Another vintage Michigan football item showed up this week on eBay, this time a post card celebrating Fielding Yost and his fine 1905 squad. The team is assembled in a line with Yost in the middle, standing on a large sign in the shape of a football that reads 'Western Championship'. Atop the photo is a block letter title, 'A HARD COMBINATION TO BEAT'.
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JalenTV is $, Fab Five on YouTube
Via Maize and Blog, recently posted on Jalen Rose’s personal YouTube collection, a.k.a. JalenTV: Also via Maize & Blog, an excellent photo/video collection of pregame at Yost Ice Arena. Related: The Fab Five, by Mitch Albom
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Coach Red Speaks, again, for the last time (WTKA audio)
Michigan coach Red Berenson clearly wants to put this to bed and behind his team, and after one more post I’ll do the same (for tonight). I’ve already checked the availability of MDekers.com since I’m hockey guy now. Last night on the WTKA Red Berenson show at The Arena in downtown Ann Arbor, the Michigan coach gave hosts Andy Evans and John U. Bacon his take on the Kampfer/Tropp/Conboy incident. Here’s the audio: [display_podcast] . Notes and quotes: Red was still concerned about Kampfer’s health and his ability to play this weekend. “The incident was uncalled for, it was unnecessary, it has been dealt with. It should not happen in any league.” “Kids have to remember you’re responsible for what you do on the ice. Whether you’re a hockey player or a baseball player, when you’re holding that bat or holding a hockey stick, you’re responsible for what you’re doing with it.” Even asmuch as the kid that grabbed Kampfer, the Conboy kid, who’s a big tough kid, and was maybe out of line to jump Kampfer from behind needlessly, but maybe out of frustration, the end of the game or whatever, and he held the other kid [Corey Tropp] off that already hit him with a stick when he was down. He held him off with one hand, and…
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Why Bruce Kampfer Gets a Pass
Michael Rosenberg’s column today ‘An inside look at ugly incident on and off the ice’, (again, can’t the Freep come up with better column titles?) takes a deeper look at Saturday’s assault. He starts by putting you in Bruce Kampfer’s shoes: Everybody knew about Steve’s injury. Is that why the Spartans went after him? How much more unprovoked violence could you take against your son? Bruce Kampfer apparently decided he’d had enough. He got out of his seat and made his way to the visitors’ locker room. MSU coach Rick Comley said Tuesday that Kampfer “attacked” Corey Tropp. What if it were your kid? That’s a good question, for fathers out there, perhaps one that you’ve already asked yourself. Rosenberg’s considers this question for not only the Kampfer family, but also the Tropp’s. More on that in bit. Rosenberg then takes a look at Corey Tropp by talking to a former coach who confirms he’s a normal kid, and consults his bio where Tropp points to his dad as his main hockey influence. It kind of sounds like those quotes from neighbors of the convicted serial killer, and no, I’m not likening Tropp to Ted Bundy. Further down Rosenberg asks a question about the coverage of the incident: As wrong as Tropp was — as seriously, unequivocally wrong as…
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Michigan captain Chris Summers (WTKA audio)
Chris Summers, roommate of Steve Kampfer and acting Michigan hockey captain, joined the Big Show with Ben Holden on WTKA yesterday to discuss Saturday’s assault, his impressions from the bench, his chat with Peaches, jr., and his feelings on the penalties handed down. Per Summers, there’ll be no retaliation/vengence on the ice this year (if the teams meet in CCHA playoffs) or ever. You can get the full audio here. Here’s the part about the MSU incident: [display_podcast] Notes: Kampfer doing well, should be ready this weekend. (Summers is pre-med). He was on the bench when it happened. Said “everyone was in shock. Couldn’t believe that happened.” “They deserve what is coming to them.” Hoping to get some of the Red Berenson audio up from last night’s coaches show soon.
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Conboy Leaves MSU, Tropp kicked off team
Via MVictors reader BiggieMunn, Andrew Conboy and Corey Tropp, the guys who attacked Steve Kampfer late in Saturday’s night game at Yost, have been excused from the MSU team with a chance to return next season. Conboy, a freshman, decided to hang up the Green skates for good [via the State News]: After being suspended for the duration of the MSU hockey season, freshman forward Andrew Conboy has withdrawn from MSU. MSU head coach Rick Comley said he wasn’t surprised with Conboy’s decision to leave the university after Comley kicked both he and MSU sophomore Corey Tropp off the team Monday night. Comley said he doesn’t know if Tropp will follow Conboy’s path or if he will continue his studies at the university. Tropp’s future with the team is up in the air, but Comley said he “would be willing to sit down with (Tropp) in the spring and discuss his status further.”
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Should Steve Kampfer sue?
Now that the suspensions have been set down by Michigan and the CCHA, much of the talk amongst fans is whether Steve Kampfer should sue Tropp, Comley and/or Michigan State for Saturday’s incident. Many of the comments on this site have suggested this, and former Ann Arbor News columnist Jim Carty (who’s in law school now and couldn’t wait to test his chops) discussed the possibility on WTKA 1050AM Monday morning. An excerpt of his call [full podcast here]: [display_podcast] . Basically Carty explains that there’s certain risk that you assume when you engage in any activity, in this case, college hockey. The question becomes whether the incident occurs outsides the bounds of the normal risk that is assumed to be part of the game. And then, to sue, Carty offers that you usually tie the suit to some form of damages, like if Kampfer lost an eye or experienced damage to the head, for instance. For more on this, I contacted former WTKA morning host Dave Shand who’s still in the throes of his lawsuit against Bill Martin. The former NHL and Michigan player, and assistant under Red Berenson offered his perspective of this. “There are probably going to be criminal charges filed and Steve is going to have a heck of a civil suit against Tropp, Comley and…
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Shand vs. Martin update, Deep Throat search
Sorry for the delay on getting out an update on Dave Shand’s suit against Michigan athletic director Bill Martin. The former Michigan hockey player, assistant coach and NHL’er claims that Bill Martin directed local sports radio station WTKA to fire Shand from his post as morning show host. Shand’s attorney, Nick Roumel of Nick Roumel & Associates, advised that Martin was deposed on January 21st and “denied everything”. The athletic director’s attorneys have filed their third motion to dismiss the case. Looking for Deep Throat One other interesting side note. It turns out Roumel is on the look out for someone who might have information related to the case. Apparently an anonymous caller contacted Shand on September 14, 2007. They spoke for quite a while and this person claimed to have some very specific information about this case (I don’t have any detail on what was said). This person was going to deliver some documentation supporting whatever information he had, but this never happened. Roumel is looking for this person to come forward and contact him at nick [at] nickroumel [dot] com or call 734.645.7507. Related: * Jim Carty’s take on the Shand Case
