With Saturday marking the one-hundredth game between Michigan and Michigan State, I took a look back to find the first meeting of the two schools. It dates back to the late 19th century when on October 12, 1898, the Wolverines defeated the crew from Michigan Agricultural College 39-0 in Ann Arbor. The season of 1898 was a special one for other reasons. The Gustave Ferbert coached squad made it through the season undefeated heading into the final game- a showdown with the powerhouse University of Chicago held on Thanksgiving Day. The defining moment of the game was when Wolverine Charles Widman broke free on a 65-yard run that allowed the M men to take down Chicago 12-11 and claim the title of Champions of the West. One of the 600+ fans that attended the game was music student Louis Elbel. As recorded in the October 1979 version of the Michigan Alumnus and posted on the alumni website, here are Elbel’s own words on how the Chicago win and the season of 1898 inspired the greatest fight song in the world: “We were crazed with joy,” Elbel. “We paraded in the dark. We yelled and followed our U-M Band, singing to the tune of “Hot Time in the Old Town.” It struck me quite suddenly that such an epic should be…
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Bo Exhibit starts this week
I caught this tidbit during the 4th quarter of the Purdue game. Looks like the University library is opening a special exhibit this week honoring Bo. A quick scan of umich.edu and mgoblue.com came away empty, but thankfully the Freep had a few details. Here’s more from the Detroit News.
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Shand vs. Martin Update
Not much news with former WTKA morning host Dave Shand and his case against Michigan athletic director Bill Martin. Latest I’ve heard from Shand’s legal team is that Martin has filed a motion to dismiss the suit and that this is going to be heard on November 28. As I understand it, Martin is claiming he is immune from the suit because he’s a government official. Umm…ok. I’ve seen some harsh comments directed at the athletic department lately in light of the Artis Chambers mess. Perhaps Martin & company should have spent more time worrying about tracking eligibility and less time worrying about talk show hosts? Meanwhile the morning show has been taken over by Gobluewolverine’s Sam Webb with sidekick Andy Evans. Their show, “The Michigan Insider with Sam Webb” has a long way to go. They certainly benefit from this being football season and as usual, there’s never a dull moment in covering Lloyd Carr’s camp. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Webb’s show after the regular season and especially after the bowls. Love or hate Shand, I think his show had the ability to draw in the occasional non-Wolverine fanatic, and I’m not sure if Webb and Evans can pull that off. We’ve also seen the return of Shand’s original show on Sunday mornings- Off The…
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Mallett Mayhem: Fan Day 2007
Another year and another Fan Day, your brief window to meet the coaches and players that make up this year’s squad. Here’s what we learned: 90 MinutesWhile I appreciate the players and coaches making time to do stuff like this, am I the only one who feels like an hour and a half is not quite enough? It didn’t help that a) the MC announced how much time was left in the event while reminding folks of how important the team’s time was, and; b) the clock was counting down the time left for people to clear out. Found a Kicker?According to the Free Press and noted by mgoblog, looks like we have Rivas’s replacement. His name is Jason Gringell and count me as one person who: a) knows that it takes some luck and a few close calls to win championships, especially national championships, b) realizes that difference could fall on the foot of the kicker, and; c) is anxious to see how this guy looks. Elsewhere, looks like Carson Butler has cleared a path to contribute. Mallett ManiaFans couldn’t get enough of true freshman Ryan Mallett. Those planning the event anticipated the rage over the cocky Texan. He had a gated-off section of his own along with handlers. The line to get a piece of the future M…
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Bloggers done good
