So you don’t see many authentic items on eBay that fall inside the Yost Point-A-Minute era from 1901 to 1905. There’s one up now. So check out this Usher’s ribbon for the Thanksgiving day game held on November 27, 1902. It’s the last game played between the Gophers and Wolverines that didn’t involve a certain water crock. It wasn’t until the following year, 1903, that the Little Brown Jug was purchased in Minneapolis, left behind after the game, and reclaimed by Michigan in 1909…and the rest is college football history. Looking at the Usher’s ribbon, it looks to be authentic, although I’m not suggesting that someone would have the stones to forge such a thing, but you never know. Having written on this stuff for a while now when I first spotted the ribbon I knew I’d seen that font style before. Sure enough, on this vintage MVictors post from 2006, you clearly see the athletic department favored that print type on official materials including this 1901 season athletic pass that I’d give my right pinky to have on my wall. The usher who donned this silk ribbon watched Michigan take down the Gophers 23-6 in the ‘02 season finale. Yost and crew once again ran the table finishing the season a perfect 11-0, outscoring opponents 644-12 to claim the…
-
-
The Brady Aura (8-20-12 audio)
Check out this clip today from the Jim Rome radio show. Here’s former NFL lineman Ross Tucker with guest host Kyle Brandt chatting about Tom Brady. In the clip Tucker describes a particular nuance Brady brought into the huddle when the two were teammates in New England and what it felt like to play with the legend: [display_podcast] HT to Matt for passing along the clip
-
How They Voted for Michigan–AP poll
Collected and distributed via pollspeak.com’s poll stalker, here’s how the AP pollsters voted for Michigan. You can click on the voter to find out where they are from AP Ballots CFB ’12 Week 1: Aug. 18, 2012 Last updated: Aug. 18, 2012 — 11:31 AM Voter Rank Bob Asmussen 1 Ira Schoffel 3 Joe Walljasper 5 Doug Doughty 6 Hays Carlyon 6 John Adams 6 Keith Sargeant 6 Bob Condotta 7 Dirk Facer 7 Harold Gutmann 7 Joe Giglio 7 John Shinn 7 Mark McCarter 7 Seth Emerson 7 Anthony Gimino 8 Austin Meek 8 Chadd Cripe 8 Charles Davis 8 Garland Gillen 8 Greg Auman 8 John Clay 8 Keith Pompey 8 Kyle Meinke 8 Kyle Ringo 8 Ben Frederickson 9 Bill Rabinowitz 9 Carrie Anderson 9 Doug Lesmerises 9 John Silver 9 John Werner 9 Mitch Vingle 9 Rob Long 9 Adam Zucker 10 Ferd Lewis 10 Jon Wilner 10 Josh Kendall 10 Matt McCoy 10 Robert Cessna 10 Brandon Marcello 11 Erik Gee 11 Harry Plumer 11 John Hunt 11 Kirk Bohls 11 Mike Hlas 11 Pete DiPrimio 11 Phil Miller 11 Scott Wolf 11 Brent Axe 12 Cecil Hurt 12 Chris Fowler 12 Jimmy Burch 12 Steve Sipple 12 Tom Murphy 12 Andy Staples 13 Chris Murray 13 Glenn Guilbeau 13 Jeremy Sampson 13 Ray Ratto …
-
It Must be the Shoe Laces! Billy Taylor’s Tricked out Pumas
In 1971, one player did something that was so shocking even the flamboyant Fielding H. Yost would have flashed his famous smile. “Touchdown” Billy Taylor wore teal blue shoes with, you guessed it – maize laces! It was in the 1972 Rose Bowl Game against Stanford, and yes, those tricked out Puma shoes have not been photoshopped. Here's the full story:
-
Dialing Down the Donnybrooks, Reptile Brains & Other Media Day Nuggets
My favorite shot that came from my camera. Denard with the high percentage pass to Devin Gardner: So a few off the beaten path factoids: I confirmed that the players (TBD) who will don the formerly retired 47 (Oosterbaan), 87 (Kramer), 48 (POTUS Ford) and 11 (Moose, Ox, Whitey Wistert) will indeed wear it for the rest of the year, after they are announced on their respective game. Oosterbaan’s 47 is up first. My guess? WR Jeremy Jackson. There don’t seem to be any specific plans yet to honor Tom Harmon via jersey, ceremony or otherwise. Still, the October 20 game against Michigan State has been slotted, on the game tickets at least, to honor Old 98. It’s long been rumored that the Harmon family’s relationship with 1000 S. State Street (#1000SSS) has been cool at best. To be clear, I’ve heard a few things through the years but nothing at all from #1000SSS or from the Harmon family. Ask me over a cocktail. Speaking of honoring former players…to date there are no formal plans to honor Willis Ward in 2012 despite the U-M Regents’ indication that they would push the idea to Dave Brandon earlier this year. Stay tuned. From Hoke, to special teams coach Dan Ferrigno to the kickers, there has definitely been some thought put into how…
-
Michigan Records Within Reach
The 2012 football media guide is available for perusal so I perused. Here are a few notable records that could be reached this season. As usual, I don’t think any of the records go much past the mid-1940s, although they list a few of Harmon’s stats in the late 1930s and occasionally offer “pre-modern” data. Some of the defensive records only date to the 1960s. Roy Roundtree has caught a ball in 19 straight games. Braylon has the career record with an impressive 38. Obviously Treezy won’t catch him, but if he runs the season out including the B1G title game and a bowl, he could up 3rd all-time with 33 straight, just ahead up Marquise Walker with 32. U-M tracks plays which I assume are downs in which someone touches the ball. Naturally it’s all quarterbacks. Denard (1126) trails Chad Henne (1567) by 441 but participated in 479 last season and 547 in 2012. If he’s healthy it should happen. Did you know that Will Hagerup’s 2010 effort was second all-time for season punting average? I didn’t. Now, I’d like to see Harry Kipke’s stats in here but nonetheless, assuming Hagerup earns the job back from Matt Wile, you’d have to think that Zoltan Mesko’s season standard of 44.46 yards/punt (left) is obtainable with a good bounce or two. …
-
Help Colt Kick It
HT to mgoblog, where I spotted this and thought I’d spread the word as well. There’s a golf outing September 15 to benefit the 4-year-old son of former K Jeff DelVerne. I couldn’t make out all the details on that post so I’m reposting here, and you can grab the full form here. And if you can’t support the outing, consider providing direct help here.
-
TWIMFbH Returns For its Third Season
Yes sir! This Week in Michigan Football History returns for its third season as part of the WTKA 1050AM KeyBank Countdown to Kick-off pregame show. I’ll be coming strong with toughness and even a hint of chippyness. Ira Weintraub will once again will be handling the 1s and 2s, and we’ve got a nice draft line up of seasons/dates/games/etc. More good news: the segment will be sponsored by Stadium Trophy, which has partnered with WTKA on its ‘Michigan High School Scholar Athlete of the Week Award’ segment. Support these guys: Not familiar with TWIMFbH? Here’s the complete archive from 2010 and 2011 so you can impress your friends. Follow MVictors on Twitter Related: The Complete TWIMFbH archives from 2010 and 2011.
