As discussed this weekend, Dave Brandon said he planned to extend an offer to the families of U-M players who’ve had their jersey number retired to be honored as Michigan Football Legends. If those families signed off, that would mean U-M would effectively “un-retire” those numbers and have them join #21 in the Legends program with a dedicated locker, a special patch on the jersey along with some prime, dedicated real estate in Victors Valhalla* inside Schembechler Hall. As mentioned I’d like to see this happen and I hope those families eventually agree to do this. Of course we won’t ever see a timetable from State Street for this to happen, so I sought out Ben McCready, the godson of Bennie Oosterbaan, to get his thoughts. "I would love to see #47 on the field again," McCready told me. "It would remind players and fans, old and new, about the incredible playing and coaching legacy of the greatest athlete in the history of the University of Michigan." McCready also recently contacted a couple of Oosterbaan’s closer living relatives and found that they were also supportive of the Legends concept. "They loved the idea," he shared. So—this is far from official and we’ll see where this goes from here, but I see this as excellent news. If the Oosterbaan family steps…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals – Eastern Michigan
Hoke didn’t bring them back but I think a surprising number of Michigan fans would like to see them return. I’m talking about the helmet stickers or decals of course, Bo Schembechler’s 1965 invention (while at Miami, OH) that he brought to Ann Arbor. Wolverine gear guru Dr. Steve Sapardanis was one hoping they’d be back and he’s even suggested a 2011 version to grace the Schutts and Riddells on Saturdays: Although these won’t adorn the headgear this season, Dr. Sap thought he’d run down a his thoughts on who he’d honor each week. First, some context from Sap: In the past, Bo Schembechler had a list of achievements and criteria for each team (Offense, Defense and Special Teams) as well as individual accomplishments for awarding his helmet decals. Not being privy to film study or game performance grading, the process has been simplified to just touchdowns and big plays – and a few other "Awards of Distinction" as you will see below. Here’s Sap’s rundown for Eastern Michigan, including some influence from the editor of this site. Week #3 vs. Eastern Michigan ALL members of the Michigan Defense: for not allowing a point in the 1st quarter – first time all season! Jibreel Black: 1 decal for Forced Fumble in 1st quarter. Thomas Gordon: 2 decals – one for…
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TWIMFbH Week 3 – The Canes Rally to Stun Bo
For week three, we look at the wild 1988 game when Jimmy Johnson and Miami visited Ann Arbor: [display_podcast]
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On Honoring Michigan Legends
I’ve had a few days to think about the newly unveiled ‘Michigan Football Legend’ program. Bottom line–I really like it. My whole thing about the history of U-M is whatever gets people talking about former players, coaches, seasons, or games is a 99% of the time a good thing. (Glen Rice). The BTN Icons series, for example, had everyone talking about Harmon and of course this was a big couple weeks for Desmond. Another thing we learned is that it’s clear Michigan will not be retiring any new numbers and on Sunday, Angelique caught up with Dave Brandon who told her this: Brandon intends to offer the families of the players whose numbers have been retired — Tom Harmon, Bennie Oosterbaan, the Wistert brothers, Ron Kramer and Gerald Ford — to have those numbers re-established but with the "Michigan Football Legend" patch associated with those players. I’m hoping the families of the guys who have already have had their numbers retired agree to join this program. The fact is no one really talks a whole lot about Kramer, the Wisterts and even Oosterbaan (unless of course we’re talking about retiring a jersey). And I’m with Brian, it’d be cool to see someone wearing #98 on the field and have a tricked out Harmon locker. Someone get Mr. Shoop on the…
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Move, Blimp!
If you thought Saturday’s flyover was a bit of a bust, you weren’t alone. I first heard this from a WTKA 1050AM caller on Tuesday morning, but word is that the Goodyear blimp was supposed to clear the area prior to the scheduled flight, but didn’t (or couldn’t) for whatever reason. The crew wisely said “safety first” and performed the flyover from a safe but obviously less exciting distance. Certainly, the crew is forgiven for that. But the crew of the blimp? Not so fast my dirigible driving buddies. The next time the blimp is over a game it just needs to flash this message—and all will be forgiven:
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NCAA: Herron’s Day Didn’t Happen
Buried in the aftermath of the UTL epic finish, before the game it was announced that the stats from the opener against Western Michigan would not be recognized by the NCAA. They would recognize the final score, the records and the attendance. Furthermore, as described by Ryan Artullo from the Toledo Blade, the Big Ten does recognize the stats: Both Michigan and Western Michigan, along with their respective conferences, were given permission by the NCAA to honor the statistics. That means, for example, the Big Ten will observe linebacker Brandon Herron’s two touchdowns, but the NCAA won’t. It remains to be seen if the NCAA’s decisions will have an impact on postseason national awards. Voting is done by media members, some of whom may choose to ignore the NCAA’s ruling and view the statistics recognized by UM and WMU. I hate this but it’s done. I mean, consider that they keep all the stats from games like the 3 OT Illinois game from last season. BCS Computers? Something that crossed my mind on Sunday and I preface with a big disclaimer: Michigan isn’t anywhere close to a BCS team. That said, given that the BCS computers use that NCAA stats to varying degrees in their rankings, I wondered how this would affect the computer calculations. So I pinged a few…
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Bo Is Always Watching
Were you there? Well prove it. The Under the Lights Fan Cam from the Notre Dame game is out. Look who checked in: To Hell with Notre Dame! Speaking of watching, I think old Bob Ufer was watching, too. Via The M Zone, love this:
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Lights Out! Under the Lights I – Sights & Sounds | Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31 (2011)
In the intro of this week’s edition of ‘This Week in Michigan football History’, I said, “Time will tell if this tonight’s battle will be talked about for decades to come…” Well, it didn’t take much time to make that assessment and you can have that answer now if you’d like it. Yes, this will be talked about for decades to come.
