A video of my complete guest lecture at U-M course EDUC 212: The History of Intercollegiate Athletics. The topic is the career of Fielding H. Yost. In Part I we cover his early life and coaching career before Michigan, and just into his first season in Ann Arbor. Part II gets into his coaching and AD career, and legacy.
-
-
Top 25 Michigan Football Players of All-Time
One method is to compare players from the same era—and I get that—but that’s not what I went for here. With some input from a few Wolverine historians here’s a list of the top twenty-five Michigan football players of all-time.
-
The Impact of Bump Elliott
Tally up Bump Elliott's accomplishments as an athlete, an assistant coach, a head coach & finally as an athletic director. When you are finished you must conclude that this man had one of the most impactful careers in the history of the Big Ten.
-
1917, 2012 and The Willis Ward Game (1934) – This Week in Michigan Football History
For Saturday’s epic battle against the Spartans, we start briefly with a game in 1917 when the Spartans were the Aggies of M.A.C. We then fast forward to nearly a decade later to 2012 when four field goals got the job done, and on that day we honored Willis Ward – the African American star who was forced to sit out the 1934 Georgia Tech game.
-
Stickers All Around | Dr. Sap’s Decals
Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis is a Schembechler-era savant and once again he’ll be diligently handing out his postgame helmet stickers after each game. Sap has pored over hours and hours of U-M games over several decades, and in these posts he’s able to tie the present to the past. I encourage you to subscribe to Dr. Sap on YouTube, or follow Sap on Twitter: By Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Before I talk about how great the entire Michigan team played in all phases of the game on Saturday, and before I talk about how Michigan outhit Nebraska in all phases of the game, that performance (for both teams) should serve as a reminder for everyone on how much work it takes to restore a once-proud & mighty program back to where it was a few decades earlier. Attitudes have to change and players have to buy in to the new staff’s direction. Remember the “All In For Michigan” slogan a few years/coaches ago? The Michigan program, players & fanbase have been exactly where Nebraska is right now. It takes time – and a few blowouts like this – but The Big Red will be back, just not this year. Enough perspective – onward to some helmet stickers! OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – There have been some impressive offensive performances down through the…
-
The Legend Bennie Oosterbaan | This Week in Michigan Football History
This Week in Michigan Football History returns for the home opener with a honoring the Michigan legend Bennie Oosterbaan who was officially launched into the Michigan Football Legends program on this Saturday back in 2012: Check it out Saturday live from the Go Labatt Blue Victors Lounge and on WTKA 1050AM starting at 8am. script after the jump:
-
See Harry Newman Stuff Pug (1932)
Have a look at these shots from Michigan’s 1932 battle with Northwestern played in the Big House: The ball carrier is #23 Earnest “Pug” Rentner, an All-American back for the Wildcats. Here’s another shot in a separate eBay auction featuring Michigan’s star Harry Newman apparently snatching a ball out of mid-air: The caption attached to the second shot claims this is Newman intercepting a pass from Rentner, but I’ve seen no evidence in the recaps that Newman got a pick in this game. He did a bunch of other things (fumble recovery, long passes, punt return, a field goal, etc.) but no interception. Despite the sparse Big House crowd (it was the Depression, man) this game was one of the most anticipated match-ups along Michigan’s march to the 1932 national title. The Wildcats had put together quite a squad in the early 1930s and shared the conference crown with Harry Kipke’s Wolverines in 1930 and 1931 but…the teams didn’t face each other those seasons. Via Hail to the Victors 2012: Pug and The Purple GangThe next week was the most anticipated battle of the season. Northwestern and Michigan shared both the past two conference titles and two of the biggest stars in college football: the Wildcat’s 1931 All-American back Earnest “Pug” Rentner and of course U-M’s dangerous Harry Newman. As…
-
Luring Tom Harmon (1937)
Eighty years ago today on November 13, 1937, this Western Union telegram landed in Ann Arbor (a copy was later obtained by the Michigan Daily and plastered on the front page): In the fall of 1937 things were a bit dicey for the football program. Since the 1933 national championship, coach Harry Kipke’s crew had just a handful of wins on the field. And in November 1937 the university launched a well-publicized investigation of the program, suspecting that football players were being “subsidized.” Kipke was sitting atop a flaming hot seat. If you need a two-minute version of Kipke’s mess, check out this episode of This Week in Michigan Football History: As the drama unfolded, eyes turned to Michigan freshman Tom Harmon. Despite the struggles on the field (..but perhaps due to some of the questionable behavior off the field), Kipke landed the multi-sport high school superstar from Gary, IN. In the fall of ‘37, he suited up for the freshman football team as was required back then. Harmon’s athletic exploits in high school made him widely known in the sporting world and even as a freshman, having yet to take a snap on the varsity squad, a Chicago Tribune headline dubbed frosh Harmon a “star”. Suddenly Harmon found himself involved in the off-field drama. He was named in the…
