Michigan | MVictors.com

Herman’s Crazy Leg

04. January 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: 2012 · Tags: 1973 Vote, Crazy Legs, Elroy Hirsch, michigan, The Munsters, Traitors

Thanks to Buddy at Stunt3 for forwarding this over. Check out this clip from The Munsters featuring Wisconsin and Michigan star Elroy ‘Crazy Legs’ Hirsch.

Buddy added, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe he’s the only former Wolverine ever to appear on that show.” LOL. Yes, although Al “Grandpa” Lewis was an usher at Ferry Field. Who knew?

The clip brings up so many questions, but how did Hirsch know the ball that hit him came from, specifically, a punt? Why couldn’t it have been an errant toss from the parking lot?

Somehow Hirsch’s acting career didn’t pan out. Yeessh.

Speaking of Hirsch, the ~~traitor~~ former star is one of the athletic directors to go against Michigan in the 1973 Rose Bowl vote..and perhaps that hit on the noggin from Herman’s prolifically punted pigskin damaged his medulla oblongata:

MICHIGAN (4)
* Don Canham (Michigan)
* Bump Elliott (Iowa)
* Bill Orwig (Indiana – former Michigan hoops and football player and assistant coach).
* Paul Giel (Minnesota – said he voted for Michigan).

OHIO STATE (6)
* Ed Weaver (Ohio)
* Cecil Coleman (Illinois)
* Tippy Dye (Northwestern)
* George King (Purdue)
* Elroy Hirsch (Wisconsin – played for Michigan via the V12 program from 1943-44)
* Burt Smith (Michigan State – U-M graduate)

Thanks to Buddy for sending it over. I wonder what the Stunt3 guys are up to next?

Follow MVictors on Twitter

How Bo Lost recruit Billy Taylor (WTKA audio)

14. November 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: 2012 · Tags: 1960s college football recruiting, Billy Taylor, Miami OH Bo Schembechler, michigan, Perseverance – The Story of Dr. Billy Taylor, Thom Darden

Today on 1050AM WTKA “Touchdown” Billy Taylor was studio to promote the Perseverance Bo Schembechler - Miami, OH documentary.

I mentioned in my review earlier this week that one of the outstanding stories in the movie was about the recruiting trip BT and Thom Darden made to Oxford to visit Miami, OH and then coach Bo Schembechler (inset photo via the U-M Bentley Historical Library):

* Thom Darden talking about how the recruiting trip he and Taylor made to see Bo Schembechler while he was still head man at Miami, OH. (Bo didn’t exactly wine and dine them).

This morning TDBT provided some more hilarious details on that trip to see Bo, and the aftermath, and it’s priceless:

Billy Taylor on WTKA 1050AM discussed his recruiting trip to Miami, OH Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For the full interview this morning check out the WTKA podcasts.

Follow MVictors on Twitter

How It Started: Minnesota Madmen 6, Michigan Machine 6

29. October 2012 · 7 comments · Categories: 2011 · Tags: 1903, Little Brown Jug, michigan, minnesota, willie heston

One headline in the November 1, 1903 Sunday edition of the Minneapolis Tribune declared, “VICTORY, THOUGH THE SCORE IS TIED." Further down toward the fold it blared, “YOST AND MICHIGAN PRACTICALLY BEATEN.”

It was that fierce battle, played Saturday October 31, 1903, that spawned the greatest of the college football rivalry trophies. At the direction of coach Fielding Yost, Michigan’s student manager Tommy Roberts purchased a five gallon jug that was left behind in the aftermath of this epic clash that served as first, a Gopher souvenir, and later as the trophy that’s been presented to the winner since 1909.

The Tribune described Yost’s Michigan team, winners of 29 straight heading into that game, this way:

Her lineman were giants on the attack, and were adamant on defense. Her backs were great battering rams, with the speed of the wind, guided by an intelligence in play almost superhuman.

