Crew from HBO photographing the best of the best As mentioned here after the Appalachian State game, HBO is putting together a documentary on the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry and had crews in Ann Arbor out getting footage for the opener. I just got an email from someone involved in the project advising that they got the green light. The documentary will air the week of the big game next month. Here’s the full presser: MICHIGAN VS. OHIO STATE : THE RIVALRY, HBO SPORTS’ FIRST COLLEGE FOOTBALL DOCUMENTARY, DEBUTS NOV. 13 HBO Sports will present its first college football documentary, chronicling the rivalry of the University of Michigan and Ohio State University , this fall. Steeped in a rich tradition dating back to their inaugural meeting in 1897, this rivalry extends beyond the pursuit of a Big Ten title, and is renewed each year through the pageantry and colliding cultures that distinguish the two schools. Presented four days before the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Michigan Wolverines at Ann Arbor , MICHIGAN VS. OHIO STATE: THE RIVALRY debuts TUESDAY, NOV. 13 (10:30-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other HBO playdates: Nov. 15 (7:00 p.m.), 16 (6:00 p.m., 12:55 a.m.), 17 (10:00 a.m.), 20 (5:00 p.m.), 23 (9:30 a.m., 10:15 p.m.), 25 (11:00 a.m.) and 28 (9:30 a.m., 11:00…
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Purdue and the Homecoming Tradition
Factoids on this Saturday’s game: – The Boilermakers’ trip to Ann Arbor this Saturday will mark the 53rd meeting between the two schools. – This this will be the sixth time that Purdue will be the homecoming opponent. – Purdue was actually the first Homecoming opponent back in 1900. Prior to that Michigan held a game against an Alumni team on what they called Homecoming. Michigan won the 1900 test 12-6. – A quick Google search on homecoming led to the Wikipedia. According to the post there, while there are varying accounts of the first school to start a homecoming tradition, the roots seems to be much later than 1900. Check it out: Many schools lay claim to having the first Homecoming, but three seem to have the strongest claims. The NCAA, Trivial Pursuit, and Jeopardy! give the title to The University of Missouri’s 1911 football game during which alumni were encouraged to attend.[1] Baylor University and The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign both claim to have held homecoming-like events in 1909 and 1910, respectively. All of these events had homecoming-like characteristics such as a football game, visiting alumni, and a parade. It’s likely that the traditions at these schools and others merged and spread nationwide. By the 1920s homecoming was widely celebrated across the nation. The Bentley museum is…
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Ann Arbor: Guide to the Bars for fans
Fellow Big Ten blogger NittanyWhiteOut sent an email recently asking for some advice on the local bar scene. While your Webmaster is essentially retired from that game I make it out enough to know the deal. When coming into Ann Arbor for a game I’d offer the following advice on what to do and where to go in Ann Arbor. For bars, Ann Arbor really has two major areas, although some locals would debate this and again, everything is basically within a mile or so so what’s the big deal? Campus refers to those bars directly around the Campus most frequented by the students. Main St. is the upscale area of Ann Arbor with some of the upper scale restaurants, thus an older crowd. Campus Bars: Rick’s American Cafe’ aka Rick’s – A below ground hole that is the cool hang out; at least it used to be. Older players may be seen here after the game. Will often end the night with a round of ‘The Victors’ after a big win. Cheap pitchers, pool, DJ – nothing special other than that the place is always packed. No food. Website. Good Time Charley’s aka ‘Charley’s – Like Rick’s been around for many years, great food, burgers, wings, etc. Long Island Ice teas a specialty, cheesy bread, Count Twist bread is…
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Updated Michigan Bowl Projections
Still pretty meaningless, here’s where some of your major sources have Michigan’s bowl game and opponent for 2007. Complete BCS bowl projections are tracked here. CollegeFootballNews (Scout.com): Michigan vs. South Carolina & the OBC, Outback Bowl CBS Sportsline: Florida State (& the O-est BC) vs. Michigan, Champs Sports Bowl ESPN (Bruce Feldman): Michigan vs. Kansas State, Alamo Bowl ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Michigan vs. Tennessee, Captial One Bowl By the way, two of the sources have your Ohio State Buckeyes returning to the big game, and I can’t say I see them losing a game up to that point.
