Despite being nearly a decade and a half since the winged helmet was adorned with these appendages, the topic of the helmet stickers, decals, or “achievement awards” still comes up on occasion. Despite some claims that Woody Hayes started the tradition in Columbus, this is not so. Bo Schembechler actually launched this tradition in the mid-1960s at Miami of Ohio. He used little hatchets. He continued the tradition at Michigan when he joined the Wolverines. Here’s a look at Don Moorhead‘s “Riddell TK-2 impregnated sunflower gold-colored shell” helmet compliments of umichfootball.com: Nice pass Don, here’s another lemon for you Moeller continued the tradition but Lloyd nixed it. Why did they stop? No, I don’t think it was “Just to keep a clean look” as asked by mgoblog user Casa Grande. It’s also not true that Carr thought the decals were “lame” as I’ve seen on a message board or two. More likely is that Carr dropped the stickers to take the emphasis off of individual achievement and onto the team concept. Related: No, I’m not going into an investigation on who originally owned this helmet. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Garland Rivers. Also Related: Looks like the Buckeye Blog ‘Eleven Warriors‘ has pimped my eBay Watch idea. It’ll be a regular feature on the site. He did give proper credit…
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Bo Merlot
Bo Merlot. You didn't ask for it, but you got it. The details:
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A-Rittz Drops Factoids
Another post-worthy mention coming out of Adam Rittenberg’s ESPN Big Ten Blog: Dan from Minneapolis writes: Adam, you pointed out the unique nature of first time coaches in the UM – MSU rivalry. I also wanted to point out uniqueness about first time coaches in the UM – OSU rivalry. Aside from Cooper, going back to WW Hayes, first time coaches have WON their first meeting in the series. Correct me if I am wrong but that is quite impressive Adam Rittenberg writes: You’re correct, first-time coaches have fared well in the Michigan-Ohio State series, perhaps because the games typically are played later in the season when coaches have a better feel for their teams. Woody Hayes lost his first meeting with Michigan, 7-0, in 1951, but Earle Bruce beat the Wolverines in 1979 and Jim Tressel did the same in 2001. The Buckeyes went through four coaches during the 1940s who went 1-2-1 against Michigan. Michigan hasn’t had a coach lose his first game against Ohio State since Harry Kipke in 1929. Kipke’s first game, interestingly enough, was played midway through the season on Oct. 19. Rich Rodriguez will have a tough task to keep Michigan’s run alive, but it helps that the game is at the end of the season. Next, Dave Dye of the Detroit News drops…
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Dantonio Reaches out at EL JDRF Walk
From behind enemy lines, here’s a photo from Saturday’s for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes held on the MSU Campus. Spartan coach Mark Dantonio was the honorary chair, here speaking to the crowd of over 1200 that gathered for the event. He and some MSU players greeted, signed and took some pics with the fans. During his speech passed along a few words of encouragement to the supporters, JDRF donors and even took a shot or two at those that lean Blue. The JDRF also holds a walk an Ann Arbor walk each year, this year it’ll be held September 14 at Hudson Mills Metro Park in Dexter. More info here. I know that Coach Bo walked in previous years. Here he is at the 2005 Walk: Perhaps Coach Rod will get out there once he settles into his new digs? Word is that the EL Walk raised nearly $300,000 for JDRF (wow!).
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Dave Brown 34th Wolverine Enshrined into College Football Hall of Fame
Congratulations to the late Dave Brown who joined 19 other coaches and players into the College Football Hall of Fame today. The two-time (’73-’74) All-American defensive back was inducted alongside JoPa and Doug Flutie. But you wouldn’t know about it because there is minimal local coverage [Freep] including no mention on mgoblue.com? What’s the deal? It’s not like the athletic department isn’t on top of things: there’s a mention of Dan Deirdorf winning an award for broadcasting. Brown is the 34th individual with Michigan ties to be inducted. I don’t have any memories of Brown since I was a wee lad when he took the field, but it’s clear he had some skills in the defensive backfield (9 career interceptions) and was a fine punt returner (11.1 career average). He co-captained the great 1974 squad that finished 10-1 and 3rd in the final AP poll. The lone loss that season was the 12-10 defeat at the hand of the Buckeyes. Here’s his full bio on his new college football hall of fame page: Dave Brown was the leader of one of the most successful and yet frustrating periods in Michigan football history. The Wolverines posted a 30-2-1 record, tied for three Big Ten conference titles and never went to a bowl game. The defensive units on which Brown played were…
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Woody Hayes’s message to you Poindexters
I’m mostly interested in Michigan-related memorabilia but of late there have been a few Buckeye beauties. Check this out. Up for bid on eBay is a collection of old letters from the great Woody Hayes. Here’s my favorite: It’s a missive crafted by Dr. Strangehayes himself with a recipe for success in this tough world: I LOVE THIS! With all respect for the late Buckeye legend and Bo’s mentor, old Woody was a true beauty. For students at Ohio State Woody’s advice might be spot on: don’t rest on the laurels of a degree from Columbus. If you love this as much as I do, here’s a pdf copy that’ll print nicely.
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R.I.P Michigan Replay: Fine by me
Michigan Replay is dead. Rich Rodriguez killed it. And I'm actually ok with this.
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Bo Unveiled
From mgoblue.com, a local artist donated a great painting of legendary coach Bo Schembechler to grace the lobby of Schembechler Hall: Well done. The artist is named Johnnie Dew, a self-taught Ford retiree who’s got some mad skills. Check out his website. According to the photo gallery there were a few distinguished guests at the unveiling including Cathy Schembechler, AD Bill Martin, and check out former head coach Gary Moeller posing with Rich Rod:
