Despite being nearly a decade and a half since the winged helmet was adorned with these appendages, the topic of the helmet stickers, decals, or “achievement awards” still comes up on occasion. Despite some claims that Woody Hayes started the tradition in Columbus, this is not so. Bo Schembechler actually launched this tradition in the mid-1960s at Miami of Ohio. He used little hatchets. He continued the tradition at Michigan when he joined the Wolverines. Here’s a look at Don Moorhead‘s “Riddell TK-2 impregnated sunflower gold-colored shell” helmet compliments of umichfootball.com: Nice pass Don, here’s another lemon for you Moeller continued the tradition but Lloyd nixed it. Why did they stop? No, I don’t think it was “Just to keep a clean look” as asked by mgoblog user Casa Grande. It’s also not true that Carr thought the decals were “lame” as I’ve seen on a message board or two. More likely is that Carr dropped the stickers to take the emphasis off of individual achievement and onto the team concept. Related: No, I’m not going into an investigation on who originally owned this helmet. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Garland Rivers. Also Related: Looks like the Buckeye Blog ‘Eleven Warriors‘ has pimped my eBay Watch idea. It’ll be a regular feature on the site. He did give proper credit…
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Bo Merlot
Bo Merlot. You didn't ask for it, but you got it. The details:
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Michigan Preplay starts August 28
It’s no secret that Michigan Replay died this year and this evening on mgoblue.com they announced the new format. It’ll actually be called ‘Inside Michigan Football’ and will air on Fox Sports Detroit on Thursday and be rerun on Friday’s at midnight on ABC: “The title of the show is exactly what it will be,” said producer and director Patrick McLaughlin. “We will have a level of access that few programs in the country allow. We’ll be at every practice, in the locker room and behind the scenes every football Saturday. This will truly be an inside look at Michigan football.” I won’t miss the old format and I’m really not looking forward to the new. What I will miss is that funky theme song: [display_podcast] They certainly won’t be able to use that theme anymore but here a couple suggestions for Preplay: Elsewhere: Jim Carty’s practice notes from today revealed some nice nuggets: On Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw: McGuffie and Shaw are two guys that will not be redshirted – they’ll play,” the coach said. “They’ve done enough to convince us that they can contribute as freshmen, and I think as much mentally as physically. The biggest drawback for a freshman coming in is, can they mentally handle the schemes and the pace, all the things that go…
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A-Rittz Drops Factoids
Another post-worthy mention coming out of Adam Rittenberg’s ESPN Big Ten Blog: Dan from Minneapolis writes: Adam, you pointed out the unique nature of first time coaches in the UM – MSU rivalry. I also wanted to point out uniqueness about first time coaches in the UM – OSU rivalry. Aside from Cooper, going back to WW Hayes, first time coaches have WON their first meeting in the series. Correct me if I am wrong but that is quite impressive Adam Rittenberg writes: You’re correct, first-time coaches have fared well in the Michigan-Ohio State series, perhaps because the games typically are played later in the season when coaches have a better feel for their teams. Woody Hayes lost his first meeting with Michigan, 7-0, in 1951, but Earle Bruce beat the Wolverines in 1979 and Jim Tressel did the same in 2001. The Buckeyes went through four coaches during the 1940s who went 1-2-1 against Michigan. Michigan hasn’t had a coach lose his first game against Ohio State since Harry Kipke in 1929. Kipke’s first game, interestingly enough, was played midway through the season on Oct. 19. Rich Rodriguez will have a tough task to keep Michigan’s run alive, but it helps that the game is at the end of the season. Next, Dave Dye of the Detroit News drops…
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SI’s Top 10 Michigan athletes of all-time
You’re sick of lists I’m sure, but this is worth a look for the photos alone. SI has been rolling through a list of the top ten athletes at big schools, now Michigan is up. Here’s its take and the breadth of sports they covered is appreciated: 10. Glen Rice (basketball, 1986-1989) 9. Jennie Ritter (softball, 2003-2006) 8. Brendan Morrison (hockey, 1993-1996) 7. Barry Larkin (baseball, 1983-1985) 6. Tom Dolan (swimming, 1994-1996) 5. Desmond Howard (football, 1989- 1991) 4. Cazzie Russell (basketball, 1964- 1966) 3. Charles Woodson (football, 1995-1997) 2. Tom Harmon (football, basketball, 1938-1940) 1. Bennie Oosterbaan (football, basketball, baseball, 1924-1927) Why Oosterbaan? Here’s their take: Considered one of the greatest athletes in Michigan history, Bennie Oosterbaan was a three-time All-America football player, a two-time All-America basketball player (who led the Big Ten in scoring during his senior season) and a baseball player. Turning down professional football for religious reasons, Oosterbaan went on to coach football, basketball and baseball at Michigan. In his first season as head football coach in 1948, he led the Wolverines to a national championship.
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DVD Review: Bo Schembechler’s Michigan Wolverines
One of the perks of posting on this site, after you filter through all the spam, is occasionally you get offered free stuff folks want you to promote. Some of the stuff is a little weird but every once in a while you get something pretty cool. I was contacted a little while ago about a DVD on Bo Schembechler coming out later this month and of course agreed to take a look. I’m glad I did. Bo Schembechler’s Michigan Wolverines overcomes its vanilla title with a strong collection of interviews and vintage clips on Bo. If you liked HBO’s The Rivalry from last year, you’ll like this. It follows the same format where they rolled through Bo’s career with video clips and some narration, and they mix in interviews with journalists, coaches and former players. Here’s a few notes: * The DVD features interviews with Bo’s Lasting Lessons author John Bacon, Mitch Albom, Lloyd Carr, Jamie Morris, Michael Rosenberg, Jim Brandstatter, former AD Don Canham, equipment manager Jon Falk and more. * Extra features in DVD’s usually kind of suck, these are outstanding. It includes a 10 minute or so discussion with Bo and Woody Hayes on a couch in some living room. They talk about the rivalry, their mutual respect, the Rose Bowl, the meaning of ‘The Game’…
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More feats of heroism, strength
From Angelique’s practice notes this morning, good news on KC Lopata: According to a practice recap on the Michigan athletic program’s Web site, MGoBlue.com, there was a field-goal kicking challenge at the conclusion of Thursday’s practice. K.C. Lopata made a 40-yard field goal to keep the entire team from running sprints. Lopata also kicked a 56-yarder during Friday’s first full-contact scrimmage.
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Rome Rips Trent’s 4.13 (audio)
Ahh the internet. After Adam Rittenberg in his ESPN blog posted some of the stats inside Michigan’s weight room, word rolled through the blogosphere to the desk of Jim Rome, who took a chance to rip on Morgan Trent’s alleged 4.13 in the 40-yard-dash: Of course a few people have commented that this time wasn’t for a 40; it was actually a shuttle drill. It’s a little nuts that an alleged statistic inside a weight room is a topic on a internationally syndicated sports talk show, but that’s the power of Barwis Obama.
