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Last month during the band-is-not-going-to-Dallas crisis, I mentioned that there was a precedent (1910, for example) for Michigan fans passing the hat to help send the marching band on road trips.  

I knew that wasn’t the only case, and once again a great item has appeared on eBay illustrate that piece of history.   Here’s a small card that someone saved in scrapbook, a memento from an effort to help get the MMB to the critical game against Cornell in 1911:

The effort was led by the students, spurred on by the Daily, and was successful in raising the funds for the band trip.  I wrote about the 1911 season in last year’s edition of Brian Cook’s Hail to the Victors and mentioned that apparently everyone wasn’t pleased with the repeated “begging” to help the band, and one Daily reader suggested a fee-based approach:

· It was typical in those days to pass the hat amongst the student body and alums to gather up money to send the band to a long road trip. A letter from “One-Opposed-to –Begging” offered a different tact: simply charge a dime admission to the Friday pep rally which would cover the expenses for the trip to Cornell.

The band traveled but didn’t help spur on Michigan’s offense.  Here’s the complete rundown of Cornell week from 1911 via HTTV 2011:

Week 6: vs. Cornell, at Ithaca, November 11, 1911

The Syracuse stung but Michigan had to turn its attention to first major roadtrip of the year – a visit to Ithaca to face “the red and white” of Cornell.

On Yost’s Mind: He completely shut down practice and rumors of line-up changes persisted through the week. While information was limited, word got out that the team focused on fundamentals: blocking and tackling drills. (It’s unknown whether they worked on the overhand forward pass).

The Night Editor wrote a piece called “All Out.” No, it wasn’t direct contradiction to Rich Rod’s famous command, but rather, it was a plea for students to give the team an organized send-off before the train ride to Ithaca. They did–hundreds of students came out in the rain before the train departed.

The Saturday edition noted “Betting odds 10 to 6 favor Varsity today” in the first game between Michigan and Cornell since 1894. (Michigan won 12-4 at the Detroit Athletic Club field). Apparently not much money was changing hands because “Cornell supporters demand big odds.”

The Game: Michigan’s offensive struggles continued and the injury problems hampered the squad. Cornell upset Yost and crew 6-0. The lone score came when they blocked a third quarter punt by Bottles and fell on the ball behind the U-M “chalk line”. The game was marred by penalties and fumbles.

The ever faithful Daily praised the effort of the “crippled” Wolverines. “We want to win games just as much as anything else but in our opinion the way the men played…far outreaches the fact that Cornell scored and we did not.” In 2011 this would have read: The Day the Offense Died.   Commence full on PANIC!

Off the field:

· Debate raged over the place of women at football games, in particular their role in cheering. Those days female students were relegated to a section in the south endzone of Ferry Field. Put bluntly by one writer, “the girls are ruining our cheering”. Later in the fall a letter signed “Mere Man” asked, “What’s the use of having 900 coeds if we have to sew on our own buttons?”

· It was typical in those days to pass the hat amongst the student body and alums to gather up money to send the band to a long road trip. A letter from “One-Opposed-to –Begging” offered a different tact: simply charge a dime admission to the Friday pep rally which would cover the expenses for the trip to Cornell.

· If you got in line to purchase advance tickets for the 1911 Penn Game you had better of set the alarm. According to one fan who “arose a trifle early” (at 4:30am) he was around 50th in line for tickets that went on sale at 8am.

Related:
* I’m excited that I’ll be back in HTTV for a fifth straight year, this time I’m writing about Harry Newman and the perfect season of 1932.   I think you’ll enjoy it and as always, HTTV is a must have. 

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Via WTKA media relations, here’s the schedule for Friday’s annual Mott Takeover event on WTKA 1050AM,

Here’s the official line-up – I like the additions of some national media members and you’ve got to like that Stevie Everitt (above) will be in the house:

7am – Lloyd Carr, Jay Feely
8am – Lloyd Carr, Brian Griese
9am –Dana Jacobson, Dhani Jones
10am – Marlin Jackson, Cato June, Tim Massaquoi
11am – Charles Woodson, Adam Schefter
Noon – Mike Hart, Greg Mattison, Al Borges
1pm –Scott Dreisbach, Adrian Arrington,  Gary Moeller, Jerry Hanlon, Jarrett Irons
2pm – Leon Hall, Morgan Trent, Ron Bellamy, Drew Henson
3pm –Mark Campbell, Jerame Tuman , Aaron Shea, Remy Hamilton
4pm – Steve Hutchinson, Steve Everitt, Jake Long at MDen
5pm – David Brandon, Brady Hoke at MDen

Last year they raised nearly $105,000 for the Charles Woodson Clinical Research Fund.   This year the Takeover will benefit the Coach Carr Mountaintop Experience Fund.  So—diial in early and often.  

Fans can of course listen in and this year you can watch the final two hours live from the M-Den on State Street.

Go Blue!

