• Red Shoe Exception

    Saturday night at the Big House I’ll be wearing these:   Have I lost my mind?   Perhaps.  But it’s for a great cause and what I hear is an excellent event: On Saturday, February 8, the Ronald McDonald Houses of Ann Arbor will host their second annual Red Shoe Affair presented by the Southeastern McDonald’s Owner Operator Association. This exciting evening, located in the beautiful Jack Roth Stadium Club at Michigan Stadium will include an exclusive behind the scenes look at the Big House with a strolling dinner, cocktails, auctions and entertainment. The event helps build awareness and funding for both of the Ronald McDonald Houses of Ann Arbor.With nearly 1,500 families served annually, the Ronald McDonald Houses of Ann Arbor has provided families with more than just a place to rest but a place where families can support each other and remain close to their child when they are needed most. We believe that when a child is hospitalized, the love and support of family is as powerful as any medicine prescribed. Over the years our mission has remained the same while the need for our services continues to grow. If you’ll be there look for the guy wearing those shoes and say hi.   If you are interested in joining me you can get tickets here, support the silent…

  • A Cool Ninety-Eight

    << From Sports Illustrated this week, Tom Harmon joins a few current athletes on its list of ‘Breakout Performers.’    The comment on the inset pic pretty much sums up why I (someone like you who knew damn well “who?” Harmon is) am a fan of the Legends program.

  • Swinging for The Cure 2013 (Photos)

    Here’s a few pics from the 5th Annual Swing to Cure Diabetes held at the UM Golf Course on Monday afternoon.   According to former Michigan QB/DB and event organizer Rich Hewlett, this was one of the biggest turnouts in the half decade of the outing that benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UMCDC).   I don’t have the final numbers but they raised a lot of money and ran another wonderful event. Special guests this year included Mike Hart, Ira Weintraub, Coach Mo, Coach Hanlon and Coach Hoke: Coach Hoke addressing the UMGC crowd, flanked by Hewlett and his son Jeffrey, a current U-M student living with Type 1 diabetes.   I spotted Coach Hoke taking a few swings out there and yes, it went about a well as you’d guess (think blacksmith) Coaches Hanlon and Moeller circa 2013 and 1969 (inset)   Before MC’ing the live auction, Ira flashed his jazz hands (& perhaps a few of the moves he broke out at the GHW Gala after party?) Go Blue! Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • One (Long) Anxious Moment

    I really don’t function too well when I’m watching these games and it’s gotten worse since as I was in New Orleans two decades back.   Funny, the lingering painful image I have from ‘93 is not Webber’s timeout but rather Donald Williams out on the wing with his legs and arms extended (wrist snapped), slinging in three and after three like he was Spike.   It got worse at the 1998 Rose Bowl.  Arms folded, I barely said a word or moved the whole game.  Thinking about the never-ending string of late-game third-down measurements still makes me twist.  I’ve seen highlights of course (and more importantly, I know how things turned out!) but I’m not interested in watching the entire replay again because it was so agonizing. Last night, once I arrived in section 227 I offered the occasional fist bump to the fellers around me but never moved from the seat—for anything–from tip to the time I walked out.  I don’t think I’m alone.  My dad once asked one of his pals, a big Michigan fan, why he didn’t really ever go to the Big House despite living within an hour.   Reply: “Because they break your heart.”   It was heart breaking last night. At times It’s Great to Be a Michigan Wolverine but for a lot us, especially when we’re…

  • Two Decades in the Making

      photo:  Melanie Maxwell at AnnArbor.com I was at the 1993 Final Four in New Orleans two decades ago as a U-M student and it was certainly a trip I’ll never forget it.  After we drove down (yep, from Ann Arbor to New Orleans) we went over to pick up our tickets.   Just a moment after they were in my hands I was offered $3,500 my pair to the semis and finals from a broker holding a bound stack of bills the size of a roll of duct tape (my primo student seats were 18 rows behind the bench).  I remember Mitch Albom happened to be there at that moment and saw us struggling with the dilemma.  He asked us if we were staying out of trouble or something like that.  (None of your business old man!)  For a few different reasons I couldn’t bite on that tasty offer.   File under Cool Story Bro. The sting of that brutal ending in ‘93 lingers for sure but the whole experience was amazing.  The semifinal game against Kentucky was one of the best I’ve ever seen and the ensuing trip to Bourbon Street and the ensuing sunrise, etc.., were truly epic.  And regarding that sting, I’ve seen enough football nailbiters—both bitter and sweet—to numb the pain of Webber’s untimely timeout.   I still…

  • Santa Delivers

    Here’s Santa himself paying the Michigan football team a visit in Pasadena back on Christmas Day in 1947: Fullback Jack Weisenberger receives a gift from Kris Kringle and one can only assume the old man handed over USC’s offensive and defensive playbook.   A few days Fritz Crisler’s magical crew stomped the Trojans 49-0 to seal the national championship.  Wiesenberger scored three touchdowns! Merry Christmas and Go Blue! Follow MVictors on Twitter and get it quick