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In the past couple years I’ve featured posts on Fielding Yost busting the Galloping Ghost and highlighted a program from the 1953 Football Bust which featured autographs from a few of the Yost’s finest players. 

Thanks to reader Craig B., this edition of eBay Watch takes a look at a statue bust of the old coach as presented in a wire photo:

Along with the note, Craig asked an excellent question:

So, what we know from this is that there was a bust of Yost in Yost Field House, but I have never, in my life, seen it.  Do we know where it is today?  Can we get it put back into Yost?  Am I just missing it somewhere?  Anyway, I shall eagerly await any potential news you have on this, in post or reply form.  Thanks much!

The photo is dated October 27, 1927 and if I had to guess at the blurry plaque below the bust, it reads “Fielding H. Yost – illegible – University of Michigan – then I think it might say, ‘University of Michigan Club of Chicago’ – 1927:

As Craig points out, the auction description hints that this statue might have been associated with Yost Field House but given the date of the photo itself, it may have been presented to Yost at or around the Michigan Stadium dedication game which occurred just five days prior on October 22, 1927. 

While Fielding Yost was certainly responsible for the building of Michigan Stadium (this is wonderfully chronicled in Robert M. Soderstrom’s ‘The Big House’ book), he already had a building bearing his name—the Field House sitting on the horizon northeast of the stadium.  Folks found other ways to honor the ‘Old Man’ in the wake of the stadium dedication, perhaps this bust was one of the prizes bestowed upon him.  According to The Big House, a group of donors chipped him and bought him a beautiful eight cylinder Packard car, and she was a real beaut: (M photostore):

According to Soderstrom, Yost “was most moved by a gift of 26 silver goblets, each one presented by a member of the 26 Michigan teams he coached.”  Wow.

But the question remains – what happened with with this statue?  Is somewhere on campus or with Yost’s family?  I emailed Greg Kinney at the wonderful Bentley Library and hopefully he has some ideas.

The auction ended recently and no one bid the $9.99 starting price for the photo.

[Ed.  Craig B. points out post-post that the back of the photos reads ‘1947’, which would put the stadium dedication so…I could be something offered up after Yost died the year prior, who knows?]

Related:
eBay Watch: Big House Dedication (1927)
The Big House: Fielding H. Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium (from Amazon)

Via U-M Media Relations, photo credit the University of Michigan Athletic Department.  Assume this was snapped on the day of the 1973 team photo.  Thankfully Bo dissuaded him from changing his name to Brandon OchoCinco:

As noted here, eBay’s been flooded lately with sellers unloading some incredible old wire photos and I’ll continue to highlight a few of the beauties on eBay Watch.   

Here’s a pic currently for sale from the turn of the last century at the inaugural Rose Bowl and more specifically, from the actual “Floral” Parade prior to the game.  Funny, it looks like Willie Heston and crew are decked in their game uniforms and presumably taking the wagon directly from the parade route to the game!:

Someone jotted a few statistics on the shot including the final score of the game (Michigan 49, Stanford 0 – rounding out U-M’s perfect season in which it pounded opponents 550-0).  It’s noted that the attendance for the “East-West Game” was 8,000 (the Bentley Library doesn’t list the attendance) with total gate receipts at $6000.  Box seats went for $2.00 with General Admission at $.50.  Tickets to the 2010 Rose Bowl are $155 at face value.

Fortunately that’s not the only shot Fielding Yost’s fine team from that trip to California.

A photog also caught the crew on a trolley, republished in the book Tradition: Bo Schembechler’s Michigan Memories:

The auction of the Rose Bowl parade shot ends December 29, bidding starting at $9.99.

Related:
Rah-Rah-Rah Rose Bowl Rout (1901)
1901 Season Football Pass (1901)

A few of the sights and sounds from the pregame Saturday. 

Beastly Jake Long returns to the Big House for the game:

CNN Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta represented.  He was only asked 39 times if he had a prescription for the Wolverines’ woes:

A look at the Ohio State throwback uniform and the Buckeye stare drill:

This Buckeye band member got tuckered out in the middle of the script Ohio and decided to take a knee on the Michigan sideline:

1969 team take the field, you can also see a video here:

Zoltan and parents:

Team getting ready to come out, check out Brandon Minor in streets on the left (with towel covering some type of brace on his shoulder):

Sweetness Melanie Collins of the Big Ten Network swung by our tailgate (hosted by Kristen and Todd Mitchell) to get some footage for their Big Ten Cookout show:

You’ve no doubt seen quite a few pics and videos of the M Club banner.  Here’s kind of a unique perspective from right past the banner.  I actually felt a strong breeze as they rushed by:

Recent Posts

• Ohio State Game Notes
• Hit CTRL-Z
• Ohio State – Pregame (Photos)
• 1969 Wolverines Take the field
• Fare Thee Well

Regular readers of this site know one of my favorite decades of Michigan football is the 1930s, having covered different seasons and events in eBay Watch and in the Little Brown Jug Lore series from those years.

If I had to pick one year as my favorite during the stretch it’s definitely 1934 which is ironic, as it’s arguably the worst season in Michigan football history.   I argued this point here and here, but in a nutshell consider that Harry Kipke’s team, coming off back-to-back national championships, finished 1-7, was shut out in five of the eight games, and scored a mere 21 points.  Fugly.

Despite the futility on the gridiron, the season is packed of historical treasures of major significance both on and off the field.  The next edition of eBay Watch features the auction of a program from the Ohio State-Michigan held on November 17, 1934, exactly 75 years ago today in Columbus:

The program features several photos of players, including a collage of the Michigan team including team MVP Gerald Ford:

The top of the photo features Willis Ward, the African American end who was at the center of a fierce controversy that played out before the Georgia Tech game a few weeks earlier that season.  For those not familiar, The Jackets made it known well before the game that they wouldn’t take the field in Ann Arbor if Ward played, spawning intense protests on campus in Ann Arbor. 

Eventually Michigan caved, sitting Ward after a deal was struck with Tech that required the Jackets to sit a player as well.  (It’s not lost on me that the 1934 OSU program features two white dudes shaking hands.)  The 9-2 game was the Wolverines’ lone win of the miserable season but came with a historical price.   These incidents resonated with would-be President Ford, a friend of Ward’s, who wrote a 1999 New York Times Op-Ed piece defending Michigan’s affirmative action policies:

“Do we really want to risk turning back the clock to an ear when the Willis Wards were isolated and penalized for the color of their skin, their economic standing or national ancestry?”

President George W. Bush also mentioned the Ward incident in Ford’s eulogy. 

The 1934 Program also features a photo of one of the most famous athletes in the world, a burgeoning freshman track star at Ohio State named Jesse Owens:

Owens of course knows a little something about race and discrimination.  He’ll forever be remembered for kicking Hitler squarely in the bucknuts at the Berlin Olympics a couple years later.  While certainly on a smaller stage, Owens did some serious damage in Ann Arbor on Ferry Field in 1935 and the Bentley Library details his exploits:

Ferry Field has been the site of many great individual performances in Big Ten track championships, none more remarkable than Jesse Owens’ efforts in 1935. Within a period of two hours, the Ohio State sophomore set world records in the 220 yard dash – :20.2, the broad jump – 26 ft. 8 1/4 in., the 220 yard low hurdles – :22.6 and tied the world record in the 100 yard dash – :09.4 seconds. A plaque at the southeast corner of Ferry Field commemorates Owens’ incomparable performance.

That’s rubbing it in, man.

The year 1934 also marked the start of a Buckeye tradition that lingers today like a foul odor: the issuing of gold pants charms to players.   Their timing was impeccable.  The Sweatervest’s website explains the deal:

Schmidt founded the "Pants Club", which still exists today as reward for a win over the Wolverines. Since 1934, each player and coach receives a miniature pair of gold pants for each victory over Michigan. The charms contain the recipient’s initials as well as the year and score of "The Game".

Not only can you pick up a copy of this historic program, you can even own your own pair of Buckeye gold pants, which some OSU alum decided to hock on eBay right now:

This prize commemorate OSU’s 2007 and the seller even gives the initials of the original owner (D.H.) which are placed on each pair.   That’d narrow things down to ‘07 senior De’Angelo Haslam, freshman Dan Herron or yikes, assistant coach Darrell Hazell.   Didn’t mean that much, obviously.

The auction of the 1934 OSU-Michigan program ends November 19 and the auction of the gold pants closes November 20th.

Related:
* Follow eBayWatch on Twitter  A new tool.  I’ll blast about quick links to notable auctions.
* Harry Kipke and the Fall of 1934
* The Willis Ward Protests

I’ve that had a little more access to the football team this season.  I’ve made it to my share of press conferences, a few practices (before we were booted) and even on the field & press box for a couple games.   It’s a nice privilege, but while the performance on the field the past several weeks has been beyond tough, watching all this crap go down behind the scenes all season has been brutal.   Blabbering about it on these pages isn’t really a ball either as I’d rather blabber about old ticket stubs and the like.

Nonetheless, a couple thoughts about the Detroit News report that football failed to keep the practice logs that would (help) demonstrate the team’s compliance with NCAA practice regulations:

-> Since U-M’s audit and findings came out well ahead of the Free Press practicegate story, is it safe to assume that a Deepthroat inside either leaked the report or more likely, nudged Rosenberg and crew to dig around on this topic?  Viva la conspiracy!

-> Next, I’m not sure who I’m mad at here.  It bugs me that this was allowed to go on as long as it did.  "All other varsity sports submitted their CARA forms timely,” according to the July 24 letter sent to Rodriguez.  The football program probably has the most complicated record keeping in this regard, right?  Football is the biggest asset in the athletic department and arguably at the school itself, with the most to lose in an investigation, right?

So we hire a new coach and coaching staff to the run program and what, Judy Van Horn and the compliance team didn’t meet with the new staff to review expectations as far as record keeping?   Doubt that.  This recording keeping doesn’t seem to be a lightly regarded task for the coaching staffs.  Each team keeps records and according to Dave Shand, the hockey team can show you their sheets going back to the early 80s:

If you go to Red [Berenson] and ask, he’ll show you his sheets going back to 1984: every workout, every day, how many hours, mandatory and supervised, all complying with NCAA regulations.  It was documented and accounted for.

Sure, they are just one tool of monitoring compliance but are clearly critical (“Athletics should emphasize to the football program the importance of submitting CARA forms timely to ensure compliance with NCAA limits on athletically related activities.”)

So assuming this was covered with Rodriguez and crew, why didn’t U-M compliance crack down?  The policy according to the memo:

The Compliance Services Office (CSO) requires these forms to be submitted monthly, although some leniency is allowed for teams of significant size.

At the time of the May 2009 review, the football team didn’t submit a single form the 2008 season or the 2009 winter/spring work-outs.  I don’t think “leniency” is means never.  This doesn’t excuse the coaching staff for ignoring the policy and I don’t mean to suggest that they are children.  But either Rodriguez and crew are complete and total a-holes and told Van Horn and crew to stick it, or someone at U-M was asleep at the whistle.  The football team had plenty to worry about after last season.  Isn’t much of this on the university for not cracking the whip?  After a few months went by formless, shouldn’t have someone reminded RR and crew of the policy and said, “Hey y’all, this ain’t West Virginia.”  Leaders and best, et cetera, et cetera.

-> I guess I’m also a little bothered that no one mentioned this internal investigation until now.  I’m trying to play in my head how this would have sounded in the days after the Freep story broke, but wouldn’t it have been a better tact to mention of this internal audit (warts and all) back then, instead of having it surface, inevitably, later on?  I think this was mismanaged.  Try this on for size:

“We know the rules, we comply with the rules.  Heck, our internal compliance department is probably tougher on us than the NCAA would ever be.  They told us in May that we need to keep tighter reports and we’ve done a better job ever since.  Judy’s tough!”  
                                                     – fake U-M official giving a fake speech in August

-> Tossing this out there, but don’t you wonder if failing to keep records may keep everyone out of hot water?  I guess the worst case, which would trigger a serious violation, is if the NCAA found doctored sheets or logs with forged or coerced signatures from student athletes.  The football staff apparently submitted reports for the spring ‘09 that were very late, and maybe those are suspicious, but a complete lack of documentation from the ‘08 season may require U-M’s internal folks and the NCAA to use the other evidence (interviews of players and coaches?) to determine if any rules were fractured.  Slick.

Ugh.  Michigan dips further but somewhat surprisingly not quite yet at rock bottom, but just barely.  At the top, the Buckeyes hold their filthy grips on the top slot with the impressive win over Penn State.  Sorry for the delay:

Comments from the pollsters:

Biggie - What a fantastic fall day to enjoy college football.  Gotta a chance to tailgate at the “Bronco Bus” with a bunch of my buddies that attended WMU.  Western was the elixir MSU needed after two straight heartbreakers.  With Larry Caper sitting out the game, Ashton Leggett came out of  nowhere to earn himself some time at RB.  AL runs hard; he reminds me of Jehuu Caulcrick.  Cousins continues to prove that he is the QB for State.  Huge game next week in West Lafayette if Sparty has any intentions of going bowling.   

Schlimmy – Maybe I’m not going out on a limb to far here but I believe that Brian Kelly will be the next coach at Michigan, whether that is a month from now, a year from now or beyond it seems like a perfect fit, obviously he’s been very successful at every level and has some ties to Michigan (Grand Valley and CMU)  In saying that I believe Rich Rod will get a least next year to turn things around but it seems like Kelly would be a solid choice to me.

Gilliam – Things are fine in Badgerland, as we got two rushers over 100 yards for the first time this year. But maybe most significantly, with Zach Brown still nursing an injury, and John Clay out with a concussion, true freshman running back Montee Ball came in and ran for 115 yards. With good size and speed, and the all time Missouri state rushing record (don’t quote me on that, but he finished with upwards of 8,200 yards), Ball is a future Big Ten star.  If we can rule on the ground and time of possession, Bucky should continue Michigan’s slide. Make it UW 31, Michigan 24.

Lew - Not much to say this week.  Thankfully, a vacation spared me from having to watch the collapse in Michigan Stadium.  I also had the great fortune to be on vacation the first two games at the beginning of the 2007 season.  So I’ve got that going for me.

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 ‘We got it’ but I think people thought they had challenged it. They were trying to, but they did not.”

If they had been able to challenge it…

GEERLINGS: “They could not have challenged it. They had a challenge earlier in the game, which they used, and they did not have a challenge remaining, so they could not have challenged it.”

If they had the challenge, once they had challenged it, everything would be open for review, correct? Or would have it changed what would have been reviewed?

GEERLINGS: “It would have not changed anything if they challenged it or the booth buzzed it. We looked at the same things and what we found was that the ball was clearly forward from the time it left the passer’s hand to touching the hand of the receiver.”

What did you see on the play?

GEERLINGS: “My role is rolling with the quarterback. I was behind by maybe five or six yards. I knew it was very close but I could not tell if it was forward or backward because I was five yards upfield from that. The head linesman was right there and said ‘Hey, it’s very, very close.’ But he was coming up to get progress and was slightly behind and didn’t have a perfect look at it. He did not have enough information on the field to rule it forward.”

With the punt return muff call earlier (by Hemingway)…

GEERLINGS: “It’s a judgment call, deemed to have interfered with.”

Related:  Rodriguez postgame in press conference, including the Danny Hope confrontation.

According to my deep cover, bunkered moles at the athletic department, this sweet item has been relisted on the auction to support the Pat Maloy Scholarship.  A frame and signed ‘M’ flag containing the signatures of an amazing array of Michigan football greats.  From the auction description:

You will never find a greater piece of Michigan football memorabilia anywhere. This is a two foot tall by three foot wide Michigan flag autographed by 46 of the greatest players to ever don the Maize & Blue in Michigan Stadium. The flag is professionally matted and framed with UV protectant plexiglass. The flag is autographed by all of the following former Michigan stars:
Charles Woodson. Jake Long, Ron Kramer, Anthony Carter, Jim Harbaugh,  Anthony "A-Train" Thomas, Larry Foote, Victor Hobson, Elvis Grbac, Will Johnson, Morgan Trent, Tim Jamison, Aaron Shea, Rick Leach, Don Dufek Sr., Don Dufek Jr., Ali Haji Shiekh, Bill Dufek, Harlan Huckleby, Stan Edwards, Steve Morrison, Adam Kraus, Derek Walker, Chris Floyd, Clint Copenhaver, Ron Simpkins, Glen Steele, Mark Messner, Jamie Morris, Bob Chappius, Greg McMurtry, John Wangler, Marcus Ray. Billy Taylor, Reggie McKenzie, Buster Stanley, Jim Brandstatter, Scott Dreisbach, Mark Campbell, Rondell Biggs, Carl Diggs, James Hall, Doug Skene, Ron Bellamy, Andre Weathers and Eric Mayes. Bid high and often and good luck.

Item is hanging in Moe Sport Shops on until the end of the auction if you wish to see it in person.

Bid on it here!

Related:
* A nice complement, how about your very own Michigan Football lockers, pulled out of Schembechler Hall to make way for the renovation?

A quick edition of eBay Watch features an auction of a mildly stained ticket from the Michigan-Ohio State game held in Ann Arbor on October 22, 1927. It has a little more significance than just an old piece of memorabilia from college football’s greatest rivalry. This game marked the official dedication of Michigan Stadium. Here’s the stub:

Bennie Oosterbann captained the crew that roared to a 21-0 victory to officially break in the giant stadium, which of course is currently going through some major changes. We’re fortunate to have few excellent sources of information on this game.

First, the Bentley Library has an outstanding summary of the dedication. Just a taste:

General admission tickets sold for three dollars. The 11,114 student ticket purchaser had to pay a fifty cent surcharge on the normal $2.50 price for this and the other “big games” of the year. The box seats in the lower rows went for four and five dollars. More than 17,000 tickets were sold at Ohio State.

Nearly one thousand Boy Scouts, from all over Michigan, plus a few from Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus, were on hand to usher the ticket holders to their seats. A crowd of nearly 85, 000 was on hand as the dedication ceremonies got under way at 2:00.

Next, the Bentley site republished the Detroit Free Press article on the big day, click here to read the whole thing. An excerpt:

This day, however, the new castle of athletics was formally anointed. While one cheering block pelted the other with yells and massed bands played Michigan hymns, the stadium was properly and thoroughly dedicated.

It was properly dedicated because there were no speeches for one thing. No gentleman mustered sufficient brashness to think he could successfully pit his voice against the roar of the thousands Perhaps it was brashness that was lacking at that, it may have been the understanding that whatever might have been said with mighty word or tidy emphasis would be so much wasted breath.

Finally, the great WolverineHistorian pulled together this beauty of a video of Dedication Day and posted it on YouTube for all to enjoy:

Here’s the full auction for the 1927 ticket stub, there’s been quite a few bids already.

Related:

• eBay Watch: Have a Highball with Bennie Oosterbaan
• Michigan Busted Bronko (1929)
• eBay Watch: Yost Wants a Real Wolverine, Dead or Alive

Rumeal Robinson’s comments this week (which imply that many members of the 1989 championship team had a little extra help) provide an opportunity to take a look back at enigmatic former coach Bill Frieder. I was a young lad in the 1980s but there always a sense that Frieder was an odd bird for sure, perhaps even the kind of guy that would bend the rules. That’s that alpha and omega of my recollection, so thankfully I have a copy Craig Ross’s tome, Obscene Diaries of a Michigan Fan, published in 2006.

If you enjoy the tone, feel and prose of blogs like mgoblog and even this site, I suggest you get a copy of this book. I had a chance to meet Ross, a local attorney, author and raconteur, for lunch in December. I’m a good way through it and it’s fabulous. Ross takes a good portion of chapter four in discussing cheating in college hoops in general, and takes a look at Johnny Orr, Bill Frieder, Ed Martin and Steve Fisher through this lens.

Here’s a few selections from chapter four when he examines Bill Frieder. [Ed note: To avoid a full reprint of several pages I've omitted some of the work, so I risk not fully conveying Ross's story or point, so I encourage you to get a copy]:

Until Frieder, I am fairly confident Michigan ran an honest program. Or perhaps more accurately, according to people who were around the program and show know, there seemed to be nothing or very little untoward going on. Once Frieder became the head coach, Michigan started to win it share of recruiting wars, and there was always some vague anxiety among Michigan fans that maybe things were not all they should have been. [Ross goes into a variety of recruits that Frieder lured to U-M]

About a page later:

Many people have connected Frieder’s oddball brilliance–his analytical ability, his claimed success at the gaming tables, the fact that he was a night owl and looked like a complete slob–with a lack of ethics. With the above conditions as underpinnings, the well-publicized rift between Schembechler and Frieder was an impetus toward believing the worst about Bill. While Don Canham always liked Frieder, Bo made it plain he thought the guy was a flake and, in his dress and demeanor, not a “Michigan man.” (Clue: This is ironic, since Bill has an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Michigan. Bo’s degree is from Miami of Ohio…)

Later, next page:

I have talked to Frieder on a few occasions. More significantly, I have talked to those who knew Frieder quite well, and were around the program on a day-to-day basis when Frieder was the coach. Everyone I spoke to agrees that Frieder would take full advantage of the rules. And the vast majority agree he was paranoid about not crossing the line. It is true that others are not so sure, and this includes certain friends.

