I watched the players come out of the tunnel to the ice last Saturday and at the time I was surprised as it appeared as the first few guys, including the goalies, didn’t bother to hit the GO BLUE banner. I listened to the Red Berenson Show (recap or full audio) on Tuesday and heard Shawn Hunwick tell Ira and co-host John U. Bacon about touching it, and more specifically, how he touched it with his stick. I didn’t doubt him—he pitched a shutout in front of 113K, why lie?– but I went ahead and pored through my photos from Saturday. Trust but verify says me. Voila:
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Update from Guinness on the Count
An update from Sara Wilcox, my contact at Guinness Book of World Records PR in New York. As far as the 85,451 number, as you know by now, she provided this update: “We are still waiting to review ticket counts and the number is subject to change.” I followed up via email and asked if they had an idea when the count will be done, and if they had a read on whether they expected the number to go up or down. (The GBWR blog post indicated numbers were going up). Her reply: “Unfortunately not, we are not sure when we’ll have the final ticket scans to count. At this point we do not know how or if the number will change.” So what to read from this? It sounds like they do indeed base their figures on ticket scans which definitely won’t jive with the U-M figure which includes “everybody” – bands, ushers, media…and I believe factors in tickets sold. We’ll see what they come up with. The other question is the reliability of using scanned tickets as the data point. I know that in the past we’ve had problems with those – I mean, half the time I went to hockey games last year the guy tried to scan me three times and then just let me in. …
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Gold Football Charm (1926)
From a very cool auction that recently ended and it was described to be a 1926 Michigan football charm: It has initials “G.J.G” on the back and the words ‘UNDEFEATED’: When you see vintage items like this there are a few things that go through my head. First, of course, you want to know if this was really something that was commemorating a Michigan football season. Keep in mind that ‘M’ or even blue ‘M’s aren’t unique to Ann Arbor but I’ve seen these types of charms before. Then you’ve got to look at what’s on the piece. Photos can deceive but it appears to me that the year reads “1926”. The “On the Front to each side of the laces 19 and 28.” I emailed the seller and questioned his read on this – he replied that he questioned it as well but came is certain that it is an 8. I still don’t think so and here’s why: * Six and Nine. Ignoring my own advice on making calls from bad photos, I still think it is a 6. I mean look at the 9 on the left – the loop practically connects to the line in the middle forming an 8. I can understand why the seller thinks it’s an 8. * The ‘Undefeated’. While neither 1926…
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Guinness Certification just 85K?
Per an email from Sara Wilcox of Guinness World Records PR. I emailed earlier this week asking if Guinness had completed their certification: Thank you for your inquiry to the Guinness World Records press office. Yes, a Guinness World Records adjudicator was on site and verified the following record – Highest attendance for an ice hockey match The largest confirmed audience for a game of ice hockey was 85,451 people at "The Big Chill at the Big House" between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University at Michigan Football Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, on 11 December 2010. This number is in pretty sharp contrast to the 113,411 claimed at the game on Saturday. More later. I noticed this number hasn’t been reported on their website just yet. Update: One possibility is that while they’ve certified the “record” this 85K figure was just an initial count. Via a tweet from @MichiganHockey (MichiganHockey.net) that figure may just be the tally of the tickets scanned and the full number will follow. We’ll see. While I didn’t think the crowd was larger than UConn it certainly must have been over 100K, no? Update #2: MichiganHockey.net found a blog post from Guinness on an update on the count – confirming this is still in flight. Update #3: AnnArbor.com chimes in, referencing the…
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Groban Jokes Still Hot
More proof that Josh Groban jokes are still on fire, caller ‘Mark from Novi’ dialed up Sam Webb during the recruiting round-up on WTKA 1050AM this morning and killed it: [display_podcast] . The full segment is here, and as Sam recaps the visits on the Big Chill weekend. The theme? It was an outstanding event for all involved but recruiting and more importantly, commitments, are in limbo with the coaching situation.
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Lovely Parents – Big Chill | Sights & Sounds
It was quite a day in the Big House yesterday and Michigan smoked the Spartans 5-0 in front of 113,000 plus. A few notes: Sam and Ira firing up the Victors Lounge before the game. Ira taught fans the traditional Yost chants all week but the classic “UGLY PARENTS” was left in the chamber in the shut-out. An example of the nice touches they included – the hockey team going under the Go Blue banner before the game Mike Hart was in attendance. I asked him if he smoked peace pipe with Jim Harbaugh. Hart told me he’d support whomever is Michigan’s coach, including Harbaugh, but reminded me that Rich Rodriguez is our coach. Teams assembling for the national anthem. My weak lens doesn’t illustrate the view from the 6th level of the press box. Surprising to me, you could actually following the puck very well up there. Unfortunately I couldn’t see the stealth bomber fly over from the photo deck but it got rave reviews from folks in the stadium. Funny – I didn’t see this on the rack at Moe’s Almost 5 minutes into the game I left the photo deck and headed to my east side seats. The West lower concourse was a mess – huge lines. There was no wait to get in on the…
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Lightly Chilled (Pregame Notes and Photos)
I popped over to the stadium for a few minutes to get a flavor of the action and the scene. Notes: Achtung! Media relations announced that they have CLOSED both golf courses tomorrow due to the weather. Fend for yourselves! mgoblog’s game preview is up. Check out The Only Colors for the Spartan preview if nothing else for the photo that leads off the post. I ran into the pyrotechnic crew (at least a dozen guys). From the sound of those cats, it’s going to be pretty good. If-Dwight-Scrute-were-in-charge good. Tune into WTKA 1050AM for the pregame show. I’ll be doing a Big Chill edition of This Week in Michigan Football Hockey History. It involves life, death, ice and you might even from Red Berenson in the middle of the segment. And here it is: [display_podcast] FWIW – I’ll likely be in the Victors Lounge tomorrow if you have the means. A few photos for you, enjoy. It was beautiful out there around lunch time: A view of the Blue line from one of the benches Refrigeration in Exexcelsious deo From the student section
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Ice Evolution
On Monday Red Berenson taught Sam Webb and the rest of the media a little bit about ice. Here’s what he said (thanks to Ira at WTKA for the clip): [display_podcast] Building on Red’s description of the surface for Saturday’s game, I thought it’d be cool to take a look at how the ice has evolved over the years. Where did I find a lot of this info? John U. Bacon’s outstanding book Blue Ice of course, get yours if you don’t. “Outdoor/Outdoor” Ice (1900-1916): Michigan hockey, or at least something like it, started after the turn of the century as students formed ‘The Huron Hockey Club’—a group of students that played the game on the Huron River and its “outdoor/outdoor” ice. According to Blue Ice, in those early days instead of sweaters they wore bowler hats, coats and ties. In lieu of pucks they used things “tin cans, wood blocks, frozen fruit and even packed horse manure.” I’m guessing you could also find a little bit of “maize ice” near the woods back in those days. For years the group lobbied the athletic department unsuccessfully for funding and more importantly, for its place amongst the other varsity sports. “Indoor/Outdoor” Ice (1916-1927): The sport (and ice skating in general) was growing in popularity as the years went on. Eventually the…