If you read this site you know that Saturday is officially Willis Ward Day in the state of Michigan. It is also not-so coincidentally the 78th anniversary of the infamous 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech game. I bet you didn’t know this: there’s a descendant of Willis Ward currently studying on campus in Ann Arbor. I met Melanie Ward, the grand niece of Ward (Willis is her grandfather’s brother), at a screening of Black and Blue at the U-M Alumni Center on campus earlier this year. Ward (left) is currently a U-M senior and was kind enough to chat with me this weekend as we approach the day that will honor her great uncle. MVictors: What did you know about your great uncle before coming to U-M? Melanie Ward: I knew that I had a great uncle who played football for the University of Michigan in the 1930s. I also knew a little later that Gerald Ford also played on his team. But I did not know anything about the Georgia Tech football game. MVictors: Do you have any other family members who attended Michigan? Ward: Just Willis and his sister-law, who is my dad’s mother. MVictors: So when did you learn about the controversy about the 1934 Georgia Tech game and Willis Ward’s involvement? Ward: At the screening of the documentary…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals – Illinois
Ed. Dr. Sap is back with his decals for week 6. This week I added the Editor’s pick, the Fan and the uniform entry. Here are the picks from Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 & Week 5. Context: Back when Bo was coaching the Michigan Football team, he awarded decals for individual as well as TEAM accomplishments. He also selected Champions each week. Not only were the obvious categories (offense, defense, special teams) selected, but Bo also made it a point to recognize the not so obvious ones – Scout Team Champions and Team Hustlers – each week. Here are the picks this week: OFFENSE DENARD ROBINSON – I don’t know what else can be said about #16? Just when you think he is down, done, or hurt, Denard comes back stronger than ever! Maybe it’s the added weight/muscle? Maybe it’s the coaching staff calling plays to protect his body more? All I know is that when he came back into the game against the Illini, you could see/feel him take the team on his shoulders and WILL them to victory. That’s a sign of TRUE leader, and dare I say, true CHAMPION? DEFENSE KENNY DEMENS – The linebacker may have played his best game as a Wolverine with a key 4th down stop early in the…
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Mattison’s Mansters – Sights & Sounds – (Michigan 45, Illinois 0)
It’s seems like a simple expectation but you forget, especially in the aftermath of the Alabama and Notre Dame games, that these coaches have a track record of making players better. You are seeing it. The defense confident and fun to watch and they’ve retooled the gameplan with Denard and it’s clearly working. I’ll take this stat line 24/7: 7-11, 2 TD, 0 INT. The Manster Jake Ryan is suddenly a star. The defense is now in the top 10 in the country and the pass defense is ranked third. adidas sponsored Coach Hoke’s undershirt. No word yet on the black pants (Armani doesn’t make blue, people). The Stadium Bridge is almost done. Everything is working. Can I nitpick? Naturally. I realize that Bellomy was just inserted there at the end of the first quarter, but at a minimum I would have tried to draw Illinois offside on the 4th and 1 on the goal line (and either burn a timeout or heck, take a 5 yard penalty, who cares) and I would have gone for it either way. Yes – that seems like a silly thing to say at this point but I felt the need to prove my Michigan fandom. The Misc: * Ford Returns. Once again a nice job by #1000SSS with the Legends presentation. I’m not…
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What President Ford Might Have Said Today
Here’s most of a nice speech that President Ford delivered to the Annual Congressional Dinner of the University of Michigan Club back in March 1975. To me, much of it applies today as ever and if he were around I’m guessing he would have shared many of these memories on the field today: [Introductory portion omitted] You know, as a matter of fact, I can still remember spending a good part of my sophomore and junior years washing dishes in the DKE house–of which I was a proud member–and I mean washing dishes. As a matter of fact, I washed so many dishes I was the only athlete in Michigan history who ever had a football knee and dishpan hands at the same time. [Laughter] As I mentioned a moment ago, I was lucky enough to play football, first on Ferry Field and then in the stadium. And I was lucky enough to start a few games in the football season of 1934–and that was quite a year. The Wolverines on that memorable occasion played Ohio State, and we lost 34 to 0. And to make it even worse, that was the year we lost seven out of eight of our scheduled games. But you know, what really hurt me the most was when my teammates voted me their most…
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The Thumb of Pressure & Other Vintage Inspiration
Check out these pics local artist Jil Gordon forwarded over to me. You might remember Ms. Gordon she has the honor of painting the year and score Little Brown Jug when Michigan wins and she’s done other work with the athletic department over the years. Here is some of Gordon’s handiwork from the mid-70s in the football building and in the hockey locker room: Check out that camera! Here’s what used to be on display over at Yost: Thanks to Jil for sending this along – and make sure you check out her other more recent products on her website – also an MVictors sponsor. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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TWIMFbH: Playing for Kegs and The Homecoming Tradition (2001)
Saturday’s edition of This Week in Michigan Football History drops back to 2001 to look at the battle between Lloyd Carr’s 12th ranked Wolverines and Joe Tiller and his 17th ranked Purdue Boilermakers. But before stepping into that, we look at Michigan’s Homecoming tradition, dating back to 1897 and of course one of the greatest traditions on the U-M campus: The SAE Mud Bowl. You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here. Listen to it live tomorrow on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM or catch it live inside the Bud Light Victors Lounge. Stub via ticketmuseum.com
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Honoring Freshman Gerald Ford (1932)
President Ford has been honored quite a few times by U-M over the years. Along with his team MVP after the 1934 season, his #48 jersey was retired in 1994 and of course, it will be put back on the field Saturday as part of the Michigan Football Legends program. If you follow this site you know that 1934 is arguably the worst (and perhaps most controversial) in Michigan history but clearly, Ford kept things in perspective. In a speech to the U-M Club in March 1975, he recalled, “[1934] was the year we lost seven out of eight of our scheduled games. But you know, what really hurt me the most was when my teammates voted me their most valuable player. I didn’t know whether to smile or sue.” But the ‘34 MVP wasn’t the first honor Ford received while at U-M. During his freshman year of 1931-32, he received a different but quite prestigious honor. On May 12, 1932, Ford won the Chicago Alumni Award (now the Meyer Morton Award) as the player who showed the most promise during the lengthy spring drills (which lasted all the way from early March to early May). Ford edged out classmates Russell Oliver and Willis Ward to earn the honor. As mentioned the award is still given out today but receives…
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Back Up at Yost (Photos)
So great to be back up at Yost. Just a few pics from tonight’s exhibition versus Dr. Sap’s Lancers. The joint looks great – only thing it looks like they didn’t touch is the outside of the visitor lockers. (Although the security appears outside the lockerroom curtain is dialed down a bit; I guess we’re a few years removed from this.)