A plug for the book pulled together by the students over at The Michigan Daily, coming out this summer.  I got to peruse a beta copy and even offered a couple small suggestions (umm, and maybe slightly inspired the concept?).   It’s definitely worth picking up. 

It’s basically an era by era look at the history of Michigan football, including articles, photos and other goodies as they appeared back in the day.  Readers of this site know I’m a fan of leveraging the Daily for my research and they did a great job putting it in book form.

For more details follow this link or click below:

Related:

• A Century Ago: 1910 Michigan Football through the Words of The Daily
• Cornhusker Hospitality in 1911
• The Willis Ward Protests (1934)

This auction came and went on eBay, with buyers perhaps scared off by the nearly $4,000 asking price.  The seller claims, backed up by a letter of authenticity, that this is a Bike helmet that once belonged to the great Anthony Carter:

Is it the real deal?   Paging Dr. Sap!

Coincidentally this ties in two recent posts on these pages.  First off, the Michigan Bike helmet was the offspring of the research performed by Elwyn Gooding and the team from U-M.    And while we’re on the topic of Carter, AC is featured in one of Dr. Sap’s throwback NCAA Football covers.  Also featured is a gent I described as the most interesting man in the world:

Thanks to notes from his nephew and his son, we now know that this man is Jerry Wright, who worked at the Ann Arbor police department.   Mr. Wright passed away in ‘99 but he lives on in Michigan lore!

Update:  Great comments below on the analysis, and Dr. Sap sent over this collage of AC photos:

Update #2.   An anonymous former player weighs in:

Just as a side note the helmet may have well been Anthony’s but the claim that he wore it for three years is probably not accurate.  We were issued new game helmets every year and quite often our previous year’s game helmet became our practice helmet the following fall.  Unless Anthony asked for the same game helmet for some reason I don’t know that he would have had the same helmet for three years.  Plus there are no blemishes or scratches on the helmet that he would undoubtedly would have received even as a receiver.  And, if I recall, AC won a gold football or two during his years there.  It may very well be his helmet but probably a practice helmet.

Thanks to some great spotting by Dr. Sap, check out this brilliant wire photo from 1973 currently up on eBay:

What does this have to do with Michigan football?    A lot, it turns about.  (A lot more than M fans routinely beating themselves senseless in frustration near computer equipment during games).

According to the caption on the back of the pic, the gent smacking his own skull with a stick is Elwyn Gooding, a researcher at the University of Michigan.   Why he’s surrounded by enough computing power to launch and land an Apollo mission is unclear.

Gooding is testing a prototype of a safer fireman’s helmet but his research extended to gridiron headgear:

While the text is a tad foggy, the December 1973 article leads with this:

A group of University of Michigan medical researchers have developed a new football helmet that they think is more comfortable and more effective in preventing brain and spinal cord injuries than any helmet on the market.

Another hat tip to uni-guru Dr. Sap for passing along this link.  According to Helmut Hut, a worthy source on headgear, this new design made it onto the heads of The Victors shortly thereafter in the form of the Bike-branded helmet:

In the mid 1970s the Michigan athletic department along with local Ann Arbor scientists became involved in the development of a new inflatable type helmet commercially introduced as the Bike "Air Power" helmet (now sold as Schutt’s "Pro Air" helmet). Macgregor quit making helmets in 1974 (the Macgregor helmet line was subsequently purchased and reintroduced in the late 1970s by Bill Kelly). In the mid 1970s Michigan began wearing the new Bike helmets almost exclusively and still use a large percentage (versus Riddell) of the Schutt "Pro Air" helmets today.

I’m partial to Schutt, now more than ever.  So is Denard.

Gooding apparently survived the series of self-inflicted blows and went on to file a series of patents for safer gear for athletes, many tied to protecting the athlete in some form another.    Maybe one of these will save college and pro football.  Here are the drawings  for patent 4566137, “Inflatable baffled liner for protective headgear..” filed in 1984:

Own a piece of history – the 1973 wire photo of Gooding conducting the helmet research is available on eBay now for $21.00. 

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This morning on WTKA’s Michigan Insider Ira and Sam mentioned that Free Press writer Michael Rosenberg is leaving the paper to take a full time gig at Sports Illustrated.  After resetting his concerns about the quality of Rosey’s work, in particular the practicegate story,  Ira took it a step further by challenging him to a charity boxing match.   LOL

Certainly this won’t happen but if it did, rest assured I’d be ringside.  (And it’s not that I don’t like Rosenberg FWIW—he’s always been good to me.)

A man can dream, so if we can get these two together in the squared circle they’ll need an undercard.  Sticking with the media vs. media theme I have a few suggestions.   Remember we’re raising money for charity fergodsakes (you have a problem with that?) so this is for fun:

Sam Webb (GoBlueWolverine/Scout.com) 
vs.
Chris Balas (The Wolverine/Rivals.com)

OVERVIEW:  If you don’t know, ask somebody.   Naturally there’s an organic competitive tension between the two major U-M recruiting networks but call it a gut feeling, I’m guessing these guys won’t be sharing a Twosie anytime soon.   In our 2010 interview Webb made it clear there’s no love lost between their crews.  The message board minions would flock in droves to get a glimpse of this action, as long as their moms let them borrow the van.
EDGE:   Neither man is physically imposing but I have a hunch that Sam’s the type of guy who doesn’t quit until the job is done.  While Balas appears to be in good shape, Sam’s been spending a lot of time with Skip at Body Specs and crushing salads (hold the bacon bits) for lunch.  Webb by TKO.

(P.S. If this doesn’t work out Webb vs. Valenti would put many an ass in the seats.)

Frank Beckmann (WJR, U-M radio) 
vs. 
Mitch Albom (WJR, Detroit Free Press, Oprah Book Club)

OVERVIEW:  It must get a little awkward up in the golden tower of the Fisher Building when these two are in the house.  Their heated 2011 debate on Beckmann’s show was harsh and got weird & personal real quick.   Clearly these guys can’t stand each other.  Private jets would roll into Willow Run to see this one (and I’m not talking about the handful that Mitch keeps there).
EDGE:   While Albom is certainly better conditioned (assuming he stopped lighting cigars with $100 bills), Beckmann has a sizeable height and reach advantage as I know he’s a pretty big guy.  I just can’t see Mitch landing a blow on Frank’s sizeable dome.   Gotta give it to Beckmann as long as he can end it in the first couple rounds.

Bob ‘Wojo’ Wojnowski (Detroit News, 97.1 The Ticket) 
vs. 
Pat Caputo (Oakland Press/97.1 The Ticket)

OVERVIEW:  I wish I knew of some grudge between these two but we need a heavyweight brawl–this is about as close as we’re going to get.   Caputo is probably not wild that Wojo bumped him from his slot in the evenings on 97.1 so perhaps there’s something there.  If that doesn’t get them started, if we offered the winner a pack of Nutter Butters you can be sure Wojo would send some fists flying with bad intentions. 
EDGE:   I really don’t know either man but Wojo just seems too nice and heck, he turned 50 last year.  No one is exactly sure how old Caputo is and Pat strikes me as the type of guy who would fight dirty if backed into a corner.  Caputo in a TKO.

Bill ‘Huge’ Simonson (The Huge Show) 
vs. 
Jim Carty (Ann Arbor News (formerly)/New York Times)

OVERVIEW: Do you remember?  Yes, there was a spell a few years back when Huge was regularly teeing off on Carty on his radio show (which used to air live in Ann Arbor).   According to Carty it started after he declined to go on air with Huge because he didn’t care for the style of the show.  Despite an olive branch from Huge when Carty retired from regular journalism, I’m guessing each man still has a few things to get off their respective chests. 
EDGE:   Carty strikes me as a lawyer, not a fighter, and I’ve run into Huge a couple times—he’s a pretty big dude.  Sorry JC, Huge by KO.

Lauren (Fox Sports Detroit) 
vs. 
Allison (Fox Sports Detroit)

OVERVIEW:  Foxy boxing is a must on any charity boxing undercard so we’d have to pit the two Fox Sports Girls, Lauren (M hat) and Allison.  I’m going volunteer to referee this one just to keep it fair.
EDGE:  Even.  Probably makes sense to starting planning a rematch.

[Ed. Updates May 1 ]

• Funny, got a few pings from present and former media members, a couple noting that Balas is not just in good shape, he’s ripped.   To those guys – take a cold shower.  I still give Sam the edge.
• Mike Rothstein of ESPN didn’t make the undercard but it probably wouldn’t be too tough to find a fellow or two to step up the challenge.  Consider Rothstein vs. Mark Snyder (of the Freep) on standby.
• I paired Wojo and Caputo as heavyweights and it probably makes sense to add a couple lighter-weights.   How about a triple flyweight cage match between past and present mgo-correspondents Tom VanHaaren (ESPN), Ace Anbender (mgoblog) and Tim Sullivan (Rivals)?

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Via the indomitable Dr. Sap, his homegrown retro EA College Football covers.  My favorite up first.

Lytle:

Terrible Tommy:

Ricky Leach:

Wangler to Carter (including an appearance from the most interesting man in the world in his suede jacket):

General Bo:

I don’t feature ticket stubs very often on eBay Watch but this one is special.   On its face, this musty, chewed up stub from the 1943 Michigan-Michigan State game doesn’t look very valuable, does it? 

I’m guessing the seller had no idea and is wondering why as of Saturday afternoon it had 17 bids, the tops at $330.   It was a very nice season by Fritz Crisler’s crew, going 8-1, sharing the conference title and finally beating freaking Minnesota whom they hadn’t beaten since 1932.

