I spent a few moments with Devin Gardner. From the little I’ve seen, he’s clearly much improved and in the mix the fall and I’m very surprised after seeing Gardner a bit in the fall. A few quotes: Are you still living with Charlie? [for context, click here and scroll down]: Charlie? Oh no, I’m not living with Charlie anymore I’m living with Denard. How’s that going [living with Denard]? "It’s going great. You know, he’s like a garbage disposal, he eats everything, I don’t know why. He’s hungry all the time." He looks like he’s bigger. "Yeah, because he’s eating all that food <laughs>." It looks like you’ve improved [from spring to now], do you think so? "I’ve definitely improved from the spring, but I don’t think I’m where I need to be. I want to be the best at everything I do." What command of the playbook do you have at this point? "Everything they’ve taught us I know it to a ‘T’. I don’t know if they’ve told us everything, but they said it’s a big chunk that we’re going to use against UConn." Related: Will Hagerup – Media Day Tate Forcier – Media Day Media Day (Photo Gallery) Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Tate Forcier – Media Day
A few words from me before quoting Tate. This guy stood in here today and got hammered with questions about missing wings, expectations and being called out by Woolfolk. He handled it all like a pro. He was humble, apologetic, and most of all, kept getting back to do whatever’s best for the team. Whatever happens from here give him credit for manning up and embracing this adversity. He certainly won points with me today. Here’s Tate: Does he feel like he’s been challenged? "Yes..He told me he was going to. And I think Coach Rod has done a great job at it and it’s only making me better. I can’t be made at it." What did he do to earn his helmet wings back? "Something my dad always told me, action speak louder than words. I just stayed quiet…and did all the work, and make sure everyone saw me doing the work…first one on the practice field and the last one off. Whatever it took. I got them back and I’m happy." His answer to the skeptics, that this team won’t improve: "People can think what they want. They don’t see what’s going on every day like all of us players do." Did he think he didn’t have to work as hard (during the off-season)? "I wouldn’t say that,…
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Media Day (Photo Gallery)
Just returned from media and mulled through the photos. The typical mix of on and off topic items from the day. Barwis talking about Brock Mealer’s progress and program: Brock after this press conference chilling: Denard is still going with the untied shoelaces. One media member still rocking the docksiders: Just begging for a caption contest: I tried to get an all braids dreds photo, this was the closest I could get: Big Jon Falk hasn’t lost his 1997 championship ring: Fred Jackson talking about the next Chris Perry: Don’t mess with Molk: Tate as Drew Sharp looms. Tate said all the right things today, more later. Tate checks in with Coach Rod before the team photo: BigHouseATron – did you know the tunnel expands? It really does! This is the cool, they hung bowl, conference championship and national championship banners inside the indoor practice field: Another look: Related: Will Hagerup – Media Day Devin Gardner – Media Day Tate Forcier – Media Day Media Day (Photo Gallery) Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Fuel-fed Feud: Keselowski v. Busch
You might have caught this clip on SportsCenter this morning, I cracked up. NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch bumped into each other this weekend and one of them was none too happy: In case that clip gets pulled by the NASCAR brass, basically Keselowski grabs the track microphone, introduces himself and calls Kyle Busch an "ass". Busch went onto to win all the races at Bristol this weekend (Truck, Nationwide, Sprint) and toted a broom in the winner’s circle. When asked about Keselowski’s comments, Busch replied, "Who?". So who cares? Well, it turns out both Keselowski and Busch are both huge Michigan football fans. You might have known this about Busch, who described his fanhood with the Wolverines in this USA Today piece from 2008: Although he is from Las Vegas, young Busch is a big University of Michigan football fan. U of M is about 40 minutes away from MIS in Ann Arbor, Mich. "My brother (Kurt) moved up to Michigan years ago to run in the Craftsman Truck series and he went to a Michigan game," Kyle recalled. "He bought me a Michigan sweatshirt and sent it home for me. I never really paid attention to college football until then, but I became a Michigan fan. Not too complicated of a story, but it’s fun to…
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The Scrimmage
[ed 8/21: I attended today, couldn’t take photos and can’t talk about it (sorry). That said, I’d suggest you take the tweets from Mike Stone (@stoney16) with a grain of salt. I think Stoney got into the Bloody Marys this morning.] There will be some sort of scrimmage today and yes, a few fans will be in attendance. From the Freep’s Mark Snyder: While the Big House is usually empty for such events, there could be a few thousand fans today as U-M invited its premium season-ticket holders for a sneak peek. "We hope whatever they see there will stay there," Rodriguez said Friday on WTKA-AM (1050), conceding that hope might not be enough in the Internet age. "We’ll keep things (schemes) close to the vest. We certainly won’t show anything that anybody from UConn or the Buckeyes or Sparties or Notre Dame fans will pick up on. We’ll keep it close to the vest." Snyder is correct that premium season-ticket holders can attend, but also invited are folks who donated (at a certain level) to Mott Children’s Hospital during this year’s Spring game. All guests today have been instructed not only to be sober, but also to leave their cameras, video equipment at home.
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Old 98 with New 7 (Mark Harmon)? (1972)
Check out this shot of Old 98 Tom Harmon with his son and to-be Hollywood star Mark Harmon, currently up for bid: Mark just finished a Pina Colada at Trader Vic’s The auction also includes these shots of dad donning some wingless “U OF M” headgear alongside son Mark in his UCLA #7 about to toss the rock while simultaneously breaking hearts: The ‘U OF M’-ed helmet didn’t quite stick like the winged helmet, to be certain eBay Watch mavens might recognize the first image. It was used in a 1973 Michigan State-UCLA program that led this January 2008 eBay Watch post. As noted back then, the younger Harmon’s Bruins faced Michigan in Pasadena (’72 regular season) and MSU in East Lansing (’73). There were a couple storylines leading into the Wolverines trip to Los Angeles in 1972. The week prior UCLA started their brutal schedule with a huge win over #1 Nebraska, snapping the Huskers’ 32 game winning streak. It was Harmon’s first game for the Bruins, and a wishbone offense was installed to suit the new quarterback. Mark was named the MVP of the game and finished with 71 rushing. A headline in Sports Illustrated that week declared, “YOUNG HARMON MAKES HIS MARK: From Out of Hollywood Comes the Saga of Mark Harmon, Handsome, Articulate, the Son of…
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Tea Leaves into Divisional alignment (Dave Brandon audio 08-20)
WTKA broadcast live from Schembechler Hall this morning and Sam and Ira did a solid segment with AD Dave Brandon. Topics ranged of course, but Brandon also addressed some tough questions about divisional realignment, particularly where Ohio and Michigan might fall. You can hear these and all the WKTA podcasts here, or click below, in two parts. He gets into the division realignment questions in the second part: [display_podcast] Notes: A few key quotes on divisional realignment. When asked if he were making the decision, would he put Michigan and Ohio State in the same conference division? Brandon paused then answered. "No." Sam asked, "Why?" Brandon: "Because we’re in a situation where one of the best things that could happen, in my opinion in a given season, would be the opportunity to play Ohio State twice. Once in the regular season and once for the championship of the Big Ten. Sam asked about whether they would hold the tradition to keep that the last game of the season. Brandon: "I think there’s a distinct possibility that that game will be a later game in the season, but not necessarily the last game of the season. And that’s simply because…I don’t think the coaches, or the players, or the fans, or the networks or anyone, would appreciate that match-up to…
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Michigan Stadium Construction Photos, and The Buried Crane Myth (1927)
A few rare, possibly never seen before by the public, photos of the Michigan Stadium construction (1927):
