"No women allowed?  Offensive.  Choice of hat?  Very Offensive. [photos: Jay Cassidy, Daily] Thanks to Greg K. for passing this along.  Check out this brief essay from former Michigan Daily Photographer Sara Krulwich published recently on a New York Times photographer blog.   The intro: Fall meant football at the University of Michigan, but the photo department at The Michigan Daily, where I worked as its first woman photographer, was given only four press passes. As a freshman, I was not entitled to one. Seniority was not the only problem. In 1968, the passes all said, “No women, children or dogs allowed on the field.” This was no joke. There were no women in the marching band; no women cheerleaders; no women security guards. A year later, I earned one of the coveted passes. The rules had loosened a bit. The new passes said, “No women or children allowed on the field.” Dogs were now allowed. It’s definitely worth a read.  Included is a letter of apology from then SID Will Perry which starts out, “I guess the generation gap and 12 years of sportswriting with only men around have begun to set in…”

Check out this pin apparently dating back to the inaugural Rose Bowl held in Pasadena.   If truly dated to this period and this game, the souvenir will likely attract a few bidders: The face of the badge certainly looks dated, with an older style block M and the rounder pigskin.  The ‘rah-rah-rah’ sentiment is found on other items from the period but unfortunately, there’s no mention of Rose Bowl, Tournament of Roses, or Pasadena so all we’ve got is the seller’s claim: It was worn that day by a young Michigan student from Ann Arbor, Wilfred B. Shaw. Not only did he experience one of the greatest days in Wolverine Sports History but he went on to serve his alma mater as General Secretary of the Michigan Alumni Association! The pin was acquired from hobby legend Frank Nagy nearly 40 years ago. Shaw also wrote a few books in the day, including a few collections of Michigan history.  His book, ‘The University of Michigan’ even contains a brief mention of the Rose Bowl game: This game was special for many reasons.  For starters, as it was the inaugural ‘Tournament of Roses’ football game, this was the start of the bowl tradition we know today.  Maybe most important to Michigan fans, it was this day during Fielding Yost’s first season at…

You can pre-order now for $12.99!   Yes, yours truly submitted a piece on the remarkable season of 1909 including some cool photos from that season 100 years ago.  The abstract available from the Maple Street Press: It was one of those years for the Wolverines. While many Maize and Blue fans are left shaking their heads, there is reason for hope. Really. Hail to the Victors 2009 goes beyond the usual fluff to deliver hard-hitting analysis on where to look for, and expect, improvement from the Wolverines this fall. Edited by Brian Cook of the renowned MGoBlog.com, Hail to the Victors 2009 gets Michigan fans ready for the season with in-depth analysis, player and positional group profiles, and looks back to happier times and how those times will return. Just remember: Rich Rodriguez does have a plan and has succeeded before; there are some interesting decisions to be made among some young QBs; and there’s always Zoltan Mesko.

The Wikifeudia over Rich Rodriguez’s original hometown may have ended as I noticed this morning that his current entry has changed his birthplace to Chicago, IL from Grant Town, WV.   Readers of this site may recall a couple posts last year on this mess, prompted by author John U. Bacon’s piece in Michigan today on the Wolverine head coach: Rodriguez’s grandfather left Spain for the coal mines of West Virginia. Looking for a better life, the family moved to Chicago, where Rich was born. Still, Wikipedia page administrators refused to change the birthplace, despite Bacon later confirming his source: Rodriguez’s mother (who might know).  In defense of the Wikinerds there are several sources out there that either state Grant Town as his birthplace, or blurring things a bit, indicating that Rodriguez is “a native of” Grant Town.  I’m guessing Rodriguez a) doesn’t consider himself a Chicagoan, as he grew up in West Virginia, and b) probably preferred to highlight the Grant Town roots on early bios as he was coaching in the South and especially in Morgantown.  All that said, his current mgoblue.com bio still says he’s “a native of Grant Town.” I’m not exactly sure when the change was made, but I believe the final straw may have been the 2009 Spring media guide which confirms the Chicago birthplace…

ESPN.com Big Ten writer Adam Rittenberg picked up my recent post discussing the proposed non-conference game between Minnesota and Michigan, and the comments from Gopher AD Joel Maturi. Rittenberg took it one step further, asking the B10 offices if they would of had an issue with league schools scheduling games like this: A Big Ten spokesman said the league would have no objection to two of its members scheduling a non-league game. In 2002, Purdue and Indiana scheduled a nonconference basketball game in December because they were scheduled to meet just once during the regular season. I believe Michigan and Michigan State did the same thing in hoops a few years ago as well to avoid that ridiculous scheduling snafu. I’m waiting for a comment from President Obama on all of this, which I realize is a story about two guys talking about something that didn’t happen.  But–it’s definitely of interest to me, the mere idea of resuming the Minnesota rivalry prior to 2011 is an exciting idea and it provides a little insight to the scheduling process.  I applaud the effort by Martin to try to make this happen. Elsewhere: The Minnesota Star-Tribune is also now reporting the story of the talk of the 2010 game (scroll down, then to page 2), with a nice mention of MVictors (but…

An interesting segment on WTKA this morning when Kevin Grady, Sr., called up to discuss his sons, both of whom are kind of on the football team(?).  Last we heard Kevin, the former high school phenom, was dinged for not living up to the terms of his drunk driving probation. The younger son Kelvin Grady quit the hoops team after the season, but now appears poised to join the crew in Schembechler Hall on Rich Rod’s squad. Here’s the audio: [display_podcast] Here’s a few notes: On Kelvin, he said football offered him first out of high school and he actually committed to both football and basketball.   Kelvin prefers a “more up-tempo style” of hoops. Rodriguez’s offense “suits Kelvin real well.” and “It’s going to be a good fit.” Kelvin has 58 credits left to graduate, and wants to get his degree. “He never wanted to look back” and say what if? When asked where Rich Rod might put Kelvin: “Maybe a slot receiver.” Sam Webb asked him about Kevin’s status.  “When we look at Kevin, the kid has done some remarkable things in his career [in high school].” “Kevin has always been a role model and he’s done the right thing.” “The kid made a mistake.” “Once you are in the spotlight, you’re giving the media and everybody the opportunity…