Today Brian the plans on launching Hail to the Victors 2012, the next version of his excellent must-have annual preseason guide. I’ve been a part of it the part four years and plan getting in this edition. For history fans, Brian always includes plenty of pages on U-M lore including submissions from many of my pals. He’s asking for funds up front, basically buy the magazine now for $15 and/or give some additional support. – all the details here or read this snippet below. Hi. You may be aware that for the past four years I’ve edited a Michigan preview magazine called Hail To The Victors (usually, anyway). It’s 120-some pages of photos, previews, analysis, and history that we’ve been proud of. Unfortunately, if we’re going to make it to year five we’re going to need some help. Our publisher went under sometime around January. We have access virtually all of the things we need to continue—the writers, photos, publishing expertise—and plan on taking HTTV independent this summer. The main problem: the up-front costs are daunting. This is where Kickstarter comes in. If you haven’t heard of it, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding site that operates under two simple rules: anything on it must be a defined creative project you either make it and get all the money or don’t and…
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Smotrycz, Christian, Brundidge Decide to Leave Program (Official Release)
Wow, just out via U-M media relations March 21, 2012 ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan men’s basketball head coach John Beilein announced today (Wednesday, March 21) that sophomore forward Evan Smotrycz (Reading, Mass./New Hampton Prep [N.H.]),sophomore forward Colton Christian (Bellevue, Wash./Hargrave Military Academy) and freshman guard Carlton Brundidge (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS) each decided to leave the Wolverine basketball program and transfer to another school. "We never like to see players leave the program, however, Evan, Colton and Carlton have made the decision to transfer and continue their careers elsewhere," said Beilein. "All three are fine young men with bright futures. We wish them and their families nothing but success going forward." Smotrycz played in all 69 games over his two seasons in Ann Arbor, averaging 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds while playing in 19.4 minutes per game. Christian came off the bench in 45 games, averaging 3.8 minutes, and posted a career-best two points on five different occasions while pulling down a career-best six rebounds against Gardner-Webb (Nov. 29, 2011). Brundidge played in 15 games in his first season, averaging 2.9 minutes. He saw his most significant game action against Alabama A&M (Dec. 17, 2011), playing 13 minutes and scoring a career-best three points. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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eBay “Watch”– How Much is Shuttlesworth’s Watch Worth?
Check out this fine piece of U-M football memorabilia* up on eBay right now. It’s a ‘72 Rose Bowl watch apparently once belonging to Wolverine back “Easy Ed” Shuttlesworth: The 1971 Wolverines were certainly one of Bo’s finest, rolling through the regular season 10-0 before dropping a 13-12 heartbreaker to Stanford in Pasadena. Shuttlesworth had a fine U-M career as the Cincinnati native ran for over 2300 career yards and scored 26 touchdowns, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. After his U-M career Easy Ed played a couple years in the CFL for the Toronto Argonauts. Shuttlesworth isn’t the only former U-M player to have some jewelry up on eBay. There’s also another watch and a ring, these said to have belonged to former LB Scott McClintock*. Here’s the watch, something given in honor of his “2nd Year Letter” ?: McClintock’s ring is from the 2003 Outback Bowl: Ahh, I still have fond memories of the old 2003 Outback Bowl. Ron Zook’s decision to have freshman Vernell Brown toss a pass on the reserve as Rex Grossman was driving the Gators down the field was an all-time classic turd call. U-M’s Victor Hobson picked off the “pass” to seal the win for the Blue and avoid a once-horrifying four-loss season. Here’s how it looked, thanks to WH. *Disclaimer: I don’t…
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U-M to Honor Willis Ward?
Maybe. I recently posted that a at screening of Black and Blue it was suggested that it’s high time for the university to formally honor Willis Ward: Near the conclusion of the Q&A session following the screening at the Alumni center, Moorehouse suggested that it’s time for the university to honor Ward in some way, and I agree. And after all, as Moorehouse pointed out, the only memorial on campus (if you don’t count buildings or roads in parking lots) for former athletes is this plaque dedicated to Owens…a Buckeye! Well, there seems to be some momentum. At last week’s monthly meeting of the U-M Regents, the idea of honoring was presented to the regents. As I understand it, an informal motion was approved to discuss the matter with the athletic department, with the hope of finding an “appropriate way” to honor Ward. Memo to Dave Brandon: Do the right thing. This is long overdue! [Ed. Update March 18]. Mary Morgan of the Ann Arbor Chronicle recapped the meeting including the activities around honoring Ward: Public Commentary: Willis Ward Three people spoke about Willis Ward, an African-American who played football for UM in the early 1930s. [For background on Ward, see John U. Bacon’s Chronicle column: "When Ward, Ford Played Ball for UM"] Buddy Moorehouse introduced himself as a 1982…
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Bracket Science 2012 – Pete Tiernan joins WTKA
Great to hear local boy Pete Tiernan of bracketscience.com join WTKA 1050AM this morning where he broke down Michigan’s NCAA tourney chances and added a variety of tendencies, trends, and tips for your 2012 bracket. Don’t know Pete? His dad, Tom ‘Boom Boom’ Tiernan played hoops of Michigan in the early 1950s, check out my interview from 2009. You can sign up for bracketscience.com here
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The Return! | Fielding H. Yost banner
Try this on for size. The ‘Children of Yost’ (Michigan hockey student section) raise up a banner of Fielding H. Yost at Yost Ice Arena:
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Bring Back the Old Man!
You might know that Yost Ice Arena, the current home of your beloved Frozen Four bound hockey squad, was once the home of the Michigan basketball team. Up on eBay right now is a wire pic of hoops star Cazzie Russell and notice the gent who’s featured on the wall with his familiar grin: I’d like to see that giant photo hanging somewhere inside Yost–AD Dave Brandon, you must bring it back. Extend the Yost brand! Bring back the Old Man! What better place than here? What better time than now? Beat Irish! Update March 9: Yes, I was up to something. Indeed the Children of Yost will unveil their new flags tonight at Yost for the ND-Michigan hockey tilt… including…the old man!!:
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Score it: Notre Dame beat Michigan (1909)
Readers of this site probably know that the season of 1909 is a real favorite of mine. So much went down that year, and a true piece of college football history recently showed up on eBay from that epic season. It’s a U-M athletic department-issued scorecard from the 1909 Notre Dame-Michigan game held at Ferry Field.