Readers of this site might recall that this is a very rare find, so rare, in fact is that it was the final stub that local Jack Briegel needed to complete his collection of every game played at the Big House (dating back to ‘27).    Thanks to a gift of this stub in 2011 from fellow collector Ken Magee, Jack got that final piece of the puzzle.

It’s rare for a few reasons as I explained in an earlier post:

The ticket to that September 25 game actually lists Michigan State as the opponent.   But the Spartans did not field a team that season as it was common for teams to shut down their football squads that year due to obligations to the war effort.  Folks seemed to have better things to do that fall day as just over 14,000 bothered to show up, and apparently it wasn’t memorable enough for many fans to bother to hang onto their stubs.

Toast to Yost.   Speaking of stubs, reader Brian pointed out this ticket stub published in the Ann Arbor library archives.   It’s a ticket to the celebration for Fielding Yost in 1940, the event from which I’ve posted a few audio clips recently. 

I wonder if Jack or Ken have this one?

The entry associated with the above image states “..the event was held in the compact Waterman Gymnasium. It might have been held at the relatively new Yost Field House which created some controversy among faculty members when Yost named the building after himself.”   

Umm, except the Field House was built by and named after Yost in the 1920s, sooo…

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photo via Macaroni Tony

photo Paul Sancya (AP) via ESPN

So from the recent comments of Mary Sue Coleman and Dave Brandon, rest assured that the ‘92 and ‘93 banners will remain on the shelf at the BHL evermore. But DB opened the door to honoring the controversial quintet in some other way:

Are there (different) banners we could put up, though? Yeah, there are," he says. "I’d love to celebrate the Fab Five. Are there conditions on which that has to happen? For sure. But we’ve been very open and vocal about that, and there’s just nothing new on this subject.

Brandon’s conditions are tied to Chris Webber admitting to taking money from Ed Martin and apologizing in some form.   Don’t hold your breath.

Based on the calls to WTKA I’m guessing most of you would just like to see nothing happen and move on.   I get that.  I’m ok with leaving the banners at the BHL but I would like to see these guys honored in some form or another.  (I openly admit my huge bias—I was at U-M during the heyday of the Fab Five).

A suggestion—when the time is right, why not retire #5 as a ceremonial nod to the group and a not-so-subtle tribute to Jalen (who wore #5 and was the leader of the crew) for all he’s done in the community?   You could drop each guy’s name on the back and send it up to the rafters:

It would of course be splendid if the announcement were tied to some donation or foundation created by Webber (a la Griese-Hutchinson-Woodson) to benefit U-M.   And while were on the topic of smiles and rainbows, it’d be even splendider if we all got a free pizza out of the deal.

All this said, I don’t blame anyone for being entirely sick of all the jersey honoring/retiring/#1-ing/Legending talk.   Those who read this site know I write about this kind of thing now and again and even I’m growing weary. 

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Recently I posted a short audio clip of Fielding Yost from the 1940 nationwide radio tribute the man titled, ‘A Toast to Yost from Coast to Coast’.   Check it out if you missed it.   In that post I promised to share a few more clips, and thanks to the Bentley Historical Library for passing these along.

The man who introduced Yost to the crowd in attendance and the radio audience was none other than the great Willie Heston, the All American who came with Yost to Ann Arbor and by some (suspect) accounting, scored 110 touchdowns.  [The Bentley says 72, which might be still on the high side, but methinks that will be addressed at some point.]

Here are two clips of the great Willie and in the first we have a surprise.   Before offering up his tribute to his old coach, Heston acknowledges that current student athlete and national icon Tom Harmon in the audience.  Old 98 shares the mic & even has a little back and forth with Heston that is all in all pretty priceless.

The second clip has Heston delivering his testimonial to Yost.  Enjoy:

Clip 1: Willie Heston and Tom Harmon from 'A Toast to Yost from Coast to Coast' Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Clip 2: Willie Heston from 'A Toast to Yost from Coast to Coast' Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As an aside, while I’m sure you’ll be hard pressed to find another audio clip of the Harmon and Heston together, they did appear elsewhere…namely on this campaign pin for Heston [original 2008 post].   This is probably a decent representation of what each man looked like back in 1940:

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[Ed.  This interview first appeared in GoBlueWolverine magazine.]

Brian Kruger and his partner Buddy Moorehouse of Detroit-based Stunt3 Multimedia are currently on a nationwide tour, screening their wonderful new documentary, Black and Blue. It’s the amazing but little known story of Michigan’s 1934 football game against Georgia Tech, and the circumstances that led to the benching of Willis Ward, an African American football and track star at U-M. The backdrop of the tale involves Ward’s friend and future president Gerald Ford, and it follows how the incident shaped their lives after college.

Brian, the director the film, was kind enough to sit down with me to discuss this project and much more.

MVictors: When did you and Moorehouse first hear about this story, and at what point did you know it was a project worth taking on?

