I’ve heard a lot about the dogs Whiskey and Brandy providing Michigan Stadium some ball-chasing entertainment over the years, but I’m not sure I’d seen a video clip. Via the Dr. Sap Archives from halftime of the epic 1969 Ohio State game
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Harbaugh joins Mike & Mike (ESPN audio)
JH joined M&M. Harbaugh didn’t remind Golic that he was in the Notre Dame ass-kicking business, although he did keep them waiting for a few minutes to start the interview: Audio: [display_podcast] Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Harbaugh: The Legacy Hired Gun
Since the turn of the last century, as I see it the Michigan coaching hires have fallen into 2 buckets: Legacy Hires > under the Michigan Man umbrella, these are guys with playing and/or coaching experience in Ann Arbor before they took over. (And FWIW a lack of outside heading coaching success). Hired Guns > gents with head coaching “success” (let’s call it .550 or better) at other college programs but no previous coaching or playing experience at U-M. Harbaugh is the first hire that really falls on both sides of this divide, having had both college (& NFL for that matter) head coaching success along with U-M ties as a player and alumnus. A breakdown*: * I removed George Little who kinda/sorta coached U-M for one season in 1924 while Yost took a breather, and ok if I moved the Mendoza line for “success” down to .500 Hoke gets a check. A few thoughts: Of the 4 Hired Guns, I think Ivan Maisel of ESPN got it right, comparing this hire to that of Fritz Crisler who won two national titles at Princeton before taking over in Ann Arbor: For one thing, Harbaugh is the most successful head coach Michigan has hired since it swiped Fritz Crisler from Princeton in 1938. All Crisler did in 10 seasons in Ann…
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Jim Harbaugh & the Love Bug
Via the U-M Bentley History Library, from the September 1986 issue of the Ann Arbor News…coach Jim Harbaugh: He’s seated on the back bumper of his old “fender-flapping VW.” Bo knew about Harbaugh’s sled and, umm, didn’t care for it: “The car Harbaugh has should not be allowed on the streets.” Follow MVictors on Twitter
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The Huckleby Wink & The 1970s Player Introductions | Storytime with Dr. Sap
By Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis In the 1970s player introductions for college football games were very different compared to the productions that they are now. There were no fancy graphics, no computer-generated backgrounds, and no animations some forty years ago. While the intros back then lacked the glitz and glamour of today’s game, they made up for it in uniqueness and creativity. In 1973, the player introductions for the Michigan-Ohio State game were announced over the Michigan Stadium public address system. ABC-TV’s Bill Fleming was live on the field and had the players run-up to the on-field camera as he announced their names to the sell-out crowd and national TV audience, literally minutes before kickoff. Those introductions were epic and captured the emotion of the moment. None were better than Michigan’s Curtis Tucker, Dave Gallagher, and Paul Seal’s introductions. A few years later, ABC decided to use video mug shots at the Friday walkthroughs for both teams instead of delaying the start of the game with on-field player introductions. This was relatively boring as the players were usually just standing there in their team-issued sweat-suits as the camera moved down the line, one by one. Then, in 1978, Michigan tailback Harlan Huckleby added a subtle coolness to his intro for the game against Notre Dame. When the camera moved in…
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Jim Harbaugh and the Pro Pigskin | Storytime with Dr. Sap
[Ed. Dr. Sap is back and offers up some Bo-era flavor that comes from the treasure trove that is the Sap archives. –G] Guest Post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis When Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh scored on a quarterback draw against Notre Dame in 1985, little did he know that a photo of the classic TD would spark an interesting discussion in the national media. As Harbaugh crossed the goal line that afternoon, Ara Parseghian exclaimed on the CBS broadcast, “A quarterback draw – great call!” The next week, Sports Illustrated captured Harbaugh’s scoring play under the title, “A Cure For Bo’s Blues”: A couple of SI readers took notice of the NFL football Harbaugh was cradling in the photo. They were inspired to write the editor and ask why a collegiate athlete was using a professional pigskin:As noted by SI’s ED/Sir, this question was addressed by the NCAA and the next year they decided to modify their college footballs that were used by Division I schools. So when Michigan played at Notre Dame in 1986 Harbaugh was throwing around the new AFCRT Wilson 1001: It was the same model, size and shape as the NFL Wilson – it now just had a different, less professional-looking, stamp on it. Of course everyone then was asking, “What the heck does AFCRT…
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Operating Instructions for your Harbaugh
Great stuff from Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (HT: JP & GN). A snippet: Your Harbaugh does not function like other head coaches. An innocuous query about the weather, for instance, could trigger a florid quote from Admiral William Halsey. And yet a routine question about a running back’s knee injury may cause your Harbaugh to wince, pause and grimace as if a malodorous scent has wafted into the room. Your Harbaugh’s default in this instance is: “We don’t really talk about that here” or “I can’t get inside his body” or “He’s working through something.” This is a design flaw our technicians in California have not yet worked out. You may notice that your Harbaugh never shuts off. This is normal. [this –>] There are still a few bugs in the answer-response system. For instance, you may sense – due to a long pause – that your Harbaugh has completed an answer. You will begin to ask another question. You could be two sentences into your question when your Harbaugh suddenly continues his answer to the previous question. You will feel stupid. Do not be alarmed. This is normal. Full instructions (and warnings!) here. Related: Saving for Moe’s Business Time | Harbaugh Presser Photos Jim Harbaugh | Full Opening Press Conference Transcript Beautiful Day Will the Decals Return?…
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Saving for Moe’s
This was a highlight of yesterday’s presser for me: This time, we flew in, and they had a gift bag for the kids, hats, scarfs, sweatshirts, and that took me back to walking into Moe’s Sport Shop and looking at everything with big, wide eyes hoping you would get something. Moe’s Sports Shop gave us a 10- or 20-percent discount on coach’s families, and that’s what I would save my money for. I would cut lawns, shovel snow and rake leaves so that I could go to Moe’s Sport Shop to get a pair of basketball shoes or something with the block M on it. My kids were wearing, that and that took me back to a place. I know that feeling…and a tip of the hat to MVictors sponsor Moe’s for jumping on this one: Follow MVictors on Twitter
