Rodriguez was peppered with questions for the first 10+ minutes of the press conference, eliciting a few jokes from RR about having plenty of other positions on the field to discuss.  A few notes on the qb-question barrage: “Quarterback position is still wide open”, and it may come down to how they perform in game conditions. When asked if for the opener, there’s a good chance each of the three quarterbacks (Sheridan, Forcier, Robinson) will take snaps, Rodriguez’s answer was, “Yes.  Yeah.  In what order and how many (snaps) I couldn’t tell you.  Right now all three of them look like they’ll play in the opener.”   I gasped.   [Update 8/24: Here’s the audio] He’s not worried about having a single guy to rally around, he just wants each quarterback to get better. He later said, when talking about freshman and freshman quarterbacks in particular, that Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier “are going to play as freshman.” Rodriguez noted that Sheridan “is battling right there with them,” and noted that he’s done a lot of work physically (in the weight room). When asked who started the intra-team scrimmage held on Friday, after joking that he “didn’t remember’”, Rodriguez admitted that he thought Sheridan took the first rep.  [HT mgoblog, some video of yesterday’s scrimmage is up on mgoblue.com here.] After the…

After the Rodriguez press conference the media had the chance to chat with the assistant coaches.  I bounced around a little bit (Fred Jackson was great, maybe more on this later) and listened to defensive coordinator Greg (Gerg?*) Robinson.  As you might expect given where the guy has been (he rattled off all the BCS conferences he’s worked in at one point and I think it’s ALL of them), he had complete command of the Q&A session.  He could go straight to the booth if he ever gets out of the coaching game.  FWIW. Anyway, one reporter asked him about the recent announcement that he’ll be coaching from the sidelines this fall.  Scott Shafer and many other coordinators do this from the booth of course.  I thought his answer was pretty interesting: Greg Robinson: Being on the field…especially now that offenses have gone to the no-huddle offense, you get two to three seconds longer to think and that’s an eternity in football.  You can make a quicker decision because you don’t have to transfer a call from upstairs to downstairs.  That’s an advantage. You are on the field, so when issues occur you can get to them quickly.  I’ve had a lot of experience coaching, and if I’m always upstairs always have to deliver the message [through another coach] sometimes…

Just a few photos from in and around media and fan day.  I actually didn’t stick around for the Fan Day event, but folks were let in prior to 1pm to queue up to meet the coaches and players.  I did pick up a couple of the ‘All in for Michigan’ terrible Towels and they’re more like Maize ShamWow’s, but hey, it’s for a good cause.  Enjoy the photos: Related: Media Day: Greg Robinson on the Field Level Advantage Media Day: The Stadium Renovation (Photos) Media Day: Rodriguez on the Quarterback position

A quick post from a view inside the stadium and the luxury box build-out.  The early drawn renderings of the stadium renovation hinted at more of a shiny, black glass facade which honestly I didn’t really care for: While it’s not complete, and perhaps the different shades will come down, here’s a few pics of what I saw this morning as the team prepare for group photos.  Clearly the glassy look is broken up by the blue sections.  Now, it could be that the blue areas are just covering the glass during construction but I guess I kind of like it better. Just for kicks, here’s the view out of Section 1 of the stadium.  It gives you a sense of the scale of the new structure, just dwarfing the old press box which will come down after this season: Related: Media Day: Greg Robinson on the Field Level Advantage Media/Fan Day: Photo Gallery Media Day: Rodriguez on the Quarterback position

Chris Perry’s 51 carry, 219 yard performance in Michigan’s 27-20 victory over Michigan State in 2003 will be remembered for quite a while.  Perry’s pounding pretty much sealed the win for the Wolverines, controlling the ball and the clock for Lloyd Carr and company. This video, via SI’s Hot Clicks, naturally evoked a few memories of old school video games and some old school clock control:

A hearty MVictors salute to distinguished writer John Kryk, author of the brilliant and definitive tome on the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry, Natural Enemies, for uncovering a little gem.   The official score of the 1903 game held October 21, 1903 against Ferris State is listed as 88-0.   Recently, the folks at the Bentley applied an asterisk to that tally: Why the asterisk?  During a visit to the Bentley Library in June, Kryk was thumbing through the bound copies of the Michigan Daily and spotted this nugget in the October 24, 1903 edition, just a few days after the game: Looks pretty reasonable to me.  Count two more for Fielding Yost and his point-a-minute reign of terror.  For those keeping score, according to Kryk, “That brings the Point-a-minute team’s point total up to 2,823 points in 57 games, from 2,821 — for a per-game average of 49.5 points over five years [1901-05].”  If you’re wondering why Kryk was poking around at the Bentley, word on the street is that he’s possibly pulling together another book or maybe even books!  You heard it here first. “I aim to uncover both long-forgotten and never-known stories of the Wolverines of yesteryear,” Kryk wrote me, “and set the record straight a time or two along the way.” Can’t wait to see what he comes up with.…

I don’t know.  Looks like it is still down to frosh Brendan Gibbons and 5th year Jason Olesnavage (o-less-NAV-ich).  Rodriguez indicated during today’s presser that it’ll come down to the Western game but added the Gibbons had a good day yesterday.  Not much to go on, and I don’t have much more for you. I got a brief look at them today and they’re easy to distinguish.  Gibbons doesn’t look anything like a freshman clocking in at 6’0” 229, probably one of the heaviest kickers you’ll meet outside of Sebastian Janokowski.  “Stretch” Olesnavage of Ferndale is one of the tallest you’ll find at 6′ 5” (same as Mike Vanderjagt). Olesnavage took the first set of kicks on one particular field goal drill but I’m not sure that means much.  The senior gets the ball up in a hurry, probably not a shock considering he’s six-foot-five.  You’d need a Vada-Welborne tandem to get a piece of that ball. Gibbons, the lefty, seemed to be a little more consistent but boots it on a flatter plane.  Based on my quick look I’d give the slight edge to Gibbons. 

Photo credit: U-M Photo Services Put away the ‘Key Play’ keys and pick up your maize ‘All in for Michigan’ towel.  The details are below, and you’ve got to love that proceeds for the $5 towels are going to Mott Children’s Hospital where they are working on a football-themed play area for the kids.   Perfect. From the State Street press release: The University of Michigan Football Program and the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital are raising awareness and funds for the "Champions for Children" campaign to build a new children’s and women’s hospital at the University of Michigan. Maize towels displaying this year’s team theme “ALL IN FOR MICHIGAN,” go on sale starting Sunday, Aug. 23, at the Michigan Football Program’s annual Fan Day. Fans can get autographs and meet the 2009 Wolverine team from 1-3 p.m. Sunday at the Al Glick Field House, Oosterbaan Field House and the adjacent practice field behind Schembechler Hall. Towels purchased at Fan Day are $5. Towels will be sold for $6.99 after Fan Day at the M Go Blue Shop, The M-Den, Moe Sport Shops, Dunham’s Sporting Goods, Dicks Sporting Goods, area Meijer stores, and The Pizza House on U-M’s campus. A portion of the proceeds from each towel will benefit the campaign to build a new University…