Sadly somehow it was a subdued mood in old Yost tonight for a Michigan-Michigan State game, but a 3-2 victory nonetheless. As a nod to my post on the 1928 canary unis, the Wolverines donned the maize sweaters with blue numerals. A few shots from the early evening tilt, including Derek DeBlois just burying this one in the 2nd period to make it 1-1: DeBlois being DeBlois Boys being Boys “Celebrate weird times, come on!” Follow MVictors on Twitter
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A Snowman for Harbs (1994)
If you haven’t, you’ve got to give John Kryk’s piece on the Harbaughs and Moellers a read. Great stuff. Here’s a much less interesting piece of Harbaugh history. Up on eBay right now, this scorecard from the 1994 CGA Classic of Orlando, a charity golf event: This was just a few weeks after he signed with the Colts, and Jim had a decent day save for the snowman on seemingly tame 351-yard par four #6 which no doubt sent his jaw jutting. Other than the backstory on the snowman, the only question for me is that signature at the bottom. Is that really Jim Harbaugh’s actual signature? Tough to tell. While it looks very little like his autograph on other items on eBay, you have to factor not only for the tiny golf pencil that was likely used to scribe his name and perhaps the frustration with the 8, you also must consider the Bloody Marys and other libations that were no doubt consumed that morning on the links. Want it? Buy it now for $11.99. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Smiling Jack Harbaugh
You’ll be inundated with Harbaugh content over the next week and here’s some more, hopefully, a little unique. Thanks to the Dr. Sap archives, here is a brief interview with then U-M assistant coach Jack Harbaugh following Michigan’s 21-17 victory over Arizona on October 7, 1978: No, he doesn’t talk about his young sons John and Jim, but I thought it was worth sharing to get a sense of what the elder coach Harbaugh was like back in the day, and as a bonus, the backdrop of the Michigan Marching Band postgame routine :) The pic inset (via mgoblog) is from a profile of the 1978 U-M staff and shucks, Jack kind of looks what would happen if Jim and John had a dad. Related: via John U Bacon: The Harbaughs – and Their Godfather
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Beilein joins Jim Rome (1-25 audio)
Coach Beilein dialed into Rome this afternoon, audio (a tad faint but listenable): [display_podcast] Notes: * Praised Trey Burke for his ability to excel in both big and small spaces on the court. Marveled how he gets to the rim in traffic or surrounded by defenders. Does this in practice that make you go, “how did he do that?”. * Praised GRIII, said he has a chip on his shoulder for not being a highly touted recruit in Indiana early on. Beilein talked about “what a pleasure” is to coach him and how quickly he adopts their coaching points. * Said this team has a chance to be one of the best he’s every coached. * On the Ohio State loss, “that was what we needed..” * On the potential of the #1 ranking, he downplayed it again, adding, “I wanna know where we’re going to be in March.”
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The Uniform Timeline
The latest mini-project: A descending timeline of changes to the Michigan football team uniforms over the years. I’m still pulling it together but you can check out what I have so far here. This will also be a regular ‘page’ that you can access from the toolbar above. A huge thanks to Dr. Sap (Steve Sapardanis) for much of the detail especially during the Bo years. As always, ping me with any inputs Follow MVictors on Twitter
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The Jim Harbaugh Bio Plaque – Preserved
Phenomenal, via John Kryk, NFL beat writer for the Toronto Sun: As a “fun thing” to do, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh this week arranged for plaques to be hung above each player’s locker. Each plaque contained a photo and bio of the player from during his high school recruitment. What about one for Harbaugh? “They didn’t have the internet back in 1982 that I’m aware of,” Harbaugh said. Fortunately, however, the John Kryk Football Archives go that far back. As an unofficial college and Michigan football historian of sorts, I possess far too many musty boxes in my basement, to my wife’s chagrin. One produced the accompanying goods. And here’s the goods: Full story on Kryk’s blog, Kryk Slants.
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What If Denard had Decals?
Guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Last year, we kept track of the helmet stickers every game for each player deserving these awards based on not only the individual but team accomplishments. After the Ohio State game, Denard Robinson led all players with 42 award decals. Ever since then I wondered what would Denard’s helmet look like if it had decals on it? With a little PhotoShop work, wonder no more. Below are a couple of possibilities – one with all 42 decals on one side, and another with half, or 21 on one side. In order to fit 42 decals on one side of the helmet, the decal size would need to be reduced, but you get the idea. That’s what happens when you are made of Dilithium! Think there are a lot of decals on Denard’s helmet? Mike Hammerstein in 1985 and Desmond Howard in 1991 were two former UM players that had a ton of decals on their helmets. #66 sported 47 decals on his helmet in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl against Nebraska: #21 in the 1992 Rose Bowl and against OSU in 1991: To me, there was nothing like seeing Michigan and Ohio State clash at the end of the season. Having both teams’ helmets filled with decals just added to the spectacle. So I…
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Missing on Pay-dirt
Via the January 14, 1993 Michigan Daily: Indeed, “Payton” considered Michigan along with Florida and his dad’s alma mater Ole Miss before committing to Phil Fulmer at Tennessee right around signing day. Bagging Manning put the Vols on top of most recruiting ratings for 1994, while Gary Moeller’s Michigan crew finished in the top three. Dreisbach was joined by commits Marcus Ray, Sam Sword, Clint Copenhaver, Jay Feely, Chris Floyd, and Jerame Tuman. So how would have history changed had Manning selected Michigan? No idea, but I don’t think there are any regrets with either side. U-M of course took the ‘97 national title, Tennessee netted a Heisman runner-up :) and the BCS crown in ‘98. Related: Hoover Street Rag explored the What If? Manning scenario back in March 2012. Follow MVictors on Twitter HT: Buddy from Stunt3 – thanks for sending this over.
