• We’re Keeping These (1993 Desmond Howard banners)

    This week I posted the audio of Coach Moeller’s headset from The Catch in 1991 which happened 27 years ago this Friday.  In the backwash of Twitter reaction a gent replied with this…stadium signs apparently made back in ’91 that his roommate hung onto all these years: First off, it’s so great that Desmond himself checked out the signs and loved it.  You have to wonder if this is actually the first time he’s seen them. More importantly let’s break this down and talk about serious fandom.  No, I’m not talking about guys making signs for a football game in the early 1990s, but I’ll note that these are beyond commendable, and by the way, easy to read from a distance on TV thanks to the clear contrast and thick letters.  Well done.  But it’s not that. Following the game in 1991, after crushing the postgame pizza & beers I imagine something like this was uttered: “dude, we gotta keep these signs!”   And they did.  For nearly three decades now and running. Rolled up in someone’s closet to the dismay of family and/or spouse and/or unenlightened friends & confused neighbors.  Through all of the awkward conversations about how it’s time to get rid of them.  Through the questions such as “what are you even going to DO with these things?“.  As…

  • A Banner Day – Bronco Champions | Dr. Sap’s Decals

    Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis is a Schembechler-era savant and once again he’ll be diligently handing out his postgame helmet stickers after each game. Sap has pored over hours and hours of U-M games over several decades, and in these posts he’s able to tie the present to the past. I encourage you to subscribe to Dr. Sap on YouTube, or follow Sap on Twitter: By Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis I’m still on cloud nine after today – and it wasn’t the fact that Michigan responded with a decisive win.  I’ll explain my euphoric state shortly, but first things, first – let’s award some helmet stickers! OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – If Bo Schembechler were still around, he would have said that, “Michigan played like Michigan, today!” The old coach would have been right, once again. The offense looked sharp, decisive and confident. None more than the QB, Shea Patterson, in my opinion. Not only did he throw three TD’s, he displayed tremendous ball accuracy & placement with his throws and he looked much more comfortable running the offense this week against Western Michigan. I get it, WMU is no ND, but Bo always said that a TEAM improves the most from the first game to the second and that sure was the case today. It was great to see #2 put the ball right on the…

  • History of the GO BLUE Banner (1962) | This Week in Michigan Football History

    Saturday’s edition of This Week in Michigan Football History drops back to exactly five decades ago to November 10, 1962 as Bump Elliott’s struggling 1-5 Wolverines took on Illinois.  It was that day, according to John U. Bacon, that one of the greatest traditions in college football was hatched: the coveted Michigan GO BLUE banner. This week head back to this day exactly five decades ago in 1962, as head coach Bump Elliott and his struggling Wolverines were about to get a boost as they faced Illinois in Ann Arbor.   Team 83 had but a single win in 6 tries, and was shut-out 3 times.  They clearly needed a lift, and they got it from an unlikely source: head Michigan hockey coach Al Renfrew and his wife Marge.  According to Meechigan historian John U. Bacon, in an effort to raise the spirits of Bump’s men, Marge sewed a maize ‘M’ on a large sheet and presented it at the Friday practice.   The players liked it so coach Coach Elliott agreed to have it propped up in the stadium tunnel before the game played on this day 50 years ago.  After Bump’s men prevailed 14-10 over the Illini– the banner, needless to say, was here to stay.  According to Bacon it moved to midfield the following season where it has become…

  • Oosterbaan, Banners and Books

    So as we limp charge confidently into Saturday’s opener a few notes: Oosterbaan: You know the great Bennie O. will be honored Saturday and his #47 will be on the back of someone on the roster for the remainder of the year.  (Jeremy Jackson?  Not sure, but looking forward to finding out.)   But if you pick up a game program, I prepared a profile on Oosterbaan that attempted to get a feel for what the man was like off the field.  It includes a few stories from his family and one from my man ‘64 Jim Conley.  A sneak peak: “He had huge mitts,” Conley recalled. One day Oosterbaan was teaching the players about how they needed to be ready to catch the ball wherever it came—high, low or to the right or left. Bennie then asked a player throw errant balls in his direction. “We tossed him a low one and he leaned down, tipped the ball up with one hand and caught it in the other hand. Then he did the same thing with a high ball, and then with a ball over to the side, and so on. He didn’t drop anything. Keep in mind he was in his late 50s and wearing a suit. It was an exhibition–you just marveled at it.” The Banner:  Did you…

  • The Michigan GO BLUE Banner Tradition

    In the latest edition of the U-M’s School of Literature, Science and Arts Magazine, John U. Bacon wrote a very cool piece looking into the great traditions around Michigan football.  I even contributed a few quotes to the section on the Little Brown Jug.  LSA graduates should already have their glossy copy at home. Included is some pretty cool history talking about the history of the famed ‘M Club’ banner, check it out: from LS&A Magazine, Fall ‘09 (John U. Bacon) One other line from Bacon I loved.  While recapping the origins of The Victors, Bacs drops this great line: One overlooked aspect of “The Victors” separates it from all others: While other schools’ songs urge their teams to make a great effort in the hopes of winning, “The Victors” celebrates a crucial contest already won. Very cool.