• Jalen’s General Lee

    NFW.  Not only is this real, it’ll be up for bid on eBay starting May 23rd (HT: Freep): Can I rent it for a weekend instead? The ‘Buy it now’ will be set at $100,000, with a reserve of $45,000.  Proceeds benefit the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, more details: This is a pre-auction viewing for an auction beginning May 23rd with proceeds being donated to the "Jalen Rose Leadership Academy".  Further details on this foundation can be found below this description.  This 1969 Dodge Charger is slated to be one of the last surviving cars from "Dukes of Hazzard".  The vinyls have been customized to reflect Jalen Rose’s basketball number as well as his childhood nickname.  With an upgraded sound system and custom leather interior, this "General Lee" has been a part of Jalen’s private collection of premiere vehicles for the last 10 years.  Featuring a 360ci V-8 crate motor, 4 wheel disc brakes, Alpine sound system featuring trunk mounted sub-woofer, custom embroidered "Charger" floor mats, white letter BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires, and autographed rear decklid by Jalen Rose and John Schneider "Bo Duke" from the original series.  The images of each signature are attached in the photos.  Epic.  I didn’t know J was a fan of the Dukes.  My man was probably in second or third grade when that…

  • Bo Rolls into Berlin (Navy 1976)

    Here’s a program to the 1976 Navy game:   A selection of a few other Navy-Michigan programs from the U-M Bentley Library program database: On Saturday from noon-3 WTKA 1050AM (and I assume WTKA.com) will be replaying the original Bob Ufer radio broadcast of the 1976 Navy game.  If you’re cleaning out the garage or mowing the lawn I suggest you tune in. Old ‘Ufe practically wore out the scoring horn in this one, as #1 ranked Michigan put up 70 points on the Midshipmen, the most since 1905, and it’s a radio call to remember.   Incredibly Bo’s Wolverines actually trailed with just over a minute to go in the first half before taking the lead.  In a span just over 5 minutes in the third quarter sophomore QB Ricky Leach accounted for four touchdowns, two on the ground and two in the air, and shortly thereafter Ufer nearly keeled over with excitement as he tended to do.  Based on the WTKA promos, after the 70th point Ufer likens the feat to “rolling into Berlin”! A few props are in order here.  First, Ira and crew at WTKA for continuing this tradition.  Next, my pal and M history buff Steve Sapardanis of Guts ‘n Glue for recommending they reair this game.  Finally, audio and video archivist Art Vuolo, Jr.,  [see…

  • 1933 Michigan National Champions Charm

    A real doozy of an item showed up recently on eBay, described to be a pendant awarded to Michigan’s 1933 national championship team under coach Harry Kipke.  Very cool: It appears to be in outstanding condition, made of 14K gold, and assigned to a quarterback named “W.W. Renner”.  This appears to be originally the property of a William Renner who was on that ’33 squad and who wore #63: Renner is listed as “Art” on the 1933 team photo caption but as “William W.” on the official roster and in his later years, including when he was captain of the 1935 squad.   I think the “Art” reference is an error as there was an Art Renner who played in the 1940s.  I’ll let the Bentley know so they can check it out. I rarely use Wikipedia as a research source but the entry on Renner has some excellent detail, including this nugget about the Youngtown, OH native’s exploits against the Buckeyes during that 1933 championship year: In the 1933 Michigan-Ohio State game, played before the largest crowd to see a Big Ten Conference football game to that date, Renner came into the game at the end of the first half and ran the ball for a game-winning touchdown. An Associated Press story described Renner’s impact in the scoring drive against…

  • 1997 Michigan Championship Ring for Sale!

    The seller claims the band belonged to a “well-known player” and is asking $5,999.99: It’s certainly not the first Michigan football ring to be offered up on eBay and heck, it’s not even the first time someone’s sold a ‘97 championship ring.  Maybe this is the same one just placed back on the block. Other rings that have been up on eBay over the past couple years: 1986 Rose Bowl Ring: This prompted a few follow-up posts, the first speculating on the original owner and then another, after a teammate confirmed my sleuthing. 1977 Championship Ring: Not as pretty as the others, but painful to see. 1980 Rose Bowl ring: Probably the wildest story, a ring alleged to a salesman sample bearing the name ‘McCartney’ on the side prompts a note from former Michigan and Colorado coach Bill McCartney’s wife Lyndi, asking that the ring be returned to her husband. I think the seller is reaching the $6K figure.  I’m guessing this would be closer to $2K-$3K item but you never know if a big shot will swoop in to grab it.

  • Intrepidus, Michigan’s Last Living Wolverine (1939)

    Check out (above) this excellent wire photo of a live mascot wolverine.  The auction description says it dates to October 13, 1939 and was retrieved from the archives of Sport Magazine.   The beast just might have been trotted out before the Michigan-Iowa match the next day, a game in which Tom Harmon dominated everyone including Iowa’s great Nile Kinnick. Here's the story of Michigan's attempt to have actual live mascots on campus: