Remembering Bob UferRecognizing the legendary Michigan Man 25 years since we lost himANN ARBOR MICHIGAN OCTOBER 26, 2006 I learned today on WTKA 1050AM that this marks the 25th anniversary of the day we lost the legendary Michigan broadcaster, Bob Ufer. He truly was one of a kind. Hated by our rivals, loved by everyone from children to the elderly, his memory goes on in the tapes, DVDs, and even mp3s out there that reset his classic broadcasts. Judging from the phone call today into the radio show, he made a strong impact on many of the folks around this community. Here’s a website dedicated to people’s favorite memories of Ufer. He is of course most known for his radio career, and many know that Ufer lettered in track for the Wolverines. Did you know: -Bob Ufer grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh.-Ufer played freshman football at Michigan in 1939.-Ufer excelled at Track & Field at Michigan. He broke numerous Michigan records and, in 1942, shattered the World Indoor record in the 440 meters. It stood for 5 years. At one time he held 8 Michigan track records. He was certainly a candidate for the Olympics had World War II not canceled the games in 1940 and 1944.-In 1946, a year after he began broadcasting Michigan…
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Do you want a M/OSU BCS Rematch?
Rematch of Michigan and BuckeyesANN ARBOR MICHIGAN OCTOBER 26, 2006 A very common topic is the possibility of a BCS Championship rematch between current BCS #1 and #2 teams Ohio State and Michigan. The thought is that a close game during the November 18th Columbus battle would leave open the possibility of the loser not dropping too far in the polls, assuming USC and West Virginia lose somewhere along the way. I like how ESPN BCS-guru Brad Edwards addressed this in his weekly chat session on ESPN.com: Bill (Ann Arbor): If Michigan’s only loss of the season is to the #1 team in the country, why shouldnt they deserve a spot in the national championship game over the other 1 loss teams? Brad Edwards: Regardless of which team loses the Michigan-OSU game, there is an outside shot at a rematch for the national title, but I don’t think it could happen, barring extraordinary circumstances. For starters, the people who vote in the polls are basically deciding who finishes second, and as fans of the game, I doubt they would want to see a rematch unless there just isn’t another attractive one-loss team out there. Maybe a bigger point, though, is that it would be unfair to the winner of the game. Can you imagine if Michigan went into the Horseshoe…
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Running the Gauntlet: Iowa Recap
Hawkeyes Prove a Big Test to Sluggish WolverinesANN ARBOR MICHIGAN OCTOBER 21, 2006 The Blue grinded out another win in this perfect season, this time pulling away from Iowa in the fourth quarter. This completes a brutal stretch of games: Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, and now the Hawkeyes, all in consecutive weeks. Once again the defense created fits for the opposing offense and the M offense slowly wore down the opposing D. With this win, it is now very likely that the Blue will march into Columbus unscathed for a battle they are already calling “Armageddon”. While everyone is having a love affair with the 2006 Wolverines I’d like to share a few concerns. Here are the takes from the game along with a few nitpicks: – Shaky, Shaky. While they got it done, there were some tense moments out there, and the overturned fumble (and the awarding of the first down) in the fourth quarter proved huge. What’s right is right: Hart’s knee was down and he probably had enough for the first down. You couldn’t help but think about the quality of opponent here, with Iowa getting crushed by Ohio State at home and losing to Indiana. The Hawkeye D at the time looked dominating as it stuffed Hart and had Chad Henne running…
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The Winner By Knock-out
Wolverines grind out tough one in State College ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN OCTOBER 14, 2006 Michigan passed the biggest test of the season thus far, dropping Penn State for the eighth straight time by knocking out the Lions’ first and second string QBs. The PSU fans wore their lily whites in support of JoPa, and Lloyd Carr called it the loudest crowd he’s ever played in front of (sorry Oregon, but Carr would never acknowledge such an honor to a non-Big Ten stadium). Here are the takes on this game: – Sack Men. Seven sacks, along with 9 other Tackles for Loss, 2 quarterbacks knocked out. Penn State didn’t know what hit them. The third string QB had absolutely no chance, the screen pass for a touchdown was a fluke. Chalk this win up to the defense. The M ‘D’ remained the #1 against the rush in the nation, with all the sacks and the domination of Tony Hunt netted PSU negative yardage on the ground. Here’s a link I found from the official NCAA site that updates team and individual statistics very quickly, and provides comparisons against a team’s league and all the other NCAA teams. – Drops. If there was one downside to the game it had to be a the drops. Michigan had a few drops both by…
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Jim Herrmann’s Head
Speculation on Jim Herrmann’s demise, M defense’s return to dominance SALINE, MICHIGAN SEPTEMBER 23, 2006 Late in the second half, Tim Jamison came off the left end and had a free run at Wisconsin quarterback John Stocco. It was another sack for the Wolverines, who effectively brought a halt to the entire Badger offensive on Saturday leading to Michigan’s redemption of the famed Little Oaken Axe of Rosedale trophy. Michigan’s front four is flat out dominating play right now, bringing pressure to the QB and making the backs change direction. While it is still early in the season, Michigan has the #1 rushing defense in the country with teams netting just 18.5 yards/game. And while the Blue have yielded a moderate amount of passing yards, much of that was in garbage time at the end of the game. Ron English, after quickly resigning from the Chicago Bears this season after being offered the defensive coordinator job, has now transformed Michigan into a dominant bunch. So what happened to the man and his defense that once was the toast of the college football world, leading the Wolverines to the 1997 National Championship? Displaced defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann had a great team in 1997, led by an incredible group of linebackers and one of the greatest college football players of all-time in…
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Silence in South Bend: 2nd Half
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Still Running: Blue Stomp CMU
Michigan continues focus on running game heading into big one in South Bend ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 This one was over early, as Michigan quickly established the run on the overmatched Central Michigan Chippewas. Nothing much was learned from week 1 to week 2. We know the running game looks better as does the defense. Meanwhile the Irish crushed Penn State all over the field and head into Saturday as a 6 point favorite over the Blue. Here are the takes on this game:– Lightning Delay. We experienced the first ever weather-related delay in the history of Michigan stadium, pausing for 1 hour in the second quarter as a few bolts came down within 6 miles of the stadium. – Passing Game. A few things have to bug you here. First, Michigan really hasn’t shown it can effectively beat a team through the air. The good news is that they didn’t need to against the first two opponents. But they’ll need to air it out against Notre Dame to win – this is a given. In addition, Henne saw a lot of pressure from CMU and Vanderbilt. If he’s getting pressured against these chumps, what is going to happen when the Irish are rushing him? – Sec. 22 Sightings. It’s always interesting to witness the comings and goings…
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Plain English: M Stifles Vanderbilt 27-7
Michigan gets back to the basics, stifles Vanderbilt ANN ARBOR MICHIGAN SEPTEMBER 2, 2006 While it wasn’t mid-way through the fourth quarter that the win was secured, most M fans had already seen the things they wanted to see: an undisputed domination of the line of scrimmage . Renewed Offensive Coordinator Mike DeBord moved the Blue to a zone-style blocking scheme that seemed effective in creating chances for Mike Hart. And new Defensive Coordinator Ron English’s d line was playing in the Vanderbilt backfield all day. The day was far from perfect. There were several mistakes that stalled or killed drives: penalties, dropped passes, poor field goal attempts and bad passes to cite a few. And while the Denver Bronco-style blocking scheme freed up Mike Hart for major yardage, Vanderbilt seemed to adjust in the second half and also put a lot of pressure on Chad Henne throughout the game. As pointed out by many of the players during the post game presser, there are many issues to resolve. Here are the takes on this game: – 171-9. Say what you want about the opponent, this is still a team that beat Tennessee last year and just missed knocking off Florida in the Swamp. Losing Jay Cutler to the draft was obviously a huge loss, but the Commodores had plenty…
