Regular readers of this site know one of my favorite decades of Michigan football is the 1930s, having covered different seasons and events in eBay Watch and in the Little Brown Jug Lore series from those years. If I had to pick one year as my favorite during the stretch it’s definitely 1934 which is ironic, as it’s arguably the worst season in Michigan football history. I argued this point here and here, but in a nutshell consider that Harry Kipke’s team, coming off back-to-back national championships, finished 1-7, was shut out in five of the eight games and scored a mere 21 points. Fugly. Despite the futility on the gridiron, the season is packed with historical treasures of major significance both on and off the field. Check out this program from the Ohio State-Michigan held on November 17, 1934: The program features several photos of players, including a collage of the Michigan team including team MVP Gerald Ford: The top of the photo features Willis Ward, the African American end who was at the center of a fierce controversy that played out before the Georgia Tech game a few weeks earlier that season. For those not familiar, The Jackets made it known well before the game that they wouldn’t take the field in Ann Arbor if Ward played, spawning…
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Don Canham’s Gift
Prior to the Purdue game I sat in for a segment on WOMC’s Tailgate Show. Just before I went on the air, host Lucy Ann Lance summoned over Peg Canham, widow of legendary Michigan athletic director Don Canham. Mrs. Canham was wearing a stunning necklace and it caught my eye. Lance knew a bit about it and mentioned that it was a gift from the former AD, made from an old Wolverine football championship ring. I wanted to know a little more, so I connected with Mrs. Canham afterward and she was kind enough to send along a photo: I knew there was something very familiar about her necklace, and it didn’t take long to figure out why. I’ve featured a few Michigan championship rings on eBay Watch over the years including this one from 1977: Along with the photo, Mrs. Canham was kind enough to share a few memories about the ring. “He surprised me with the necklace for Christmas shortly after we were married in 1995,” she told me. “As I’m sure you can figure Don had a jewelry box full of rings but this one was always my favorite because it is the Michigan Stadium, and he knew it.” She also noted that in the famous photo of Don Canham at his desk (the same one you…
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Ron Kramer Soars on the Michigan Hardwood (1957)
Hoops season rapidly approaches so next up on eBay Watch we’ve got a beautiful wire photo from 1957 featuring multi-sport letterman Ron Kramer trying to block a shot against Purdue: It’s a wonderful shot and offers a view of basketball inside Yost Field House in the 1950s, with digital scoring?. Michigan defeated the Boilers 66-54 on this February day thanks in large part to captain Kramer’s 17 points. And those hops are not just the result of the camera angle: Kramer was a high jumper on the track team and was known to trot over from the football practice field and smoke fools at the high jump in meets. He finished that basketball season as Michigan’s all-time leading scorer. Kramer is best known for his exploits on the gridiron of course, but I’ve heard that he had an unbelievable gift as a cager. His exploits on and off the field/court/track are chronicled in the book, That’s Just Kramer!
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Rick Leach Remembers Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych (audio)
Former Michigan quarterback Rich Leach, on hand for the Alumni flag football game (or as Leach calls it, the Old Farts game) Saturday, called in to WTKA to remember his former teammate, Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych who died yesterday. [display_podcast] It’s vintage Leach. First, he talks about his relationship and experiences with Fidrych, including the struggles down in the minors. Don’t miss the story about the trip to Columbus where the opposing pitcher put Leach in the dirt, a little message to old #7. He finishes up with a few thoughts on the Spring game, including what having the players back meant to Rich Rodriguez.
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eBay Watch: Those Corny Winged Helmets (1989)
Update 3/10: A little more hockey helmet history on WTKA tonight. John U. Bacon brought this up on the Red Berenson show and the old coach brought up more details on those days, twenty years ago, when the hockey team donned the winged helmets. [display_podcast] I didn’t know that the helmet designs are actually taped (Red explains why). Red also said the players liked the new helmets at least “for the most part, there’s always a couple”. Yes, we know at least one student athlete who thought the design was 100% pure cornball (see below). Original post from 2/21/09: This week we’ll start with an unlikely candidate for an eBay Watch post: a hockey program from the February 11, 1989 game against Notre Dame. Bidding starts at $4.95 and here’s a look: Shortly after this game, in late February of 1989, Red Berenson gave the green light for the team to apply the famed winged pattern to the hockey helmets. This month marks the 20th anniversary of the hockey version of the football design (which coincidentally had its 70th anniversary this season). The exact day in that February? I’m not exactly sure. John U. Bacon devoted a chapter to the switch in Blue Ice, and the Bentley Library republished it for you here. Here’s captain Alex Roberts recollection of that…
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Red Berenson Ain’t Riding | Michigan Hockey’s Cold Night in the Soo
With Lake Superior State in town this weekend I thought I’d share some audio from my interview last fall with former Michigan hockey player and coach Dave Shand. This was published in the third segment of the interview, which was conducted over drinks at the great Mac’s Acadian restaurant in downtown Saline. I just made a comment about how Rich Rod hates to lose and this prompts Shand to go into a story about the night they lost 10-5 to Lake Superior State up in Sault Ste Marie in November 1990. Amazing story: MVictors: Sticking on the topic of coaches, we still don’t know a whole lot about Rodriguez but we know he really doesn’t like to lose. I think he cited it as a reason he didn’t want to film Michigan Replay after games (in case they lost). Shand: You haven’t seen fuckin’ Red after a loss. There’s actually a story in John Bacon’s book Blue Ice. We’re up in Sault Ste Marie, and we’re playing Lake [Superior] State. I think the previous 27 times we’d played them we beat them twice. This was 90-91. Lake State was defending national champions. They were big, physical and they’d bang the shit out of you, especially in their own building. I think we lost 10-5. It’s just Red and I up…
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A Hard Combination to Beat (1905 Michigan Football)
Another vintage Michigan football item showed up this week on eBay, this time a post card celebrating Fielding Yost and his fine 1905 squad. The team is assembled in a line with Yost in the middle, standing on a large sign in the shape of a football that reads 'Western Championship'. Atop the photo is a block letter title, 'A HARD COMBINATION TO BEAT'.
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Carl Dougovito is a bad MoFo | Michigan Wrestling (1931-32)
The next edition of eBay Watch takes a foray onto uncharted waters--Michigan wrestling. A couple scorecards from wrestling meets were offered up on the online auction site this past week, one from the February 14, 1931 battle against Ohio State, the next from a January 9, 1932 meet against the University of Toronto. Both were held at Yost Field House.
