[Ed. The conclusion of the Bo Brackets – a guest post once again by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis!] To celebrate the conclusion of the Bo Brackets, it was decided that the Championship Game would be played at the Rose Bowl. The 1973 squad was designated as the home team via coin toss and would wear their home blue jerseys. Conversely, the visiting 1980 M-Men would wear their white, road jerseys for this championship tilt. While both teams were directed by #1000SSS to wear commemorative patches below sewn on to their respective jerseys for this game…there was one slight problem.. …the 1973 team refused to put anything on their classic uniforms. U-M Equipment Manager, Jon Falk, balked at the idea of stitching the patch on the 1973 blues and told the media, “We don’t need a patch on that beautiful uniform. We didn’t wear one for our other bowl games in the ‘70s, so we’re not going to start now. No thank you.” The 1980 team had a different take on the patch. The same trail-blazing group that convinced Bo to have their names put on the back of their jerseys (see Uniform Timeline – 1979 and 1989 entries) and felt having a patch sewn on was no big deal. But General Bo wouldn’t be pushed too far. “Sure, I gave…
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Michigan’s Lion Kim at The Masters (Photos – Wednesday Practice Round)
Shots from the 2014 Masters Wednesday practice round of University of Michigan golfer Lion Kim.
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Wire Photo Wednesday | Taking a Timeout
It’s Spring Break for many here in Michigan and thus WPW takes the foot off the gas this week, featuring just one shot of General George S. Patton Schembechler: Schembechler Hall was dedicated this past weekend, and of course the centerpiece is the new Bo statue. Details on the 7 1/2 foot bronze Bo features the mandatory ‘M’ hat, sunglasses, a headset (with “BO” in Dymotape label) in his hand, and a Rose Bowl watch on his wrist. The above 35MM shot of Coach Bo looks to be in the ballpark of the era of the pose that was used for the statue, and that looks to be a Rose Bowl watch shining on his left wrist as he calls timeout. You can find that photo on eBay right now. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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The Bo Brackets | The Final Four Results
[Ed. Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis returns with the next round of the Bo Brackets. You can find background including how the teams were selected here, and a breakdown of the Schembechler 16 results here and the Elite 8 here.] Oosterbaan Region Champion – 1973 vs.Yost Region Champion – 1976Everybody expected this game to be a George Patton-like ground assault, but it didn’t start out that way. On the first play from scrimmage, 1976 sophomore QB Rick Leach called an audible and hit a wide open Curt Stephenson for a 76-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. Just as surprising was how the 1973 UM squad responded. Dennis Franklin completed three straight passes to Paul Seal, Gil Chapman and Clint Haslerig to set up All-American Mike Lantry’s 33-yard field goal, and that’s how the first quarter ended, 7-3 in favor of Bo’s 1976 group. The second quarter featured more of what everyone was expecting to see – three yards and a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Ed Shuttlesworth and Rob Lytle traded touchdowns in between another Lantry field goal. As Bo’s two best teams from the ’70s went into the locker room at halftime, the 1976 contingent was clinging to a one point lead, 14-13. In the third quarter, Leach overthrew a wide open Jim Smith and Dave…
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Brett Grill: The Artist the Bo Schembechler Statue
A few quick hitters on the Bo Schembechler statue. I spoke to the artist, Brett Grill, a few hours before the unveiling tonight – a few nuggets: Grill was identified by a art consultant that the athletic dept hired, and selected after a review of 3-4 other candidates. The only guidelines for the design were that Bo would be wearing an ‘M’ hat and no headset (on his head that is). He created 20-30 models, with different ideas on the pose, etc. He eventually created a scale model of the design selected. He interviewed family, friends and former players (including Jim Brandstatter & Fritz Seyferth) to understand as much about Bo as he could. His parents are Michigan alums – before the project his knowledge of Bo centered around watching him on TV as a child. Before the project Bo was more of a caricature (the guy Grill recalled yelling on the sidelines). Statue is 7 1/2 feet tall, made of bronze. He used actual Bo era artifacts for the project – including the headset and the Rose Bowl watch. One challenge was getting the contours of the jacket correct—he actually used a vintage jacket found on eBay to help get it right. Grill is an associate professor at the University of Missouri. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Big House English Football
Dave Brandon (center) and the folks responsible for the match at midfield today It’s official – Man U and Real Madrid will play August 2, 2014 at 4pm. Sounds like the delay in getting this announced was dealing with the pitch: how to get natural grass and how to get a field of adequate dimensions for a game. More details: Beer? Yes. Liquor license request is in the State Legislature but you can book it: Guinness will pour at the Big House on August 2. Field? They will bring in large chunks of natural grass 48 hours before the game and go through a process to weave a pitch. No platform. Team Benches? Likely somewhere in the stands (see below). Walls? Width of the field will bump right up to the perimeter so they’ll be padded. God forbid Giggsy cracks his melon open on the bricks. Tickets? For Michigan donors and season ticket holders, Monday April 7. Price Range: $45 – $189. Details. Other games? Unlike the hockey events at the Big House, unfortunately they won’t have any other matches on the pitch before or after the event. How will it look? Crude mock-up and yes, liberties taken with the field logo: Will you be there? Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Alert! Schembechler Hall 2.0 is here..and you can see it Saturday
Sad they went with “Win Wall” vs. my suggestion of “The Righteous Tower of Victory Pigskins”. A few photos of the renovation from a few weeks ago here. Via media relations: Towsley Museum inside Schembechler Hall Open to the Public on Saturday from 9 a.m. to Noon ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan Athletic Department will open the Towsley Museum inside Schembechler Hall to the public on Saturday morning (April 5) prior to the 2014 Mott Spring Game presented by PNC Bank. The museum will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon. The recently completed renovations to Schembechler Hall will be dedicated on Friday evening. The Towsley Museum features a Win Wall with footballs for each of the program’s 910 victories, displays with artifacts highlighting the history of Michigan football and a Legends area. There are interactive displays that highlight the complete history of Michigan football. A featured element in the renovation of Schembechler Hall is the life-size statue of Bo Schembechler outside the entrance to the building. The statue is an iconic sideline image of Bo in his classic sideline attire and includes his timeless quote, “Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.”
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You Sad, Bro?
SI’s Stewart Mandel thinks so: Maybe man. /sob. Maybe. It’s been a rocky ride [Ed. I added the updated Mood chart]: And as we are collectively trying to figure how to get over this hump, if you need to tune-up on your Crisler/Schembechler history lessons, tune in here.
