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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Leachapalooza: The Best of Rick Leach (WTKA 12/9)
I waded through the audio of Rick Leach in studio at WTKA 1050AM this week and boiled it down to a eleven noteworthy clips, each about a minute, give or take. You can download all the clips here for your 2009 road trip and tailgate mixtapes. Here you go. Be patient, the clips need to download for you to hear them. Oh, and is it me, or does Leach have a borderline WWE voice? On the Les Miles hire and some of the “garbage” that went on: When Don Nehlen called Leach and what that meant to him: Contrasting Michael Rosenberg’s perspective, on how Bo would support Rodriguez: Click here for the rest of the clips:
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J. Fred Lawton & ‘Varsity’ (1911)
Probably based on the posts on this site around history and memorabilia, I receive the occasional email from folks asking where to find an old item, or more frequently, asking to put a value on something. So I’m like those twins on Antiques Roadshow who price out furniture. Reader Meg sent this note to me recently: I have a signed copy of Roses That Bloomed in the Snow, a book of poetry by J. Fred Lawton. Is it worth anything? Good question. I’ll get to the value in a minute but first, a little about Lawton. From a umich.edu page on the history of the Michigan Marching Band: During the fall of 1911, two Michigan students — J. Fred Lawton and Earl Vincent Moore — decided that the University needed a new song. (Since Michigan was no longer a member of the Western Fooball Conference, the words “…champions of the West…” as sung in the Victors seemed inappropriate.) Together, they wrote the fight song, Varsity, which was an immediate hit at the weekly Friday night pep rally in University Hall at which Moore played his new song on the Frieze Memorial Organ. Fischer was in attendance that night and, upon hearing Varsity, recognized its appeal. He agreed to play the march the next day at the Michigan-Case football game. Yes,…
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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…
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Coaching Legends in Atlantic City (1957)
This edition of eBay Watch takes a look at a special pint glass. Like I’ve found with many of these memorabilia auctions the description doesn’t quite make sense and certainly doesn’t do the item justice: Up for bid we are listing 9 vintage football glasses all in mint condition. This one is Herbert ” Fritz ” Crisler from the University of Michigan 1957. The top of the glass reads Atlantic City National Football Clinic. The back lists the Clinic staff members. It measures 5-3/4″ tall. Great piece for the collector. Paypal preferred or money order only. Yes, it’s an old pint glass for a football clinic with famous Michigan coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler on it. That got my attention. But on the back of the glass it lists the rest of the staff for the event and it’s remarkable. Here’s a photo of the piece which recently sold on eBay for $15: Check out some of the legends that attended the conference in the city where the sand turns to gold from March 11-14, 1957: The top of the list of coaches is the great Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, who at the time was still the head man at Texas A&M. 1957 was his final season for the Aggies as his “momma called” him back to Alabama where he…
