Joyeux Quatorze Juillet! The public is welcome to view a portion of the renovated Big House next Wednesday from 6am to 8pm. Also, for those out of town, Ira Weintraub and Sam Webb will broadcast live on WTKA 1050AM from the stadium that morning, guests include AD Dave Brandon. Full press release from the athletic department: Michigan Stadium Open to Public Wednesday ANN ARBOR, Mich. – With the start of the college football season just two months away, the University of Michigan will open the doors to Michigan Stadium on Wednesday, July 14, to showcase the renovations to one of college football’s greatest stadiums. The one-day event will run between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. “The Michigan Stadium renovation is something our entire athletic department is proud of,” said U-M Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Dave Brandon. “I want to invite the public to see what was envisioned and how it all came together. It is spectacular.” The east side structure will be open to the public, and the only accessible entry point will be on the south side of the stadium through Gate 2. Once inside, fans will proceed to the steps or elevators in the southeast tower to gain access to the structure. There will be no access to the east side upper concourse, east side lower concourse or…
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1997 Champion Ring update – No sale
For those following the eBay auction of the 1997 Championship ring, the auction appeared to have closed with a winning bid of $5,250.00. I reached out to the seller hoping that he’d consider putting me in touch with the buyer. The seller replied and there is no buyer: the transaction did not go through, we probably will be relisting the ring on ebay soon.
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Bo Through the Years
Nice done by Ace over at the The Wolverine Blog, a compilation of shots of General Bo extracted for team photos over the years. I love it. First, in every shot it looks like Bo got down actually coaching just minutes prior to the photo: messy hair, shirt collar ruffled a bit, sometimes wearing shades! Next, I love the old coaching shirts through the years often with those classic 2D helmet logos. Finally – Bo’s got that great Gary Sinise smile. Check out the video below and check out Ace’s commentary here. As Ace mentions, my previous post and video of Fielding Yost taken from team photos was an inspiration for his new vid. Here’s a look back at that:
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Stadium Bridge is (still) Falling Down
Anyway, earlier this week the challenger Lesko rattled off a few complaints by those around town including the state of the Stadium Boulevard bridges. Many fans of course use the structures to get to the stadium on football, basketball and even hockey (parking at Crisler is a good way to go) gamedays. Since March 2009 the city reduced the available driving lanes down to two (from four) for safety reasons. They still aren’t fixed and the city has been turned down for federal funding to this point.
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1997 Michigan Championship Ring for Sale!
The seller claims the band belonged to a “well-known player” and is asking $5,999.99: It’s certainly not the first Michigan football ring to be offered up on eBay and heck, it’s not even the first time someone’s sold a ‘97 championship ring. Maybe this is the same one just placed back on the block. Other rings that have been up on eBay over the past couple years: 1986 Rose Bowl Ring: This prompted a few follow-up posts, the first speculating on the original owner and then another, after a teammate confirmed my sleuthing. 1977 Championship Ring: Not as pretty as the others, but painful to see. 1980 Rose Bowl ring: Probably the wildest story, a ring alleged to a salesman sample bearing the name ‘McCartney’ on the side prompts a note from former Michigan and Colorado coach Bill McCartney’s wife Lyndi, asking that the ring be returned to her husband. I think the seller is reaching the $6K figure. I’m guessing this would be closer to $2K-$3K item but you never know if a big shot will swoop in to grab it.
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Tom Harmon’s Ping Putter
Check out this Ping putter bearing the name of Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon:
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History Police
I track a few phrases that prompt a Google alert, including “Fielding Yost.” If someone’s talking about the Grand Old Man I guess I want to give it a look. This morning a Bleacher Report post titled, ‘Independance [sic] Day at Notre Dame: How Many More Will There Be?’ popped up. Beyond tripping over the word ‘independence’ the author also struggles with the use of it’s/its: What these people are missing is the reason Notre Dame celebrates it’s own independence, along with that of the United States this July 4th. I usually [always] have a typo or two when I first publish a post and routinely mix tense so I won’t throw too many stones that direction. But I’m more concerned with a few phrases that are either just wrong or at a minimum, worthy of some deeper analysis: “Following a Notre Dame victory in 1908, legendary Michigan coach Fielding Yost….” – Nope. Notre Dame didn’t beat the Wolverines in 1908. Michigan won 12-6. That sentence continues.. “..refused to schedule the Irish and led the charge to deny the Irish entry into the emerging Big Ten.” This isn’t wrong but it is worthy of some qualification. I reached out to John Kryk author of Natural Enemies for comment. Via email, the foremost expert on the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry explained: Complicated.…
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Eat at Moe’s
I’m pleased to officially announce a partnership with iconic Michigan outfitter Moe Sports Shops and Underground Printing. The deal didn’t include putting me on one of those classic Polaroid shots in the back of Moe’s but I’m working on that. More later, but for now—get some!
