On the WTKA replay hour (2-3), they reaired a segment from the Dan Patrick Show.  DP was chatting with Charles Barkley and they were talking about Webber’s famous (I think overrated) dunk on Sir Charles from years back.  Patrick then asked him if he knew that Webber stole one of his socks back in the day, and Chuck wasn’t exactly sure what he was talking about.  Some props to Patrick for remembering this nugget but while C-Webb did apparently steal socks and jockstraps (?) from the 1992 Dream Team, he specifically heisted one of Barkley’s shoes.  Here’s my original post from 2008 and what really happened: ———————————————————————————— Check this out from Sports Illustrated this week [12/29/08 issue]. On the Dan Patrick ‘Just My Type‘ page, Chris Webber talks about his time on the practice squad for the 1992 Olympic Dream Team while he was at Michigan. IT’S NICE to know that even stars get nervous around their idols.  Before the 1992 Olympics, Chris Webber was one of the players on a practice squad that provided opposition for the Dream Team.  He shared a limo from the airport in Barcelona with Larry Bird.  "I was shaking, calling him Mr. Bird," Webber said. "He was very nice. It was a 10-minute car ride. I said, ‘It was nice meeting you.’  He was…

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Michigan men’s soccer head coach Steve Burns.  Burns, an ‘89 U-M grad (Aeronautical Engineering), played in the late 80s when soccer had Club status at U-M, and he’s held the coaching reins since ‘92 including the last 10 years that the team’s been a varsity program on campus.

Got a kick out this Bank of Ann Arbor ad in the Ufer Quarterback Club program from last night.  I tweeted it out yesterday but thought I’d share:   Related:  Oosterbaan posts on MVictors

A few misc. items from this weekend of note. First off, props to Melanie Maxwell of AnnArbor.com for getting this shot of Peedi and Brandon Graham at graduation. Credit:  Melanie Maxwell AnnArbor.com Speaking of the graduation, student speaker Alex Marston did a fine job with his remarks and I was glad he put the football legacy of Gerald Ford in proper historical context: And Gerald Ford, who, after being named the most valuable player on the 1934 Michigan football team, went on to become the leader of the free world. What do I mean?  Well, Ford was indeed the MVP of the ‘34 squad and was also a member of the 1932 and 1933 national championship teams.  As the years go by, folks tend to upgrade Ford’s role on those squads because..well, who’s really checking?   There are a few of us out there that care, including Craig Barker over at HSR who pinged me while at the Frozen Four to share he saw a photo of Ford which included text talking about how he led Michigan to the ‘32 and ‘33 titles.  False.  I’m glad Marston didn’t go there. Ford’s 1934 squad was brutal, I argue the worst team in Michigan’s history although some would give that distinction to Rich Rod’s first season.   Marston couldn’t resist a little mention of…

As mentioned here, Bruce Madej of U-M Media Relations dialed up DeFran’s show yesterday but that audio clip seems to be lost.  WTKA is trying to recover it and FWIW, WTKA does a great job of late posting their podcasts).  [Update 5/1: the original call is up, can be heard here.] That said, Madej dialed up the morning show today to reiterate U-M and Dave Brandon’s position here.  Here’s Bruce Madej’s unsolicited call into Sam and Ira from this morning: [display_podcast] As I wrote last night, it’s not surprising that  someone from media relations would refute a story like this.  But it is noteworthy that Madej would bother to call the radio show to personally shoot this down (now TWICE) with the backing of Brandon.  Translation: there’s no validity to this and DeFran’s sources are complete bunk.  Again. Madej mentions John U. Bacon’s call from this morning, you can hear that here, jump about 11 minutes in.  Key quote: “This kind of speculation is not journalism.” OK, I think I’m done talking about this unless this site is dragged back into it  Here’s my previous posts from this week on DeFranpalooza: Defusing DeFran Locomotive Jeff (DeFran audio 04-29) Jeff’s Sewing Circle   Discount DeFranpalooza hats, shirts and thongs to be offered up tomorrow, stay tuned. Check out all the WTKA…

Part-time WTKA 1050AM radio host Jeff DeFran returned to the mic today.  In his show yesterday he revealed sources saying the athletic department is considering a deal involving Rich Rodriguez’s head in exchange for lighter NCAA sanctions.