The recent discovery of an 1892 Athletic Association pin clarified the deep history of this lost Michigan tradition. I view this tradition as a bit of a historic puzzle, and this find provided a huge tangible piece of evidence on its origins. This post shares the latest history as I understand it today.
-
-
Shand v. Martin Case Tossed Out
After numerous motions and delays, a judge has thrown out the case of former Michigan hockey player and coach, NHL’er, and WTKA 1050AM morning host Dave Shand against U-M athletic director Bill Martin. Shand claimed he was wrongfully terminated in April 2007 from WTKA at the order of Martin, who, they argued, pressured station brass to remove the outspoken host. The gist of the complaint: 20. On April 19, 2007, Martin communicated both indirectly and directly with [WTKA station brass] Bolak and Cowen, and informed them that he would not allow WTKA to participate in a planned coverage of a UM charity golf event if they permitted plaintiff to broadcast it. 21. Martin further indicated that he wanted the station to fire the plaintiff, and stated that if they did not, he would no longer allow WTKA to carry University of Michigan football games. It appears as though Shand’s team was never able to present smoking gun evidence of Martin’s direct involvement in the firing. Shand’s attorney Nick Roumel explained via email, “Some of our evidence was hearsay because we never actually had anyone who heard Martin himself make the statements we alleged he said. We argued that the hearsay was nonetheless admissible under certain hearsay exceptions.” Roumel added, “I’m proud of Dave for standing up for his rights.” We…
-
$6.6M and a dope with a Calculator
John Heuser’s piece in the Ann Arbor News, discussing this week that Rich Rodriguez’s compensation tallied up to $6.6M, was thoroughly blasted in the blogosphere– see Brian Cook’s posts on mgoblog and AOL, and the gang at Wolverine Liberation Army. Heuser was defended by his former colleague Jim Carty on his blog. JC called it a “meaty little story” and after acknowledging Brian Cook’s greatness took a few shots across the virtual bow. If you read this site regularly you might recall my October 2008 interview with Dave Shand where he reveals the scuttlebutt that Michigan was going to pay the taxes on the buy-out: Shand:…So it cost Michigan, they say $2.5 million. But I’ve heard, through back sources, that Rich Rodriguez did not realize that the $2.5 million that Michigan is paying on his behalf is taxable, so Rodriquez is going to have to pay taxes on that. Plus there’s the million and a half out of his own pocket. That was indeed scuttlebutt at the time, but then a couple weeks later Rodriguez’s contract was FOIA’d and the terms of the buy-out were revealed. Those terms included the language on the tax neutralization [from my post on October 27, 2008]: Thanks to the contract being available via FOIA, we know that this is true (here’s the full contract),…
-
Michigan Today: Aerial Views of campus
The January edition of the online alumni magazine Michigan Today was released tonight. Included is a nice slideshow of aerial photos taken around campus by Scott Galvin of U-M Photo Services. While we’ve seen many shots above the Big House over the years, I thought this one was pretty cool:
-
Photos of the Yost Ice Arena damage, repair
sue was discovered by one of the mason's working on the new indoor practice facility next door and the University decided to postpone Friday's game scheduled against Miami, OH to investigate and mitigate any risk of injury to passers-by or hockey fans.
-
Carr Reacts to Leach comments (kind of)
Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News dropped into Lloyd Carr’s office in Wiedenbach Hall this week and tried to get your former coach to bite. He didn’t. Of note: Former Michigan quarterback Rick Leach said early in the week on an Ann Arbor radio station, in response to a question about Carr, that he wishes the former coach would come out publicly to support Rodriguez. “As far as I know, there’s been no comment, nothing come out publicly to support him, and to me, and I guess since I speak my mind, my feeling is, I guess silence speaks 1,000 words,” Leach said. “I wish he would, because many people came to his side when he needed help.” [Ed: Here’s the audio:] Carr, however, said he made his intentions clear from the beginning. “I’ve talked with Rich several times, and I told him I would not be making any comments publicly because I didn’t want to have anything that I said be misconstrued,” Carr said. “However, I told him if he ever needed me, I was available. I would be there. “And he made it clear that I was always welcome. I think our relationship has been very positive.” To the folks who insist Lloyd Carr come out and say something: What exactly is he supposed to say? That he…
-
Fielding H. Yost’s Warning to the Drunks (1933)
With more than a nip in the air the past couple of weeks it’s time to turn to alcohol. Here is a 1934 Michiganesian yearbook with photos from the 1933-34 school year and athletic seasons. Often the yearbooks are dated with the year the school ends (not begins), therefore for football purposes this beauty contains recaps and photos of the 1933 national championship season, not 1934, arguably the worst season in Wolverine pigskin history. The value of the yearbook is certainly lifted by the presence of president-to-be, Gerald Ford, here in his Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity photo: The seller shows a few photos in the auction but the highlight is this–some type of cartoon the yearbook staff thankfully included: I love it. Above notation “The Alumni Return”, the box reads, “Drinkers Are Warned Again By Coach Yost. Stadium Officials Ordered to Eject All Spectators Found Drunk“, and the cartoon depicts a happy fellow in a raccoon coat chugging a bottle of the good stuff. While this was clearly part of the 1934 yearbook, it’s possible it was some sort of nostalgic piece from earlier school years. Why? Fielding H. Yost probably would have been referred to as “Director Yost” if this were written in 1933 or 1934. This school year featured the end of Prohibition with ratification of the 21st…
-
HBO’s The Rivalry Released on DVD, Review
Glad to hear that HBO’s documentary on the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is now available on DVD. You can get a copy here from Amazon.com or head over to your local Borders. I really enjoyed it; here’s my review from last November (with a few tweaks): ———————————————- With the hype building for Saturday it was a great night to watch the premiere of HBO’s first documentary dedicated to sports: The Rivalry. Initial review by those that at pre-screening event was that it was slanted toward the Buckeyes and didn’t mention Lloyd Carr. I went in with an open mind: – The content definitely slanted toward the Buckeye side of the house. I’d say the last half of the piece was 80% focused on Ohio State fans and Woody Hayes. – Overall it was well done. While they didn’t have any mention/picture/video of Lloyd Carr, they didn’t exactly spend a lot of time on Tressel. But the Carr omission was a little weird. I mean, they showed footage of John Cooper and a lot of Earle Bruce, but and didn’t mention Carr? – The quotes from Bo were great. They talked about the gold pants that each OSU coaches and players gets if they beat Michigan (and later show up on eBay). One thing that never occurred to me is that Bo…
