• Sap and the Outback Jersey Breakdown

    Ed. Instant historical analysis of the Outback Bowl jersey reveal compliments of Steve Sapardanis aka Dr. Sap: HELMET The matte finish is a first for the U-M headgear.  Back in the 70s and 80s there was no gloss finish on the Michigan helmets.  Much like their coach, there was no flashiness to them – they were maize and blue and that was that.  You’d be surprised at how basic and crude those old helmets look compared to the newer ones of today.  From 1977: If you wanted the old ones to look shiny, you would have to rub some car wax on them!  In the past 10 years or so the paint used has been more automotive grade with a much more durable and glossy finish to it.  As long as it’s not a chrome finish, I can deal with it.  The blue color seems deeper and darker, but might have more to do with the matte finish more than anything else.  Can’t really speak to the yellow unless I see it next to a current helmet that has the newer "neon" yellow color to it.   The Outback Bowl helmet seems to have a more deeper yellow than (older helmet) orange hue to it. Via mgoblue.com photo gallery JERSEY You have to go back to Jim Mandich in 1968 to…

  • Jim Mandich of ‘69 on WTKA (audio)

    [Ed 4/27/2011:  Originally posted November 19, 2009 – bumping up this interview with Ira and Mandich because you should hear it.] Excellent interview this morning on WTKA 1050AM, as Michigan legend and current Miami, FL radio personality Jim Mandich dialed up Ira Weintraub to discuss Ohio State, 1969, the current team, Bo, Chad Henne and Jake Long on his Dolphins and much more. Gotta love that he’s flying up to the big game on Steve Ross’s luxuriously private jet. Definitely worth a listen: [display_podcast] . You can hear all of the WTKA podcasts here, anytime.