I was digging around on the Michigan alumni site and found this. The True Blue Podsquad sat down with Murray Greenberg, author of Passing Game: Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football. The summary: Passing was not a major part of football in the early part of the 20th century. Then in the 1920s, Benny Friedman, the son of Russian immigrants in Cleveland’s Jewish ghetto, arrived at Michigan with a style and ability that changed the game forever. AAUM staff member Brad Whitehouse interviews Murray Greenberg, the author of “Passing Game: Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football,” to find out more about this largely forgotten U-M great. And the audio: [display_podcast] You can pick up a copy of Passing Game here. Related: – Benny Friedman Juggled Chairs – Yost Busts the Ghost – eBay Watch: The Wolverine Pack and 1926

Piss. And he’s beyond undecided, he swapped verbals with Tulsa: “It’s about who you’re going to be with over the next four years,” Beaver said on Friday, adding that proximity played a big role. “I was impressed with how (the Tulsa coaches) carried themselves. They told me everything that was offered, and everything they said made sense.” Beaver said TU coach Todd Graham discussed the importance of growing as a person away from the football field, an emphasis that Michigan didn’t approach. It made a difference, the player said. And a little reaction from mgoblog, pissed that Beaver misled everyone. As is Sean over at Michigan Sports Center. A couple takes here: – It’s a little bit of a blast to suggest that Tulsa put more of an emphasis on life off the field than Rich Rod and crew but this is nowhere in the ballpark of the Boren remarks. He’s a kid, he gets a pass and I’m guessing he had a lot more in common with these coaches. And the scuttlebutt says his moms had a lot to do with the decision. That’s fine. – Reading his quotes, “The coaches told me I could compete right away” and the fact that he left a giant program for a mid- to lower-tier squad, I’m guessing he didn’t have the…

Via Spartan and MVictors contributor BiggieMunn, there’s a rumor afoot that Spartan coach Mark Dantonio snubbed former M quarterback Ricky Leach at some sort of high school football event. The talk is that Leach came up to the MSU coach to say hello or introduce himself, Dantanio saw him and said something like, “I heard what you said” and walked away. Update 12/19 evening: Digging further, Sam Webb brought up this alleged incident this morning on WTKA when speaking with future Monday afternoon host John U. Bacon: [display_podcast] But, Biggie nor I don’t have anyone other than Webb confirming this. Too bad!

Jason Whitlock called into Jim Rome’s radio show this afternoon talking about Charles Barkley’s outspokenness on the Auburn coaching hire. One of the points Whitlock stressed is that Barkley should be given some credit for being openly and vocally involved with his college and for genuinely caring about what goes on there. The former Ann Arbor News columnist wrote about it on Fox Sports: I’m glad Barkley has the courage to use his clout and platform to participate in the hiring process at Auburn. He’s engaged, and that’s good. Too many black athletes lose contact with their universities when their playing careers wrap up. They forfeit their opportunity to influence the process. I love Sir Charles, and I’m fine with Whitlock’s take here. It is cool that Barkley cares about Auburn and its direction, whether or not you agree with the Chizik hiring. And I agree that it’s important for pro athletes to support their schools. But as Whitlock was making this argument he offered some examples to make his point and said (paraphrasing), “Where’s Charles Woodson supporting Michigan?”. [Update 12/18: Thanks to Matt, I have the audio. His exact quote is “How involved is Charles Woodson with Michigan?”] That’s a specific blast aimed at a specific guy and by the way, it’s wrong. You read on this site in…

Rules: 1. Submit a haiku on this post below in the comments or email me, enter as many times as you like. 2. Make sure you include your email (I won’t use it for anything or give it to anyone other than to contact the winners) 3. Contest ends December 18th. Winner(s) will be notified and will have the crocs sent directly to them by the promoter. They can even specify size. Topics I like: Just some suggestions, anything is fair game and yes, if it’s funny it earns bonus points. – Tying Michigan hoops to Michigan football in some way. – Ripping on Jim Tressel – Exploring the depths of John Beilein’s genius – A poet’s interpretation of radio-show-caller-guy Promo: If you don’t win, you can still get your classic 2008 Michigan Wolverine Crocs here.

When you’re 3-9, you can’t say much. You can’t even tell hate-spreading fans who email players and spout off on individuals on message boards to get a life. But if you’re in the national title game, you can say a lot man. I just caught this on the feeds, Urban Meyer told a radio station he still considers Notre Dame his dream gig.