Coach Gary Moeller was at Schembechler Hall this afternoon. Don’t know the circumstances for the visit, but the no doubt the he had a few words for the coaches and team about Ohio State. Moeller is a Buckeye grad and captained Woody Hayes’s squad in 1963. Moeller went 3-1-1 against Ohio State. Looks pretty good, don’t you think?
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Jamie Morris on Columbus Radio on Rodriguez, Harbaugh (audio)
So I went over to the Columbus’ 97.1 The Fan website to find the audio of Rich Rodriguez’s call today, and stumbled on this. Jamie Morris, Michigan football legend, WTKA Sunday radio host and most importantly an official within the U-M athletic department spoke to the Columbus host (Bruce Hooley…Chris Spielman was away) about the upcoming Ohio State game, but also answered a few questions about Rodriguez and Jim Harbaugh. My frustration with Morris on WTKA is that he’s been such a company man towing the company line on WTKA, that it’s prevented him from offering actual opinions. But give this is listen as Morris gets candid. I don’t know if this is just Jamie measuring his words, but he didn’t exactly serve up a wild endorsement of Rodriguez and admitted that Harbaugh would be welcomed back to U-M if he were the Michigan football coach at some point beyond RR’s tenure. It’s not so much what he said, but that Morris never says anything remotely beyond the company line. Give this a listen, it gets interesting about 3 minutes in: [display_podcast] . Notes/Quotes: For starters, he referred to Harbaugh as “Jimmy” instead of “traitor”. Hooley asked for a general sense of the radio caller support for Rodriguez. Morris: “I think we’re at a 50/50 split now…” When asked about…
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Michigan Photo Store launched
U-M launched its new photostore recently, offering up a wide array of photos from across all the varsity sports including many from deep in the archives: They offer special framing and a variety of sizes. Recession Buster! Enter discount code: mvictors at check-out and get a cool 5% off. Easy to remember, I hope. Check out the store here.
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Jesse Owens, Gerald Ford and 1934
Regular readers of this site know one of my favorite decades of Michigan football is the 1930s, having covered different seasons and events in eBay Watch and in the Little Brown Jug Lore series from those years. If I had to pick one year as my favorite during the stretch it’s definitely 1934 which is ironic, as it’s arguably the worst season in Michigan football history. I argued this point here and here, but in a nutshell consider that Harry Kipke’s team, coming off back-to-back national championships, finished 1-7, was shut out in five of the eight games and scored a mere 21 points. Fugly. Despite the futility on the gridiron, the season is packed with historical treasures of major significance both on and off the field. Check out this program from the Ohio State-Michigan held on November 17, 1934: The program features several photos of players, including a collage of the Michigan team including team MVP Gerald Ford: The top of the photo features Willis Ward, the African American end who was at the center of a fierce controversy that played out before the Georgia Tech game a few weeks earlier that season. For those not familiar, The Jackets made it known well before the game that they wouldn’t take the field in Ann Arbor if Ward played, spawning…
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Michael Wilbon’s comments (audio)
Thanks to Brian Cook for forwarding this link to this cat who podcasts Tony Kornheiser’s radio show. He must like to listen to debates about the top three pizza toppings of all time. Anyway, here’s Wilbon’s comments about Rich Rod’s fate: [display_podcast] . Transcript: Tony Kornheiser: “Rich Rodriguez. Done? After two years?” Michael Wilbon: “I’m told again, on pretty good authority. Done.” TK: “At two years?” Some Turd: “Breaking News!” MW: “I sat in a thorough conversation with someone who…. [seemingly measuring his words]..is affiliated with the current coach at Michigan and he does not believe for one second that he’ll be back at Michigan.” TK: “I think you gotta give a guy, who’s built a program somewhere else…more than two years.” MW: “I was stunned by the conversation which was on Saturday, an hour an a half after that game, and he says that he would bet me right now, took his wallet out and threw it down, that this is not going to happen and I’ll just tell you that this guy played for Rich Rod.” Take: So a guy is hanging out with Wilbon, after the game, and says he’d bet that Rich Rod will be fired. A who played for RR, and who Wilbon calls pretty good authority. Sounds like tailgate chatter, not journalism. This is…
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(Waning) Power Index: Week 5
“My team is bad, your team is probably better unless you have a giant I in your logo. Maybe even then, too.” Power Index Week 5, this week sponsored by Fraser’s Pub: Biggie Munn, the Sparty: State becomes bowl eligible with the W in West Lafayette. MSU had no business pulling out a victory as Joey Elliot absolutely torched the Spartan D all day long. The troubling thing with this team is that the defense seems to be regressing. Keshawn Martin had another huge day and is going to be a special player for Sparty for the next couple of years. Saturday’s win was big for the program as it will now go bowling for the third straight year under Dantonio. A victory over PSU would help salvage a season that has been a disappointment for most of the Spartan faithful. Schlimmy, the gleeful Buckeye: If anyone would have told me a month ago that Ohio State would have the Rose Bowl bid wrapped up before the Michigan game I would have told them they’re nuts (no pun intended). Where has the defense gone in the Big Ten, of the 5 conference games on Saturday the average point total in those game was 57. Well onto the "Big Game" unfortunately for the second year in a row there is not…
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The Sheets
I’ve that had a little more access to the football team this season. I’ve made it to my share of press conferences, a few practices (before we were booted) and even on the field & press box for a couple games. It’s a nice privilege, but while the performance on the field the past several weeks has been beyond tough, watching all this crap go down behind the scenes all season has been brutal. Blabbering about it on these pages isn’t really a ball either as I’d rather blabber about old ticket stubs and the like. Nonetheless, a couple thoughts about the Detroit News report that football failed to keep the practice logs that would (help) demonstrate the team’s compliance with NCAA practice regulations: -> Since U-M’s audit and findings came out well ahead of the Free Press practicegate story, is it safe to assume that a Deepthroat inside either leaked the report or more likely, nudged Rosenberg and crew to dig around on this topic? Viva la conspiracy! -> Next, I’m not sure who I’m mad at here. It bugs me that this was allowed to go on as long as it did. "All other varsity sports submitted their CARA forms timely,” according to the July 24 letter sent to Rodriguez. The football program probably has the most complicated…
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Doubling while Down
When he was hired, they asked Rodriguez what how he’d prepare for Ohio State and for being part of the rivalry. I don’t have the exact quote, but he effectively said that each game counts as one, and until that changes he’ll approach each game the same. Well, Saturday’s game definitely counts for two, maybe more. It’s a tough time to have all the chips on the table as nothing seems to be working right now. Another second half collapse on the gridiron, and the f’in Spartans sweeping our beloved icers. Then toss in Bruce Springsteen, who’s composed many a tune on the plight of the downtrodden, mistakenly saluted Ohio at his concert Friday at the Palace: Bruce has played here at least once every year since 2002. Imagine, then, Bruce coming onstage and greeting the crowd with a salute to Ohio! And then sticking Ohio in to the lyrics of "Wrecking Ball" — of course, a Michigan audience tends not to object too much to lines such as, "tonight Ohio is going down in flames." Finally, Bruce put Ohio into the rap for "Working on a Dream." This last actually managed to get a few boos, and prompted Stevie to inform Bruce that they were, in fact, in Michigan. Ugh. Bullets: -> I actually think Pryor at the Buckeyes…
