From mgoblue.com, a local artist donated a great painting of legendary coach Bo Schembechler to grace the lobby of Schembechler Hall: Well done. The artist is named Johnnie Dew, a self-taught Ford retiree who’s got some mad skills. Check out his website. According to the photo gallery there were a few distinguished guests at the unveiling including Cathy Schembechler, AD Bill Martin, and check out former head coach Gary Moeller posing with Rich Rod:
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Shand v. Martin case Going to Trial
AD Bill Martin’s motion to dismiss the case brought against him by former WTKA morning show host Dave Shand was denied today. U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr. published the following decision today: “Martin’s motion to dismiss must be, and is, denied. The Court finds that Martin is not entitled to qualified immunity at this stage of the proceeding. Furthermore, Shand’s First Amended Complaint has sufficiently set forth a claim upon which relief may be granted. Martin’s motion for summary judgment must also be, and is, denied in its entirety. The Court finds genuine issues of a material fact exist with regard to each of Shand’s claims.” Shand’s complaint against Martin is summarized in the order as such: The complaint, as amended, alleges that Martin informed the management at WTKA on April 19, 2007 that “he would not allow” the radio station to cover a charity golf match at the University of Michigan if Shand was assigned to cover the event as a broadcaster. Shand also contends that Martin threatened to terminate WTKA’s right to broadcast the University of Michigan football games unless he was fired as a broadcaster with the radio station. Several days later (April 23, 2007), Shand was relieved of his duties at WTKA. The court order provides a view into some of the documentation…
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M Man goes Farley
Keeping with the tailgating theme. While you definitely want to have a good time at any tailgate, you don’t necessarily want people recalling your sloppiness the next day let alone months later. If you’re not concerned about that do this: I love his boy telling him, “Do it!”, right before he sets down the runway. And the bystander asking, “What the hell was that?”. All told it was a pretty ballsy move – you really don’t know what’s going to happen once you get airborne.
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Bracing for the Fall
The movie Evan Almighty hit HBO recently which features Steve Carell portraying a modern day Noah commanded by God to build an ark in preparation for a September flood. Last week’s Ann Arbor News had a great photo of some U-M students preparing their tailgating bus “VICTOR1” for another potential disaster in the upcoming fall: the 2008 football season. The pic showed a couple of the current business school students upgrading the party deck atop this beauty. While it’s certainly not an ark, this sled provides a form of sweet salvation for many M fans. According to the News, outgoing seniors sell their shares representing slots on the bus to incoming freshman. Mucho respect for anyone making tailgating preparations in May so I emailed the guys listed in the News piece. I got a reply from business school student Matt Larkin who sent along the pics of the bus and some more info: The BUS is the unofficial Business School tailgate. It was started in 2002 by a couple of business students who felt that the school didn’t have a good, organized tailgate. The BUS has 50 owner-members, with a split of around 35 MBA2s and 15 MBA1s. The BUS is set up for each home game at Fingerle Lumber Yard, at Hill and Fifth, opening around 9am and going…
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2008 Swing To Cure Diabetes – Photos
The first annual ‘Swing to Cure Diabetes‘ benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) was held yesterday at the University of Michigan Golf Course and what a day it was. Perfect weather – breezy and sunny – and better yet a great chance to raise some money for diabetes research. Enjoy a few photos from the day: The Hewlett Family: Chris, Former M QB Rich and their son Jeffrey Coach Lloyd Carr and Cathy Schembechler helped kicked off the event Cathy Schembechler donated this ball: signed by Bo and legendary AD Don Canham – it fetched around $900. Whoa! Check out your Maize and Blue hole sponsor!!
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eBay Watch: Oh Man, 1986 Rose Bowl Ring
Once again we’ve got a Michigan Rose Bowl ring on eBay adding to the recent auctions of the 1977-78 and 1980-81 versions. This time it’s a beauty from the 1986 season and it commemorates the Rose Bowl appearance [see the auction here]. The game was unfortunately a loss for the Wolverines who fell to 22-15 to Arizona State in Pasadena. Schembechler’s men actually played 13 games that season somehow getting the green light to schedule Hawaii after the close of the Big Ten schedule. A shocking defeat to Minnesota on November 15th was the only other setback that season for the Wolverines who ended up ranked #8 in the AP. The seller is a true beauty himself…see what I mean as you check out this warning to bidders within the item description: If you have zero feedback or less please bypass this auction unless you contact us first, otherwise your bid will unfortunately be cancelled then stomped all over before we catapult it into outer space using our giant intergalactic slingshot. There are too many of you rascals out there who understand with absolute precision how to place a bid but freeze up like a popsicle during the payment process it’s really quite weird. This ring is very nice. A little worn, but the inscription of “The Team” below the…
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Braylon: “Everything has been taken care of”
“The airing of the grievances” No surprise. As suggested here, Braylon, AC and Rich Rod were at the Griese/Hutchinson festivities this weekend at the Michigan golf course and resolved any type of issue there was with the #1 jersey. And as speculated here, it doesn’t look like this was a case of Rodriguez blowing off this tradition as everyone feared. Onward! To the next controversy!
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Let’s enjoy our pro football team
Don’t miss the ‘Other Voices’ piece written by law professor James J. White in the Ann Arbor News today. I assume most of you wouldn’t catch this in your sports feeds and it’s a beauty. The intro: Last fall’s debate about expanding the football stadium, the recent Ann Arbor News exposé on our football players’ search for easy courses and the need for the president and others to carefully refer to our players always as “student-athletes” make me think it is time to end our collective hypocrisy. We should admit that we have a professional football team. In essence White suggests that we stop kidding ourselves- it’s a professional football program and we should embrace this reality. In the end White says that’s not such a bad thing. Check it out.