Guest Post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Before we examine the 2015 decal (which we started in Phase I here) we need to look back at the evolution of the Michigan Football helmet decals. 1969-1974 Version #1 – When Bo introduced the helmet stickers at Michigan in 1969 (Version 1), they were solid, maize-colored, crudely shaped footballs. These were used through the 1974 season. Here’s Don Moorhead’s helmet as featured on HelmetHut.com: 1975-1982 Version #2 – The decal shape became more oval and the snarling wolverine head was added. There was now a left-facing version, and a right-facing version. Here is a good look at them from one of Jim Dack’s helmets (find more info on Jim’s collection at wolverinehelmet.com): The other distinction with this version was that the wolverine image was actually clear, thus allowing the blue helmet paint to make the wolverine appear blue: Because the design was made 40 years ago, there was no high-end computer program like Photoshop that was used to create the snarling Wolverine head graphic. It was probably created using Line Art. Notice the level of detail on the hair, teeth and nose of the wolverine. The more you zoom in, the more detail you will see. 1983-1984 No Helmet Stickers. The mystery of this two-year stretch discussed here. 1985-1994 Version 3 –…
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Beaver Beatdown – Sights & Sounds (Michigan 35, Oregon State 7 – 2015)
“I GUESS I HIT THAT HOLE YOU NERDS!” (via Michigan Daily) Following another Smith score to put U-M up 26-7, Harbaugh personally called for the 2 point conversion. He gave some kind of signal to the celebrating players – it looked like a bear claw from the press box. He sat hunched over outside the team area basically begging for Rudock and a few other guys to get the message and line up—flashing the bear claw gesture as hard as he could. Rudock and crew eventually got the message, lined up, and successfully executed the 2 point conversion to put U-M up 28-7. On the trot back to the sideline Rudock tried to slide back to the bench with the rest of the unit but Harbaugh put his hand in Rudock’s chest—stopping him in his tracks. There was a quick chat between QB and coach, I assume something along the lines of maintaining composure even after a TD and paying attention. After the chat, #4 delivered a pair of hearty butt slaps and Rudock went back to the bench. Here’s the deal – Harbaugh is in absolute control (most of the time) of the sideline and what the players are doing on the field. The only other way he’d have it is if the rules allowed him to play a…
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Dr. Saps Decals – Going Rough on the Beavers
Ed. Oh my – we’ve waited for this day since Sap’s been doing decals. We said we’d do this until the helmet stickers returned. Well, they are back but that doesn’t mean Sap can’t continue with his weekly champions – you need it, I need it and here they are: OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – I loved how hard De’Veon Smith ran today. Yes his 23 carries for 126 yards and 3 TD’s were personal bests (along with his 2-point conversion catch), but I was all over his intensity. He reminded me of a few other tough runners. Brandon Minor is the obvious choice because of his number, similar size and stature, but two other punishing backs came to mind: Frank Gore and Billy Taylor. Those guys, much like Smith, preferred to run you over versus running out of bounds. Dig it!! DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Chris Wormley was all over the field on Saturday. Six tackles, with three of them being TFL, were huge, but his timely sack near the OSU goalline signified a shift in the game, in my opinion. Getting pressure from the DL was key in shutting down the Beavers and #43 was a big factor in that. SPECIAL TEAMS – Delano Hill had a tremendous game on Special Teams today. While I couldn’t award a helmet sticker to…
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Decalanalysis: Phase I
Rest assured I’ve forwarded several pics of the helmet stickers to Dr. Sap and we’ll have his full analysis later. For now, a few observations on the 2015 helmet stickers. First off, they appear to match the size and design of the 1985-1994 version of the helmet stickers (click here for your primer on U-M decal history) with a few exceptions: A few things stick out (note the 2015 photo above was taken from the field so it’s a tad distorted): (1) The tone of maize on the 2015 version thankfully generally matches the move to a darker maize on the uniform. (2) There is a blue border around the oval in the 2015 version (3) There is a bit of clear trim around the outside of the new decal. I won’t get into it in this post, but the wolverine in the 2015 sticker has less detail – clearly. I know Dr. Sap will have some thoughts on this. Latest Uniform Timeline here. Update: Good question from MGoShoe – Q: Orientation different? Or, do they point in different directions based on helmet side? Answer: the 2015 does have both left and right facing versions of the decals. It looks like the players had discretion on how and where to arrange the stickers (or the equipment staff was inconsistent). Follow…