Continuing:

[Former legendary AD Don] Canham, for certain, saw nothing untoward in Frieder’s regime as coach. But when Frieder took the Arizona State job, I believe there was a collective sigh of relief from many Michigan fans, since there was a general, public distrust of Frieder. And when the Steve Fisher-led Wolverines won their first NCAA championship with Frieder’s team, the relief turned to exaltation.

Very cool. Here’s a wire photo from Michigan’s 14-6 victory over Cal in the 1951 Rose Bowl. It just sold on eBay for a cool $51.66, click to see a bigger size:

The photo caption reads ‘Michigan pass catches California flat-footed’. I would have dubbed it, ‘Wolverines turn the Bears into Squares, Daddy-O’. The biggest square of them all is Cal linebacker Robert Baham, who looks like he was practicing the Twist for the Sock Hop later that night:

The Rose Bowl victory capped off a nice season for Bennie Oosterbaan’s crew. The 1950 squad featuring team MVP Don Dufek and All-American R. Allen Wahl took the conference title and finished with a 6-3-1 record, dropping games to Michigan State, #1 ranked Army [played at Yankee Stadium), and to Illinois. Despite a tough start the team rallied to win their final three games in conference and added the great victory in Pasadena.

You probably can’t say this for any Michigan Rose Bowl champion, but the win over Cal in Pasadena was not the definitive victory for this team. That distinction will always be reserved for the game held a little over a month earlier on November 25, 1950 in Columbus–The Snow Bowl.

The week leading up to the game was somewhat normal for a November in the Midwest. On Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), Columbus experienced 38 degree temperatures and rain. By 8am Friday morning the thermometer sunk to 5 degrees and it snowed off and on for most of the day. The forecast for Saturday was a chilly 15 degrees and possible snow, but Friday evening to early Saturday morning things took a wicked turn:

Shirtless, hairy beast with bad teeth seen outside Ohio stadium? shocker
During the night, a storm moving up the Carolina coast pumped Atlantic moisture like a fire hose westward to meet the southward blast of frigid air. The clash of these two air masses reached full fury over Ohio and western Pennsylvania, paralyzing the region with heavy snow, gale-force winds and near-zero temperatures. Pittsburgh lay under a 16-inch snowfall with another foot forecast, forcing cancellation of the Pitt-Penn State game. Southeastern Ohio measured 14 plus inches. Transportation across the state ground to a halt.

As game time drew near the field was buried and around 50,000 brave fans huddled beneath the Ohio Stadium stands and waited to take their seats. A meeting was held between the schools to decide whether to play the game that included Ohio coach Wes Felser, Ohio athletic director Dick Larkin, Michigan AD Fritz Crisler and Oosterbaan. There had yet to be a Big Ten conference game canceled for any reason and this game held greater significance. If the game wasn’t played, Ohio State would earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. But Larkin knew (and certainly Oosterbaan and especially Crisler reminded him) that Michigan could potentially earn a trip to the Rose Bowl with a win. Ultimately Larkin gave the green light and remarked, “We’ll just have to do the best we can.”

When the game started, the teams did the only thing they could. Run a play or two and then punt rather than risk a turnover.
Read more…

A quick version of eBay Watch, this time one of the big volume sellers on the auction site is dumping a bunch of vintage Michigan football ticket stubs. The offering is pretty impressive. What’s not impressive is the seller’s understanding of the significance of some of these items. Witness the (YAWN) description of the ho hum silly little ticket stub from the insignificant 1969 Michigan-Ohio State game, you might have heard of it:

Up for auction is a November 22nd 1969 ticket stub from the college football game that featured Ohio State University vs the University of Michigan. The ticket stub measures 2 1/4″ by 4″ and is in nice overall condition, as pictured.

