Yooperman Bar and Grill with Yoopergirl

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: you

always say Lions fans are super loyal.

2

If you're a true blue Lions fan, you've,

and you've been there for a long time.

3

You know what it means to be loyal.

4

it's the connections you

make, the people you meet.

5

I have a whole family of Lions

fans that I see every Sunday.

6

And so I wanted it to showcase our

pride, our group of friends and family.

7

And so it's Yooperman's

Pride, Football is Family.

8

Cliff Duvernois: Hello, everyone.

9

And welcome back to Total Michigan,

where we interview ordinary people

10

doing some pretty extraordinary things.

11

I'm your host Cliff Duvenois.

12

So today, we're once again up

in God's country, up in the UP.

13

And we're talking about one of those

staples up here that if you, when

14

you come to the UP, you absolutely

should come to because there's such

15

a compelling story that's behind it.

16

And today we're talking with

Megan Stefanski from the

17

Yooperman Bar and Grill.

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Megan, how are you?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: I'm great.

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How are you?

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Cliff Duvernois: I'm great.

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How are you?

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I'm doing awesome.

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Thank you for asking.

25

So before we jump into the interview,

why don't you tell us a little bit about

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what the Yooperman Bar and Grill is?

27

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: It's my

family restaurant in Gatesville, Michigan.

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It was formerly the Gatesville Bar for,

Oh, probably 50 or 60 years I'd say.

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turned it into Yooperman's, based

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off of my dad's nickname for being

a super fan, the Detroit Lions.

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Cliff Duvernois: Yes and we're

going to talk alot more about that.

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What kind of food do you serve there?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: We serve a

little bit of everything, from burgers,

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fresh fish, prime rib, everything.

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Sandwiches and burgers are our main to

go thing, and our homemade salad bar.

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Cliff Duvernois: So when you talked before

and I really do want to explore this when

37

you talked before about your mom and dad

buying the grill why did they do that?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: It's

something he always wanted to do.

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He thought it would always be fun, a good

way to be oriented with the community.

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And he always loved to visit,

he was a people person, he

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loved to visit with people.

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And my mom is an amazing cook.

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So she does all the cooking,

all the recipes that are hers,

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all the soups, salads, dessert,

everything's made by her, homemade.

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Cliff Duvernois: homemade.

46

Okay.

47

when your dad decided rebrand it and call

it Yooperman, and there's a lot here to

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unpack, and I want to try to make sure

that we go as chronologically as we can

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from the Yooperman, it was because of why.

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: So being

a super fan for the Detroit Lions, he

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was given the nickname Yooperman when

he was inducted into the PFUFA Pro

52

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And when he bought the restaurant, they

were trying to think of what to call it.

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And I said, it's a no brainer,

Yooperman's Bar and Grill.

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And he wasn't so sure about

it, having his name on it.

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But, people love it.

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And, especially kids love the name of it.

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I've had it called everything.

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For example, we used to

sell ice cream cones.

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One of our local kids called it

Donny Queen, instead of Dairy Queen.

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Or McDonnie's, for their

burgers, instead of McDonald's.

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Cliff Duvernois: Now for this, and you

said it was an organization of super fans.

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Is that what that is?

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Talk to us a little bit about that.

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that

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

A little bit about that.

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yeah.

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Pro Football Ultimate Fan

Association, is a compromise of

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superfans from around the NFL.

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71

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it's great.

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We, support charity.

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We're all fan of fans.

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great sportsmanship.

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It's nice, too, because whenever you

go to visit another team, you have

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someone to tailgate with, someone to

sit with, someone that invites you

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into their city, into their home.

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Cliff Duvernois: So what does

it take to become a super fan?

80

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: You

are given a draft card, usually

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by someone from your own team.

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And then you go through a good year

of stuff, interviews, meeting people.

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They want to know that you are what

they want for the organization.

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Cliff Duvernois: So in these interviews

what exactly does that entail?

85

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: They

want to know, that you're welcoming

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to other fans, that you're a good

sportsmanship, what you do for

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charitable activities, things like that.

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Everybody has their own organization

that they support for the most part,

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and then as a group we do as well.

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Cliff Duvernois: And for your dad

I understand that he attended every

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single home game of the Detroit Lions.

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

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Cliff Duvernois: Every Sunday.

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Getting up at what time?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Get

up about 1:30 - 2 .Leave at 2:30.

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Cliff Duvernois: Now you're

growing up in this environment.

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, At what age did you start to

take, 'cause you also said you're

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a super fan, so what age did you

start to really show an interest?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

When I was probably 10 to 12

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is when I really got into it.

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Barry Sanders had come on the scene

and football was just exciting.

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You're that age at school where a lot

of the other kids were Packer fans.

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like Brett Favre and all that.

104

We had Barry Sanders.

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We had a rivalry going on.

106

my family's idea of family vacations

was Tigers and Lions games.

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We went to Detroit, that's what we did.

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Cliff Duvernois: We went to the same

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

so that was our thing.

110

my mom gave him season tickets.

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Cliff Duvernois: So was he just

buying the tickets as they came up?

112

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

Yeah, we would just go to random

113

games, usually as a family.

114

But yeah, when she bought those season

tickets, we, the first game we went to

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me and my brother and my mom and him.

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And his plan was only to go to

a couple of games every year.

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And before he knew it,

it's very addicting.

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It's very addicting.

119

Someone would say, I'll

drive and off you go.

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Now,

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Cliff Duvernois: Now when we

talk about this, because we're

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talking about the Lions here.

123

And I know that along the way that some

sacrifices had to be made because you're

124

talking about things like Thanksgiving

Day right because the Lions always play.

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and Mother's Day falling on Sunday and

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yeah.

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So the season always starts,

obviously after Labor Day.

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we always play Thanksgiving.

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We have a full Thanksgiving feast in

the Eastern market at our tailgate.

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I, when I was a kid, I didn't go,

in high school, I would go to a few.

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and then from college on, we

always went for Thanksgiving.

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He always, of course, went.

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He hadn't had Thanksgiving with his

own mother, my grandma, in 25 years.

134

When COVID hit, I actually, she

was just gleeful that I had to

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come to her house for Thanksgiving.

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And I was like, how does this work?

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We get up, we don't eat till noon.

138

It's at a table.

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It's not standing up in a parking lot.

140

We watch them on TV.

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This is crazy.

142

It's crazy.

143

It's crazy.

144

It was a new experience.

145

Cliff Duvernois: Definitely.

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And ‘ cause I know you said you know you

went to a couple of games in high school.

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And you’re off to college.

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What was it that shifted for you for

just going We just going to a couple of

149

games to actually going to every game?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: I

was back home and could drive.

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So when I was in college, my brother

and I both lived in mid Michigan.

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I went to Central and he went to

Alma and it was, not that far.

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We could just meet them on I 75.

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The main thing though

is my dad did not drive.

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He was never the driver.

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So someone was driving.

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So if you were going to

the game, you were driving.

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And so once I was back home,

then it was a different story, I

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was here, we'd leave from here.

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That's how it worked.

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Cliff Duvernois: And then you and

your dad would just swap driving

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positions on the way down at some point.

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

He would usually drive to West

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Branch, and then he was done.

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he, he liked to drink on Sundays.

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He always said, The Lions make me drink.

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Cliff Duvernois: drink on

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: yeah,

I was usually the driver, or one

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of his friends was the driver.

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Cliff Duvernois: Certainly.

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And we talk before about

the concept of super fan.

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and this is something I

would really like to explore.

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Because and we’ll talk about

this a little bit later.

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You know.

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Everybody’s geeked about

the Lions this year..

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There's not a lot of geek

going on, and it's easy to be

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a fan when the team is winning.

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But we're talking like

a whole other level.

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You guys are actually super fans

when the Lions aren't doing so good.

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So what is it about continuing to

support the team during those lean years?

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I guess I say,

182

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: I

guess it's just, I mean, you always

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say Lions fans are super loyal.

184

If you're a true blue Lions fan, you've,

and you've been there for a long time.

185

You know what it means to be loyal.

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But, for me, not only do I love

football, and I've watched a lot of

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bad football from the Lions over the

years, and good football, but, it's the

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connections you make, the people you meet.

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I have a whole family of Lions

fans that I see every Sunday.

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I feel like that's a big part of it.

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Cliff Duvernois: And exploring

that concept a little bit further.

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When you were growing up in this, in

this environment, was that something

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that you, is it, was it just, let's go

to the games or is it more about also

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the people that you're with as well?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Both.

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I mean, The people that would go to a

game with us, cause there's four tickets.

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That's five hours down, five hours back.

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You really get to know people.

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And it was a lot of the same

people that were going every year.

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And it was always nice to catch up.

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And then there was the people

that you meet, tailgating.

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When I was a kid, I didn't enjoy it

as much because at the Silverdome,

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it was a whole new story back then.

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It was mostly men, and it was rowdiness,

and I can remember going to the

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Silverdome where, airplanes, paper

airplanes flying and glass beer bottles

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flying over your head, and Ford Field

and the NFL in general are very much,

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fan friendly, family friendly now.

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You see a lot of people

taking kids to the games.

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There's a lot more women involved.

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but what's also great is the people that

go and that become your friends and your

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family, they're from all walks of life.

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there's so many of us that, once

you get to know each other, you're

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like, What do you do for a living?

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Where do you live?

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I have Lions friends, for example, this

weekend coming in from Philadelphia,

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and Dallas, and London, and Phoenix,

and, where else do I have some?

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Minnesota, all over the U.

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S.

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And we saw that in Kansas City, when

everyone was very surprised when we

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told them that Lions fans traveled well.

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Because I also attend all the away games.

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And a lot of people didn't want to

believe that, especially in Kansas City.

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We hadn't played there

in what, 21, 22 years?

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And they all kept saying, oh, the

two flights or so from Detroit.

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No, it's not the two flights from Detroit.

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Every flight from every city

was chock full of Lions fans.

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Cliff Duvernois: Lions fans.

228

So that's interesting.

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So that's something I didn't

catch in your back story.

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You go to the away games as well?

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yes.

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Pretty much.

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I

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Cliff Duvernois: was

horrible of you to do that.

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I pretty much hit them all.

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Cliff Duvernois: I think also

too, when you're talking about

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season tickets, you're sitting

basically next to the same people.

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All the time.

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Yes.

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get to really know them.

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Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

Oh yeah, for sure.

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just our section alone, so we

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And we moved to the current

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It was, we only, it might

have even been in three.

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We sat in different seats that first year.

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So we're right over the tunnel.

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And the people behind me, the people

in front of me, the people across

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the aisle have become family to me.

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My friend Derek moved to his

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a lot of away games together.

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He comes up every summer

to support my charity.

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The people across the

aisle from me, same thing.

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They were here in July

for my hospice benefit.

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The people behind me were right out of

college and dating when I first met them.

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Now they're married with three kids.

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I mean you just, you

really get to know people.

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It's like a family.

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It's like the movie Fever Pitch, I

don't know if you've ever watched it.

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It's based on a Nick Hornsby, novel.

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And it's about the Red Sox and how

they come back after the summer and

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they're all like, How was your summer?

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And how was this?

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And how's the family?

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Because you know each other so well

from sitting there for so long.

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Cliff Duvernois: And I would definitely,

I want to explore that a little bit more,

269

but for our audience, we're going to

take a quick break to thank our sponsors.

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And when we come back, we're going

to hear more about the story behind,

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Yooper man, and especially what

you can expect when you go there.

272

We'll see you after the break.

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Hello everyone.

291

And welcome back to Total Michigan,

where we talk to ordinary Michiganders

292

doing pretty extraordinary things.

293

I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.

294

Today, we're talking with Megan Stefanski

from the Yooperman Bar and Grill.

295

And we're talking pretty heavy about the

Lions and going to the Lions game and how

296

this has been a family tradition for you.

297

But that kind of changed at some point,

so why don't you tell us a little

298

bit about what happened to your dad?

299

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: yeah.

300

So the very first week of the

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actually on the first day of school.

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I was, I'm a school librarian.

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So I was heading to school for the year.

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And he passed away on Tuesday,

the day after Labor Day.

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And our first game was

the following Sunday.

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And, it just threw me for a loop.

307

I knew the season was going

to be the same, but yet, I

308

was used to going with him.

309

I had to decide who was going to take

his place on these games, and how I

310

was going to be able to handle it.

311

Basically, just from there.

312

Cliff Duvernois: And you chose

to keep going to the games.

313

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yeah, at

that point, I felt like it was part of me.

314

I've been doing it for so long.

315

I couldn't stop.

316

And I had such close friends and

family down there that I couldn't

317

imagine not seeing them every Sunday.

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Cliff Duvernois: So why don't you talk

to us about going to that first game?

319

Cause you said he passed away on a Tuesday

320

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

passed away on a Tuesday.

321

The very first game was in Arizona, so

I had a week until we were in Detroit.

322

And the first home game

was against the Chargers.

323

So all our Chargers friends were there.

324

There was a big tailgate.

325

A lot of celebrating him.

326

A lot of sadness.

327

The Lions created a video for

him, played it on the Jumbotron.

328

The hardest part, I think,

was sitting in his seat.

329

I was never allowed to sit in his seat.

330

That was his seat.

331

So now it's my seat.

332

So sitting in that seat for

the first game was hard.

333

Cliff Duvernois: I bet.

334

Now is this because you mentioned

before the break about your

335

charity raising money for

336

hospice.

337

is this where this came from?

338

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yeah.

339

wife convinced him to do dancing with

340

the stars, which here in the Sault is

a fundraiser for hospice of the UP.

341

And while doing that, he toured the

hospice house and got to see what

342

it was all about and decided that

was going to be his main charity.

343

we're a very charitable family.

344

And Yooperman's business is as well.

345

If anybody needs help with something,

we've hosted many fundraisers.

346

first hospice fundraiser.

347

And I've always helped him do that.

348

And I've continued it

since he passed away.

349

So this last year, we actually

raised $25,000, in one day.

350

We have donations from everything from

jars of jam, homemade wine, signed

351

Barry Sanders footballs from the

Lions, everything you can imagine.

352

People donate, we have a live auction.

353

Cornhole tournament.

354

People just send money.

355

It's great.

356

Cliff Duvernois: You also talked

before about, and I want to go

357

back and explain this a little bit.

358

The Lions did this video tribute

to your dad on the jumbotron.

359

So your family is really

connected with the Lions.

360

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yeah.

361

Yeah, they've been great to

my family over the years.

362

Mrs.

363

Ford sent my mother, a sympathy

card when he passed away.

364

Yes, Mrs.

365

Martha Ford, yes.

366

Cliff Duvernois: How did that

relationship with the Lions start?

367

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: They

just know who's their true fans.

368

They knew we was there every Sunday.

369

0 16, we were there every game.

370

And you make friends in the organization.

371

And, December of...

372

before he passed, but the game before

373

was his, it'd been 25 straight years of

attending games, his 200th straight game.

374

One of the guys in the office

kept telling me, we're going

375

to do something great for him.

376

Just wait.

377

And, so we were down on

the field before the game.

378

And then they pulled him out

there to congratulate him and

379

gave him Super Bowl tickets.

380

So he, his last NFL game he

attended before he passed was...

381

Super Bowl in Atlanta.

382

Cliff Duvernois: the He

must have been geeked.

383

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yeah.

384

he liked it.

385

He said the only thing better would

have been if it was the Lions.

386

But, Yeah, so that was awesome of them.

387

But yeah, they're great to my family.

388

They've sent me to the NFL

draft the last couple years.

389

They always support my charity.

390

They're great.

391

They purchased copies of the book.

392

I actually got a package

for them last week.

393

They mailed me a copy of my book where

all the current players had signed it.

394

Cliff Duvernois: Beautiful.

395

Let’s take a couple of minutes

and actually talk about your book.

396

So first off why write a book?

397

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: So every

year when I do the Hospice Benefit

398

and I'd said how all my friends come,

I'm a huge thank you card person.

399

I send thank you cards for everything.

400

And I always include a little

Something in it like a handmade

401

bracelet I find on Etsy or lion

stickers or something fun like that

402

So I had a friend who was an illustrator.

403

And she has a business where she

helps you publish children's books.

404

And I thought this could be neat I

could write a little book about dad

405

and I and just get 50 copies made and

give them away as my thank you gifts.

406

So that was the plan.

407

And, as always, my plans go crazy.

408

And I hadn't even seen an

actual hard copy of the book.

409

I'd only seen it, laid out on my iPad.

410

And I had told a few

of my friends about it.

411

then they ordered it off Amazon.

412

So I was like, I have to order

it so I can see it first.

413

I hope it's okay.

414

So after people just started ordering

it, i, posted it, or I put a tweet

415

on Twitter saying, here's a little

something I've been working on.

416

And within 10 minutes the

Detroit Lions retweeted it.

417

And we're like, so excited, just bought

several copies for our little cubs.

418

And then one of my friends, who received

it first, sent me a picture of him

419

in his Lions gear holding the book.

420

Someone saw that and then they did it.

421

And then someone else

did it and they did it.

422

And it just spiraled until people

I've only met once or twice, people

423

I've never met, fans from other teams.

424

Cliff Duvernois: Oh wow.

425

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: It was

crazy of them holding photos of the book.

426

And so it just went from there.

427

So how many copies do you think you've

428

Cliff Duvernois: So how many copies

do you think you've sold so far?

429

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

Oh, I'd say over 500 for sure.

430

Cliff Duvernois: Nice.

431

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: after

the free press article last week,

432

I've sold another two, 250 of them.

433

Cliff Duvernois: And, like you said,

this was just something that you did just

434

to to share with you and your families.

435

Was it just something to, also

to just document your story?

436

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: It was just

a bit, like it tells a bit of our story.

437

And it's called Yooperman's Pride.

438

the Lions hashtag and slang is one pride.

439

Most people know that a pride is a

group of Lions, a family, a group.

440

And so I wanted it to showcase our

pride, our group of friends and family.

441

And so it's Yooperman's

Pride, Football is Family.

442

Because I've always said that

we've all become a large family.

443

Cliff Duvernois: And I also too,

because I think you're eminently

444

qualified to talk about this topic.

445

Everybody this year is, it just

seems like they are pro Lions.

446

I mean, Lions are gonna

do great this year.

447

They're just gonna do awesome.

448

I can't open up my, I don't

even like really subscribe that

449

much to anything like football.

450

But it's like amazing just how everybody

is geeked on the Lions this year.

451

Everybody's on everybody's a fan now.

452

Everybody's a fan.

453

Yes, so talk to me as a true fan.

454

How do you think they're going to do?

455

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: do?

456

I think we're going to

have a great season.

457

And it's not even the win number.

458

People are excited again about the Lions.

459

Like it for years It was who wants to go

to a game who wants to go like sometimes

460

you have to like beg people to go.

461

And now they're begging me for tickets.

462

And how can you hook me up?

463

And how can we get there?

464

And our home opener is

this Sunday and right now?

465

They're standing room tickets only

available for 250 a pop which is crazy.

466

They've sold out of season tickets for

the first time in Ford Field history.

467

Everybody's excited.

468

Cliff Duvernois: Everybody's excited.

469

So that's the only tickets they've

got left is a standing room tickets.

470

So this is ,the season passes all gone.

471

Regular seats all gone.

472

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yep.

473

Yep.

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Yep.

475

Players are excited to be there.

476

We're bringing free agents in.

477

We're bringing great coaches in.

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Coaches are staying that

would normally leave.

479

We're, and then after last week's when you

can just see the excitement in the air.

480

Oh my god.

481

Yeah, Detroit is just

gonna be booming on Sunday.

482

Ford Field is gonna be so loud in there.

483

I'm waiting to see how many

false starts the Seahawks have.

484

I'm guesstimating five to six.

485

Because when Lions fans want

to be loud, we are loud.

486

And we showed up in kansas City

and took over that stadium.

487

That was an amazing win.

488

And that's just the start of it.

489

Cliff Duvernois: What do you think

490

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: about

491

Cliff Duvernois: Dan Campbell?

492

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

I love Dan Campbell.

493

He wants people to think he's a meathead.

494

He loves that.

495

He's very smart.

496

Dan's a good guy.

497

Going back to where I said I always

send thank you cards for things.

498

Two drafts ago in Las Vegas I was

excited, we had Aiden Hutchison, Local

499

Boy in the first round and Jameson,

and I always send the marketing

500

directors and them thank you cards.

501

And I always buy them coffee cards.

502

Well, those of you who know

Dan Campbell knows that he

503

loves his coffee his espressos.

504

He's wired up.

505

And so I had sent him a card

and wrote Coach, great draft.

506

Super excited about this season.

507

And he actually called me to

personally thank me and, ask, about

508

how long I've been a fan and about

my family and stuff like that.

509

And I think that's why the

players connect with him so much.

510

Is that he cares about all of them.

511

He's excited to be here.

512

I mean, he played for us.

513

and he played for us

when it was very rough.

514

When we were not very good at all.

515

And it's funny because they

brought back his old jersey.

516

And it's one of the top selling jerseys.

517

who else can say that their coach's jersey

from, what, 15 years ago is a top seller.

518

Cliff Duvernois: And what do you

think the Lions will do differently

519

this year than they have in the past?

520

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: They've just,

they've really reached out to the fans.

521

They've made the city super proud of them.

522

Everyone wants to be a part of it.

523

The NFL draft is being held

in Detroit in the next spring.

524

It's just the excitement in the air.

525

Everybody is excited.

526

Cliff Duvernois: And what do

you think that cause I know

527

that it’s a total team effort.

528

You know you’ve got your coach

and you’ve got the players.

529

And for Dan Campbell what do you think

he’s going to be thinking about going

530

forward as far as the team goes, what,

is going to be the difference there?

531

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Just winning.

532

And having fun winning.

533

it's hard to explain for people who aren't

used to going and seeing the difference.

534

But there's just like this

electricity in the air.

535

And that's how it was Sunday,

like throughout the whole game.

536

Any other year, people would have said S.

537

O.

538

L., Same Old Lions.

539

And we would have lost that game.

540

But, it's just different now.

541

I don't even know how to describe it

unless you're used to what it's been.

542

Like, when that game was over and

the players were running up to all

543

the fans on the sidelines like our

GM Brad was screaming and swearing

544

and running down the sidelines.

545

Our president was high fiving fans.

546

I mean it was just it

brings everyone together.

547

When you have a player like for example

last night C CJ Gardner Johnson said

548

you know We aren't the Motor City

kiddies anymore, We are villains,

549

which Brad our GM had said this fall.

550

I'm gonna be known as the villain.

551

He's I want everyone wearing blue ski

masks Sunday, especially on defense.

552

Amazon sold out of blue ski

masks last night from Lions fans.

553

I mean, everybody's on board.

554

It's gonna be insane.

555

By 6 a.

556

m.

557

in the market, it's just gonna

be crazy, and I can't wait.

558

You'll just feel the

electricity in the air.

559

Cliff Duvernois: I So I guess the

next question that I have for you

560

would be this, because there's all

of this expectations that the Lions

561

are just going to be great this year.

562

And I'm not saying this because

I'm necessarily a pragmatist.

563

Because I know that a lot of

people handle expectations well.

564

And other people sometimes like falter.

565

But you're saying that they're

going to have a winning year.

566

So what makes you think that based

on all the hype that's come around

567

her?

568

What makes you think that they're

going to have a great year?

569

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl:

Our players they don't quit.

570

They have grit and they have perseverance.

571

And I'm not saying we're going to go

out and win the super bowl, but I see

572

us hosting our first home playoff game

at Ford field ever, which is a big

573

reason that season tickets sold out.

574

People want to be there

to see them finally win.

575

I mean it's something

that people just crave.

576

We've been waiting forever.

577

the last time they won the Super Bowl,

it wasn't even called the Super Bowl.

578

And that was always a joke my

dad made, was the last time they

579

won was the year he was born.

580

He always joked the next time

they win would be the year

581

he died, which didn't happen.

582

But I have a photo of him,

583

holding a championship Detroit Lions

584

football in front of a Christmas tree.

585

Cliff Duvernois: So your dad

even grew up in that environment.

586

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Oh

yeah, and it's just, we haven't

587

had a playoff win since I was what?

588

I'm probably not doing

the math right, 13 maybe?

589

A home one since, maybe I was 10?

590

it's been forever.

591

And just hosting a playoff game at

Ford Field and winning the north,

592

something we haven't done in years.

593

beating the packers last

year was our super bowl.

594

But when we really start winning,

this is going to be just fantastic.

595

And that's just little by little.

596

And then it just spirals from there.

597

More players want to come.

598

More free agents.

599

But, like I said, everybody is pumped.

600

And when you get that winning

mentality going, it's hard to stop it.

601

Cliff Duvernois: You are

so correct on that one.

602

Megan, if somebody's listening to

this interview, maybe they want

603

to check out the Yooperman bar

and Grill, or maybe they just want

604

to follow your adventures online.

605

What would be the best

way for them to connect?

606

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Yooperman's

Bar and Grill is on Facebook.

607

I'm the one that does

all the posting for it.

608

So you'll see a few Lions things.

609

But mostly our daily

specials, things like that.

610

just going to Yooperman's is

like attending a Lions museum.

611

We have the Super Bowl

tickets he won up on the wall.

612

We've got photos.

613

We've got news articles.

614

All sorts of great stuff.

615

Cliff Duvernois: Megan, thank you

once again for being on the show

616

today and sharing your story.

617

I really do appreciate it.

618

Megan Stefanski, Yoopergirl: Thank you.

619

Cliff Duvernois: And for our audience, you

can always roll on over to TotalMichigan.

620

com, click on Megan's interview and

get the link that she mentioned above.

621

We'll see you next week when we talk

to another ordinary Michigander doing

622

some pretty extraordinary things.

623

We'll see you then.