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Is Hart Really #1? How about Willie Heston?
Art director: “Wolf. Wolverine. Close enough. Just print it.” Just about the only good to come out of Saturday’s brutal game was of course Hart’s record. During the EMU broadcast M radio play-by-play voice Frank Beckmann suggested that Mike Hart may have some work to do to truly catch the Michigan man with the most rushing yards. That man? Willie Heston, the 2 time All-American that Fielding Yost convinced to come with him to Michigan from California. There’s no doubt Heston put up ridiculous numbers during Yost’s Point-a-Minute reign of terror. While they didn’t keep detailed individual statistics back then, we do know he scored a jaw dropping 72 touchdowns. Beckmann offered that by some estimates Heston tallyed over 7,300 rushing yards. That’d leave Hart way out of reach of Heston if true. Of course it was a different game at the turn of the 20th century. Teams didn’t pass and a durable back like Heston ended up running the ball on just about every play. Was Heston the greatest back ever? Again, there’s really no way to know. Certainly Hart, Harmon and Heston are in the conversation. I found a quote from a Time magazine on Harmon where Yost reminded folks of his great runner’s place in Michigan history: Surging out of the stadium, a majority of the 54,000…
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Bridge is Still Burned, No Way Harbaugh coaches at Michigan
I noticed that Jim Harbaugh suddenly got a few votes in a recent poll question on this site concerning the next coach for Michigan. After over 500 votes the clear preference is for Les Miles with Jeff Tedford creeping behind. For anyone who is thinking that Harbaugh might be a candidate– forget it. The bridge is not only burned but it is gone. Beating USC at their place is certainly a special victory but Harbaugh won’t coach in Ann Arbor in a billion million years. There are a few takeaways from the upset of Stanford over USC relevant to Michigan, both good and bad. On the positive side it is clear with every Mets-like collapse, with each Fighting Irish low point and with upsets like this, the Appalachian State debacle seems to be fading from the top of the poop list. Here’s CFN: Move over Appalachian State; Stanford just one upped you. ASU was a two-time defending national champion with a history of winning, and an excellent system in place, when it shocked the world with an upset over Michigan to begin the season. But as improbable as that was, it turns out Michigan just isn’t all that great. Also, if there’s usually going to be a big upset, it’ll come in the season opener when the supposedly superior team doesn’t have time…
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Under the WTKA tent….
Special to MVictors.com, a guest columnist breaks down the Bud Light WTKA mVictors Lounge Props to WTKA and the Bud Light Victors Lounge. Free beer, free food, Michigan football and strippers. Can you beat it? No. Nobody took their clothes off but when free beer is involved you never know what will happen. Budweiser and Mr. Roof sponsored the event which features not only Bud beer but also Smokehouse Blue BBQ. On hand for the pre-game show was WTKA’s Sam Webb, the Ann Arbow News’ Jim Carty, Steve Clarke and the rest of the WTKA crew. Enjoy a few pics from the event: You’ve got to get past this bad ass if you want into the coveted Victors lounge tent: Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider and gobluewolverine breaking down the EMU game: Would rather be a participant, the bar bartender inside the lounge: Hello, Dolly… A few of the talented ladies from Deja Vu that graced the Victors lounge. “What’s that, you two wanna kiss?”. Aw, just jokes:
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Inside the WTKA mVictors Lounge
We finally got an insider past the security and inside the 1050AM WTKA Victors Lounge today for the EMU game. I’ll provide some takes, photos, and reviews on our backstage access to the TKA pregame show on Sunday, that is assuming our undercover loungee doesn’t get too deep into the free Bud Light and Smokehouse grub. Beat Eagles and Go Blue! [Update: Here’s our insider’s take from under the tent of the mVictors Lounge.]