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Look For This
It looks like a beautiful day out there. A little nip in the but right now, barely a cloud in the sky. A couple of things to look for out there today: Michigan Helmet Stickers, version #4 – We’re collectively still not clear on what they look like (**Update – now we do, see below). Given Harbaugh’s propensity to bring stuff back from the Bo era, my gut says they’ll be similar to version #3 that the Wolverines wore from 1985-1994 or version #2 from 1975-1982, maybe smaller. Of course version #3 is what they looked like when Coach Harbaugh was quarterback Harbaugh: Hopefully, the new decals will have updated maize and blue tones to match the 2015 helmet and jersey. Remember we’ve whiffed on this before with the first incarnation of the helmet numbers – which would have been a closer match to the 2015 helmet: ** Update: These indeed appears to be mimicking version “#3” – the 1985-1994 version. We’ll be sending something to the Dr. Sap labs for full analysis: Jerseys – Look for the darker tone of blue on the jerseys – almost black to the naked eye – along with the darker maize pants and stripes. Do you have that pair of pants in your closet that is such a dark blue that you question…
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Freshman Quarters
Via a piece in the Portland Tribune: In the bowels are meeting room, training rooms and team locker rooms. The Wolverines have separate locker rooms for the freshmen and upperclassmen, a throwback to the Bo Schembechler era. “Bo wanted the freshmen to be by themselves for a year so they could become a very tight group,” Ablauf says. “The idea was, that would benefit them by the time they’re seniors and leaders on the team. We got away from that when the renovation happened in 2010. When Coach Harbaugh came in, he re-established the separate locker rooms.” Interesting. Don’t think I’d heard that, and despite personally being in the in the bowels (including the main locker room) for media day, I don’t recall seeing a separate area. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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TWIMFbH – Winning the September Heisman (2009)
Admit it. Perhaps not to the extent of @mgojen, but you have a few fond memories of the RichRod era. You squealed like a little girl when this happened back in 2009: It was indeed a fantastic moment in an otherwise rough stretch. All this happened six years ago this Saturday so why not? It’s the subject of This Week in Michigan Football History: [display_podcast] Don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge when they lace them up in Ann Arbor. See you out there. Script: While Rich Rodriguez’s tenure in Ann Arbor was widely a struggle, it certainly wasn’t without its moments. One of those came on this day 6 years ago, and Charlie Weis and his #18 ranked Fighting Irish visited the Big House for what would prove to be another epic chapter of the great rivalry between our storied programs. The Wolverines got the upper hand early, as over 110,000 fans saw the Blue jump to a 14-3 lead thanks to a Brandon Minor run and at the end of the first quarter and a blazing 94-yard kickoff return by Daryl Stonem. But the second quartered was owned by the Irish as quarterback Jimmy…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals – Bumper Stickers for the Utes
Bo reveals his “bumper stickers” in 1969 (via the illustrious Dr. Sap Archives) Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis returns with his decal-worthy champions for the games. I’ve always said we’d do this until the helmet stickers return. Will they return in 2015? In the meantime: Offensive Champion – I thought Jake Butt showed that he is ready to have a huge, breakout year. The play-action waggle play that Brian Griese brought to prominence back in the late 1990’s is going to be the bread and butter of this offense – provided Michigan can run the ball better than what they did last night – and no one is going to benefit more from this play than Butt. His touchdown grab was money and showed that he is ready to be the go-to-guy on offense. Defensive Champion – What can I say about Jabrill Peppers? I have never seen a defender make blockers miss and use the swim-technique so well and so fluidly to get to the ball like #5 did last night. You can see that this guy has been coached well and has been blessed with some tremendous talent. The scary part? He is only going to get better! Special Teams Champion – I liked how Blake O’Neill effectively used his Aussie punting style to flip field position and limit…
