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.
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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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Chicken Choked
I sit across from the heart of the Yost student section and it wasn’t hard to make out one particular young mind on Friday night: the dude dressed as a chicken screaming into a megaphone. Turns out that crazy chicken was Andy Reid, sports editor of the Daily. He made an encore appearance Saturday night but things didn’t go as planned: Saturday night, I got kicked out. Not cool, dude. Amidst an entire student section doing the same thing [the vulgar C-YA chant], an usher grabbed my elbow and told me it was time to leave, unless I wanted to be led out of the stadium in handcuffs. I will admit that I stood out from the other Children of Yost. I may or may not have had a megaphone. And I may or may not have been, ahem, dressed up — if you went to the game, you might have seen a six-foot chicken standing against the glass in section 18. But that’s even more reason to not kick me out. How is the team supposed to focus and be motivated without a yellow, fuzzy chicken standing behind the glass? Reid suggests other things could be done to curb the nasty chant (which is delivered when opposing players are sent to the penalty box) including a message from Red…
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eBay Watch: Billy Sauer’s Mask (2007)
Next up on eBay Watch, someone’s listing what they claim is the winged helmet and facemask belonging to former Michigan hockey goalie Billy Sauer: The seller says this mask was worn in the 2007 NCAA playoffs and Frozen Four, per the description: Game worn Billy Sauer University of Michigan helmet worn during the 2007 season including the NCAA Playoffs and Frozen Four. Itech mask with gorgeous Michigan paint job by Gilders(see all attached pictures). Helmet shows good usage with puck/stick marks on the top of the helmet and as well as on the chin area. Tough to argue on the authenticity here, and the seller points out a chip on the chin that appears to be on a photo of Sauer: According to a quick Googlestalk, Sauer is currently playing with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Looks like he’s struggled a bit early on but he did get his first professional win last week on Wednesday. Great to hear. The seller didn’t explain how he came to own the mask or why it was put on the block. It doesn’t appear to be tied to a University charity or fundraiser. The auction closed tonight, and no one bit on the $1,599.00 asking price, which seems way steep. Other cool stuff: A pin from the 1927 Illinois game at Champaign. Starting at…
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Official Official Statements after the game
The U-M Media Relations department circulated this after the game. I’m not publishing it because I have some beef with the calls or think they had a major impact on the game. I haven’t seen the replay of the lateral yet but assume they made the correct call, and it looked like Michigan got a huge break on the fumbled punt that was negated by the bad interference call. I’m not sure who’s asking the questions– Following are the quotes from Todd Geerlings, the Referee from today’s Michigan-Purdue Game. What was the interpretation on the fourth down review with the forward lateral? What was it that the replay official saw? TODD GEERLINGS: “The replay official saw that the ball, when it left his hand to the point where it touched the receiver’s hand, was clearly forward from the 13 to the 12 yard line. That’s why we had an illegal forward pass from the spot of that pass.” Who called for the review? GEERLINGS: “The booth called for the review and I announced that on the field prior to. The coaches on the field were trying to but Purdue did not have a challenge left so they couldn’t have. They were trying to but just as I got the buzz on the pager, I just turned to Purdue and said…
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The Rift Reality, Part II
I see there’s a little bit of a freak out happening on this whole Forcier/Rodriguez rift nonsense. Do I think Forcier did and probably said something that pissed off Rodriguez? Yes, I think so but I think it’s more about what he was doing on the field. TATE!!!! Do I think this will carry over into next week? No, in fact I’m sure it’s already far gone and Rodriguez and Forcier’s coach-player relationship will be better for whatever miscommunication occurred. Do I think Forcier is the absolutely the #1 option at quarterback (despite the depth chart that still lists Sheridan as an “OR” haha)? For sure. Will Robinson get more snaps next game? Sure and I would like to see Robinson get more snaps against Delaware State to get more comfortable. The last pass was horrible but he’s a freshman (look at some of Stanzi’s passes- yikes) and it’s not like Forcier was having success delivering the ball to the wide-outs. I’m not concerned about any of this stuff at quarterback, but I can’t say that about the Boubacar situation, which Ira and I covered with Andy Mignery and Sam Webb on the WTKA pre-game show Saturday. More this morning from the Freep but note this is part reporting, part editorial: CISSOKO OUT? Rodriguez sounded pessimistic about Boubacar Cissoko’s future,…
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Gym Rat
IMHO, the personal attacks against Rosenberg have gone way overboard but I can’t resist this brilliant gem. From umtailgate.com’s photo gallery from Saturday’s Far Eastern extravaganza, just published:
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Eastern Michigan Post Game notes
Another nice win as Michigan pulls away in the second half to take down Ron English and the EMU Eagles. Tip of the hat to English whose squad put together a gutty first half and played hard throughout. It’s easy to forget about the giant holes in our defensive line when guys are sprinting for touchdowns right and left (or north and south I guess), but it remains a concern. Miscellanea: QB Depth: As Tate Forcier lay flat on the ground with his face in the turf, visions of sugar plums and roses (which remain on the far right of the possible season outcome continuum) got a bit blurred. Denard’s two poor passes over the middle show he’s not ready to be the quarterback of this team and that’s not a shock. Big things could happen with Forcier at the helm but if he goes down and Robinson is inserted, we become a better team than 2008 but not much more. Speed: There are many reasons to be giddy about this season, but we’re seeing that promise of speed with three demonstrations that are on par with any burst we’ve seen in years, maybe since Steve Breaston in the 2005 Rose Bowl. Consider (I’m going to collect these like when fans put up K’s at baseball games): Robinson’s fumble-turned-touchdown run…
