The recent discovery of an 1892 Athletic Association pin clarified the deep history of this lost Michigan tradition. I view this tradition as a bit of a historic puzzle, and this find provided a huge tangible piece of evidence on its origins. This post shares the latest history as I understand it today.
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Post-Harbaugh NFL Dalliance Fanbase Temp Check
In summary, the announcement that Jim Harbaugh is staying left the majority of the Michigan fanbase relieved. But even the most open-minded supporters feel a level of damage control, or at least reassurances, around his commitment to U-M need to be made by Harbaugh, certainly inside Schembechler Hall. Throwing out those who are outright thrilled, and those totally outraged, most fans had The Mood in the lower 90s or 80s following this latest postseason drama.
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From Disaster to the 501 Barbeque (1900-1901)
Has there been a bigger jump in fan sentiment season-to-season than 2020 to 2021? I don’t need to remind you of the mess that was last season, and granted COVID had something to do with that. But it’s fair to say the program was in full-on crisis mode. Future jeopardized. Dogs and cats living together. Twelve months later we were drowning in Lucas Oil confetti and passing around a silver pigskin. One possible candidate? 1900 to 1901:
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Mark Messner Interview (extended version)
Given a new Michigan legend has entered the College Football Hall of Fame, here's my full interview with Mark Messner from 2009 where he talks recruiting, facing Tony Mandarich and much more.
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Creating A Buzz (1917)
Digging through the Michigan Daily archives yielded an interesting find, and certainly news to me. According to multiple accounts in the U-M student fishwrap, your Wolverines issued a special midseason uniform change for the October 20, 1917 game against Michigan Agricultural College (M.A.C, of course later MSU). Here's the story:
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Jersey Numbers and Old Dame Fortune (1915)
I've recently done some housekeeping on the Uniform Timeline. And thanks to the Michigan Daily archives, we have new additions in the early periods. Here's one, getting into the history of the first jersey numbers to appear on Michigan uniforms, and how they handled the unlucky 13 number.
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Michigan Calls Cal & Stanford Chicken | Scheduling the First Rose Bowl (1901)
While most Michigan fans know that the Wolverines played in the first Rose Bowl in 1902, one detail that's misunderstood is that U-M actually had scheduled the trip out west BEFORE the season. Here's how it all played out - it's pretty cool stuff:
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Michigan Football Helmet Stickers Catalog [2021-2024]
Lifted from the Uniform Timeline, this page contains a complete catalog of the publicly known or observed helmet stickers donning Michigan football helmets. This new concept was introduced in 2021, "to tell the story of a player’s entire career."
