A couple weeks ago I looked back at Lou Holtz’s attempts to woo Michigan coach Lloyd Carr to South Bend and join his Irish staff. In late 1989 Carr had interviewed for the Wisconsin head coaching job which was eventually given to Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez. It was Alvarez’s departure that prompted Holtz to seek out Carr. Did you know that legendary General Bo considered an offer to take the reins at Madison back in the 60s? Indeed. Here’s an excerpt from John U. Bacon’s wonderful Bo’s Lasting Lessons, where Bo recounts what happened in Chapter Three titled ‘Wait for the Right Opportunity’: After we won our conference title in my third and fourth seasons at Miami–1965 & 1966–Wisconsin called. From the outside, it seemed like a pretty good job. Wisconsin’s a good school in a great league. It was about ten o’clock on a Sunday when I walk into this meeting room to face twenty guys sitting around–and some board member falls asleep, right there in front of me! Now what does that tell you? They also had a student on the committee, and this kid asks me how I would handle Clem Turner, a Cincinnati kid, who was always in trouble. Well, how the heck do I know how I would handle Clem Turner? I’ve never…
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Bye Week Takes from East Lansing
A few semi delicious takes for you this Sunday morning following the bye week for Michigan: * I went to the Michigan State vs. Notre Dame in East Lansing this week, more validation of why college football is great if for nothing else, the atmosphere on campus and the excitement of the game. State and Ringer looked very sound, a few question marks with the defensive backfield and with QB Hoyer. News flash: Michigan’s got to make Hoyer beat them in Ann Arbor. * Jimmy the C and Notre Dame are just not very good. Clausen just isn’t ready to play at this level and I wonder if Irish fans are wondering what other options they’ve got there. * Has anyone noticed the disturbing proliferation of guys wearing their collars up, 80s style? I have, here’s one of many I saw out there today: * MSU added a ring of honor in the stadium this year, on the West side of the stadium they’ve displayed State’s national championship teams, on the east, the retired jerseys of former players (George Webster, Bubba Smith, etc.). * The Stanley Cup was on display outside Spartan Stadium thanks to current Red Wing and former Spartan Justin Abdelkader. I snuck behind it for a shot: Turd Ferguson, err, Burt Reynolds doesn’t like to wait in…
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WTKA to broadcast Ufer, 1979 Indiana game today
Keeping with tradition during bye weeks, from noon to 3WTKA 1050AM will broadcast a historic game featuring the legendary Bob Ufer. This time, it’s the game that includes Ufer’s most famous call-Johnny Wangler to Anthony Carter as Bo and the Wolverines took down Lee Corso’s Indiana Hoosiers. For those out of coverage area, check out wtka.com and try their listen live feature, they’ll probably stream the game as well. Don’t forget to pick up your limited edition MEEEEEECHigan t-shirts (click here): Support Ufer: Want to get involved? Buy some CDs, ringtones and other cool items from the official Bob Ufer site at ufer.org, proceeds benefit the Bob Ufer Foundation Scholarship Fund.
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Ann Arbor Observer: U-M agreed to $2.5M buy-out in December
From the September issue of the Ann Arbor Observer. In the article titled ‘WVU versus Rodriguez’, author James Militzer discussed the buy-out and Rodriguez’s pursuit of a settlement. Militzer contacted West Virginia legal counsel Thomas Flaherty who claims that that Rich Rod, Bill Martin and perhaps even Mary Sue Coleman negotiated a cap on Rodriguez’s exposure to the WVU buy-out during their meeting in Toledo last December. The terms: Michigan would cover up to the $2.5 million (which of course U-M eventually ended up paying). And Flaherty claims the the school and administration have tried to hide the deal. It’s not available online so I requested and was granted permission to publish an excerpt. As an aside, I was interviewed for the article that’s how I knew it was coming out, I don’t get The Observer at home: ..Thomas Flaherty, lead counsel for WVU, says the U-M appears to have cut a deal with Rodriguez at the time he was hired. “We’ve seen an email that went from [Rodriguez’s] financial advisor, Mike Wilcox, to athletic director Martin on December fifteenth, 2007, confirming a conversation they’d had earlier that day,” he says. “I believe it was cc’ed to Mary Sue Coleman. It said that the liquidated damages clause with West Virginia was a huge issue, and that the U of M…
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Angelique: Wolverines in Conference Cellar (audio)
Thanks to Biggie (whose Spartans have a biggy this weekend in East Lansing- I’ll be there with bells on) for passing this along. Check out Detroit News Michigan beat writer Angelique Chengelis’s latest conference power rankings: Hello, Angelique! That’s tough medicine for the Blue there. I’m more inclined to slot the Wolverines around 8th in the conference (ninth if including Notre Dame) per the current MVictors Power Index. Elsewhere: Chengelis dialed up Stoney and Wojo on WDFN this afternoon. After you get passed the chummy banter in the beginning, she talks a little about the Notre Dame aftermath and more. She observes that many Michigan fans aren’t too bent out of shape after that game (which is of course out of character):
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Zoltan’s tense Christmas
Great piece on Zoltan Mesko on mgoblue.com, check it out. A slice: Zoltan’s grandparents walked five miles through the snowy streets of Timisoara to deliver presents and the family enjoyed a tense Christmas Day. That night, they watched television together and witnessed the end of Romanian communism. Nicolae Ceausescu had been tried and executed and the aftermath was broadcast across the country. “I remember them showing the bodies of Ceausescu and his wife on television,” said Zoltan. “They showed a lot on TV in Romania, not like here.”
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How about this non-conference schedule? (1957)
Here’s a quick version of eBay Watch, it’s a 1957 pocket schedule currently up for bid. Check out the non-conference line-up: Over the past few seasons, the attention the Buckeyes have been getting over their battles with Texas and, last Saturday, with USC, have made a few Wolverines fans get scarlet in the face. Calls to sports talk radio have asked the question, Will Michigan set up a home-and-home with one of these elite teams in the non-conference? The fact is Michigan’s got Notre Dame on the schedule until 2031 and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that this will happen. Bill Martin’s already indicated his preference to add another Big Ten game to the schedule once the rest of the conference is on board. The Wolverines didn’t have much trouble with these teams as those were different days. Coach Bennie Oosterbaan and crew went out to Los Angeles and handled the Trojans on September 28, 1957, 16-6 in front of 43,000 fans. The next week, Michigan came home and shut out Georgia 26-0 to the delight of 84,000 in Ann Arbor. The balance of the ‘57 season didn’t go so hot, going 3-3-1 in their remaining games to finish 5-3-1 good for 6th in the conference.
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Affectionately, Fritz Crisler (1968)
Check out this late 1960s unique item-it's a program from some sort of reception or dinner for Fritz Crisler. This one is pretty cool as Crisler signed it for a gentleman named George writing, “To George, a grand person, Best Wishes all ways, Affectionately Fritz Crisler."
