I happened to be standing at mid-field for the pregame taking it all in when the Buckeyes and Wolverines had the shoving match at midfield. I snapped a couple photos and this one came out pretty nice. Check out all the people on the sideline scrambling to take a pic with the cell phones. Click here to see the FULL size version (2048 x 1536). Another great sight was all the former Michigan letter winners forming the walls of the team’s entrance onto the field before taking on Ohio State. Here’s a view from my seat:
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Ann Arbor shows well on GameDay
Since I was busy with my own version of pregame festivities on the golf course I missed the events around ESPN’s visit to campus. Based upon the initial reviews it looks like the fans showed well and came up with some clever signs. That’s kind of what the mob of fans behind Corso, Fowler and Herbstreit is measured on these days. Football Jesus broke down the signs of the day and provided a Top 25 ranking. He liked the ‘We need a Carr with Les Miles’ which I’ve seen before but doesn’t really make a lot of sense. There’s a joke there somewhere but that’s not it. His favorite is pretty funny but a tad PG-13, you can check it out here. Of his Top 25 here are my favorites: 3. Only Buckeyes work at Home Depot 4. Charlie Weis ate Notre dame’s season. 6. Herbie sings “the Victors” in the shower 8. Stop talking about Barry Bonds 12. If you can read this you are not a Buckeye 20. Tressel watches “the View” 24. Desmond walks on H2o
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No Glorious Send Off
HBO’s documentary on this rivalry featured incredible footage from the 1950 battle in Columbus. The game was played during a blizzard which blanketed the field in snow. ‘The Rivalry’ recalled that the battle featured 45 punts as the teams simply didn’t want to attempt a conventional offensive play given the conditions. The Ann Arbor News noted Zoltan Mesko punted 12 times against Ohio State, the most since that memorable game. Not exactly the piece of rivalry lore that I wanted to draw upon the day after the game. While you can look fondly on the old footage of the game which Michigan won (the outcome probably doesn’t really matter at this point) but there’ll be no warm reimincising on this version of the rivalry for M fans 50 years from now. The Wolverines didn’t punt because of weather conditions that dictated such a strategy. No, Mesko punted because Michigan was manhandled by a furious Buckeye defense that thrived in the cold and damp conditions. The Bucks stomped over and stuffed the M offense that at the beginning of the year was projected to rival some of the finest in college football history. The 91 net yards were the fewest since the last dark era in Michigan football lore, 1962 to be specific. When late in the game Detroit native Vernon…
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They Stayed…
Beat the Buckeyes – GO BLUE!
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Beat Bucks, Get Ducks?
I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or not worry about it until Sunday. The Oregon Ducks fall to Arizona and suddenly they’re on target to end up in Pasadena. Anyone who witnessed that beat down in early September certainly has to be concerned about a rematch with those Ducks. At the same time, what a better demonstration of how has Carr turned this team around then by avenging, in the same season, one of the most brutal defeats in Michigan history? I’ll have to check to see that last time Michigan has played the same team twice in one season in the modern era. Michigan State pulled off this feat in 1987 by beating USC early on in East Lansing. The Spartans then took down Rodney Peete and Trojans in the Rose Bowl later that year. Note: I was at both games screaming until my throat was sore for the Spartans. Update: I think I found the answer – In 1982, Bo’s Wolverines played UCLA twice losing both games. On September 25 UCLA came to the Big House and took down the Blue 31-27 and then doubled up the Wolverines 24-14 in the Rose Bowl.
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Bargain Bin for Bo?
I saw this outside Borders in Ann Arbor last night. On the bargain bin was a paperback copy of the book ‘Tradition’ by Bo Schembechler with Dan Ewald. While its 222 pages lack a lot of written content, the photos are exceptional. And inside the back cover they included a copy of the outstanding Michigan Memories documentary on DVD (“expanded and revised”). So what? It was $4.99! It lists for $40.18 on Amazon.com. Memo to all you latte-sucking Ann Arborites: go pick up a copy! Need more convincing? Check out this incredible shot of the 1902 Wolverines at the Rose Bowl on a trolley ride. Check out coach Fielding Yost at the bottom with his hand on the trolley. The grin on the coach is worth the five spot alone (Click to see full size):
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Lectured
Check out Daniel Bromwich’s piece in the Michigan Daily as he dressses down the student body who have “sucked as fans this year”, and urges them to wear Maize on Saturday. He closes with this: A common complaint about the incoming luxury boxes is they will destroy the fan unity that currently exists because the stadium is one giant bowl. My question: What unity? Prove you have some Saturday.
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HBO’s ‘The Rivalry’ Reviewed
The brief letdown I felt on Sunday stemming from the losses this weekend has faded and I’m in full-on geeked mode for the Big One. The Lloyd Carr retirement rumors have raised it up a notch and it’s just been too long since the last home game – let’s do this! With the hype building for Saturday it was a great night to watch the premiere of HBO’s first documentary dedicated to sports: The Rivalry. Initial review by those that at pre-screening event was that it was slanted toward the Buckeyes and didn’t mention Lloyd Carr. I went in with an open mind: – The content definitely slanted toward the Buckeye side of the house. I’d say the last half of the piece was 80% focused on Ohio State fans and Woody Hayes.– Overall it was well done. While they didn’t have any mention/picture/video of Lloyd Carr, they didn’t exactly spend a lot of time on Tressel. But the Carr omission was a little weird. I mean, they showed footage of John Cooper and a lot of Earle Bruce, but and didn’t mention Carr?– The quotes from Bo were great. They talked about the gold pants that each OSU coaches and players gets if they beat Michigan (and later show up on eBay). One thing that never occurred to me…