Her team work was near perfection, and the eleven representatives of the maize and blue were like some powerful machine, continuously in motion.

That line is a nod to Yost’s revolutionary tendency to speed up the pace of play, earning him the famous tag ‘Hurry Up’.

Now, we know the game ended in a 6-6 tie when the teams exchanged touchdowns, then worth 5 points each, in the second half. Michigan took the lead when the great Wolverine back Willie Heston found the end zone first midway through the half. The Gophers tied the score in the final minutes of the game and added the extra point to secure the tie. Depending on who you read, the game was either called with “a few seconds” remaining on the clock (Tribune), or two minutes left to go (Detroit Free Press). Afterwards thousands of Gopher fans stormed the field to celebrate the game-tying tally.

Naturally the Tribune saved a few good lines for the hometown victors tie-ers:

When [All-American tackle Fred] Schacht made his two gains of four yards each, the of the maize and blue went to pieces. They could not stand it.

Michigan was fighting against eleven madmen, and the madmen won.

Century old Chart
You’ve got to love this—the Tribune even included a diagrammed play chart from the 1903 game on the front page. Click to supersize it, it’s pretty cool after you figure out the key:

What happened next is of course the stuff of Little Brown Jug Lore, and you can get your fill here:

Chapter 1: What Really Happened in the 1930s
Chapter 2: Spinning Myths
Chapter 3: Getting it Right
Chapter 4: 2013: A Space Quandary
Chapter 5: Red Wing Roots
Chapter 6: Is the Greatest Trophy in College Sports a Fake?
Chapter 7: Open Questions
Chapter 8: Doc Cooke and the Real Origins of the Rivalry
Chapter 9: Gophers Here, Gophers There – When Michigan played Minnesota Twice
Chapter 10: How It Started: Minnesota Madmen 6, Michigan Machine 6
Chapter 11: A Righteous Sip, and Why Michigan Bought the Jug
Chapter 12: Making It Official—Jil Gordon & Painting the Little Brown Jug

[Ed. 10/29/12 - This was originally posted September 26, 2011...reposting for Jug week on the strength of the drive chart alone.]

Dirty Paul?

16. October 2011 · 9 comments · Categories: 2011 · Tags: michigan, msu, paul bunyan trophy, spartan stadium

Paul Bearer: “This is Paul and Paul is my friend. I will hold him and hug him and squeeze him and love him..”

Much of the postgame chatter naturally focused on the personal fouls. My take—State’s mostly meaningless penalties kept Michigan in the game, kept drives alive, and the yardage from those penalties was U-M’s most consistent offensive weapon. M rushed for 82 yards while picking up 124 thanks to the maize flags. Was it dirty? Certainly a few plays were cheap and Will Gholston will be sitting a game (ok, or three) after the Big Ten reviews the game. But Michigan lost because they didn’t execute on offense and there were plenty of opportunities. It’s on Michigan. At times guys were wide open—we’re talking 20 yard radius open—and Denard either didn’t have time or didn’t see them or tossed a bad pass.

I give State credit for those blitz packages but mainly for bottling up the running game. If this is going to work, M must get more production out of the backs. Hoke said it, “…We had 82 [rushing yards]. That’s pretty much it.” Quoting Dr. Sap quoting Bo, “AND WE HAD NO BLOCKING AT THE POINT OF ATTACK!"

Now, on the pfs I’ll say this–if Michigan finished a game with six personal fouls, I’d be really pissed about that whether we won or lost.

My advice to Wolverine fans? Follow Hoke’s lead and focus on Michigan.

More takes from East Lansing (I’m still here):

I was impressed with Gardner when he was in there and continues to look sharper than Denard tossing the rock. Hoke agrees and said afterword, “I think Devin at times can throw the ball a little more accurately.” I understand Speilman spent half the game railing on why Michigan shouldn’t take the ball away from Robinson, but that’s bunk, and I like inserting him in there from time to time. Plus you know State focused the past two weeks on Denard, why not move Gardner in there to mix it up? Based on a few texts and tweets I know there are folks thinking Devin should start against Purdue but that isn’t going to happen unless 16 is banged up.
Now, was Denard banged up? He might have been. There were a few times when it seemed he could pick up 20 or more but got hung up by a linebacker or safety. He seemed to be missing that extra burst but perhaps State was a little quicker than I expected.
Will Hagerup did a wonderful job executing what seems to be either a lost art or a endangered strategy: punting the ball out of bounds. Of course this might be endangered because more and more coaches go for it in the opponent’s territory. Michigan should have gone for it at least once, maybe twice, in the first half.
Overall the team is clearly tackling better than last year. I don’t know exactly why that is, but I chalk it up to guys being in better position and knowing their assignments. It’s the biggest change from 2010 to 2011 and it’s great to see.
Speaking of going for it, while it seems eons ago, the fake field goal that preserved the first scoring drive seemed to be well devised but was a tad shaky on the execution. Bottom line it got the first down so hats off.

Off the field:

Surprise. The team surprised the players (and everyone else) by having the all-white legacy uniforms and Victors Valiant undershirts chilling in their lockers after pregame warm-ups. I like surprises I guess, and while the reaction of tweets was mixed, most folks seemed to like them. Of course we lost so…you have to wonder if we’ll ever see those again, brother.
The Formal Whites. Media relations correctly noted that the all whites were last used in the 1975 season, capped by the 1976 Orange Bowl.
MSU Press Box. It’s a very large and nicely laid out facility split on two sides (north a south). It’s not quite as nice as the Michigan press box but close, and it sits a level or two higher than the Big House field. Two things to nitpick: MSU charges the media for food (in fact the credential comes with a price list in case you didn’t plan to bring any money), and they asked media not to tweet live scores as that might compromised the delayed TV feeds. The former is fine I guess, it’s a few bucks and many schools like Michigan charge for things like parking. The latter is just silly and thankfully it doesn’t look like it was enforced.
Trash. The wind combined with the trash on the field caused quite a spectacle—a mean plastic hotdog bag tornado that could have swept up small dogs.
Three Times. Quarterbacks that have beaten Michigan 3x: Bob Griese, ~~Terelle Pryor~~, Troy Smith, Kirk Cousins, Tippy Dye (Ohio State).

The Wolverine All Whites (1976)

15. October 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: 2011 · Tags: 1976, jaws, michigan, oklahoma, orange bowl, white pants

A quick look at the last time, I believe, Michigan donned the all white uniforms: The 1976 Orange Bowl against eventual national champion Oklahoma:

The band got into the white theme during halftime when they rolled out their tribute to a famous Great White Shark—Jaws:

Here’s the full release from media relations on the road whites:

Michigan Unveils Legacy Road Uniform for MSU Game

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Prior to kickoff of the Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy, the University of Michigan football team unveiled a legacy uniform designed by apparel provider adidas.

“Our players really enjoyed the uniforms from the night game with Notre Dame so we decided to surprise them and the country with a new-look design for the Michigan State game,” said head coach Brady Hoke. “This is such a great in-state rivalry that we decided to honor the former players that played in this game.”

The legacy jersey is a compilation of design elements from different eras of Michigan football. It features player numbers on the front and back of the jersey with a block M above the heart and repeating striped sleeves. The shirts under the uniform have “Victors” on the left bicep and “Valiant” on the right bicep.

The white pants are a throwback to the 1974 and 1975 seasons when the program wore all white on the road. In addition, the Wolverines wore two-tone socks with blue on top (calf) and white on the bottom.

Player numbers continued to appear on the famous winged helmet that first appeared in the late 1960s. After wearing them on the helmets for the Notre Dame game, head coach Brady Hoke decided to continue the tradition before the start of the conference season to pay homage to the former players that represented the program in the past.

Michigan warmed up in its traditional road uniforms but returned for the start of the game in the new legacy uniforms.

Dr. Sap’s Decals – Chicago Style, @ Northwestern

10. October 2011 · 5 comments · Categories: 2011 · Tags: 2011, helmet stickers, michigan, northwestern

Plenty to dole out, take it away Sap:

Adidas: 1 decal for bringing back the white socks on the road with a little block M on them a la Tom Harmon and the boys back in 1939! (Editor’s note: Might have to take this decal away. There’s obviously something wrong with the 2011 away jerseys, causing some of players to switch to last year’s model! Get that fixed, Beaverton)
Dhani Jones: 1 decal for Rocking The Bowtie before, during and after the game! Hey, Dhani, how about a Bowtie with U-M helmet decals on it? Dr. Sap would make the switch to a bowtie if that were the case – GUARANTEED!!
Greg Mattison: 1 decal for 2nd half shutout of Wildcats – Very Bill McCartney-esque!
Denard Robinson: 5 decals – 9-yard TD pass to Watson in 1st QTR; 25-yard TD pass to Gallon in 2nd QTR; 2-yard TD run in 3rd QTR minus one shoe; 5-yard TD run in 4th QTR, +1 editor’s pick for running up to the crowd on the final score.
Defense: 3 decals for each member of unit – 4th down stop in 2nd QTR; 4th down stop in 4th QTR; pitching a shutout in 2nd Half.
Desmond Morgan: +1, editor’s choice, for flying over the NW offense line in an attempt to sack Persa.
Jordan Kovacs: 3 decals – TFL on 4th down stop in 2nd QTR; Pontiac Game Changing Play in 4th QTR (ripping Persa’s helmet off on Safety Blitz!); Goalline tackle at end of game preserving 2nd half shutout.
Thomas Gordon: 2 decals for Forced Fumble/Strip and Fumble Recovery on same play – outstanding!
Vincent Smith: 2 decals, editor’s choice, for the 2 solo tackles on the NW interception return. Little man is tough. And he mixed it up a bit with one of the Wildcat lineman after the first, nicely done.
Junior Hemingway: 1 decal for 48-yard reception in 1st QTR. (Junior Megatron?)
Steve Watson: 1 decal for 9-yard TD reception in 1st QTR.
Jeremy Gallon: 1 decal for 25-yard TD reception in 2nd QTR.
Mark Huyge: 1 decal for kick-out block on Gallon TD.
Ryan Van Bergen: 1 decal for Pass Break Up in 2nd QTR.
Roy Roundtree: 1 decal for 57-yard reception in 3rd QTR.
Devin Gardner: 2 decals, 1-yard TD run in 3rd QTR, and +1 editor’s pick for handling the reins like a vet while Denard was out.
Brandin Hawthorne: 1 decal for diving interception in 3rd QTR.
Michael Shaw: 1 decal for 2-yard TD run in 4th QTR.
Blake Countess: 1 decal for PBU in 4th QTR.
Will Campbell: 2 decals, 1 for sack in 4th QTR, +1 editor’s pick for barreling off the field top speed at the end of the game, to the delight of the Michigan faithful.
Kenny Demens: 1 decal for TFL.
Craig Roh: 1/2 decal for 3rd QTR 1/2 sack along with Mike Martin.
Mike Martin: 1/2 decal for 3rd QTR 1/2 sack along with Craig Roh.

Dr. Sap’s Decals – San Diego State

Dr. Sap’s Decals – Eastern Michigan

Michigan 42, Northwestern 24 + the Misc.

10. October 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: 2011 · Tags: 2011, away, bo pelini, falk, jerseys, michigan, northwestern, otto graham

What a great night in Evanston and props to the throngs of Michigan fans who made the trip, many of whom blew my doors off on I-94 topping 95 MPH.

After parking several blocks from the stadium, I was running a tad late so I flagged your typical pregame rickshaw driver and cruised to the stadium in style (left).

OK, maybe it wasn’t the best idea as something smelled funny back there and I got ruined by a few of the pickled fans as I cruised by. But I shaved off a couple minutes and dude, it was hot.

For a small stadium, boy, it was a bear getting in. Lines to get into your gate were brutally long and the press box elevators were jammed.

As far as the ballgame, a few thoughts:

Don’t you feel like, for the first time in a long while, that Michigan clearly has the advantage in coordinators? While there is room for improvement, it’s a blast to see Borges tinker around with Denard and Gardner, and the defense has rattled several quarterbacks this season and has clearly improved. The team seems to get better as the game goes on.
Speaking a Gardner, I love see him getting snaps and building confidence. While Denard hasn’t been dinged up as much as he was last year (not sure why—he seems like he’s just as active running the ball?) you know Gardner is going to have to play during a significant stretch or two like he did this week.
On defense, it’s so good to see guys making holding contain on the outside and getting in position, settling their feet and making tackles. Yes, a few guys over-pursued BADLY in the first half, but in general, these guys really are tackling well. I have to look at the film but Thomas Gordon stood out on several plays.
I’m guessing they wouldn’t have had enough evidence to overturn Hawthorne’s interception either way. If they called it incomplete on the field, I think that would have stood up. The Northwestern folks in the press box were convinced (vocally) that it should have been overturned. Oh well. And I think the fumble proved to be out before the knee hit but it was close, again, maybe if it wasn’t call that way on the field they would have let the play on the field stand.
I think we all accept that you have to toss out your conventional understanding of what a quarterback should do when you’ve got Denard, but man, some of those throws in the first half…yeessh. Until he proves to be more effective throwing the pigskin there’s just no way this is a top 10 team.
The errant passes yielded one nice perk—it gave you a look at Vincent Smith’s tackling skills. He made solo tackles on the first two picks and they were nice. #toughness!
The Misc:

Jersey Reversion. I got a few emails and tweets just like this from reader Nick:

Any chance you can ask Jon Falk about why the d-lineman (namely Roh,
van Bergen, Martin, and Campbell that I can remember) are all wearing
last year’s road jersey w/ the maize side stripe tonight in Evanston?
Thanks and Go Blue!

Looks like Denard has the striped version on as well, at least at the end of the game, and notice the other guys don’t:

I have no idea. I reached out to Dr. Sap for his take so we’ll see what he comes up with. He initially suggested it might be a fit/feel thing for the lineman. As far as reaching out to Jon Falk, I generally lay off badgering him about uniform minutia mid-season but maybe I’ll ask media relations. [Update: a spy tells me that the d lineman feel that the 2011 jerseys are too easy to grab, thus they went with the older style. We’ll see if that’s fixed next week!] [Update #2: Per media relations, this was more of a function of the players reverting to their “backup” jerseys after the regular unis suffered some rips.]

Golf Clapping, Maybe. They make an announcement each week in the Michigan press box “…a reminder that this is a working press box, no cheering allowed..”. I didn’t hear that announcement and there was clearly some clapping going on by a few guys who appeared to work for the University. I don’t care really (it might be more fun if people were cheering), I’m just saying it was different.

Two #1 Throwbacks

Purple Chill. This nice couple apparently won the raffle and got to chill out in purplicious La-Z-Boys in one of the Michigan-dominated corners of the stadium. Congrats, you won a front row seat to the 2nd half beat down while being heckled relentless by thousands of visiting fans:

Not Heckled. The folks got a nice view of the final touchdown of the game. And #16 even went up and paid a quick visit to the faithful:

Denard scored and skipped past the only thing that nearly tripped him up on the play—my backpack with my PC and gear. When I checked to make sure my laptop wasn’t damaged, I noticed all Denard apparently applied all the latest hotfixes and patches as he passed by. Dang he’s fast!