In the 1920s an idea was bantered about that gave "home and home" a different meaning. In 1925 the Big Ten presidents discussed the concept of each school fielding two (2) football teams! On top of that, games against a given opponent would be played at both schools - simultaneously. Seriously. Here's the story:
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Stanford 1973 and The Vote | This Week in Michigan Football History
This week we get into our history playing Stanford – the first Rose Bowl, 1947 and finally 1973 as Bo’s #5 Wolverines faced the Cardinal on this Saturday back 45 years ago. Of course we can’t leave 1973 without mentioning the infamous postseason vote and I’m not naming names (yes I am) but your beloved Meechigan got screwed! Audio:Listen to it “live” tomorrow afternoon on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM….or inside the Go Labatt Blue Victors Lounge!script after the jump: Today we look back to September 22, 1973, as General Bo George Patton Schembechler’s 5th ranked Wolverines were set to take on the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford holds a special place in Wolverine football lore. Not only is it where Jim Harbaugh established himself as an elite coach, historically speaking, they were Michigan’s opponent in the first Rose Bowl. Really it was the first bowl of any kind, played back in 1902 when they faced Fielding Yost’s undefeated, untied, unscored-upon squad in Pasadena. The Indians as they were then known were pounded early and often by Yost’s point-a-minute wrecking crew. With 8 minutes STILL left on the clock, Stanford tossed in the white towel and conceded the 49-0 defeat.Nearly half a century later these two teams met again on October 4, 1947 this time against Fritz Crisler’s Mad Magicians. Stanford…
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Toasting Yost | October 19, 1940
In 1940 "The Toast to Yost from Coast to Coast" was held at Waterman Gymnasium. Fielding H. Yost was honored by a host of dignitaries - (Willie Heston, Tom Harmon and Louis Elbel to name a few) in an event that was broadcast on NBC radio around the country. The Bentley Library has the original recording of that tribute. It's a tad choppy in spots but well worth a listen if you have the means. The highlight for me is certainly hearing the voice of Yost as he addresses the audience.
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Yost Returns to Bust the Galloping Ghost (1925) | This Week in Michigan Football History
Lesson: Don’t mess with Michigan, its football team, or in particular, Fielding Yost or Benny Friedman. You’ll pay. Just the great Red Grange about what happened in 1925…or better yet listen to Saturday’s BEAT STATE edition of This Week in Michigan Football History: More on that 1925 game against Red Grange here. You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here. And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course, live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge tomorrow starting at 11:30am. Follow MVictors on Twitter /script: 1925 was a special year in Wolverine football lore as it featured the return, after taking a season off, of Fielding Yost as head coach. His timing couldn’t be better and he led his beloved Meeechigan with one of the finest, arguably THE best, squads in his brilliant tenure in Ann Arbor. The 1925 season opened with 39-0 and 63-0 drubbings of Michigan State and Indiana leading to this day in Michigan Football History – a trip to Madison Wisconsin to face the Badgers 90 years ago today. The Badgers were headed by George Little, a former Yost assistant, who coincidently served as the Wolverine head coach in 1924. Wolverine quarterback Benny Friedman wasn’t…
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Worshipping the Varsity Man
Check out the latest edition of Michigan Today for James Tobin’s piece on the Yost’s fight to build Michigan Stadium. It narrows in on a few folks that represented the opposition to not only the new stadium but the culture of football itself during the period. We’re talking the mid-1920s during the first major football arms race (when giant stadiums were popping up all over the place), and some struggled with the newfound popularity (and off-field revelry) that followed the growth of the sport. A few choice quotes – starting with Robert C. Angell, one of the leaders of the opposition: As for the players themselves, Angell said, only a few did more in class than maintain their eligibility. Nearly all their time and energy went to the sport. “Their diplomas cover a multitude of intellectual sins.” But the athletes were only “a few drops in the bucket of university life.” What harm could football possibly do to the thousands of other students who simply showed up to cheer? Well, said Angell, every autumn, football became a kind of addiction for students, “many but mildly, some seriously.” The sport seized “a monopoly of undergraduate conversation… A scientific theory or a piece of fine poetry has not a chance to squeeze in edgewise. “Around the dinner table, in one another’s rooms,…
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Getting Wild About Harrys | 1930 #TWIMFbH
For tomorrow’s evening affair, a trip back to 1930, a season that started with a double-header(!) in front of only 13,000 fans but was notable nonetheless. In that year coach Harry Kipke got things working and started a string of 4 consecutive conference crowns. October 11, 1930 was week 3 when his Wolverines faced defending league champ Purdue. This game also marked the debut start of would-be superstar quarterback Harry Newman. Check it out: [display_podcast] You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here…And don’t forget to catch it live Saturday on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM or inside the Bud Light Victors Lounge starting at 3pm. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Charity Schmarity (1931) | A Benefit at Michigan Stadium
In 1931 the Western Conference agreed to schedule a full slate of games to benefit a fund for the many Depression-era unemployed worker at the end of the season. The league also agreed the games would count in the tight conference standings.
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Neil Snow Wants Beer, Gets Beer | #TWIMFbH (1902)
For Saturday’s edition of This Week in Michigan Football History, we head back 112 years to arguably the greatest calendar year in Michigan football history. That’s right I said it. While that’s up for discussion, there’s little doubt 1902 was one of the finest for Michigan athlete Neil Snow. On January 1, 1902, Snow tallied 5 touchdowns in the inaugural Rose Bowl. Back in Ann Arbor my man Snow the undisputed was big man on campus #BMOC, and the folks at the Koppitz-Melchers Brewery of Detroit put an ad in the Cornell-Michigan baseball program telling everyone how much Snow loved their beer. Of course he didn’t consent to the ad. Here’s how that all played out, as well as the game played on October 4, 1902: [display_podcast] The full story of the 1902 beergate tale here. You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here. And don’t forget to catch it live Saturday on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM starting tomorrow at 3pm EDT (4 hours prior to Rutgers getting their butts kicked). Follow MVictors on Twitter
