Happy New Year! Thanks everyone for making this the biggest year yet for this site, toppling 2 million in visitors all time. A special thanks to the sponsors, my fellow M bloggers, all the comments and all the fantastic emails especially of late, many of which have resulted in some cool posts. I’ll be down in Jacksonville tomorrow so check back here for the usual sights, sounds and takes from the game. Speaking the New Year, here’s the next entry in ‘This Week in Michigan Football History’ to be played Saturday on WTKA 1050AM’s Key Bank Countdown to Kick-off pregame show before tomorrow’s battle against Mississippi State in The Gator Bowl. This time we look back to the season of 1901 and the first postseason game of its kind, “The Tournament East West game”, later known of course as The Rose Bowl. It took Yost and crew eight days to get to LA to take on Stanford, the team Yost coached in 1900. At stake was not only the game, but also Michigan truly perfect record of 10-0, outscoring opponents 501-0 up to that point. Above is a shot of the Wolverines on the parade float that morning. Here’s the clip you’ll hear tomorrow on the pregame show: [display_podcast] Here’s more on the 1901-02 squad: * 1901 Season Football Pass…
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Gil Thorp needs Botox
So over the weekend a gent named Neal Rubin for popped up and wrote this piece on Rodriguez in the Detroit News, basically talking about how much of an a-hole Rich Rod is. Normally I wouldn’t bother to say anything – it reads like a bad sports radio call – but after basically calling Rich Rod a slippery, money-grabbing phony, he went here: Fielding Yost didn’t sign contract extensions and then flirt with other schools to extort raises. Actually, despite this being a completely different era in college sports, Yost maneuvered quite a bit with his contracts and with U-M. I know FHY on some level—he was a very savvy negotiator and businessman, go read The Big House–so when I saw this I got a laugh. I asked author/historian John Kryk [Natural Enemies], who’s in the process of writing the definitive history of Yost and his Point-A-Minute teams, and he shared this on the topic: “No matter how long Yost’s contract was (one-year, two-year, five-year) in his first decade, it was always a source of relief in Ann Arbor every late-Nov/early-Dec when he announced he was for sure coming back. Occasionally, there were reports he was considering an offer from, say, Wisconsin — or from the East. One year he even boldly and publicly disputed the wording of his contract…
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Bill Yearby, Michigan All-American, Passes Away
Bill Yearby, an All-American defensive tackle for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1963-1965, died on Dec. 20th after a long illness.
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Merry Meeeeechigan Christmas
Thanks for my friends at Moe’s and Underground Printing – my fav, the Ufer shirt: get yours here get yours here The shirts are posed in front of my authentic #77 Michigan Schembechler Hall locker (yes, I convinced the boss to let me put it in my office). Want one? Email me.
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eBay Watch: Gold Pants Galore !
Oh man, word is out that Terelle Pryor hocked his ‘gold pants’ charm, the prize Buckeyes get if they beat Michigan in the big one. The tradition started in 1934, Gerald Ford’s senior year, when then coach Francis Schmidt told his men not to fear Harry Kipke’s Wolverines because: “They put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as we do!” –Francis Schmidt, March 2, 1934 There are four sets of the gold beauties on sale right now: 1967 click to view 2009 click to view 2007 click to view 2008 click to view The pants include the year, the score and initials of the player who originally owned them. As a Wolverine this is funny but as a historian/memorabilian this hurts – really. That a guy would toss this out on the market while he was still in school? I almost understand a ring to the BCS game, but brother, not the pants! Ed. 12/24 – Sure enough, the auctions above were pulled from eBay :{
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Signed WWJ Michigan Pigskin (1958)
Check out this vintage football signed by the 1958 University of Michigan football squad (see above) Above ‘UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’ it is stamped ‘WWJ 1958’. The WWJ stands for longtime radio station WWJ in Detroit which aired Wolverine games for many years, including, according to the Bentley Library, what is believed to be the first live broadcast from a football stadium in 1924. The auction’s limited description doesn’t indicate why it says WWJ or when the ball was signed, but perhaps it was passed around during the annual bust held in December of that year after the rough season. How rough? Well, the Wolverines finished 2-6-1, losing their final four games, and prior to the finale against Ohio State coach Bennie Oosterbaan resigned. This probably didn’t help matters: There was no drama or transition period after Oosterbaan handed in his resignation. He stayed at the university and former star player and then assistant coach Bump Elliott took over effective January 1, 1959. Back to the ball, while it doesn’t appear to be loaded down with superstars, it does include Oosterbaan’s predecessor and current athletic director Fritz Crisler: And historians might recognize the name Harry Newman, the great quarterback from the early 1930s, but.. ..you might also notice the “Jr.” tagged on the end. That’s Harry Newman’s son who didn’t leave…
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Rich Rod Presser 12-18 (audio)
Coach Rodriguez let the media into Schembechler Hall this morning for a 20 minute Q&A and to watch practice. Check out some photos here and here’s the audio of the press conference: [display_podcast] No surprises with injury report. Je’Ron Stokes is practicing. Denard is fine. “They kick like champions in here,” as in inside the Hall. Still a competition. Not sure if anyone will be ineligible due to grades until exams are done. Talked about Miss State a bit. “Probably did the best job of anybody all years against Cam Newton and Auburn.” As soon as practice is over, many of the coaches are hitting the road recruiting. Running back situation is open – sounds like everyone (Smith, Shaw, Fitz, Hopkins) is healthy. Flying out the 26th on a charter or the guys will fly in from their homes. The wanted to fly down Christmas day but the Redskins have the hotel booked up. On early enrollees: expecting between 2 and 4. Devin Gardner won’t play in the bowl game. He is practicing, his back is “better”. RR said they will (“probably”) start the paperwork process after the bowl game for the medical redshirt. He is eligible, playing time wise, for Michigan to apply.
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Bulldog Bells
Mississippi State fans love them some cowbell and recently Rich Rod mentioned that he’d probably be looking to mimic the clanging in practice to prepare for the Gator Bowl. Thanks to today’s rare media glimpse at a practice, we know it’s happening. A few young assistants along with Rhett Rod (I think that’s little RR), were hovering over the snap rocking the bells. No sign of Chris Walken and no need– it was pretty loud: A couple others from practice: Legal stretching RR at the podium – kind of a cool spot for a press conference (on the balcony of the second floor, not far from RR’s office) Pending update
