John Beilein and company are slowing building an impressive resume, knocking off #4 UCLA and #4 Duke, and they earned that today. During post game the ESPN analysts were waxing poetic about the genius of Beilein. I heard Rodriguez mention (I believe at the Bust?) that there’d be some football recruits in this weekend and they’d be at the Duke game. That’s good. Full house, hyped crowd, ending with a roaring chorus of “it’s great to be…”. I voted in my own poll thinking the Blue would be on the outside looking in for the NCAAs. You’ve got to think this team has a good shot now. Hey – this hoops thing is Dyn-o-mite! P.S. – There’s actually a bit of significance to the JJ Evans pic. I went to school during the Fab Five era, the Duke games were huge although we had little success. Anyway, my buddy Rosey had class with Jalen Rose and I think, the rest of the Fab Five. The instructor asked the students to name their favorite TV show and why. When it was Jalen’s turn he dropped this: “Good Times. Because I lived it.” On top of that, JJ was played by Jimmie Walker, the namesake of Jalen’s estranged and now deceased father former NBA’er Jimmy Walker. Related: – MLive Recap – Happiness…
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Teddy Bears, Spartans Tossed
Another classic night up at old Yost. After surrendering an early goal to the Spartans, the men in Maize never looked back, dominating the puck and tallying six unanswered goals beating their rivals 6-1. Other than the Wolverines’ offensive awesomeness that chased Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg to the bench late in third period, the game was defined by a handful of scrums that sent two Spartans home with game misconducts. Minutes after one of the Spartans was tossed, the Yost crowd participated in the annual Teddy Bear Toss, where fans pepper the ice with plushy toys for kids at Mott Hospital. After the bears were tossed (highlighted by with a half dozen impressive tosses from section 22, row 12 up and over the protective netting by MVictors guest columnist BiggieMunn), scraped from the ice and counted, the kids of Mott walked away with a record 1272 toy animals. The loot: But not so fast my faux furry animal loving friends. While counting isn’t an exact science, methinks they probably missed a few toys that didn’t make it to the icy hardpan below. A few generous fans had big hearts sadly backed up by girlie-man chicken arms: Once the Yost Arena crew fish these out of the netting I’m guessing that’ll bring the final tally to around 1278. Related: – Michigan…
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Owner of the 1997 Championship Ring Revealed
[Ed: This is an update on last night’s post on the 1997 Championship Ring that has appeared on eBay. The seller contacted me and revealed the name of the original owner. This isn’t an attempt to embarrass anyone, answer some questions about how this important item in Michigan history ended up on the open market.] The seller contacted me back, I’ve got the player’s name. Once again, I don’t know the circumstances or details of how this ended up on eBay and I don’t want to get into all that. The seller claims the ring belonged to Demetrius Smith, a fullback on Coach Carr’s great team. Smith was kicked off the team in the summer of 1999. I don’t remember the circumstances around all of this, I’m digging a little bit, but here’s a follow-up story in the Michigan Daily from July 1999 after Smith was kicked off the team for alleged involvement in an embezzlement ring at a nearby Big-K. According to the Daily piece Smith was not charged with anything: On June 23, allegations of a six-person embezzlement ring from an Ypsilanti K-mart surfaced. Smith’s name was included – as well as two other Michigan football players – and the story quickly became national news. Five days later, Diane Smith [Demetrius’ mother] received a phone call from Debord.…
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Ricky Leach!
From the MLive summary of the 2008 Michigan Football Bust, here’s former dual threat quarterback Rick Leach who was at the bust representing the 30th anniversary of the 1978 team: “I’ll make you a promise before I go,” he said. “My promise to you is, I know that day’s coming. Maybe you had your fun and got your pound of flesh out of Michigan after 33 years. I don’t care if it’s Mark Dantonio, Charlie Weis or – you better believe it – Jim Tressel. Your freakin’ day is coming.” Then Rodriguez added this gem: “Rick Leach, you’ve been a true friend,” Rodriguez said. “I know there’s media here, so some things I would like to say maybe I shouldn’t. But all the things you said Rick Leach, amen.” Related: Leachapalooza: The Best of Rick Leach on WTKA 12-09
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1997 Michigan National Championship Ring – For Sale
This site has profiled a few different Michigan championship rings that have ended up on eBay. Long time readers may recall: 1986 Rose Bowl Ring: This prompted a few follow-up posts, the first speculating on the original owner and then another, after a teammate confirmed my sleuthing. 1977 Championship Ring: Not as pretty as the others, but painful to see. 1980 Rose Bowl ring: Probably the wildest story, a ring alleged to a salesman sample bearing the name ‘McCartney’ on the side prompts a note from former Michigan and Colorado coach Bill McCartney’s wife Lyndi, asking that the ring be returned to her husband. Funny, when I was posting about these other rings it crossed my mind that this day could happen but hoped it never would. It did: Ah yes, the 1998 Rose Bowl, what a week, what a game. [Sidenote: I arrived in Los Angeles a couple of days before the game. I saw Morris Day and the Time at the House of Blues on 12/30, then I joined Run DMC at the Viper Room to ring in the New Year. I still have the T-shirt from the show, it was incredible]. As with the 1986 ring, the seller has offered a clue as to the original owner, but not much. From the auction description: “..this is a…
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Plaxico Ditty
The Plexico jokes and talk are getting tired but had to pass this along. In the final segment of Jim Rome today, a text’er sent this over: “Why’s everyone coming down on me? I just shot the man who shot me. Sincerely, Plaxcio.”
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Ann Arbor Adopt-a-Family program (updates!)
Update 12/4: I spoke to Jamie Adkins at the A2 police department this morning, the contact for the program. Not a surprise, but she told me that this year they’ve got the largest number of families in need. They are very flexible on how you can give. If you are interested see the details below or email Jamie Adkins at jdkins@a2gov.org. Original Post (with a few updates): Looking for a way to give back the holiday season? Sam Webb of WTKA 1050AM had on former professional golfer Debbie Williams-Hoak, one of the founders of the Ann Arbor Adopt-a-Family Program. She started this along with the Ann Arbor Police Department, and she notes that the athletic department is heavily involved. Here’s the audio of her visit to the studio, check the audio here. It’s a great way to help a local family. More importantly, here’s the details as I gathered them (I don’t think they have a website): You don’t need to adopt a whole family. They accept straight donations and gifts. You can mail checks to: Ann Arbor Police Dept 100 North Fifth Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48104 attn: Adopt a Family/Jamie Adkins If you want to donate a toy or want general information, contact Jamie Adkins at the Ann Arbor police department at 734-994-2858 or at jdkins@a2gov.org unless you’re…
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What Happened to MSU hockey fans?
Driving in the Lansing area this morning I tuned into Tim Staudt’s show on 730AM WVFN, the sports radio show in that area. Near the end of the 9-to-noon Staudt on Sports show, they were giving away tickets to tonights Michigan State vs. North Carolina game at Ford Field, and were remarking about how many tickets were still available for the game. I’m watching the game right now and there’s no doubt many seats went unsold. But then he mentioned that the station had “volumes” of tickets available for Saturday’s Michigan-Michigan State hockey game at Munn Ice Arena, and how times had changed. I was floored. I’d heard things were bad and had a few commenters on this site describe the Spartan home ice as “the library” and the “Munnsoleum“. I grew up in the East Lansing area. During the mid-80s my dad had Michigan State hockey tickets at Munn and I joined him to many games. I loved it. The Spartans led by Ron Mason had great teams and the place was electric. In my memory at least, the atmosphere was in the conversation with Yost. The student section was hyped up and dropped clever chants. According to the Wikipedia page, Munn was sold out for 323 games from 1985 to 2004. I know there were a few down…
