Bright sides: I’m glad it was a perfect day out there. I was happy to see Treezy get in the endzone (so we he obviously), Gardner looks like he’s getting better including his blocking, and the legend of D Funch took another step forward. My biggest concern: Beyond Denard’s inconsistency tossing the ball, Fitz couldn’t seem to get many yards with the play that was called—he had to bounce it outside often to create space. That’s not This-is-Michigan-Fergodsakes football, fergodsakes. The D-line is still a big question mark. Elsewhere: * Ron Kramer: #1000SSS did a nice job once again on the Legends ceremony and the #87 hype video was well done. I got to meet a few of the family members before the game including Ron Kramer’s granddaughter Kelsey who was rocking #87’s ring as promised: L-R Ron Kramer’s granddaughter Kelsey, daughter in law Dawn, son Kurt One disappointment of course was that, unlike Jake Ryan and the #47, we didn’t get a chance to see the #87 on the field as TE Brandon Moore was dinged up. I’m not sure what could have been done about that. * Good sign. The game was effectively over UMass squad gathered at midfield prior to suiting up and formed the Radish of Rage (formerly known as the Turnip of Terror): * Tay…
-
-
Ron Kramer enters Michigan Football Legends Program–Official Release
The University of Michigan Athletic Department officially recognized Ron Kramer as a Michigan Football Legend today (Sept. 15) during a pregame ceremony at the Michigan-Massachusetts football game.
-
#TWIMFbH | Yakety Sacks (Michigan 38, Notre Dame 0–2007)
Crowe and SI redo via me (MVictors_, Hart in 300 via CC on Autumn Thunder The Horror. Sucks Unlimited. Michigan, a supposed national title contender is spinning out of control at 0-2. Enter Charlie Weis and his 0-2 Fighting Irish and we had a media circus to witness the cripple fight. Save us Russell Crowe! Help me Mike Hart! Our departed leader Bo – any words for the Irish? TWIMFbH: [display_podcast] Here’s a look: Yakety Sacks aka “Jimmy Clausen for Heisman” #thebest 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….but you knew that.
-
Sorry Plaxico, Tom Brady Wore Cleats (ESPN radio audio)
Check out former MSU receiver Plaxico Burress talking about Tom Brady this morning with Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio: [display_podcast] That Plaxico has a mancrush on respects Brady isn’t a shock, but he’s claiming that back in college Cool Tom didn’t wear cleats during a game played on grass vs. the Spartans? To get this straightened out I shot a note to longtime equipment manager Jon Falk & asked if there is any truth to Plaxico’s claim. Falk’s reply: "None." Case closed. P.S. I still want Super Drew Henson in there instead of Brady!
-
Won’t Get Fooled Again–The U-M History Calendar (beta)
So I’m listening to the WTKA ‘Fantastic Friday’ broadcast prior to the Alabama beat down. Former U-M kicker Phil Brabbs took a break from kicking cancer’s ass & called into the show. Naturally the topic of his splendid game-winning kick against Washington in 2002 came up. Then this happened: someone on Twitter pointed out that it was the 10th anniversary off that kick. After the obligatory sadness (I’m getting old) I realized that there’s really no reason that such dates and anniversaries should be sneaking up and biting us. So this week I pinged the brilliant Craig Barker of The Hoover Street Rag for help and away we went on this concept. We started plugging in key dates in the history of the football program – the good, the bad, birthdays, deaths, special anniversaries and milestones. It’s a publicly available Google Calendar and I’ll keep it as a page in the tabs above, and post the upcoming events on my sidebar (scroll down). Again, we have just started (177+ entries, some need tweaks) but I like what we have so far. And thanks to Craig – your entries are spot on and yes, I love this one. Check it out. For starters – Did you know Harry Kipke died on this day 40 years ago? Did you know ‘The Catch’…
-
Brian Kruger discusses Black and Blue (WTKA audio)
If you missed it, Brian Kruger, director of the wonderful documentary Black and Blue joined Ira and Sam this morning on WTKA 1050AM to discuss the latest on this documentary and their effort to encourage the athletic department to honor Willis Ward is some way – in particular on October 20th before the MSU game. The State legislature is set to make the 20th officially “Willis Ward Day” throughout Michigan. This year would mark Ward’s 100th birthday as well – what a great time to honor him. Their petition to have Ward honored is live now, you can join me in signing on here. As Brian said in the clip, he’s not suggesting that U-M offer an apology all these years They are also still active in getting a copy of the movie in every school and library in the State of Michigan and are making great headway. If you are interested in getting involved as a sponsor or supporting this effort, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Brian. Need the movie? Get it at Stunt3.com or on Amazon.com. Here’s the audio of this morning’s segment: [display_podcast] Related: The Willis Ward Protests Follow MVictors on Twitter
-
Living U-M Legacy: Interview with Michigan Senior Kelsey Kramer
Did you know that there’s a direct family tie to #87 Ron Kramer currently at Michigan? It’s true. Kelsey Kramer (left, with her grandfather) is a senior at U-M and the granddaughter of the man we will honor on Saturday prior the the kick-off of the UMass game. The 21-year old is a psychology major & was kind enough to chat with me about her about her grandfather, her thoughts on the unretirement, who she’d like to see don the #87 and much more. MVictors: Do your fellow U-M students know who your grandpa was and what he did on the football field? Kelsey Kramer: They figure it out eventually. I remember during my freshman year, my grandpa came to take me out to lunch. When I got back all my guy friends were like, ‘Who was that? That guy was huge!’ I told them it was my grandpa and mentioned that he used to play football here…and they went straight to Wikipedia & figured out who he was. They’d say, ‘Why didn’t you tell us he was a Hall of Famer and played with the Green Bay Packers..,’ and all that stuff. I didn’t really think about it—he was just ‘grandpa’ to me. I know many of the guys on the football team definitely know who my grandpa was.…
-
The Art of Michigan Video
I’ve known U-M football archivist Art Vuolo for a while because he’s omnipresent. You can find him rolling tape at anything Michigan related—games, busts, award ceremonies, outings…you name it. While he doesn’t have a high res shot of me catching Brendan Gibbons’ Sugar Bowl game winner, he’s got just about everything else. Games videos, compilations and my favorite: complete games dubbed and synchronized with the Michigan radio broadcast instead of the clowns on ESPN/ABC/or NBC fergodsakes. And he often includes extra features. One of his finest is the 2011 Notre Dame DVD which includes all of the pre- and post-game ceremonies and celebrations, plus the halftime show. For the historians he’s got a collection of films with the call of Bob Ufer dubbed over (up until Ufe’ died in 1981). Yes, I said it: Ufer over the video. Everything doesn’t do this for profit. Like me, he does this for the love of it. Checkout the U-M Football collection here, and everything Art has to offer here.
