The last installment of eBay Watch is this year’s finest: a collection of postcards featuring members of 1907 Michigan football team. Perhaps a one of a kind set, the photos feature legendary players including the great Adolph ‘Germany’ Schulz, coach Yost and even the team trainer Keene Fitzpatrick. The seller offered up the entire collection and it didn’t go unnoticed by collectors. The winning bid for these beauties was $1,364.60 back in October. I actually used the photo of Joy Miller in ‘The Disgrace of 1909‘ but this is the first time I’m posting the entire set. Based on the crude way the auction items were photographed and presented on eBay, I doubt the seller was a professional memorabilia collector which makes this pretty cool. The postcard of Yost is different from the rest, not only the pose but also the background. It appears as though the publisher misspelled the surname of fullback Walter Rheinschild [no h on the postcard], and it is not clear as to why Eugene Flanagan was included as he doesn’t appear to have played a significant role on this or any team. In fact, the Bentley spells his name “Flanigan” but that’s only on an alternate full roster and he didn’t make the team photo in any season. Maybe he snuck into the shoot hoping…
-
-
‘M’erry Christmas
Ahh the holidays once again. The webmaster was treated to a few choice M-related gifts including the highly regarded Michigan Crocs and a copy of John Kryk’s Natural Enemies, the definitive tome on the Michigan v. Notre Dame rivalry. The book will make a great addition to my library.
-
Michigan Memorabilia Vault: 1960-present
A gallery of Michigan athletics memorabilia from around the web. Do you have anything from this era to share? Scan it in and send it over to me. Click to see full size:
-
Carr at UCLA, Freep Special Report
Obviously it was a disappointing finish to the hoops game yesterday, as the UCLA wore down Beilein’s crew and pulled away easily in the second half. The turning point? When they showed the video of coach Carr in the stands. Note the time and the score at the time: And not to nitpick, but if you are going to put an end date on Carr’s coaching career, technically it’s 2008. Two interesting links from the Free Press today: 1. Wow, check out the exchange between Les Miles and Rodriguez, as described by Rodriguez’s mother. It kind of validates the cocktail party theory that the WVU/Pitt game basically determined our next coach: According to her, Miles thanked Rodriguez for losing the game against Pittsburgh. Miles then joked with Rodriguez that the loss cost Miles his dream job. “He told my son that if West Virginia had beaten Pitt, they would’ve been in the championship game, and that would’ve left an opening for him,” she said. 2. Definitely give this is a read. Shawn Windsor of the Free Press put together a special report on the days leading to the Rodriguez hiring.
-
Michigan Tradition 101: Study Guide for Coach Rodriguez
In his introduction press conference last week, Coach Rodriguez was up front about not knowing much about the Michigan football tradition. He promised to take a book on Bo Schembechler (I assume it was the new one, John Bacon’s Bo’s Lasting Lessons) home over the weekend and give it a read. I think most Michigan fans are concerned about wins and losses and would trade a championship for a coach that knows, cherishes and embraces the previous hundred and thirty years of football in Ann Arbor. Fine. But there are quite a few of us around that the tradition matters. Again, not to say that an outsider can’t come in and embrace it. While I’m growing tired of the Bo references to this situation, you have to consider Schembechler. Bo wasn’t quite a complete outsider as was Rodriguez, but he was an outsider nonetheless and is now the quintessential M man. Count me as a one that will be disappointed if during his Monday press conference on November 3, 2008, Coach Rodriguez fails to recount the history of the Little Brown Jug, as Coach Carr did each year during his tenure. And consider me ‘blue’ if we learn that Rodriguez doesn’t do something each practice to prepare for Ohio State, as has been done by each opponent since the days…
-
Michigan Stadium Renovation Update, YouTube style
For those of you out of town, a brief YouTube of the current work going on at the Stadium. Gives you a flavor for what’s going on. I even caught them pouring part of the new foundation that will support the new structure. Most of this is from the west (press-box) side of the stadium. To spice it up, I added a few shots of the original stadium construction thanks to the Bentley museum: Here’s some of the photos:
-
Nine Men Out
Word is out this evening that Coach Rodriguez met with all nine assistant coaches and gave them a simple message: “You’re fired.” This is a little disappointing as I, like I think many Wolverine fans, had hoped that he would retain a few of the coaches to keep some continuity, especially in recruiting. I was hopeful that RB coach Fred Jackson and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler would be retained. Probably won’t happen. This said, in his introduction press conference this week Coach Rodriguez made an effort to stress that some of the coaches might be “rehired” as part of this process, and he used that term. The Detroit News indicated that D-line coach Steve Stripling might be a candidate for rejoining Rodriguez’s staff. We’ll see if anyone else gets back on the staff. A little disappointing but you’ve got to let this guy do his thing. UPDATE 12/21, 10am: The majority of folks calling WTKA are upset about this. My take: I don’t think this is a done deal. Again, he specifically said in his press conference that some coaches would be “re-hired”. UPDATE 12/21, 2pm: Ok, everyone chill. I was correct in that this wasn’t final: word is out that Fred Jackson will be retained. We’ll see how else soon.
-
Michigan Memorabilia Vault: 1940-1959
A gallery of Michigan athletics memorabilia from around the web. Do you have anything from this era to share? Scan it in and send it over to me. Click to see full size:
