• The Duck Bribe of 1960

    It turns out that there was a foiled attempt by wiseguys to bribe an Oregon player prior to game against the Wolverines in the 1960 season opener. The failed fixing attempt was revealed to the media after the Wolverines’ 21-0 victory over the Ducks on September 24, 1960. The story:

  • Booze Raid Snags Michigan Football Captain (1931)

    Not that alcohol is celebrated by local authorities on campus today, but in 1931 we were still a couple years from the end of Prohibition.  This was a little more serious. Word of the raid made the front page of the February 12, 1931 Chicago Tribune which provided some of the spicy details of the “Rum Raid” including a pretty lengthy listing of the more prominent students arrested.   Among them (and the first listed) was James "Ducky" Simrall--the captain of the 1930 football team and a Phil Delt.  

  • Hail Haskins, Roasting Stagg, Beating Ohio | This Week in Michigan Football History

    Ahead of one of the biggest editions of THE GAME we salute Mr. Hassan Haskins, who entered Meechigan Football's Valhalla after his five-touchdown performance against the Bucks in 2021. Haskins turns 23 on Saturday so let's hope it's a maize and blue birthday for #25. We also revisit the history of U-M playing on Thanksgiving Day and other recent victories against Ohio including the Ten-Year War. Go Blue!

  • Luring Tom Harmon (1937)

    Eighty years ago today on November 13, 1937, this Western Union telegram landed in Ann Arbor (a copy was later obtained by the Michigan Daily and plastered on the front page): In the fall of 1937 things were a bit dicey for the football program.  Since the 1933 national championship, coach Harry Kipke’s crew had just a handful of wins on the field.   And in November 1937 the university launched a well-publicized investigation of the program, suspecting that football players were being “subsidized.”  Kipke was sitting atop a flaming hot seat. If you need a two-minute version of Kipke’s mess, check out this episode of This Week in Michigan Football History: As the drama unfolded, eyes turned to Michigan freshman Tom Harmon.   Despite the struggles on the field (..but perhaps due to some of the questionable behavior off the field), Kipke landed the multi-sport high school superstar from Gary, IN.   In the fall of ‘37, he suited up for the freshman football team as was required back then.   Harmon’s athletic exploits in high school made him widely known in the sporting world and even as a freshman, having yet to take a snap on the varsity squad, a Chicago Tribune headline dubbed frosh Harmon a “star”. Suddenly Harmon found himself involved in the off-field drama.  He was named in the…

  • When Michigan Canceled The Notre Dame Series | November 4, 1910

    On Friday, Nov. 4, 1910, Michigan authorities cancelled the showdown football game scheduled for the next day between the Wolverines and the University of Notre Dame. In a nutshell, the Wolverines contended that at least two Fighting Irish players were ineligible under the rules of the game contract, and when Notre Dame refused to sit them out, Michigan pulled the plug.

  • Origins of “Michigan Man”

    The term Michigan Man hasn’t been this hot since Bo dropped his epic blast at outgoing coach Bill Frieder.  We know the use of the term goes way back, certainly before Bo used it so famously.   Heck, we know that Bo dropped this on Mark Messner during a last-ditch recruiting trip in the mid-1980s: Bo walks over, just hands me a tape and says [Messner in perfect Bo voice]: “You’re a Michigan man and you belong at Michigan.”  And got back in the car. I don’t know if there will ever be a true “source” of Michigan Man because as I understand it, it’s piggybacking on the concept of the ‘Harvard Man’, which I believe was simply extracted from England and the ‘Oxford Man’ or ‘Cambridge Man’, for instance.   The Great Gatsby, chapter 7: “And you found he was an Oxford man,” said Jordan helpfully.“An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.”“Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man.”“Oxford, New Mexico,” snorted Tom contemptuously, “or something like that.” Anyway, I did a quick search to find the phrase and nabbed a century-plus old source of it being used in the context of a U-M grad in a coaching position.  Vanderbilt was coached by a former M player, assistant and Yost’s brother-in-law Dan McGugin.   Frank “Shorty” Longman…