Once again we’ve got a Michigan Rose Bowl ring on eBay adding to the recent auctions of the 1977-78 and 1980-81 versions. This time it’s a beauty from the 1986 season and it commemorates the Rose Bowl appearance [see the auction here]. The game was unfortunately a loss for the Wolverines who fell to 22-15 to Arizona State in Pasadena. Schembechler’s men actually played 13 games that season somehow getting the green light to schedule Hawaii after the close of the Big Ten schedule. A shocking defeat to Minnesota on November 15th was the only other setback that season for the Wolverines who ended up ranked #8 in the AP. The seller is a true beauty himself…see what I mean as you check out this warning to bidders within the item description: If you have zero feedback or less please bypass this auction unless you contact us first, otherwise your bid will unfortunately be cancelled then stomped all over before we catapult it into outer space using our giant intergalactic slingshot. There are too many of you rascals out there who understand with absolute precision how to place a bid but freeze up like a popsicle during the payment process it’s really quite weird. This ring is very nice. A little worn, but the inscription of “The Team” below the…
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Carr Reacts to Charlie Weis comments
WJR’s Frank Beckmann asked Lloyd Carr to react to the “To Hell with Michigan” comments from Notre Dame Charlie Weis. No surprise, Carr took the high road but suggested that Bo made his “To Hell with Notre Dame” comments “after he was out of coaching”. [display_podcast] You can hear the entire interview here. HT: Michigan Sports Center.
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To Hell is Back
One of the things bloggers do when they’ve been away from the keyboard for a little while is check out site statistics. A quick scan of the incoming links revealed that my previous posts referencing my favorite Schembechler phrase are being peppered. It didn’t take long to find out why. As you may know by now you can thank Notre Dame head coach Chuck Weis for that: “I think the first opportunity they’re going to have to really make a statement is that day [Sept. 6 against SDSU], and then we’ll listen to Michigan have all their excuses as they come runnin’ in and sayin’ how they have a new coaching staff and there’s changes. To hell with Michigan.” ** Translated by Brian at mgoblog, who is fluent in Hutt Beautiful! I love this. Rich Rod is getting from all sides this off-season and I say bring it on. Any shot at our new coach just unifies the fickle Michigan fan base and gives a reassuring boost to our rivalries. Now we need Tim Brewster to announce he’s cleared a space in his office to display the Little Brown Jug and we’ll be all set. Referencing a Schembechler line is fine by me although I’m sure many would say that Weis would never dare say such a thing if Bo…
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Wiping Woody Hayes!
Most installments of eBay Watch feature items that pre-date the Bo-Woody era, but occasionally there's something that catches the eye. What we've got here is a genuine roll of toilet paper featuring the visage of legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, currently listed on eBay. I've seen these type of things before [insert team name on toilet paper] but the cartoon likeness of Old Dr. Strangehayes makes this one special:
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Happy Birthday Bo and Ufer!
Wow – thanks to Coach Mac’s better half Lyndi, for letting us know that today (April 1st) is the day that both Bo Schembechler and Bob Ufer were born! Ann Arborites – stop working immediately and go home on this day that must be declared a city if not a state holiday. Unfortunately, no one has come forward to offer to return Coach Bill McCartney’s Rose Bowl ring quite yet. Bob Ufer, the great Wolverine track letterman and radio announcer for 37 years, would be 88 today. The legendary Bo Schembechler would be 79. The best tribute I can offer up, a link courtesy of UFER.ORG (check it out, buy your Ufer stuff there). In this clip Ufer offers up the story about his General Bo Patton Schembechler horn.
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1978 Ohio State Highlights (YouTube)
Another gem from WolverineHistorian on the YouTube. Don’t miss ABC’s interview with Ricky Leach as he’s being mobbed on the field (in Columbus!): A YouTube viewer asked if this was the game where Woody was punching himself on the sidelines near the end. WH replied: Yes it was. But while looking through the game, I couldn’t find the footage even though I’ve read in articles that it was caught on TV. I’ll have to go back again and see if maybe I missed it. Of course the next game Hayes stopped punching himself and instead punched a Clemson players, effectively ending his career. You can see this clip here. Elsewhere: Don’t miss Michigan Sports Center and The House that Yost Built on the hockey team’s 5-1 over Niagra in Albany. By the way, I caught the beginning of WTKA’s broadcast and Jim Hunt offered up his feelings on the arena in Albany: “and I thought Joe Louis [Arena] was a dump.” Great stuff.
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Taking Five with Dennis Fithian
October 7, 2006 marked the annual renewal of the Michigan vs. Michigan State football rivalry. Typically this would have been one of the busiest days of the year for former WTKA radio host Dennis Fithian, but he was not in Ann Arbor that Saturday. He was instead about 40 miles down the road at Comerica Park for his new employer WXYT ‘The Ticket’ radio. Somewhere during the second half of the 31-13 victory over MSU, the Detroit Tigers were finishing off the favored Yankees 8-3 for a trip to the World Series. Fithian was there to cover it all for his new station. In the brutal world of sports radio, things have worked out well for Fithian. Each one of the Detroit-area stations in that market have seen significant turnover in the last couple years, WTKA in particular. The very popular former Ann Arbor drive time host was kind enough to speak with MVictors about radio, Lloyd Carr, Drew Sharp and even about reheating pizza. Here you go: MVictors: Let’s get right into it. Do you have any ill will toward WTKA for the way your departure was handled? Fithian: There’s no ill will whatsoever. A lot of people thought I was let go because of comments about the basketball program, especially when they didn’t make the NCAA tournament that…
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eBay Watch: Former Legends think they’re Bill Shakespeare
For many of the legendary Michigan coaches and players, life after football has been pretty good. Some like Dan Dierdorf, Tom Harmon and Desmond Howard have ventured into the broadcast media, many others like Fielding Yost and Jamie Morris filled other roles within the athletic department. Of course Gerald Ford ended up in the White House. Many former M Men wrote books about or related to their craft. Bo Schembechler hooked up with Mitch Albom and John Bacon to publish bestsellers. This installment of eBay watch takes a quick look at a few of the books out there: Heisman Winner Tom Harmon: Harmon contributed to a few books but the one most widely seen on eBay is titled “Tom Harmon and the Great Gridiron Plot”. I assume he had some hand in the book other than lending his name, but the official author is Jay Bender. At any given time there are a half dozen of these books for auction so I assume it was pretty popular. I can’t find a full abstract or review on the book but I do see it was targeted for kids and I found this item description: STORY OF TOM HARMON AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TEAM WHO FIND THEMSELVES HAVING TO WIN THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP OR THEIR COACH WILL BE DISMISSED Shocking stuff…
