• Brian McDonald of Rivalry Trophy | MVictors History Show

    Recorded at Fraser's Pub in Ann Arbor, an interview with Brian McDonald, a co-founder and co-owner of Rivalry Trophy - the maker of Big Ten replica trophies. In Part I we discussed the origins of the company, his research on the Paul Bunyan Trophy, how they solved the licensing question. In Part II we get into more of their trophies, and discuss the nature of B1G fandom in general:

  • TWIMFbH: “Turtle Slow” Tom Brady takes on Nick Saban’s Spartans (1998)

    Saturday’s edition of TWIMFbH jets back to the conference opener of 1998 – a battle against Nick Saban and the Spartans.  Tom Brady took all the snaps for the Wolverines in this gem, played on September 26, 1998: 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 when they lace them up in Ann Arbor.   See you out there. Follow MVictors on Twitter script: It’s hard to defend any title, especially a national title, but that’s what Michigan and Lloyd Carr set out to do in 1998. Gone was Heisman winner Charles Woodson, but the team returned enough talent to earn a top 5 preseason ranking. But things didn’t go as planned, and the year started 0-2 with losses at Notre Dame and at home against Syracuse. The Wolverines took the first step toward righting the ship by crushing our friends from Ypsilanti 59-20 to conclude the preseason. On September 26 1998 the Wolverines opened the big ten slate with a huge one against rival Michigan State and head coach Nick Saban. One of the big questions of the year was at quarterback, where…

  • Paul Bunyan is Home – Sights & Sounds – (Michigan 12, Michigan State 10)

    Decals and Photos here. State deserved to win last year; Michigan deserved to win this time.   Bite sized game takes: Drew Dileo is getting a lot of praise but give the line and Denard mucho props on that play that set up the winning kick, and of course for the stretch (above). I give the State defense a lot of credit.  Gallon had an uncharacteristic drop (sure, the ball was behind him but you hardly ever seem him drop the pigskin), but MSU’s defenders made 3 or 4 solo tackles that prevented touchdowns. I join many others in giving Dantonio props for the showing some piedras on the fake punt.  I don’t blame him so much for trying the play action on the last drive.  He took a calculated risk to win the game and I think it was worth a shot.    Notre Dame won the game on a pass late in the game a few weeks back.   The only thing I would have told Maxwell – if the receiver was absolutely not there, make like Denard and tuck and run. Misc: On rivals.  Still lots of talk out there about where Michigan State ranks amongst Michigan’s most important opponents.   While rivals can change over the decades (ask Chicago and Minnesota if you can find someone old enough—or me, Kryk…

  • Foiling the Spartan Pranksters (1949)

    [Update: Audio from This Week in Michigan Football history, discussing the ‘49 Spartan antics] Heading into 1949 season, Michigan was the two-time defending national champion and was riding a Yost-like 23-game winning streak.  First in their way in the quest for the third championship in a row was Michigan State College who were still a few years away from admission to the conference. This won’t shock anyone in Ann Arbor, but before that game played 62 years ago this Saturday, a group of MSC fans came to town ready to stir things up. They had mixed results. One group succeeded in sneaking into Michigan Stadium and used white paint to insert the initials ‘MSC’ in six-foot block letters at midfield.  They took the rest of the paint to deface the press box windows and give other parts of the stadium a white wash. Another group, apparently a crew of sixteen future leaders of men, set out to deliver a more complex prank. They actually carefully designed and built a structure that would seal off the iconic Engineering Arch on campus (left).  They constructed a wooden frame and created 60 cement blocks that when pieced together, would shut down the Arch. They actually rehearsed the prank and, according to reports, apparently could complete the stunt within seven minutes.  But shockingly, they…

  • Broom! (Goes the Dynamite) Michigan 70, MSU 63

      What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, don’t you think?  Bullets: It has been amazing to witness the young guys, especially Morgan, Hardaway & Morris, maturing and improving since the start of the season.   It’s tangible progress before our eyes so hats off to the entire coaching staff and of course the team.  I actually give some credit to the M fans for the Maize out.  As I like to say, Wolverine fans are really good at “Wear Whatever You Want-Outs” but horrible at Maize-outs.  I thought the place was about 75-ish percent maize which is about as good as you are going to get.  I was a student during the Fab Five era when we used to wait out hours to pile into Crisler and pack the place  It had that feel yesterday. Speaking of the Maize-out: the always sharp-dressed M assistant Bacari Alexander looked sharp in his brown suit, but what do we need to do to get Coach Tweet outfitted in an all-Maize ensemble??  Sharp! Those on Twitter might have seen a barrage of  “HALOL!”.   I’ve been asked by a few folks what it refers to.  It’s a common tag on Coach Alexander’s tweets which I presumed to simply be an emphatic version of “LOL!”.   Sunday morning Bacari confirmed this: I expected the students…