The next edition of eBay Watch takes a foray onto uncharted waters--Michigan wrestling. A couple scorecards from wrestling meets were offered up on the online auction site this past week, one from the February 14, 1931 battle against Ohio State, the next from a January 9, 1932 meet against the University of Toronto. Both were held at Yost Field House.
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Stoned Wisconsin Badgers say, “I was there” (1981)
Here’s a look at an interesting pin commemorating Wisconsin’s 1981 victory over Michigan. Certainly, no one in Madison would produce a trinket today for a regular-season victory, but keep in mind that Barry Alvarez wouldn’t arrive for another decade and Badger football consistently had a place at or near the bottom of the Big Ten. The lowly Badgers and hadn’t defeated the Blue since 1962 and in the previous four meetings, Bo’s Wolverines outscored Wisconsin 176 to zero. Michigan was riding a nine-game win streak (including Schembechler’s first Rose Bowl victory) and that was enough for the pollsters to slot the Wolverines #1 in the preseason poll. This seemed to be an ideal opponent for the opener, held September 12, 1981, and Michigan came in as a 19 point favorite. Over 68,000 pickled fans witnessed the historic 21-14 upset. Longtime sportswriter Jack McCallum was on hand for Sports Illustrated: Last year Wisconsin didn’t score a touchdown until its fourth game. On Saturday in Madison, against a Michigan team that hadn’t yielded a touchdown in 5 games, Wisconsin scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and the gamer—on a 71-yard pass play. Quarterback Jess Cole throwing to Tailback John Williams—in the third. “This win is the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Coach Dave McClain. The issue? Michigan’s new…
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New adidas Coaches Gear?
Fight fire with fire, the cure for Sweatervestitis: Yikes. Receiving this from your grams would tie a nice bow on a miserable year. Speaking of the holidays, are you 100% guaranteed to receive a Michigan related gift every year? [poll id=24] Related: More stuff from eBay: * Someone’s selling Rich Rodriguez’s spread offense playbooks on eBay man! Bollocks. [Hat Tip: Spawn of MZone] * You can own the website domain, images and content on UMICHFOOTBALL.com for $499, here’s the auction (with free shipping!).
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Have a Highball with Bennie Oosterbaan
This edition of eBay Watch again features glassware, this time two cocktail glasses that appear to be a gift (probably from a football Bust or alumni event) from former Michigan player and coach, Bennie Oosterbaan
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Michigan Baseball team Visits Japan (1932)
A unique, well-traveled piece of Michigan athletics memorabilia showed up on eBay this week. It’s described to be a ticket stub from a game between Michigan baseball and a university team from Tokyo, played in Japan in 1932. At first glance, I laughed thinking there was no way a college team traveled to Japan during the throes of the Great Depression to play baseball. And the auction description didn’t help sell it for me: 1932 Michigan University vs Meiji University tour ticket stub from game 1 played at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. From an excellent summary published in Michigan Today in 1998, it all started with Japan teams doing a college tour in the US years earlier, with many of the stops in Ann Arbor from 1911 to 1925. Then in 1929, Michigan coach Ray Fisher got an invite from the Meiji University inviting the maize and blue to visit Japan as “ambassadors of goodwill”. Fielding Yost and the board of athletics approved the trip and so they headed west, then more west, until they reach the Far East in 1929: After playing several games on the West Coast and one in Hawaii, the Wolverines arrived in Japan for a 30-day visit. Lodged at the Imperial Hotel, the 14 team members and Coach Fisher and his family were received lavishly…
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For Good Measure: 1997 Nebraska Cornhusker Ring
Days after I noted that the 1997 Michigan national championship ring was offered on eBay for $3,600 but yielded no takers, lookie here. A seller has countered with a 1997 Nebraska “national championship” ring asking for $2,500 or best offer. I think that settles the debate over this once and for all. (Well, not really, but I think this is about as relevant as pointing out the hypothetical Vegas line on a hypothetical game between Michigan and Nebraska). Anyway, here’s what the Cornhusker version looks like, note the likeness of Coach Tom Osborne on the side: The seller claims this version is authentic and was originally owned by one of the coaches. Here’s the full auction.
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Fielding H. Yost’s Warning to the Drunks (1933)
With more than a nip in the air the past couple of weeks it’s time to turn to alcohol. Here is a 1934 Michiganesian yearbook with photos from the 1933-34 school year and athletic seasons. Often the yearbooks are dated with the year the school ends (not begins), therefore for football purposes this beauty contains recaps and photos of the 1933 national championship season, not 1934, arguably the worst season in Wolverine pigskin history. The value of the yearbook is certainly lifted by the presence of president-to-be, Gerald Ford, here in his Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity photo: The seller shows a few photos in the auction but the highlight is this–some type of cartoon the yearbook staff thankfully included: I love it. Above notation “The Alumni Return”, the box reads, “Drinkers Are Warned Again By Coach Yost. Stadium Officials Ordered to Eject All Spectators Found Drunk“, and the cartoon depicts a happy fellow in a raccoon coat chugging a bottle of the good stuff. While this was clearly part of the 1934 yearbook, it’s possible it was some sort of nostalgic piece from earlier school years. Why? Fielding H. Yost probably would have been referred to as “Director Yost” if this were written in 1933 or 1934. This school year featured the end of Prohibition with ratification of the 21st…
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Michigan Busted Bronko (1929)
The Canada-born Nagurski played his college days at Minnesota from 1927-1929. As if to get the upper hand on Danielson’s blowhole, I wanted to see if Michigan put a beating on Nagurski as they did with Tebow last season and thus sleep a little better tonight. While Nagurski’s Gophers beat Michigan in 1927 (his first year of eligibility) the legendary Bronko did not play a significant role on the conference championship team, according to his college football hall of fame profile, just seeing limited action at tackle. His role on the team picked up in 1928 but our teams did not meet. The pinnacle of Nagurski’s collegiate career was 1929 when he was named a consensus All-American. On November 16 of that season, new coach Harry Kipke and the M men traveled to Minnesota and returned with the Little Brown Jug after edging the Gophers 7-6 in front of a homecoming crowd of 58,000. This was the only home loss suffered by any of Nagurski’s Minnesota teams. Trivia:– The man had an interesting life after a storied career for George Halas’ Chicago Bears and parlayed his popularity on the gridiron into a successful career in pro wrestling.– He also was one sausage-finger-having fella, his NFL championship ring is said to be size 19 1/2.– He was immortalized by CBS color…
