Often a happy day for many Michigan fans, my football season ticket renewal arrived in the mail today. Of note: * The first paragraph closes with this sentence: “In addition, we host Minnesota in the battle for the Little Brown Jug and the regular season culminates with ‘The Game’ against Ohio.” Beat Ohio. They are made of vinyl and measure 17” wide, 9.5” deep, and two inches high—which is a tad loftier than your run-of-the-mill seat cushion. Purists will cringe. While they don’t have the ugly chairback, it does change the aesthetics of the stadium when the place isn’t full. I noticed this at Spartan Stadium and elsewhere – you first see the smattering of chairbacks, then the rest of the stadium. I definitely recommend bringing a seat cushion—it makes the game more comfortable, that extra height over the person in front of you makes a difference, and it “saves” your spot during the never-ending battle to hold your butt’s turf inside the cramped rows. $32 is a tad steep.
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Getting Pantsed
One nugget in the Ohio State/Tressel tattoogate Notice of Allegations [full version] released today concerns the Ohio State gold pants - the little charm OSU players get if they beat Michigan.
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Can you Spot the Ringer? (1899)
Listed on eBay as a 1936 wire pic featuring the great Point-A-Minute back Willie Heston, it’s actually an 1899 team photo of the team from San Jose State: Someone went through a little process of elimination to identify Heston: It’s the first time I’ve seen Heston photographed in his pre-Wolverine days. Arguably the finest back in Michigan history, it’s true that he didn’t start his collegiate days as a Wolverine. He played two seasons in San Jose before following Yost to Ann Arbor. Yost discovered Heston on his short coaching stint in California 1899, where apparently he coached anyone with a pigskin in the gym. As I understand it, Yost not only coached the collegians at Stanford but also helped out on Heston’s San Jose squad, at local Lowell High school and taught the Stanford freshman team as well. Heston wasn’t the only fellow that seemed to have caught Yost’s eye out on the west coast. He also convinced San Jose prep star George Gregory to come to Ann Arbor and some claimed Yost offered Gregory cash, as much as $1500, to come to Michigan. His old boss, Stanford President David Jordan, was the primary accuser and it apparently played out for nearly a decade. Check out this entertaining news clipping from many years later, January 3, 1908, in fact,…
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‘Michigan From the Heart’ Radio (04-22 WTKA audio)
A few fellas from the hoops team up at Mott recently If you missed my RADIO BLITZ this morning, I joined the great Lucy Ann Lance on 1290 WLBY just after 8am, and then popped into the studio with Sam and Ira on the Michigan Insider for a segment around 8:30am. The topic? Primarily the Mott ‘Michigan From the Heart’ program which (among other things) arranges for the hospital visits by U-M athletes to the kids and their families at Mott. I spoke about the origins of the program back in 1991, and about my recent visit to the hospital to watch the student athletes in action with the kids. Did you know the program has it roots back in 1991? Did you know that Desmond (Magic) Howard had a role in its founding? Did you know it’s a 100% volunteer-run non-profit organization? Do you know the Michigan hoops and in particular the Fab Five was heavily involved at the beginning (and many of the guys are still today)? Do you know how you can ensure this program continues for decades to come? Here’s the WTKA segment – check it out: [display_podcast] More: * For info on the Sunday June 5, 2011 Michigan From the Heart Golf Outing at the U-M Golf Course, go to their dedicated website here. *…
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How and Why The Little Brown Jug Rivalry Actually Started (1903-1909)
The real, myth-free version of how the Little Brown Jug rivalry REALLY happened between 1903 and 1909.
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His Own Little Brown Jug (v2)
Reader Mark Foster recently ventured where only eagles dare: he set out to create a replica Little Brown Jug for his M-Mancave and inevitably to show off at tailgates and make women swoon, etc., etc. He pinged me first with a questions about certain details and I shot him some of the photos I’ve collected from the jug research. Next, I pointed him to Eric Mierzwiak who, if you recall, in 2009 went on a similar quest and created a beauty of jug and had some great pointers on how to prime and paint the crock. Here’s a look at Mierzwiak’s masterpiece: Foster was find enough to send me the chronological blow-by-blow of the project, enjoy:
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2011 Spring Game Wrap (Photos, Etc.)
“STEAKS!” Je’Ron Stokes for the game winner. Positives: The Alumni game was fantastic and it’s clear from the former players that they were treated very well during the weekend. It was very nice seeing Mike Martin come off the edge and move around on defense. As Mattison said postgame he’s been constantly double-teamed at nose guard so it was good seeing the defense trying to create mismatches. Craig Roh looked much bigger; Taylor Lewan’s cast is off. Defense seemed to tackle well. Brady Hoke wore short pants. Gardner threw one ball 60+ yards in the air on the run. (To no one, but it looked cool). It was nice to see a ball tossed TE Koger’s way; it looked like a waggle #Griese The game raised over $350,000 for Mott Hospital. Struggles: Denard struggled. Larry Lage had him passing: 5-14 for 70 yards, 6 rushes for 60 yards. There were certainly a couple drops mixed in there. My take: he made a big leap from year one to two, and everyone (including 16) seemed to think that was due to his comfort-level with the offense. So, let’s hope he gets comfortable this summer. Gardner didn’t fare much better despite throwing it 60 yards on the run. There doesn’t seem to be a clear choice at running back. Mike Cox…
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Alumni Game – Recap, Photos (Blue 38, Maize 30)
Hail the Blue team, prevailing 38-30 in a fast-paced, down-to-the-wire game. Captain Jim Conley and his crew had better quarterback play and MVP Alijah Bradley who made several fine catches and runs. In true Michigan form, the game was rife with controversy, from questionable TD calls (players crossing the line without their flags?) and a suddenly frozen clock at the end (Spartan Bob?): A few photos: Jim Conley with QB Spencer Brinton and #7 can still toss it Wow – Jansen cleans up nice. Getting ready for the BTN broadcast Ira and Steve in radio booth “He was down!” Much controversy as usual. Touchdown Big turnout for the alumni game . The MVP trophy – (?) – I hope my man Bradley drives a semi or a Hearse New scoreboards pending Captain Conley – he ALWAYS starts (and did again today)