Big props to the team of writers & bloggers that pulled together “Hail to Victors 2007”, a preview of this year’s M football season. As editor Brian Cook of mgoblog argues in the opener, content from the blogosphere can reach highs that “far outstrip those produced by a newspaper industry reports and forgets in a day.” I think they hit the mark with this one. Overview Some might say it’d be hard for a guide titled “HAIL TO THE VICTORS” with a section on M opponents section titled “THE ENEMY” to be unbiased. Yes, the content slants towards maize side of the house, but they authors solicited the help of those inside enemy camps to offer analysis. The Notre Dame preview is dropped by Brian Stouffer of The House Rock Built, and the rest of the opponents overviews were submitted by Matt Hinton of Sunday Morning Quarterback. Cook’s review of the offense and defense provides an assessment of what each player has (and hasn’t) brought to the field to date along with what needs to happen in 2007 to make it work. He touches on points that you and the dude sitting next to you in the stadium are thinking (after your whiskey buzz from the tailgate starts to wear off). A few examples: On Tight ends “Tight end…is a…
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Acho Blasts Harbaugh
The husband of the Shari Acho, the co-director of the Michigan Athletic Department’s “Academic Success Program”, unleashed on former QB Jimmy Harbaugh today via the Sports Review Magazine website. In the piece, James Acho takes shots at Harbaugh and does mention his wife’s key role in the athletic department. If Harbaugh’s statements about steering athletes down lighter academic paths are true, Shari Acho would have a key role (along with Sue Shand, the ex-wife of former WTKA morning host Dave Shand..I can’t shake the guy!) in fulfilling the process. The other part of Harbaugh’s shot at the AD’s office was how Michigan turned its back on players once they left the program. I don’t know the specifics of the Academic Success Program or of its role post-playing days but anyway you slice hit Harbaugh’s words hit folks on State Street pretty hard. Some of James Acho’s shots are below the belt. He features a couple images to make light of Harbaugh’s 2005 DUI arrest, and includes a photo of Harbaugh’s wallet that he apparently left behind at a bar a few months ago. To show that he isn’t purely bitter at Harbaugh, Acho does acknowledge that Jim is a world-class pretty boy: I’ve met Jim Harbaugh before, at a coaching clinic, and he is a nice guy. Handsome sonofagun, too.…
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Maize, Blue and My Adidas
Update August 2008: Inside the new jersey We learned this week that Michigan will drop its long relationship with Nike and suit up with Adidas gear in 2008. The deal is worth about $7.5 million in cash and uniforms, and fans will be able to start buying Maize & Blue studded Adidas gear next summer. While Nike is certainly the king of athletic marketing and team sponsorship in the US if not the world, Adidas has managed to capture a few high-profile clients such as the NY Yankees, Notre Dame & Nebraska football. And while Nike can boast the top athletes on its side (T Woods, Jordan, LeBron), Adidas has established a cultural following starting with Run DMC and its previous stranglehold on soccer. On New Year’s Eve 1997 a group of friends went to a show at the Viper Room on Sunset in Los Angeles that featured none other than Run DMC. What we were doing in LA on New Year’s Eve in LA? Of course, we were there to watch Brian Griese, Charles Woodson and the crew win a national championship about 20 hours later. Yes, the Hollis trio performed ‘My Adidas’.
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Jim Harbaugh Turns up the Volume on Michigan
Ann Arbor News columnist Jim Carty sought out former Michigan QB and new Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. Carty wanted to give Jimmy a chance to explain his comments that were critical of the Michigan athletic program, and in particular, some of the alleged practices of steering athletes into ‘lighter’ majors and of turning its back on players after they graduate. [Check out mgoblog or The M-Zone for more detail and reaction on Harbaugh’s initial comments.] I heard Carty this Sunday morning with John Bacon and former M star Jamie Morris on WTKA’s ‘Off the Field.’ Carty said he was half expecting Harbaugh to back away or at least explain that those comments as a weak moment. JC explained that not only did Harbaugh not back off; in fact, he stepped it up. Sunday morning’s AA News details the phone interview with Carty and it is pretty shocking stuff. Certainly, check out the entire article but here are a few excerpts: “I would use myself as an example,” Harbaugh said. “I came in there, wanted to be a history major, and I was told early on in my freshman year that I shouldn’t be. That it takes too much time. Too much reading. That I shouldn’t be a history major and play football.” And here’s the stinging analysis from Carty: …when…
