I wore these little beauties this weekend: A few folks asked what the story is on these – it’s just pretty cool service available from adidas. Basically you can take many of the shoes/cleats/whatever from their catalog and trick them out your cotton-pickin’ maize and blue hearts content. Go to adidas.com and click on customize. Once you pick a style (menu of styles on the left toolbar) you want to start with you’ll be sent into a widget where you trick out the shoes – piece by piece, element by element, soles to lace eyelets . Here’s a screen shot of the widget doing its thing: Tips and FYIs: If you want the older school maize, go with the ‘gold’ color if it is available on your shoe. The yellow is more like the high maize you see on the unis today. The uniform blue is a richer (more navy-like) blue, the bluebird blue is UCLA-ish. The shoes are suitable quality (I’ve worn mine around for a few days) but don’t expect to get quality on par with a shoe you can buy off the shelf. The lettering (at least on my shoes MVICTORS) was embroidered which was a nice touch. They said it would take 4-5 weeks for delivery but I got mine in about 10 days. Most…
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Those Pearly Whites
Michigan has scheduled Oklahoma in 2025 and 2026, bringing to mind the epic all-white road uniforms we wore vs. the Sooners in the 1976 Orange Bowl. And don't forget the set the MMB rolled out:
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And I’ve Been Working Like a Dog
A Hard Night’s Day – via Hail to the Victors 2014. Yo! I’ve been wrapped up for a while with all kinds of stuff, including working on some interviews and pieces that you coming up soon or this fall. Things will being to ramp up on these pages soon heading up the season. Things to look for: Hail to the Victors 2014 – Within the pages of mgoblog’s annual epic preseason book, this time I dropped in a piece on the widely ignored 1964 Big Ten/Rose Bowl championship team. It takes you through the season primarily through the eyes of team captain Jim Conley, along with some help from his coach Bump Elliott and teammate Barry Dehlin. Earmuffs! It’s harsh – it’s spicy – and after you read it you won’t have a problem remembering the ‘64 team. GoBlueWolverine Mag – Coming out before the season, I dropped in my interview with Bump Elliott that you’ll dig – it talks about the ‘64 team of course, but also gets into Woody, Bo, Bump feeling on his own legacy and much more. 2014 Game Program – Still working on some stuff for the program (a few things in the works) and I interviewed both Dan Dierdorf and Jim Brandstatter. You’ll get the full interviews on these pages later on. A sneak…
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Hail, Hail to the Chief | Happy 101 Gerald Ford
A hearty salute to the memory of President Gerald Ford born July 14, 1913, who today would have turned 101. In honor of the 1934 team MVP, a repost. Here are a few of my favorite shots of the POTUS in and around campus. Above, via eBay one of the classic shots of Ford hiking the pigskin in the 1930s. Below, via the Bentley Library, Ford addressing captain Mark Messner and the team in 1988: Here with Bob Ufer kicking off his presidential campaign in 1976 at Crisler Arena: And finally at practice with General Bo: In honor of Ford’s 101st birthday, here is a repost of the speech President Ford delivered to the Annual Congressional Dinner of the University of Michigan Club back in March 1975 and worth a read: [Introductory portion omitted] You know, as a matter of fact, I can still remember spending a good part of my sophomore and junior years washing dishes in the DKE house–of which I was a proud member–and I mean washing dishes. As a matter of fact, I washed so many dishes I was the only athlete in Michigan history who ever had a football knee and dishpan hands at the same time. [Laughter] As I mentioned a moment ago, I was lucky enough to play football, first on Ferry Field…
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Speaking in Moderation | Black and Blue screening, Tuesday 6/17/2014
Yo! Tuesday night I’ll be attending/moderating the screening of Black and Blue at the Detroit Center (3663 Woodward Ave, Detroit 48201 map & directions). The event is sponsored by the U-M Club of Detroit. I’ll be joining my pal Brian Kruger of Stunt3 and we’ll entertain questions about the film of course, but we’re also willing to delve into booze, horses, women and politics. More here and here: * * * * U-M DETROIT CENTER TO HOST FILM SCREENING OF INSPIRING DOCUMENTRY “BLACK AND BLUE” Learn about an inspiring moment in collegiate football history on Tuesday, June 17 from 6 – 8 p.m., as the University of Michigan Detroit Center hosts a screening and discussion of the film “Black and Blue: The Story of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward and the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech Football Game.” This screening includes free admission, parking and complimentary refreshments. Emmy nominated producer Brian Kruger and sports historian Greg Dooley will moderate a brief discussion following the film. Locally produced by Stunt 3 Media and written by Buddy Morehouse and directed by Brian Kruger, “Black and Blue” follows the iconic story of two friends and one game during a time of civil injustice. During the 20th century in-heed of Jim Crow laws, it was commonplace for college athletic teams in the North to bench their black…
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Ufer’s Brazilian Soccer Buddy (1978 audio) | Storytime with Sap
[Ed. Via the extensive archives possessed by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis, a timely piece as we begin the 2014 World Cup..proving once again that you can tie Michigan football history back to anything.] Guest post by Steve Sapardanis In 1978, Bob Ufer had some hilarious stories along with a few “friends” he would often refer to during his radio broadcasts to further emphasize how great Michigan was doing and how the stars were aligning to match U-M’s football hopes and dreams that season. When Michigan travelled to South Bend to face Note Dame for the first time in 35 years, Ufer was ready. He had talked about this game for years and couldn’t wait for kickoff. Irish fans, still feeling the highs of their 1977 national championship, claimed that “God made the Irish #1.” Ufe had other ideas. As the seconds winded down in U-M’s epic 28-14 victory in South Bend, Ufer went on about how actor George Burns, who portrayed The Almighty in the movie, “Oh, God!” was seen leaving the ND sideline to walk over to shake Bo’s hand. Burns really wasn’t there of course, but the metaphor had already been cast – everybody loves a winner, even the gentleman upstairs! Then there was this. After the game Ufer proved that Michigan fandom extended all the way to…
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Model Athletes | Wire Photo Wednesday
WPW returns after a brief hiatus with a trip back to Ann Arbor in 1965, a few months following Michigan’s 34-7 Rose Bowl beatdown of Oregon State. The folks at Esquire Magazine visited Ann Arbor and came to the Sigma Chi house looking for a few good men to model summer clothes. This shot included a few of Bump Elliott’s champions strolling in the Arb: [Left to right above you’ve got Captain Jim Conley (Sr – End) in his prime, joined by Rick Sygar (Jr. – fullback), the lovely Jane Horsfall (class of ‘65), Jane’s boyfriend Bill Laskey (Sr. – End), and student Norm Legacki.] I recently caught up with Captain Conley recently who explained how it went down: MVictors: How did this shoot come about? Capt. Conley: “It started at the Sigma Chi house. It wasn’t about the athletes because, of course, because they can’t do that, but they could do it about the student athletes. Since our house was totally filled with athletes, it was pretty easy for them to round up the right amount of guys and put this whole spring fashion thing together. The guy that was doing it apparently was a U-M grad. He came to campus and he went and went to Sigma Chi house and said, ‘Hey guys, you want to get some…
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The 1 and the 7 | Storytime with Dr. Sap
Two of the most iconic numbers in Detroit Red Wings hockey history were determined by bunk bed assignments on the team train in the 1940s. Ted Lindsay & Gordie Howe were awarded the #7 and #9 jerseys respectively not because someone in the organization thought they’d be great, but because bunk beds #7 and #9 became available for Lindsay & Howe when they were just beginning their Hall of Fame NHL careers.