Kruger: We first heard about it when President Bush eulogized Gerald Ford [when Bush discussed the relationship between Ford and Ward]. I called Buddy after seeing that, and Buddy was once the sports editor for The Michigan Daily. I said, ‘Buddy, have you ever heard about that?’, and he said, ‘Not really.’ So the first thing we did was spend time looking around to see if anybody had done a movie on it. At that time we were thinking about creating a film company and I was looking to change careers. We looked around and found it was mentioned in a couple of books but nobody had done anything further with it. We became more and more astounded that very few people knew about this story. So that’s why we said, ‘We need to do this.’

We were going to make it the first part of a ten part series called, ‘The Victors’. The idea was to tell lesser known stories about Michigan football, and this was going to be the second one. The first was going to be the Ron Kramer story but then he passed away and we started on the Willis Ward story.

MVictors: How has the documentary evolved from the initial cut?

Kruger: This is our fifth film, and usually when we make a film we do something called the screener. It’s not a rough cut, but it’s what we want to show people to see what the reaction is. That film was an hour and eleven minutes and the reaction was overwhelming, people thought it was fantastic. We were excited about that. Many people told us that we should get the film on PBS. We looked into that and were told that if we want to get it on PBS we need to get the film down to 56 minutes and 44 seconds. So we made that cut, and that’s the cut that’s been showing around the country. There’s actually a third cut that’s going to be made this summer called the director’s cut, and it’s because so much information has come to our attention since the release. And the other big thing is that we’d like to get it in consideration for an Academy Award.

MVictors: I understand someone contacted you claiming to actually have the game football from the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech game?

Kruger: What happened was, we were looking for the game ball. I think we asked you at one point if anyone had the ball, and we figured if anyone knew if that ball was around it would be you [laughs]. That was last year. Anyway, a few weeks ago a woman called me. She said her father was John Regeczi, who played on the teams with Gerald Ford and Willis Ward, those three years. She was very excited about that and she was telling me some stories. After about ten minutes I figured the conversation would wind down, and she said, ‘Oh and by the way, we have the game ball.’ [laughs] I was like, ‘What?’. I asked her to email me photos right away. It’s the real thing – it has the score Michigan 9, Georgia Tech 2 and has 1934 on it, and there appear to some signatures on it. It will be interesting to see if Ward’s signature is on it either way. I’m looking forward to looking at it closely.

MVictors: So where’s the ball today?

Kruger: That’s a good question, too. I was assuming the ball was in Ann Arbor at somewhere like Barton Hills or something. I told her I wanted to check it out and she invited me to come see it. So I asked where she lived and she said, ‘Southern California’. [laughs] She said it’s been in the family for 77 years.

MVictors: I saw the screening at the Alumni Association building in February. One thing that stuck out was the gasp when it was mentioned that Ward once beat Jesse Owens in a race. Do you plan to go further into Owens and his relationship with Ward in upcoming releases?

Kruger: We actually do, and that’s what’s spurring what I call a complementary piece that we’ve tentatively titled A Race in Time. It’s the untold story of Willis Ward. It was going to be the untold story of Ward and Owens, but there’s a lot more with the Ward story. As far as their head-to-head races, they were a big deal. On March 2, 1935 Ward and Owens raced against each other, Ward wins twice, Owens wins once, and Ward set the world record in the 60 yard dash at 6.2 seconds. On March 9^th, one week later at the Big Ten Championship, they raced again and Owens won both times, and Owens reset the World record at 6.1 seconds. They met again on March 24 at the Butler relays in Indianapolis and they raced again in the 60 yard dash and Owens won it. That all went down 77 years ago this March.

MVictors: So speaking of memorializing former athletes, I understand you recently addressed the U-M Board of Regents to discuss honoring Ward in some way?

Kruger: Yes, we passed out a copy of the film to the Regents and we told them we’re not sure what we can do or what the process is, but we really do need to have a permanent marker, something on campus that recognizes what this man did. We got applause and everything else. Afterwards, we had a far more off-the-cuff discussion, and I told them that we’ve been screening it around the country and that it’s been really well received and we need to do something for Willis Ward. I also told them that I think a copy of this film should be given to every incoming student. We got a really good reaction from a couple of the regents afterwards and in fact Regent White, who was not there, chimed in over the teleconference and told the rest of the group that she’d seen the film and thought it was wonderful, and that something should be done for Ward. At that point a motion was made to do something for Ward and it was seconded. We’re just not sure what it is at this point.

MVictors: While it’s not in any way theme of the film, you’ve got George Bush (who eulogizes Ward at the start of the film) and of course of Gerald Ford, and Ward himself who were all Republicans. In this election year, have any viewers or potential donors had an issue with the film because they feel there’s a political bent to the story?

Kruger: Not quite like that. I did get one potential donor who said that if that if I would remove the references of George Bush from the film that they would then consider becoming financially involved. That’s the first time I ever thought of this film being political. Gerald Ford is kind of frowned upon by conservatives. He was the first Republican to sign onto the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act and all that can be traced back to his relationship with Ward. But I can’t take George Bush out of the film. It was not only how I found out about the story, it was how the rest of the country really learned of the story as well–when the sitting president eulogizes a fallen president.

