Big Ten Icon #5 Tom Harmon.. Follow MVictors on Twitter Related: Inside Big Ten Icons Big Ten Icon #5 – Why Tom Harmon Went to Michigan Tom Harmon – Big Ten Icon #5
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Husking History
Today the Big Ten officially welcomes Nebraska to the conference, so I say welcome to fans & the Husker bloggers. I’ve actually been to Lincoln for a “Big Ten” game – versus Iowa in 2000 and had an outstanding time. Other than the stadium being completely doused in red (something we’ve seen before), my other lasting impressions include a strapping man launching T-shirts out of his portable missile launcher, and the pro football feel to the whole event with the omnipresent ads, sponsored replays, etc. It’s a different environment than Michigan for sure, but not unlike what you get in other stadiums in the conference. Speaking of the bloggers, a few are celebrating the day with a post and Big Red Network even solicited notes from the conference blogosphere. Brian chimed in: From MGoBlog – Welcome. Michigan looks forward to proving once and for all that the 1997 Nebraska team couldn’t hold a candle to Charles Woodson and company. Please try to blend in when you overwhelm our stadium. So did I: From MVictors — Welcome. Nebraska and Michigan share many things historically of course: a deep running tradition of excellence, the 1997 national championship and Fielding Yost. Our teams even shared the outcome of the game when we met 100 years ago this fall in Lincoln – a…
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Badgers and Bad Bleachers (1905)
There is significance to this hard fought 12-0 Michigan victory over Wisconsin in 1905. First, this was really the last real test for Yost and crew before the showdown with Chicago on Thanksgiving day, where Yost would suffer his first defeat. The game also made headlines because the Ferry Field temporary stands for the game collapsed and gave everyone a big scare.
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Mascots and Phase II
I love that this stuff can carry sports talk radio. I do. I can’t stand many of the callers but I like hearing people talk passionately about throwback jerseys, mascots, stadium mods and whatever. Inevitably it invokes some discussion of history and tradition. On Mascots: Make sure you check out James Dickson’s excellent piece last week in Michigan Today on the history of mascots, Rich Eisen’s take then and now and much more. It included this excellent shot of the big bad wolf a.k.a. Willy the Wolverine getting a smooch from a mullet-sporting, chest hair-flaunting, wife beater-rocking LSA junior: One note – you know about Yost’s quest to bring in Biff and Bennie, but don’t forget about my boy Intrepidus from the 1930s. I summarized my take on the mascot situation in one tweet: The Michigan mascot in my head wears fierce armor made from pieces of the stadium halo, and the ’93 Final Four banner as a cape. Make that happen and I’ll sign on. Someone sketch that out for me and I owe you a beer. On Phase II: On the talk of completing the south end zone. Here’s my little idea to toss into the hopper. I’d like the idea to add more seats and all that, but I’d love to see a general admission concourse like…
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Fielding Yost’s Punt, Pass and Prayer and Bob Zuppke’s Flea Flicker (1945)
History of two of the most famous college football strategies: The Flea Flicker and "Punt, Pass, and Prayer"
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Three and Out– John U. Bacon
It’s official, John U. Bacon wrapped up the book and you can pre-order on Amazon.com now. Three and Out will be released on October 25, so get some! (Ed. As a reader notes, I believe the final title is Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football and that’s the written title on the Amazon listing…perhaps the Denard Heisman pose won’t be the final cover pic either):
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Throwback Logo Hunt over
My quest to answer this question more definitively. Eureka: And expect to see this show up on a lot more items in days to come:
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Michigan Legacy Throwbacks Revealed
As if you hadn’t heard(!). I’ll say what I said before—I wish they had more specific references to history. The guy from adidas basically said that they trolled through the old team photos and found some stripes on the 1890s-era teams, and AD DB suggested that the stained glass (I think Ira has that trademarked now) design is indicative of stitching on the old block M uniforms. Fine. I would have had a design that pointed to specific elements from uniforms for a specific team or era of Michigan football history. That being said, I really like the helmets and the gray throwback facemasks. And—the jerseys definitely look much better on the players and over the shoulder pads. I think having Denard wear it for the unveiling helped—the dude can make anything look kind of cool, right? And it’s not just that they look better on the players. The shoulder-pad fitted “sleeves” are shorter on the actual uniform than in the version that the public can purchase. Thus, there are about half as many stripes and it deemphasizes that aspect of the ensemble (as do Denard’s dreads): Here’s RVB’s helmet: those are RVB’s forearms, not mohair extensions on the sleeves It’ll be interesting to see if those number decals stay on the helmet. I’m guessing a few will be displaced…
