My annual post outlining your checklist before entering Michigan Stadium on Saturday. Optional for 2014: A. MaraWatch – Only required if you want to look cool and have everyone like & respect you. Only then. B. Tricked out customized adidas – Only for the true players (see A.) C. Blow-up Doll(s) – To help fill up the empty seats around you. D. Stick/Rope/Towel – ..to bite down on to help ease the pain if you see 98 running for his life against App St, or if TFLA remains in triple digits. The rest: 1. Radio with quality Headphones. Forget the latest incarnation of the “official” radio that sticks on your ear (do they have another one in 2014?), they are unreliable. Bring in a radio you trust to listen to the play-by-play from Brandy and Dan Dierdorf on WTKA 1050AM. You’ll get injury reports, sideline observations, statistics and analysis of key plays that are under review (although Brandstatter always seems to think the replay will goes Michigan’s way). You can also check out the entire pregame show and This Week in Michigan Football History as it plays. Probably most critical: with the radio in your ears you can block out the blabber from the fool nearby who won’t shut his Twizzler hole as he belts out play-by-play and screams down…
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104,559 Asses – The History of The Wave at Michigan Stadium (1983)
Origins of 'The Wave' at Michigan Stadium (1983)...
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The Jug Rivalry: Illustrated
Congrats to Ken Magee and Jon Stevens for pulling together their outstanding book The Little Brown Jug: The Michigan-Minnesota Rivalry to be released on September 1. I helped them out with a few things – some of the history of course and with a few photos – and from the early specs I’ve seen the book is a fantastic way to consume the history of this great rivalry. The photos alone – over 200 inside – are off the charts. Props to Kenny and Jon for scouring the earth to dig up many of the beauties inside. My buddy Oscar Munson made the cover: Here’s the official release: The battle for the Little Brown Jug continues: New book commemorates Michigan-Minnesota football rivalry Though the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota may be in different divisions after this year’s game, the 110-year legacy of the Little Brown Jug lives on. In the latest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s Images of Sports series, authors Ken Magee and Jon Stevens take readers on a visual journey of this iconic rivalry’s history in The Little Brown Jug: The Michigan-Minnesota Football Rivalry. “We hope that the readers will gain a better appreciation for these two great universities and how much of football parallels history,” Magee said, “be it the early century, roaring 20s ……
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Reintroducing Dan Dierdorf, Michigan Man | Interview
You probably know that this season longtime U-M color analyst Jim Brandstatter shifts over one chair, replacing Frank Beckmann as the play-by-play man. Next to him will be Brandy’s former teammate and pal, longtime NFL broadcaster & Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf. Before the season I got to chat with these guys for a piece for the game program--so look for that each Saturday.
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Getting Stuck with Krash
This season longtime local sports radio voice, M sideline reporter, & mgo-misc. host Doug Karsch will co-anchor the Michigan radio network Tailgate Show with former U-M All-American Jon Jansen. Karsch will also continue his sideline reporting duties as part of the play-by-play broadcast. I’m pulling together a piece on the new show and recently chatted with Karsch. Listeners of the radio broadcast know that Beckmann & Brandy referred to Karsch as “Krash”. I never knew why, admittedly never asked, but either way, I never really cared for it. I’m not sure why – I figured it obviously had something to do with Doug’s last name and I guess I assumed Frank or Brandy just thought it was funny to call him Krash. Meh. Anyway, when I chatted with Doug recently I asked him about the nickname and if ‘Krash’ was going to endure in Frank’s absence. Here’s what Doug told me: “I’ll tell you how it started and what’s funny is that I’ve been broadcasting since 1993 and I get asked more about that than anything else. It was my first year doing sideline, it was 2006 and Michigan had a game at Minnesota. The whole team arrives [at the hotel] and I was the last to check in. I was a rookie and I’m just waiting. The team checked…
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Real Madrid vs. Manchester United | Sights & Sounds from Michigan Stadium (2014)
Rooney turns on one in the first half (MVictors photo) Quick hitters: What an awesome event. For all the beatings #1000SSS has taken lately, hats off to Hunter Lochmann and Dave Brandon for putting this together. Strongly feel we need to keep using this facility for events like this. Fielding Yost would have loved this. I was naive to think there’d be a big overlap between Michigan football fans and this event. Wrong, this was a completely different crowd and demographic. Evidence: The traffic mess..but not because NB Ann Arbor-Saline was closed. It was because of the noobs. From the east folks figured the best way to get to the stadium was down M-14 to downtown. From the south, the masses went to the Washtenaw exit off of 23 – which IIRC is where the signs tell you to go. Yikes. Backups started 3-4 hours before the game. The Wave..your old lame friend The Wave was spun up in the first half but..it was actually kind of cool. No, not because the wave is cool, but because unofficially 99.4% of the crowd participated and screamed like girls. It felt like 1989. Languages..circling the field I think I heard 7-8 different languages. Newsflash: Ronaldo is indeed one handsome cat. And it was pretty cool when he stepped down on the field…
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Manchester United Practice at Michigan Stadium (2014)
A few from Michigan Stadium tonight so dig it: Football player! New 98 looking fit and rocking Michigan From the Heart t-shirt Ryan Giggs! Ryan Giggsy! Wayne Rooney! Yes man, it’s big Giggs meets Devin!? What? What? Grass back on the M Stadium pitch
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Bo Peels and Plants | Wire Photo Wednesday
Here’s a candid shot of General Bo in the bowels of the snakepit peeling off his wildly long coaching socks following the 14-3 victory over the Buckeyes on November 25, 1978. This was the final battle with Woody in the Ten Year War and gave Schembechler the 5-4-1 edge in the series. To celebrate Bo flashed his feet and treated the media to the gun show: Next up, continuing with the candid shots of Bo, here he’s planting one on Miss Texas Luann Caughey as the team arrived for the 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl. It almost looks like Bo went straight for the lips…but Luann evaded him with a quick lateral move? Thankfully Bo didn’t enjoy Texas too much.