MVictors: How critical were the archives at the Bentley Library in creating this piece?

Kruger: Absolutely invaluable. When doing a documentary, using images like letters and photos from companies like Corbis and Getty can make story a like this cost prohibitive. I mean to the point where it could be another 77 years before it could be told, because documentaries don’t make a lot of money. This story doesn’t get told unless somebody like the Bentley Library rubber stamps the approval on all of the rights management of all those photos. Ironically a lot of that material comes from the Fielding H. Yost collection that was donated to the Bentley in 1970.

MVictors: Yost is effectively the villain in the story, with albeit a bit of redemption at the end–do you think the film will change how Michigan fans feel about Yost?

Kruger: I don’t know. But this is the way I look at it. I’m not at all prepared to demonize the man that revolutionized college football and the man who left the legacy that did. All of us have faults. Yost clearly had his faults too. Unfortunately his are being dug up by a couple guys long after he’s dead to tell this story about Willis Ward. I’m not apologetic about that at all, but I’m also not in any mood to say that this guy needs to be tucked away and never talked about again, and knock the stone off of Yost Field House and call it Ward Field House, which I heard someone say that other day. That’s insane. It’s Fielding H. Yost, the man is iconic. I’d say look at the whole legacy, don’t just look at 1934.

** Pick up your copy of the Black and Blue today – with free shipping
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So certainly you’ve heard by now that the Michigan Marching Band won’t be heading to Dallas.  I don’t like it either.  Fergodsakes.

Local radio host Lucy Ann Lance suggested via Twitter that perhaps we could have a fundraiser to get the band to Dallas.   I’m not wild about putting that on the fans and geez, I hate to give the Machine more ideas about where to squeeze. 

That said, there is a historical precedent for passing the proverbial hat to get the MMB to big games.  From my run down of the 1910 season, there was a big plea made by students to make sure the band made the trip to the big game at Penn that year.   An alumnus 1848 helped out:

Random Notes: The Michigan band wanted to make the trip to Philadelphia to support the football squad, but needed to raise some money to supplement the university’s funding to make it happen. The Daily reported that a Mr. Joseph R. Smith, U-M class of 1848, sent $2.50 to the band leader to help. Eventually, thanks in large to the attention given to the matter in the Daily, the funding was secured and the band made the trek to the game to support the Wolverines.

I can tell that this happened frequently back in those days.  In fact, I recall one student writing the Daily suggesting that they charge a small fee at the Friday pep rallies so they could better manage these requests.

Update:  There is also a precedent for sending the band to huge games played in high profile neutral stadiums as well.  If there’s a baseball equivalent to Cowboy Stadium it’s Yankee Stadium, and the MMB not only made the trip when Michigan faced Army in 1950—Revelli and his crew absolutely killed it:

While the football squad took a bit of a beating in a hard fought battle, the Michigan Marching Band made a few headlines with a legendary performance on the historic field. Their effort earned a few inches in the Times post-game coverage:

Brush away tear after reading that. My god, Revelli pulled out all the stops!

After that original post reader Jeremy sent over a few photos of the performance.  First photo is a salute to the opponent and the next, my favorites, is the band recreating a ride at the Coney Island amusement park: the Parachute drop:

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I love dropping by the U-M Bentley Historical Library.  I stopped in recently doing a little research for the 2012 edition of HTTV and check out this gem Brian W., one of the archivists, shared with me:

Now we know that the late, great U-M radio voice Bob Ufer played freshman football in Ann Arbor and was a U-M track star at Michigan, but I didn’t know he gave varsity football a run.   Apparently so, as above is one of Fritz Crisler’s preseason surveys filled out by old Ufe himself.   (Here’s Tom Harmon’s 1943 form, posted in 2010, worth a look if you haven’t seen it).  

He was living at the Phi Delt house at the corner of South University and Washtenaw at the time and as a good Pennsylvania worked in the steel mill during the summer. 

“VOICEM” 
Speaking of Ufer, had to scan eBay for a cool photo and jackpot.   Here he is in 1976 showing off his luxurious sled and his fitting vanity plate:

Related:
Bentley bio and sound clips
Ufer.org – official site, clips and more
Ufer posts on MVictors

Hopefully Treezy’s head doesn’t go on swoll when he gets the #21

It was radio play-by-play man Frank Beckmann who asked Brady Hoke about the #1 jersey after the Spring game on Saturday:

Are you going to consider handing out the No. 1 jersey this year?

“Yeah, we’ll consider it.”

IIRC there was a bit of hesitation in Hoke’s response and confirming that he’d “consider it” isn’t exactly saying it’s at the top of anyone’s list.   But I do take heed that it came from ol’ Blue Skies, who might have shot out the question because he knows something is in the works.

I can tell you one guy who doesn’t want to talk about the #1 jersey: Desmond Howard.    He was asked about the #1 by a couple folks and he made it clear he didn’t understand the process (if there is one) or who decides how that jersey is handled.   My impression by his tone is that he was annoyed by the questions and I don’t blame him.  And I don’t think he’s the only one at the university who feels that way.   After all, the university made it a big deal to induct his #21 as the inaugural Michigan Football Legend and it’s as if, despite the fanfare around the Legend distinction, the #21 somehow still takes a backseat to the nebulous numero uno.

Saturday Desmond said he’d definitely like to see someone who “displays the talent and the character” worthy of the honor to don the #21.  I asked him about timing and he said would need to chat with Dave Brandon about it.   We’ll see.

My money is that we’ll see Roy Roundtree wearing the #21 this fall.   Here’s why:

• Yes, Rich Rod is gone but still, I don’t think the athletic department is crazy about Braylon’s comments about the #1 jersey over the past few years and how it’s played out in the media.
• They just started the Legends tradition and made a big deal about it in honoring Desmond last season.  They will want to keep it rolling to keep it fresh in everyone’s mind.
• I’m guessing the athletic department has it on the timeline to honor AC (and maybe Braylon) with the Legends distinction at some point down the road.
• Everybody loves Treezy.

Helmet Numbers

Speaking of the uniforms, you probably noticed that the players still had the number decals on their helmets on Saturday.   Roundtree said he liked the numbers on the helmets and as a senior leader, you have to wonder if he’ll have some say in the matter.   All that said, if I had to guess I’d say that they will 86 the numbers on the helmets next season.

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Just a few photos to share from the Alumni Game and Spring Game.   The weather was far from the story, as other than a shower before the Victors Classic the weather was actually pretty nice.  

Former TE/QB/P Andy Mignery warms up while ‘64 team captain and Maize coach Jim Conley looks on.  (Yes, Conley started because Conley always starts).

Former C Rod Payne flashes his rice hat and the thumbs up, as former PK Ali Haji-Sheikh checks out the MVP trophy.

#hashtag

QB Johnny Wangler running off the field after the first drive.  Wangs looked sharp and earned the MVP honors. 

Good to see Team 132 captain Kevin Koger on the sideline taking it in.

LB Brandin Hawthorne made a big impact in the final couple series, with a few big hits and an interception.  Here’s a hit near the goal line (the technique was much better than it appears above).

Desmond Howard joined the media afterwards and identified himself as ESPN analysis and 1991 Heisman Trophy from winner from Michigan.  #weknow

Related: Great shots from Brad at Maize and Blue Nation

Coach Simmons during our interview at Crisler in 2009 (MVictors photo)

It was very sad for me to see the press release this morning.   We lost a great man and incredible tie to the history of athletics in this area.  Simmons ran track with Jesse Owens and Willis Ward and was a pioneer in weight training and in women’s athletics at Michigan.  For football fans: I’m confident he’s was the last living person to see the inaugural game at the Big House in 1927.

Here are a few videos I took of Simmons during our interview:

Part 1: On his friend, track legend Jesse Owens
Part 2: Police Department
Part 3: Hired by Fritz Crisler
Part 4: Working out at Crisler Arena
Part 5:  More Workout at Crisler

And here’s a link to several quotes from our interview a few years back, a few of my favorites:

On meeting Fielding Yost: I met him, I think it was 1927. He was at a high school meet at some point. It was so long ago. My impression was that he was a very sociable man. He’d walk around and talk to you. There was no feeling that he thought he was special. He was just a regular guy.”

On his friendship with Jesse Owens: I became friends with Jesse Owns in 1935. In 1930 I set the track record at Yost Field House in the low hurdles, and in 1935 he came along and broke it. From then on we were good friends. I raced him about 20 times but ever beat him. We traveled around the state putting on exhibitions but they didn’t want to see me, they wanted to see him!

On his reaction to Owens success in the 1936 Berlin Olympics: When I saw that in the paper I thought, ‘Oh boy!’ I was certain that nobody could beat him.

Why Fritz Crisler hired him: I wanted to coach, and be involved in sports. Back in the late 30s, no athlete was allowed to touch weights—it was considered bad. I contacted the York barbell club in Pennsylvania and I began to study weight training. But Crisler used to help out at track meets and he knew me. And he knew I was using weights and excelling against much younger people – I was just as good as they were.

Crisler knew that I had been training with weights at the police department. And it was just starting in 1960; men had really not started to lift yet. Crisler said, ‘We’re going to have weight training here for our athletes.’ So he hired me as an assistant to Don Canham on the track team but I was also instructing football players in weight training starting in 1960.

On his impressions of Crisler: “He was very serious. I don’t ever recall him smiling or laughing or anything.

On Canham’s support for ‘The Michigammes’: Don Canham let me use the facilities for the Michigammes and the girls came from all across the state because there was nothing like in the area. Canham said, ‘Just don’t interfere with the men’s track team. You can use the facility when they are not on it.’ And understand this was 16 years before Title IX. It was a different time. Heck, women weren’t even supposed to sweat!

On getting hired at the varsity women’s track coach: Just after Title IX was passed, [then AD] Canham came in a said, “You’re the new women’s track coach. I said, ‘Don, if I take this job, traveling around the country with these 17 to 18-year old girls, my wife’s going to travel with me. I’m not taking that chance!’ Canham said, ‘OK. She’ll be Mrs. Coach but she’s not getting paid!’

Full press release on Simmons’ passing from the athletic department:

Former Women’s Track Coach Red Simmons Passes Away at 102 Years Old

ANN ARBOR – Former University of Michigan women’s track and field coach Kenneth “Red” Simmons passed away today (Friday, April 13) at 102 years of age. Simmons was the first coach in the history of the women’s track and field program and coached the squad for four seasons (1978-81) before retiring.

Simmons was born Jan. 5, 1910 in Redford, Mich. He started from humble beginnings, serving in the Detroit Police department for 25 years before devoting his life to women’s track and field. Simmons started the Michigammes and became the first varsity women’s track and field coach at the University of Michigan.

As a teenager, Simmons starred at Redford High School, earning All-City honors in football. But for Simmons, track was his sport. He was a two-time state champion in 1928, winning both the low and high hurdles.

Simmons was going to attend the University of Michigan but the stock market crash in 1929 prevented him from having a job to help with tuition cost. He ended up at Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan), running track and washing wrestling mats to pay for his schooling.

A member of the victorious mile relay team at the 1932 Penn Relays – then considered the national championships – Simmons graduated with a degree in education from Michigan Normal in 1933. Prior to his graduation, he participated in the 1932 U.S. Olympic trials.

Following his graduation from Michigan Normal, Simmons joined the Detroit Police force as a detective. While on the squad, he also participated on the department’s track team, often out-running competitors half his age. He soon started weight training, something that was just becoming popular and accepted as a way of training.

In 1959, Simmons retired from the Detroit Police Department and began teaching physical education at U-M. A few days after he retired, he was offered a job at the University of Michigan by then-athletic director Fritz Crisler. Crisler hoped that Simmons would teach Michigan athletes his training methods. While teaching weight training, first aid, boxing and wrestling classes, Simmons completed his master’s degree in physical education.

In 1960, after a trip to the Olympics, he, along with his first wife Betty, started the first Ann Arbor Women’s Track Club, "The Michigammes." Their idea was to allow women the chance to compete. His first member, Francie Kraker Goodridge, went on to become the first native Michigan woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. She competed in the 800 meters at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and in the 1,500 meters at the 1972 Games in Munich. All told, the Michigammes produced three Olympians, in Goodridge, Sperry Jones and Micki King, even though Jones and King punched their ticket to the Olympics in other sports. Jones competed as a kayaker at the 1968 and 1972 Games, while King won a gold medal in diving in 1972.
With the passage of Title IX legislation in 1972, the need for the Michigammes slowly slipped away. The recruitment of many of its top performers to newly formed varsity programs across the country made it hard to keep the group together. With Simmons having proved his mettle as a coach with the Michigammes, he was selected as the first women’s track and field coach at U-M in 1976.
The Wolverines gained varsity status in 1978. In his four years as coach (1978-81), the Wolverines gradually improved, finishing fourth at the unofficial Big Ten Conference outdoor meet in 1981. He coached the program’s first All-America selection (AIAW), Penny Neer, before retiring from coaching in 1981.
Simmons attended sporting events on both the EMU and U-M campuses. He was inducted into the Eastern Michigan Hall of Fame in 1978, became U-M’s first honorary ‘M’ man in 1990 and was the inaugural inductee into the Michigan Women’s Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994. The Wolverines have hosted the "Red Simmons Invitational" every year since 1981 in his honor.
Simmons won four Senior Olympics gold medals in 1995 at the age of 85. Simmons and his second wife, Lois, continued to support Michigan Athletics with their time and generosity, funding several scholarships and awards.

Following are comments from U-M Athletic Department Personnel:

Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon

Red Simmons was a fixture at many sporting events and was always supportive of the department and our coaches. He lived a long, productive life and made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of others. Red will be missed by our athletic department but his legacy will endure as an accomplished coach, a wonderful person, and a great Michigan Man.

Michigan Women’s Track Coach James Henry

As I approach the middle of my 28th year as a head coach and prepare to have my 25th wedding anniversary celebration in a week, this has hit me like a ton of bricks. The person who has made me who I am today has just passed on. I feel heartbroken. I feel a little dazed and confused because I would not be the person I am today if it wasn’t for Red putting me in the position to have the type of life I’m leading now. I’m doing what I love to do and that’s coach and help kids and Red is responsible for that.

He built a legacy of integrity, hard work and honesty. He has made my job easy because I live by his example as an individual and as a coach."  

– M –