantly, Michigan’s team makes the sport engaging for fans. Ending the 2021 season ranked third in the country, the Wolverines are one of the coun- try’s top contenders. And being in the Big Ten — which occupied the top six spots in the 2021 end- of-season rankings — Michi- gan routinely plays high-stakes games against elite competi- tion. During its home games at Phyllis Ocker Field, located just south of Schembechler Hall, those matchups can turn into the kind of grudge matches that make for top-tier sports memo- ries. “(The games) were really entertaining,” Stemme said. “It was a sport I’d never watched before. I found it pretty easy to follow, and the game moves pretty quickly.” With these — and many more successful non-revenue varsity programs in Ann Arbor — there are plenty of sports for passion- ate fans. And remember: All of these can be watched for free. JENNA HICKEY/Daily JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily KATE HUA/Daily JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily