[Bumped July 2025, due to news of a potential U-M football game in Germany in 2026. Originally posted in December 2008]: ‘A unique, well-traveled piece of Michigan athletics memorabilia showed up on eBay this week. It’s described to be a ticket stub from a game between Michigan baseball and a university team from Tokyo, played in Japan in 1932. At first glance, I laughed, thinking there was no way a college team traveled to Japan during the throes of the Great Depression to play baseball. And the auction description didn’t help sell it for me: 1932 Michigan University vs Meiji University tour ticket stub from game 1 played at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. According to an excellent summary published in Michigan Today in 1998, the story began with Japanese teams conducting a college tour in the US years earlier, with many of the stops in Ann Arbor from 1911 to 1925. Then, in 1929, Michigan coach Ray Fisher received an invitation from Meiji University, inviting the maize and blue to visit Japan as “ambassadors of goodwill.” Fielding Yost and the board of athletics approved the trip, and so they headed west, then more west, until they reached the Far East in 1929: The stub in the eBay auction claims the ticket to be from the 1932 trip, which per the…
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The Michigan Union Button: Rediscovering a Lost Tradition
The entire history of the pins or "buttons" issued at the University of Michigan for over 50 years, starting in the mid-1890s through 1960s. Includes new images, manufacturer info and much more on the history of this cherished U-M tradition.
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Why Michigan Left the Big Ten Conference in 1908 | The Drama and Aftermath
Spearheaded by the request of Michigan’s president James B. Angell, officials from the schools representing the Western Conference (U-M, Chicago, Minnesota, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana) met in Chicago in January 1906 to discuss major reforms. Their target? Michigan football and its coach Fielding H. Yost. Here's how it played out.
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2023: A (New) Space Quandary on The Little Brown Jug
We're out of space for scores on the Little Brown Jug (again!). Here's a look at the considerations and options for the oldest rivalry trophy in college football.
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MISSING: When the Little Brown Jug was Stolen!
The TRUE story of what happened in the 1930s when the Little Brown Jug was stolen from the Michigan administration building on State Street.
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Where Bob Ufer Laid Woody Hayes Away
How Bo and Ufer laid Woody Hayes away.
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True Dedication – Opening Michigan Stadium Sights & Sounds (1927)
A few sights and sounds from the Michigan Stadium dedication on October 22, 1927. Video footage, a theft(!), the MMB, enemy praise and much more.
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The Snow Bowl (1950)
But none of these games, even the Rose Bowl, told the story of the 1950 season. It was all about what happened in the amazing game in Columbus that year. It was November 25, 1950, in Columbus—a game that will forever be known as The Snow Bowl. The lead-up, game and aftermath of one of the greatest games in college football history: 1950's "Snow Bowl" - Michigan at Ohio State.
