I mentioned last time that the memorabilia auction action has picked up a bit. There’s been so many one-of-a-kind items lately that I feel an obligation to get them out there. Here you go, apologies for the dump: 1. Bo and Woody’s Notes. An incredible item. The seller claims the following: In 1969, the University of Wisconsin requested that all Big 10 coaches send to them a sampling of plays and words of wisdom that they kept in the athletic department for 35 years. They auctioned off all of it a few years ago and I was given chance to pick up 2 of the items.. Here’s a look at what Bo submitted: his eleven thoughts on “Basic Offensive Thinking”: Woody Hayes diagrammed a few plays which are also included in the auction. Again, from the description: The Ohio State University coach Woody Hayes diagram of 4 plays a Trap, 14 pass, 14 sweep and 98 Jet Pass(all hand diagramed by Woody). He also has notes on here like “”QB Look deep as you come out” Funny thing is that he chose 2 passes which was 2 more than he would be willing to run. Here’s a link to the auction. It was bid up to just under $1,000 but did not meet the seller’s reserve. 2. Game Contract between…
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Brandstatter on Karsch show (audio)
Michigan radio color man Jim Brandstatter sits in with Doug Karsch on 97.1/1270 and hits on the $4M buy-out and Michael Rosenberg’s recent piece [mgoblog’s blow-by-blow analysis] that trashes Rodriguez. [display_podcast] UPDATE: Today’s editorial in the News ties the Rodriguez settlement to the athademics scandal: If anyone is under the illusion that Michigan football is part of the universe of public education, get over it. Sure enough, we’ll get over it. Will you?
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T Sweets Tribute
An excellent Tyrone Wheatley highlight compilation pulled together by WolverineHistorian. I love the Rose Bowl run at 30 seconds in – ridiculous.
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Charles Woodson’s Wine
Found this on mgoblue.com today (there’s also an older piece from the Free Press). During his days in Oakland, Heisman trophy winner Charles Woodson apparently befriended someone at wine maker Robert Mondavi not too long ago and was inspired to deliver his own vintage. He calls it TwentyFour: Do you want to try it? Here’s the details on a tasting coming up: ….the Michigan debut of TwentyFour will take place with a wine tasting on Friday (July 18) at the Chop House in Ann Arbor. The event will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. with tickets available for $75 per person. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Mott’s Children’s Hospital and Woodson will donate $10 from each bottle sold to the hospital. I was getting sick of everyone’s definition of a Michigan Renaissance man starting and ending with Dhani Jones and his bowties. This is pretty cool – good for Chuck. What’s not so cool? One of Michigan’s greatest football players of all time feeling ok about this sweater, yikes: Update: A few folks indicate the wine is very good: a little Woody with a Chucky aftertaste. You can see more photos and learn more about Woodson’s wine at Twentyfourwine.com, official site.
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Fresh…adidas gear hits M-Den
The first wave of fierce adidas gear hits the racks at the M-Den this week and much of the stuff is pretty fresh. The Ann Arbor News ran a short piece on the arrival and co-owner of the M-Den Doug Horning loves it saying, “The quality, so far, has been great, and the lettering has been exactly what we asked for.” He added, “We think the fans will be very pleased with the new product.” Conspiracy theorists might suggest this was coordinated by Bill Martin, who unleased the freshies as a modern day bread-and-circuses hustle to distract people from the Rodriguez settlement. Pretty sneaky, Bill! Photo Credit: The Billy Dollaz likeness compliments on Autumn Thunder, dig it Update: I found the adidas shirts here. M-Den’s site nav requires superior web skills.
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Settling Up
So Bill Martin and Rodriguez got together and ponied up the $4 million. Reaction was mixed on the radio this today, ranging from a few holier-than-thou callers on WTKA 1050AM asking the proverbial “how do you explain this to your son?” rabble, and to Stoney and Wojo, who touched on the settlement but rolled that into a discussion on Michigan relative to Michigan State football. For Rodriguez, I never had any issue with him challenging the $4M. It was a contract. Written by lawyers from both sides with terms to be upheld by both sides. It’s natural that there would be some attempt to settle it. And it’s not the money; it’s the amount. After hearing some of the statements from his lawyer- – I half-jokingly offered that Rodriguez should just pony up. Remember this?: “It’s like back before the Civil War when slaves had the right to buy their freedom,” said Marv Robon, one of Rodriguez’s lawyers. ” A penalty of $4 million is almost like a slave from Africa trying to buy his freedom in America.” When you subject yourself to this scrutiny bad stuff can happen, especially when you have a legal team that makes statements like the above. With word that Martin and president Coleman would possibly be deposed I wonder if they were afraid of…
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Bloggers Done Good (Again)
Go now – get your copy of Brian Cook’s Hail to the Victors 2008 – An Annual Guide to Michigan Wolverines Football. And not just because there’s an article by yours truly in there. I finished it up this weekend. Last year was the inaugural issue for the guide and it was very well done [MVictors review] and a fine read – this year’s edition is outstanding. The analysis of each unit is sharp, detailed and offers another feature you won’t get in the typical preseason guides- some solid laughs. (Cook prescribes a having a glove handy if you are watching the Sam McGuffie mixtape for the first time “so you can be slapped out of your hysteria”.) A sampling: – “[TE Carson] Butler is one of those guys who creates a mismatch as soon as he walks on the field, but that mismatch is only in favor of Michigan if he goes out in a pass pattern.” – “Junior LaTerryal Savoy’s sell-by- date has expired.” – HTTV ’07 dropped this on Morgan Trent: “In two years of playing time he’s yet to make a great break on the ball to disrupt a pass.” Cook summarizes Trent’s improvement in this year’s guide, “Teams actually avoided him [last season].” – On Donovan Warren: “He’s a split second here and there from…
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Woody Hayes’s message to you Poindexters
I’m mostly interested in Michigan-related memorabilia but of late there have been a few Buckeye beauties. Check this out. Up for bid on eBay is a collection of old letters from the great Woody Hayes. Here’s my favorite: It’s a missive crafted by Dr. Strangehayes himself with a recipe for success in this tough world: I LOVE THIS! With all respect for the late Buckeye legend and Bo’s mentor, old Woody was a true beauty. For students at Ohio State Woody’s advice might be spot on: don’t rest on the laurels of a degree from Columbus. If you love this as much as I do, here’s a pdf copy that’ll print nicely.
