Photographed by: Chuck Solomon/SI  Jamie Morris dialed into Sam and Ira on WTKA 1050AM this morning and explained his call into a Columbus sports radio station Wednesday. Morris confirmed he is “110 percent behind Rich Rodriguez,” and, explained why he did the call and his frustration with some of the questions.  He also offered up a few keys to The Game, here’s the audio clip: [display_podcast] – My two cents on one item.   You can question a lot of things about his interview on the Columbus station, whether he should have even done it or answered some of the questions or answered them the way he did…but you can’t question his loyalty to Michigan.   He’s absolutely loyal to Michigan and I never thought that was a part of any of this.   I know a lot of people have reacted to this on the boards (and on this site), but whatever Jamie thinks about Rodriguez or Harbaugh or whatever, he’s 100% loyal to Michigan. Check out the rest of the WTKA podcasts here.

Celebrate!  Excerpted, mostly, from my piece in Brian Cook’s wonderful Hail to the Victors 2009: November 20, 1909: The Jug toting Gophers Michigan was now 5-1 and suddenly back in the conversation of who was to be Western champion. Standing in their way was undefeated Minnesota, U-M’s powerful former conference foe. Six seasons prior on October 31, 1903, the Gophers famously battled the Willie Heston-led Wolverines to a 6-6 deadlock in Minneapolis. It was the first time Yost walked off a field without a victory since he arrived in Ann Arbor in 1901. Michigan also left something behind that day—their water jug. The legend goes that Fielding Yost asked Minnesota to return the jug sometime after that 1903 meeting and was told he’d have to “win it back”, but there’s little evidence that this actually occurred.* Other accounts claim that just prior to the 1909 rematch, the Gophers proposed that the receptacle go to the victor and Yost and Allerdice quickly agreed. One thing that is clear: the teams would play for the Little Brown Jug for the first time a century ago this November. Thus far in the 1909 season, Minnesota had rolled through its schedule unscathed overpowering opponents by a margin of 152-12 including back-to-back shellackings of Chicago and Wisconsin. Gopher coach Henry Williams was cautiously confident the…

Preface: I’m a big fan of Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News.  She just gave me a great interview that’ll appear soon in GoBlueWolverine magazine.  She’s a pro and certainly classes up the local media pool, et cetera.  Yet: Violation #1:  Chengelis likely fractured the code established by the Intergalactic Federation of Nerds, (IFON) that requires you acknowledge or offer up a ‘hat tip’ to the source of certain information for a piece, post or story.  She ran a quick piece today on the Jamie Morris interview on Columbus radio that I posted yesterday.  Now, Angelique has Buckeye ties so perhaps someone mentioned this to her, but I’m pretty confident she first heard the audio here.  Keep in mind that no actual journalist has agreed to the IFON Accords (yet). Violation #2:  Chengelis left out an important part of Jamie Morris’s response to a question when she transcribed part of the interview in her piece.  While her quote is technically accurate, it leaves off the beginning of Jamie’s answer and it’s an important omission IMO.  Here’s what she wrote: On any chance Rodriguez doesn’t return as coach if Michigan loses to Ohio State: "I think what people want is Michigan football. They want hard-fought plays, they want a team that performs at the highest level and give everything they’ve got,…

Via U-M Media Relations: Following is the team’s injury report for the game against the Buckeyes: Out David Molk (knee) Brandon Minor (shoulder) Doubtful (25 percent chance of playing) Mike Williams (ankle) Probable (75 percent chance of playing) Martavious Odoms (knee)

from U-M Media Relations: For IMMEDIATE Release Media Contact: David Ablauf (734) 763-4423 Team Elects Four Captains for 2009 Football Season ANN ARBOR — University of Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez announced Thursday (Nov. 19) following practice the four permanent captains elected for the 130th team in school history. Linebacker Stevie Brown (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East HS), defensive end Brandon Graham (Detroit, Mich./Crockett Technical HS), punter Zoltan Mesko (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg HS) and left tackle Mark Ortmann (Klein, Texas/Klein HS) were selected by their teammates as captains of the 2009 football team. “Our players have selected four student-athletes who represent our program at the highest level both on and off the field,” said Rodriguez. “Stevie, Brandon, Zoltan and Mark have played at a high level all season and received the greatest honor that a player can receive, selection as captain by your peers. They, and our other seniors, will lead us into Michigan Stadium Saturday to play the greatest rivalry game in college football.” Brown joins Graham as a defensive captain. He is the team’s leading tackler with 73 stops and is second with eight tackles for loss, both career highs. Brown has also contributed one sack, one forced fumble, one interception and four pass breakups. He has started all 11 games at linebacker and will see action in his 50th career…