• 1867-1939 | Michigan Football Uniform Timeline

    The Michigan Football uniform changes from the period between 1879-1939.  For all uniform changes prior to 1970, the rules change - If I have a compelling photo of an actual jersey (or portion of a jersey) over this period, I will include it in the timeline even if it didn’t mark a particular change in design or new feature.

  • Bo Juggles the Jug (1987)

    More great stuff from the Dr. Sap Archives.  Check out Bo in the locker room following Michigan’s 30-20 win over the Gophers in 1987: Jug tossing is NOT recommended but consider Bo pardoned from this Jugologist.   Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • Watching Whiskey Go (1969)

    I’ve heard a lot about the dogs Whiskey and Brandy providing Michigan Stadium some ball-chasing entertainment over the years, but I’m not sure I’d seen a video clip.  Via the Dr. Sap Archives from halftime of the epic 1969 Ohio State game

  • Harbaugh: The Legacy Hired Gun

    Since the turn of the last century, as I see it the Michigan coaching hires have fallen into 2 buckets: Legacy Hires > under the Michigan Man umbrella, these are guys with playing and/or coaching experience in Ann Arbor before they took over.  (And FWIW a lack of outside heading coaching success). Hired Guns > gents with head coaching “success” (let’s call it .550 or better) at other college programs but no previous coaching or playing experience at U-M. Harbaugh is the first hire that really falls on both sides of this divide, having had both college (& NFL for that matter) head coaching success along with U-M ties as a player and alumnus.  A breakdown*: * I removed George Little who kinda/sorta coached U-M for one season in 1924 while Yost took a breather, and ok if I moved the Mendoza line for “success” down to .500 Hoke gets a check. A few thoughts: Of the 4 Hired Guns, I think Ivan Maisel of ESPN got it right, comparing this hire to that of Fritz Crisler who won two national titles at Princeton before taking over in Ann Arbor: For one thing, Harbaugh is the most successful head coach Michigan has hired since it swiped Fritz Crisler from Princeton in 1938. All Crisler did in 10 seasons in Ann…

  • Jim Harbaugh & the Love Bug

    Via the U-M Bentley History Library, from the September 1986 issue of the Ann Arbor News…coach Jim Harbaugh: He’s seated on the back bumper of his old “fender-flapping VW.” Bo knew about Harbaugh’s sled and, umm, didn’t care for it: “The car Harbaugh has should not be allowed on the streets.” Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • The Huckleby Wink & The 1970s Player Introductions | Storytime with Dr. Sap

    By Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis In the 1970s player introductions for college football games were very different compared to the productions that they are now.  There were no fancy graphics, no computer-generated backgrounds, and no animations some forty years ago.  While the intros back then lacked the glitz and glamour of today’s game, they made up for it in uniqueness and creativity. In 1973, the player introductions for the Michigan-Ohio State game were announced over the Michigan Stadium public address system. ABC-TV’s Bill Fleming was live on the field and had the players run-up to the on-field camera as he announced their names to the sell-out crowd and national TV audience, literally minutes before kickoff.  Those introductions were epic and captured the emotion of the moment.  None were better than Michigan’s Curtis Tucker, Dave Gallagher, and Paul Seal’s introductions. A few years later, ABC decided to use video mug shots at the Friday walkthroughs for both teams instead of delaying the start of the game with on-field player introductions.  This was relatively boring as the players were usually just standing there in their team-issued sweat-suits as the camera moved down the line, one by one. Then, in 1978, Michigan tailback Harlan Huckleby added a subtle coolness to his intro for the game against Notre Dame.  When the camera moved in…