• John Maulbetsch’s Diamond (1914)

    From reader and memorabilia collector Mark Bomia: Over the last couple years I acquired the entire John Maulbetsch estate. Maully was an All-American halfback for Michigan in 1914 and member of the College HOF. Some of these items, like most of his scrapbooks, I’ve donated to Bentley Library. One of the coolest pieces I still possess is Maully’s 1914 All-American ring, given to him by the “Ann Arbor Boys” in December 1914 when he was selected by Walter Camp. It is a gold ring with a .7 carat diamond with a block M on one side and “AA” on the other. The band has a congratulating inscription. Let me know if this is something your readers may enjoy. I can send pics, if interested. Naturally, I wanted to see the pics – pretty sweet: Bomia later shared, “The ring is 14k gold with a .7 carat VSI, D color diamond. The inscription on the inner band states ‘To Maully Maulbetsch from the Ann Arbor Boys Dec 1914.’  I’ve also included a signed letter from Yost congratulating Maully on his AA selection..” Maulbetsch was one of the first national celebrities for Michigan football, and he was featured in a 2017 season episode of ‘This Week in Michigan Football History’: He grew up in Ann Arbor and actually started career at Adrian…

  • One from Each (Michigan Football ticket stubs 1927-2017)

    One ticket from each season since Michigan has played in the Big House: Why not? Random Factoid: Did you know that there are only 2 seasons where the home ticket did not display the year that the game was being played? Indeed. First in 1967, as the ticket simply includes a logo and the words “One Hundred Fiftieth Year” celebrating the 150th anniversary of our beloved institution. The other instance?  That’d be last year, the season of infinite mediumness, which happened to be the 200th anniversary of U-M but no mention of this event is included on last year’s tickets.   HT to Mike D for pulling this video together.  I’m down with Mike D and it ain’t no hassle. Go Blue.  Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • Bogus Votes (1973), Wear 3 Coats (1950) | This Week In Michigan Football History

    This edition of #TWIMFbH first goes back to a dark day in recent lore, the 1973 Big Ten AD vote that sent the Buckeyes, not your beloved Meechigan men to the Rose Bowl.  But then we shoot back to 1950 to one of the wildest games in college football history – to be forever known as The Snow Bowl.  Go Blue!   Here’s the clip: ?TWIMFbH is sponsored by Hillside Terrace of Ann Arbor.  This segment can be heard on the Keybank Countdown to Kickoff and you can listen live on 1050AM in Ann Arbor & on wtka.com around the world.  This segment plays approximately 2 hours before kickoff each week – specifically around 10am Saturday morning before THE GAME. You can hear the archive of This Week in Michigan Football History clips here.    If you have suggestions for future games hit me on Twitter @MVictors.  Go Blue! /script …after the jump

  • Badgered | Dr. Sap’s Decals

    Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis is a Schembechler-era savant and once again this season 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.   OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – It’s always difficult awarding champions after a loss because, for the most part, no one typically will have played a perfect game. Mistakes were made all over the field, in all phases of the game. Having said all that, I’m awarding my decals to those players whom I feel demonstrated the ability to be game-breakers. I call that out because in order to beat Ohio State next week, players will need to step up and make plays. On offense that guy is Chris Evans. He seems to finally be healthy and quite possibly THE ONLY healthy runningback right now. He was close to going all the way against Wisconsin on a couple of plays, on Saturday. He can hit the home run and/or leap over defenders in a single bound as he did last week against Maryland. Hopefully #12 can channel his inner Clarke Kent because the offense could sure…

  • Frightening Football (1905) | This Week in Michigan Football History

    This edition of #TWIMFbH goes back to the Wisconsin game in 1905.   The Yostmen were still dominating on the field, and indeed putting up a point-a-minute.  But this was also scary time on the field for players, and in this game, it got downright scary off the field approximately 2,000 fans at Ferry Field.   Here’s the clip: TWIMFbH is sponsored by Hillside Terrace of Ann Arbor.  This segment can be heard on the Keybank Countdown to Kickoff and you can listen live on 1050AM in Ann Arbor & on wtka.com around the world.  This segment plays approximately 2 hours before kickoff each week. You can hear the archive of This Week in Michigan Football History clips here.    If you have suggestions for future games hit me on Twitter @MVictors.  Go Blue! /script …after the jump

  • 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…