University of Michigan wide receiver Devin Funchess will wear No. 1 this season, it was announced Saturday (Aug. 30). Below is a statement from Funchess about his number change:
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1964 Michigan Football Captain Jim Conley on WTKA
This morning 1964 championship team captain Jim Conley joined John U. Bacon on WTKA as part of the Fantastic Friday lineup. Captain Conley covered a lot of ground – from leadership to his unique set of teammates, to coach Bump Elliott – and of course, shared a bunch of stories from that amazing season: Conley also noted that the ‘64 team will be honored during the Minnesota game this year – which is great news. Hopefully Bump (who is 89 and lives in Iowa) will be there.
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TWIMFbH: Chips, the 51 Club & Beating Sweatervest McCheatypants (2003)
Yes sir! This Week in Michigan Football History returns for its 5th season as part of the WTKA 1050AM (and new this year, Sports Extra 1330AM in Flint) KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff. Saturday we relive THE HORROR we jump back 11 years to the rosy season of 2003, when John Navarre and Chris Perry led the Wolverines on another championship run. Things started off on August 30, 2003 when our pals from Mount Pleasant came to town and kept it interesting before Perry and Navarre dialed up 4 straight touchdowns in the second half. After stumbling on the road at Oregon and Iowa, Coach Carr’s crew responded in epic fashion, including the ridiculous comeback in Minnesota and the 51 Special [inset photo via the Michigan Daily] in East Lansing. The regular season concluded in grand fashion with the glorious 100th game in Ohio State rivalry, as against Ohio State and Sweatervest McCheatypants came to town in late November and got served by the Victors Valiant. Clip: [display_podcast] You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here…And don’t forget to catch it live Saturday on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM and Sports Extra 1330AM in Flint or..inside the Bud Light Victors Lounge Saturday. Script: This Week in Michigan Football History we stroll…
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Benny Baseball
Thanks to his dominance in the early days of pro football some go as far to label Benny Friedman the Babe Ruth of football. And related to the Bambino, did you know Benny used to swing the bat in Ann Arbor?
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Bring your Radio (Without Delay)
via U-M Media Relations: Delay-Free Radio Available for Fans Inside Michigan Stadium ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan football fans will be able to listen to the flagship radio broadcast featuring Jim Brandstatter and Dan Dierdorf without delay inside Michigan Stadium this season thanks to a partnership between WTKA Radio and the Michigan/IMG Radio Network. The three parties worked to eliminate several of the elements that normally lead to a significant delay with a radio station. “The partnership providing delay free radio at Michigan Stadium is a great added feature for our fans,” said Hunter Lochmann, U-M’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We have heard from our fans that listening to the radio broadcast is a big part of their game day experience and especially in Jim and Dan’s first year as a team, we are excited to offer this to those fans that attend games at the Big House.” “Today is an exciting day for the entire team here at Sports Talk 1050 WTKA,” said Matt Spaulding, Vice President and Market Manager for Cumulus Media in Ann Arbor. “What started as a whisper of opportunity has become a 10,000 watt reality for all the fans of Michigan Football and the listeners of WTKA. The dynamic play by play broadcast being delivered by Dan Dierdorf and Jim Brandstatter will now be…
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See you Saturday Shaggy?
Along with Appalachian State returning to the Big House Saturday will be their fans, who in my experience were top notch back in 2007. Looking back at my react post after the game (don’t click there and yes, this site was up and running in 2007) I almost forgot about Shaggy: IIRC Shaggy and his buddies had their nicknames on the back of their shirts, and I spotted them heading down the aisle in Section 22. Shaggy agreed to the pic above, correctly called the margin of victory by flashing the rockin’ deuce, and the rest, as they say, was history miserable. Shaggy – will you be back Saturday? I don’t think this lady will be back, she was in the 2nd overtime of life: I offered a “well done” to an elderly woman & App State supporter as she walked to her car. She smiled and said, “You have a lovely stadium.” Yes, we have a lovely stadium. WE HAVE A LOVELY STADIUM!? I would have preferred a swift smack in the giblets with her walking cane. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Brandyman Can Do Play-by-Play | Jim Brandstatter Interview
Brandy and Dierdorf in the Summer of ‘69 [Bentley] You certainly know by now that this season longtime U-M color analyst Jim Brandstatter shifts over one chair, replacing Frank Beckmann as the play-by-play man. Next to him will be Brandy’s former teammate and pal, longtime NFL broadcaster & Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf. I spoke to both men this summer for a piece you can find all season in the home game program. For you – I posted the full Dierdorf interview last week. Like Dan D., Brandstatter is just an outstanding guy – incredibly kind. File under FWIW – as a pee-wee I grew up in East Lansing a few houses down from Brandy’s older brother (and Spartan) Art and his great family. Here’s the balance of my chat with Brandy: ——————————————————————— MVictors: All right, so when did you decide to go for the play-by-play gig? Jim Brandstatter: I really didn’t decide, it was kind of decided for me. This whole thing, when Frank announced his retirement they had gone out and they were looking for people and they were, nothing really fit the bill. As I understand it they really wanted a guy who had Michigan background–someone who brought Michigan with him to the broadcasts. Then it wasn’t until the third week in January that I was asked…
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Provisioning for Michigan Stadium | 2014 Style
My annual post outlining your checklist before entering Michigan Stadium on Saturday. Optional for 2014: A. MaraWatch – Only required if you want to look cool and have everyone like & respect you. Only then. B. Tricked out customized adidas – Only for the true players (see A.) C. Blow-up Doll(s) – To help fill up the empty seats around you. D. Stick/Rope/Towel – ..to bite down on to help ease the pain if you see 98 running for his life against App St, or if TFLA remains in triple digits. The rest: 1. Radio with quality Headphones. Forget the latest incarnation of the “official” radio that sticks on your ear (do they have another one in 2014?), they are unreliable. Bring in a radio you trust to listen to the play-by-play from Brandy and Dan Dierdorf on WTKA 1050AM. You’ll get injury reports, sideline observations, statistics and analysis of key plays that are under review (although Brandstatter always seems to think the replay will goes Michigan’s way). You can also check out the entire pregame show and This Week in Michigan Football History as it plays. Probably most critical: with the radio in your ears you can block out the blabber from the fool nearby who won’t shut his Twizzler hole as he belts out play-by-play and screams down…