Yep, that’s when the game was played. Fortunately for these fools the most significant game in the Michigan modern era won’t escape the eye of Michigan memorabilia hawks and it’ll fetch a nifty price, despite the poor marketing. Here’s a image of the stub, probably not in the best condition but nobody stuck their stubs in lanyards back then:

1969 OSU-Michigan Stub

Here’s a few more of what’s for sale, you can click the image to view the full auction:

1937 MSU-Michigan Stub, full auction

1929 OSU-Michigan Stub, full auction

1927 Navy-Michigan Stub, full auction

1930 Minnesota-Michigan Stub, full auction

[Ed: With Iowa upsetting undefeated Penn State this weekend, in the next edition of eBay Watch, let's look at another situation where the Hawkeyes faced an undefeated squad late in the schedule, this time just a couple years ago against the Wolverines.]

A couple weeks ago on eBay, a seller offered up what was described to be folder belonging to a Michigan coach. The photos were blurry, but the description claimed it belonged to someone on the Wolverine staff and held diagrams, notes, plays, and whatnot related to the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes held October 21, 2006 in Ann Arbor. Michigan won the game 20-6 thanks to a solid defensive effort and strong game from Henne and Hart. The win moved the #2 ranked Wolverines to 8-0 on the season one step closer to a collision with the #1 ranked Buckeyes. It’s amazing that all this was happening a couple years ago.

I won the auction for about 20 bucks to get a closer look. Now, I wouldn’t post this stuff I felt it would jeopardize some Michigan football ancient Yostese secrets. And while there were notes about specific players, I’m not posting anything that is/was damaging to player on either team. The coaching staff from 2006 is completely gone save for Fred Jackson and I guessing this book would be completely worthless to anyone without a time machine.

If you wisely read Brian Cook’s Hail to the Victors 2008 before the season, you got a little insight into the Carr coaching staff with the wonderful article titled ‘Rock Star’ by author Craig Ross. Ross wiggled his way into a quarterbacks’ meeting led by former QB coach Scot Loeffler, here’s a snippet:

Loeffler: “What are the boys doing to us? Chad Hen-ne. (It eventually becomes clear that “the boys” means “the defense.”)
Henne: “They are skying us and we are in chili with a dino.”
Loeffler: “Rock Star!!!!”

Ross later described his head as all this was happening:

My head was spinning. I was trying to write notes as quickly as I could and still pay some attention, trying to learn something from what was going on. I was lost. It was hopeless.

It felt a bit, perhaps exactly, like Ross after thumbing through this folder for the first time. The volume of information for this single game is stunning. You hear coaches get annoyed when the media/pundits suggest a certain play or strategy was ill-conceived. I always felt if we got behind the curtain we’d certainly see things quite differently after realizing that the team’s preparation is several layers deeper than anyone on the outside could ever understand. The sad thing is, a folder is a mere glimpse–this was the prep for a single team.

I collected a few snapshots of the more interesting items in the binder, most of it is just jibberish to me.

Here’s portion of laminated sheet (perhaps toted on the sideline that game?) with a bunch of sets:

The folder also holds notes after the film was broken down. It appears as though Carr and company actually performed a play-by-play Upon Further Review-like assessment of each play and score for each player. The scoring system was basic:

• a minus (-) for a bad play
• a zero for an average play
• a plus(+) for a great play

The results are tallied up to provide some sort of score at the end. The folder contained two worksheets. One rated the performance of the tight ends on each Michigan offensive play. Next to each play was a players’ intitials (CB – Carson Bulter and BT – Brian Thompson), a few notes, and the rating using the +/0/- system (click to see the full sheet):

The evaluation of the punt team was in the binder, including notes on each punt by Zoltan Mesko (click for full size):

Coach was a little tough on our man Zoltan on the first couple punts IMO but remember that given that the team was undefeated, I bet the expectations of the coaching staff were pretty darn high.

Also included probably fifty pages of various formations and diagrammed plays, and a few sheets with the practice schedule for the week. Not a surprise, the cadence of the practice was documented in detail for each unit, down to the minute. Here’s one of the full practice sheets. A few snapshots:

First, each day the team practiced the 2 minute drill. Not a surprise, but I like that the situations were detailed from the field position, the time left, the number of time-outs, and down and distance:

Each practice had a special announcement, here’s the most common: