Do something worthwhile on a weekend this fall: The Ann Arbor Chili Chowdown (A2C2), hosted by Ron’s Roadside BBQ, is scheduled for Sunday, Oct 12th from 12-3. Currently there are 20 confirmed restaurants including Grizzly Peak, Blue Tractor, Zingerman’s, Wolverine Brewing Co, and Black Pearl. The Ann Arbor community is invited to come out and cast their vote for Ann Arbor’s chili king. Former Michigan running back and NFL record holder Jamie Morris is going to emcee the event and live entertainment booked for the afternoon as well. Safehouse Center of Ann Arbor is the beneficiary of this first annual A2C2. If you’re not familiar with their work, they provide support for women and children impacted by domestic violence or sexual assault in Washtenaw County, including counseling, legal advocacy, and most importantly shelter. This event is particularly fitting in light of the recent Ray Rice NFL scandal and considering October is national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Tickets are available for $20 presale or $25 at the door, and 100% of the proceeds go to the SafeHouse Center. Children 5 and under are free, and ages 6-12 are $7. For any more information, everyone can check out our Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/791739284211770/ They can also email annarborchilichowdown@gmail.com or call (217) 621-7040.
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Dr. Sap’s Decals | Scarlet O’Horror*
Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis once again provides his game decals in this, ahem, challenging(?) season. Until the day comes that Michigan gets its collective act together and assigns helmet decals again, Sap will bring you his game Champions who will be decorated, albeit virtually, with his helmet stickers. I’ll typically toss in the Fan Award and the Editor’s Choice: OFFENSIVE CHAMPION DEVIN GARDNER – I thought New 98 did his best to win this game for his team. He is a leader because he has been through the most of anybody on this team. How many coaches/coordinators has he been through? To be sat down for the conference opener last week in this his 5th year had to have been a tremendous disappointment. But true to his character, he let that slide right off his back and focused on the game at hand. DG made some sweet throws (Butt’s grab in the first half comes to mind) and his 4th quarter TD run set Michigan up for the game winning field goal. Too bad it was blocked. Wonder if New 98 can kick like Old 98?? DEFENSIVE CHAMPION JOE BOLDEN – For the second straight week, Bolden was the best player on defense. Playing what looked like every play in a track meet-like game against a RichRod derivative spread offense…
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Neil Snow Wants Beer, Gets Beer | #TWIMFbH (1902)
For Saturday’s edition of This Week in Michigan Football History, we head back 112 years to arguably the greatest calendar year in Michigan football history. That’s right I said it. While that’s up for discussion, there’s little doubt 1902 was one of the finest for Michigan athlete Neil Snow. On January 1, 1902, Snow tallied 5 touchdowns in the inaugural Rose Bowl. Back in Ann Arbor my man Snow the undisputed was big man on campus #BMOC, and the folks at the Koppitz-Melchers Brewery of Detroit put an ad in the Cornell-Michigan baseball program telling everyone how much Snow loved their beer. Of course he didn’t consent to the ad. Here’s how that all played out, as well as the game played on October 4, 1902: [display_podcast] The full story of the 1902 beergate tale here. 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 starting tomorrow at 3pm EDT (4 hours prior to Rutgers getting their butts kicked). Follow MVictors on Twitter
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South State Street Freeze Out
A mildly concussed Shane Morris, after his final snap (and handoff) Brandon’s statement this morning basically hits all of the points I outlined here in my unpaid intern Crisis Management 101 lesson. It assesses what happened, admits faults, discusses plans to fix the problems and so on. But—why was Hoke hung out to dry and not told this was all happening? This isn’t just a “medical report”. If Hoke was told this was all happening, at the Monday presser could have talked about his responsibility and perspective on Saturday, but then he could have added, ‘..but we’re reviewing everything that happened to understand what mistakes (if any) were made’ and that the ‘details will be coming soon’, etc. etc. It looks like they didn’t tell him? What? From the statement: As of Sunday, Shane was diagnosed with a probable, mild concussion, and a high ankle sprain. That probable concussion diagnosis was not at all clear on the field on Saturday or in the examination that was conducted post-game. Unfortunately, there was inadequate communication between our physicians and medical staff and Coach Hoke was not provided the updated diagnosis before making a public statement on Monday. How is that possible? Again, I don’t think Hoke is lying. I’m not suggesting Hoke is absolved of any ownership here – far from it. …
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As the World Wobbles – Handling the Shane Morris Situation
A look at how the Shane Morris-concussion situation was bungled, and how Dave Brandon and the Michigan athletic department should have handled it.
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Sight & Sounds | Minnesota 1 Jug, Michigan None
I don’t have to explain how I feel about the history of this rivalry and also needless to say, it is very rough for me to watch that jug head out of town. Looking through the photos, it particularly stung seeing shots with that new section of the jug. I stood inches away when Jil Gordon painted on the score last year. You might call this the dong punch de resistance: Check out the kid holding a program. Inside there is a story this week that I wrote, particularly about the different paint jobs the jug has had over the years leading off with a mention of Jil’s work (including the photo below) on the new section last year. Now that thing is hundreds of miles away and they are doing lord-knows-what to it. Punch. Read on..(1964 team, Arena, Pomp, Mood, links and more…)
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Dr. Sap’s Decals | Jug Swiped Edition
Barbarians! Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis is back this season with his weekly postgame helmet stickers. Sap would do a backflip if coach Hoke decided to reinstate this tradition that Bo brought to the team in 1969. Until that day comes, Sap will bring you his game Champions who will be decorated, albeit virtually, with his helmet stickers. I’ll typically toss in the Fan Award and the Editor’s Choice: OFFENSIVE CHAMPION NONE – I was going to award De’Veon Smith with a decal as he ran hard in the first half. He scored a TD. He ran with passion. Smith ran with an attitude that seemed to be just what this offense needed. But then where was he in the second half? Not slamming him for lack of playing time, but…NO DECAL FOR YOU! DEFENSIVE CHAMPION NONE – Joe Bolden made some big stops in this game. Yes, he had 10 tackles and 1 sack and yes, the defense kept up their end of the bargain for as long as they could, but…NO DECAL FOR YOU! SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION NONE – Dennis Norfleet had a decal all but sewn up. He was solid in his returns. He made all the catches – some under duress – and heck, he even downed a punt at the Minnesota 1-yard line, but then he…
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Gone.
