Local author, professor and Michigan athletics historian John U. Bacon launched his new radio program this afternoon on WTKA’s ‘Big Show’. As announced a few weeks ago, Bacs will take the Monday 3-6pm slot on the live local program which rotates hosts throughout the week. He started off with a bang as just a few minutes after taking the air he had Coach Rich Rodriguez on the line. They discussed the rigors of recruiting, how the internet has changed recruiting, on “derecruiting” (getting players adjusted to school and the football program after they’ve been fawned over for years), on the reception he got at Crisler during the Illinois hoops game, on the search for the defensive coordinator (nothing new, although he admitted a factor was the NFL playoffs) and on the defensive scheme he’s looking for, and more. Enjoy: [display_podcast] A couple notes: * I got a chuckle when he and Bacon joked about how coaches rave over the food served the families of recruits. Rodriguez said jokingly, “the tea tastes sweeter”, which is a reference to southern-style iced tea, also called sweet tea (prounounced swate tay) due to (duh) it being loaded with sugar. You’d be hard pressed to find a recruit’s moms serving sweet tea anywhere in these parts anytime but especially this time of year. I’m not…
-
-
Webb Explains Will Campbell’s head (audio)
A great segment of Recruiting Round-up on WTKA this morning. Host Sam Webb broke down the William ‘Big Will’ Campbell recruitment process and revealed some of the inside pool on why Webb and other recruiting gurus weren’t buying Campbell’s declaration that Michigan was off his list last week. Here’s the first five or so minutes where Webb gives you all the goodies and explains: – Campbell’s initial commitment – The reason for Big Will’s decommitment – The rationale behind declaring Michigan was off his list earlier this week – On his mother’s assurance that Michigan was at the top of the list – And, Big Will’s message to Rich Rod and the text he blasted out to his Michigan peeps before the selection: [display_podcast] Summary: – On why he decommitted: There was a coaching change of course, but Webb advises that it was primarily the desire to visit other schools (LSU, for instance, wouldn’t allow a visit if he was committed to Michigan) and his desire to declare on national TV (and pick the hat, etc.) – Why Campbell said Michigan was off his list last week:: “to inject a little bit a intrigue” into the selection. – On why Webb was still confident of Will going to Michigan after those statements: Several things: – Campbell told the Army people…
-
Beautiful Hoops; M downs Illini 74-64
What a classic basketball game today as Beilein and hoops recover from the tough Wisconsin loss to get their first conference win, 74-64 over Illinois. It certainly wasn’t a must win, but losing the first two Big Ten games at home would have caused a bit of a shiver. On hand for the game was once again coaches Carr and Rodriguez, each with their wives. BTN color man and Buckeye Jimmy Jackson couldn’t help but admit that he was sorry that Lloyd Carr hung up his whistle, saying as a Buck, Carr was his favorite coach. Some forget that Carr crushed the Buckeyes early in his coaching career and despite the struggles against Tressel was 6-7 lifetime. But he certainly finished on a down note and Jackson’s comment would be excusable if Carr and his wife Laurie weren’t sitting right next to him on the end of the press table. Come on man. But I thought Jackson did a good job for BTN and today, and man, was he awesome at Ohio State. When they panned over to Fab Fiver Jimmy King chilling in the tunnel JJ talked about some of their battles (Ohio State won two during the regular season with Michigan winning in the NCAA tournament). I was at the game at Crisler his senior year and Jackson…
-
Witnessing Horrific History at Lambeau
As we conclude Wildcard weekend today, I thought I’d offer one back look at the miserable Lions. A friend of mine, Paul, made the trek to Green Bay last weekend to witness a bit of history as Detroit failed to prevent what’s widely considered the worst season in pro sports history. I asked him to send me a few takes and photos from the trip, enjoy: We didn’t have any issue getting tickets, but because every game at Lambeau is sold out for years to come we had to go to StubHub. We bought very nice seats that had a $62/face for $106. We drove in for the game and it was a mess getting to the stadium. It took us an hour to travel the last five miles. As far as the tailgating environment, they have a bunch of special tents set up around the stadium and around Brett Favre’s steakhouse. There were folks tailgating where they parked but they really don’t have large parking lots around the stadium. It was a lot of car dealership lots, truck stops, car pool areas, and malls. Lambeau looks like they took Spartan Stadium except it’s painted yellow instead of white. Similar press box, ramps, scoreboard. They really don’t have any advertising inside the stadium except for on the scoreboard. The…
-
Big Will Style – Campbell Headed to Ann Arbor
Just announced – dig it: Update: Sam Webb explains what was going on with the commitment, decommitment, not going to Michigan, and finally, commitment ping pong.
-
Baseball Complex Donors Madoff’d
Hat tip to the Ann Arbor Chronicle, it appears as though the primary donors to the new (& very well done) University of Michigan baseball and softball complex were stung a bit by Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff. Ouch. Bloomberg.com compiled and published a list of foundations that invested with Madoff and included the Wilpon Family Foundation. Thankfully it’s not clear how much the family invested and lost with the shmuck Madoff. Related: The WSJ has been all over the Madoff story, read Stephen Greenspan’s essay this weekend, Anatomy of Gullibility: Why We Keep Falling for Financial Scams.
-
For the Utes
Despite playing an Alabama that team that either wasn’t ready to play or didn’t care, Utah looked impressive last night, and hats off. It seems ages ago when the Utes visited Michigan for Rich Rodriguez’s debut and took down the Blue 25-23. Utah led 25-10 at one point and Michigan could have tied the game on had they converted a two pointed conversion. I ran into a gaggle of Utes at Conor O’Neill’s pub on Main Street that evening, all in good spirits of course, and very friendly. I talked to a guy for a little bit and having traveled far for the game he clearly was a big fan. In the wake of this win, he was genuinely excited about the prospect of an undefeated season, with the primary obstacle being then-ranked BYU (who they later dispatched 48-24). I don’t care how disinterested Alabama was at the beginning or even throughout the game, Utah looked impressive. I probably wouldn’t vote them ahead of USC or Florida at this point, but I’d sure like to see them play.
-
Memories…Michigan Rose Bowls
To help get through this tough bowl season, how about few select items from the MVictors Vault featuring Rose Bowl-related items throughout the years. My favorite? Probably the photo of above from Fielding Yost & company’s trip to the first Rose Bowl football game in 1901. The team is on a trolley heading around town and the photo is featured in Bo Schembechler’s Tradition, available from Amazon.com. Runner up may be the lighter from the 1948 tilt. Want to own your own piece of Michigan Rose Bowl history? There’s a few solid eBay auctions out there right now: * 1981 Rose Bowl Glass * 1965 Rose Bowl Ticket Stub * 1948 Rose Bowl Program * 1998 Rose Bowl Seat Cushion