Prior to the Iowa kickoff I heard from good sources that the athletic department revoked some premium seating privileges as a result of unruly behavior from certain fans during the Michigan State game. Tonight I spoke to Dave Ablauf from media relations who confirmed that two individuals had their tickets in the premium seating areas revoked due to consumption of alcohol inside the stadium. Ablauf said they reviewed the incidents with fans seated near the offenders and ultimately made the decision to take away their tickets. He added that premium ticket holders sign an agreement that clearly states the beverage policy. I think that everyone is clear on the alcohol policy but it sounds like a few folks got out of control and earned it. Ablauf wouldn’t confirm whether the offending fans were rooting for Michigan or for Michigan State, instead stressing that the alcohol policy applies everywhere in the stadium to ticketholders and their guests.
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Restoring Yost
Those in town may have noticed some crews working on the outside of Yost Ice Arena again this year. It raised an eyebrow from me, given the issues they had last season which caused the postponement of a game and given the timing—why would they be working on it during hockey season? Fear not. I spoke with Matt Trevor in hockey media relations who told me the work is simply "masonry restoration and cleaning." Trevor advised they did some of the work over the summer, and continue to work their way around the building. I also noticed the cement ‘M’ in one of the corners was removed: I asked Trevor if they were <gulp> changing any of the design. Once again, fear not. "They’re just cleaning and restoring what’s there," he told me.’
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Same here
Iowa 38, Michigan 28.
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Iowa! (Pregame Photos)
Just a few on another wildly beautiful day in Ann Arbor—let’s hope it ends that way. From the field, center David Molk warming up. He looked fine, perhaps favoring his taped left ankle just a tad. [ed. I published these just before the game started and obviously jinxed Molk big time, my bad] Some of the pink accessories the players are wearing today. Also saw pink wrist bands and tape: Many recruits in for the game today. Here are two stand-outs from Fort Myers, FL, Sammy Watkins and Dallas Crawford: The alumni band in full effect on this Homecoming:
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Tom Brady’s Tough Week
A tough week for Brady. It’s probably the third bad week in the past decade for Super Tom. Earlier this week cameras got a glimpse at the Spartan shirt he had to wear in losing his bet with former MSU QB Brian Hoyer: Then Wednesday night, Brady got served (kind of) by teeny bopper Justin Bieber, who in a freestyle clip tossed out this shot at the 3 time Super Bowl champ: Sacked like a sacker. Call up Mr. Brady. Tell him to leave his hair to the guy who sings ‘Baby.’ The clip: [display_podcast] . Good stuff from JB, except is it really blasting someone for a guy to suggest folks should come to you for their hairstyling needs?
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This Week in U-M Football History – The Stand of 1993! (audio)
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 the battle against the Iowa. This time we head back, not too far, to 1993 and feature the first ever match-up between Michigan and Penn State. It was the 1000th game in Nittany Lion history and ABC sent their A team of announcers, Keith Jackson and Bob Griese, to call the game to the national audience. The signature moment of the game was the goal line stand that Michigan put up that spanned the end of the third quarter, and the first play of the fourth. The great WolverineHistorian captured the set of downs here: Not even close! Paced by that stand, a punt return by Derrick Alexander–no one touched him or even stepped on DA’s shoes! [inside joke]—the running of Tyrone Wheatley, and a late beautifully executed pass from Todd Collins to fullback Che’ Foster, Michigan won 21-13. Here’s the This Week…segment for this week, include production drops of Mr. Keith Jackson: [display_podcast] – The sponsor is Wolverine Beer so here’s where you can find it, or check out the Beer Wench’s Blog. I’m still waiting to have my first Wolverine beer, perhaps some day soon. You can hear all of the This…
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Michigan to Open 2012 Season vs. Alabama at Cowboys Stadium
Full official press release, via U-M Media Relations. [Comment: What. A. Schedule. Oh crap let’s get better soon.] U-M to Open 2012 Season vs. Alabama at Cowboys Stadium DALLAS, Texas — The University of Michigan football team will face the University Alabama in the 2012 College Football Kick-off Event at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 1, 2012. The game will be televised nationally in primetime. “This is a great way to kickoff the 2012 season with two of the nation’s winningest college football programs,” said Athletic Director Dave Brandon. “We are excited about playing a regular season game in the state of Texas, a region of the country where we have traditionally recruited. Our goal is to get as many Michigan fans to the game as possible to witness this match-up of traditional powers.” The Wolverines will be the away team with the Crimson Tide designated the home team. The game officials will be a crew from the Big 12 Conference. This will be the fourth time that Michigan faces Alabama in school history, and the first contest played during the regular season by the two programs. All three previous games between the Wolverines and Crimson Tide were played in bowl games. Michigan defeated Alabama by a 28-24 score in the initial meeting, the 1988 Hall of Fame…
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Bowl Representation
I know this is a news flash to no one, but if Michigan gets past Iowa Saturday, we’ll have qualified for the first bowl game since the epic 2008 Capital One Bowl. Current bowl projections: CBS Sports – Gator Bowl – vs. Georgia Scout/CFN – Gator Bowl vs. Mississippi St. ESPN (Schlabach) – Capital One Bowl – vs. Florida ESPN (Adelsen) – Gator Bowl vs. LSU Between us girls, I’d take any of those scenarios right now if you’re offering. Speaking of offering, the folks that actually dole out the invites to the postseason games are the bowl representatives. They have a special place in my heart because besides keeping the companies that produce single-toned blazers in business, at each home game the bowl reps sit in the row just behind me in the press box. I always make it priority to check in and say hi. It’s got to be a great job. On Friday nights media relations takes these guys out to dinner and often they get a tour of the stadium and all that good stuff. Last week I met Clay, great guy and a rep from the Gator Bowl, which renews its affiliation with the Big Ten this post season. He’s the first one to distribute some literature to the media and I’m guessing I’m one…