Just a few from pregame, much more later. More later and follow MVictors on Twitter
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Sap’s Salute to Frank Beckmann
[Ed. Saturday night is of course the final call for longtime play-by-play man Frank Beckmann. I’ve offered up a couple of salutes on these pages around the Ohio State game, but this week Dr. Sap shared a few touching thoughts on Beckmann that I wanted to pass along.] Guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Before Frank Beckmann took over the reins from Bob Ufer as the “Voice of Michigan Football,” Frankie cut his teeth on the radio broadcasts by doing the locker room interviews. As a Michigan Fan who grew up with Bob Ufer, I gotta tell ya, I did NOT like Frank’s style initially. There was no horn blast after every TD.There was no, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 TOUCHDOWN MEECHEEGAN!!” call. Ufer’s passing marked the end of my innocence for Michigan Football. It would never be the same again. Sure, I was 16 years old at the time, but to me, Ufer WAS Michigan Football. Who was this Beckmann guy, anyway? Frank’s tenure as the Voice of Michigan Football would signal a change in my Michigan fanhood. During Frank’s run, I grew up as a person and as a fan. Sure, I would continue to follow the maize and blue, but the result of the games would no longer determine my mood for the remainder of the…
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Practice Quotes / Borges & Mattison
If you are reading this tonight – congrats, you are a diehard. Speaking of diehards, I’ll be at the game with bells on with a man on the field taking photos so check back in here starting Friday for updates from Tempe. Via BWW Bowl media relations: Michigan Practice Quotes / Chaparral High School / December 24, 2013 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Al BorgesUpdate on QB situation? “Devin (Gardner) is still day-to-day, but if we played yesterday, it would definitely be Shane (Morris).” What is (Morris’) comfort level? “We’ve had a lot of time to get him ready and take the No. 1 reps, which he’s never done before. He’s come along nicely. He’s studied hard. He’s really worked at it. It’s showed up because he’s improved a lot from the first day we started bowl practices to today, which is natural because he has had the reps.” Not having practiced since November, how much could Devin Gardner play? “Who knows? He knows the offense. That’s what’s good. If we could get him a few practices, I think he would become very functional because Devin’s smart and he stays on top of things pretty good.” Do any young players stand out in practice? “Not really. The biggest thing is that we don’t have any disappointments. In recruiting, when you start playing…
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No Passing Fancy
On today, Jim Harbaugh’s 50th birthday, a nice time for another guest post from Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis. While it’s no shock that Bo Schembechler didn’t like to put it up in the air, check out this breakdown by Sap. Guest Post by Steve Sapardanis Woody Hayes taught Bo Schembechler a lot of football lessons. One that resonated with Bo was the importance of running and possessing the football. The thinking was establishing a powerful ground game would almost certainly ensure victory, because by the end of the game you would be able to impose your will on your opponent. When that happens, your opponent will have been morally and physically defeated. Besides, when you throw the football, three things can happen, and as Woody liked to say, two of them were bad. You think Bo forgot this? I pulled the passing stats for every game during the Bo era at Michigan (1969-1989) to see if there was any statistical correlation to Bo’s disdain for throwing the football and losing. Sure enough, I found something. In the 21 years that Bo coached at Michigan, his teams only attempted more than 25 passes just 23 times. The Wolverines lost 20 of those games. And before Jim Harbaugh arrived, Bo had lost 17 straight games when attempting more than 25 passes. In…
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Holy Moly! The Rosy Grail (1902 Rose Bowl Program)
There are certain pieces of Michigan football memorabilia that many would consider a holy grail of sorts. Really anything to do with the 1901 perfectly perfect season fits that bill nicely (I’m still kicking myself for not buying this 1901 season pass), and there’s probably nothing more precious than this beauty. Earlier this year local collector Ken Magee of Ann Arbor Sports Memorabilia snagged an original game program from the 1902 Rose Bowl, yes, the birth of the Granddaddy of the All.
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All-Inclusive Excursion (Michigan-Ohio State 1906)
Oh, I want this but it’s a little pricey for my blood. Recently offered up on eBay was this beauty: What you have here is a sign promoting a road trip to the 1906 game in Columbus against Ohio State. $3.25 bought you a round trip train ride leaving at 7:40 a.m. from the Gandy Dancer, getting you back in town at 11:40 a.m. drenched in tobacco and alcohol. I love it. And yes, your beloved Yostmen returned home on that evening of October 20, 1906 the Victors, pulling out a 6-0 in Columbus. A ruckus train ride no doubt ensued. Some other wild stuff on eBay right now: * A cane belonging 1896 Michigan center John Wombacher:
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Wearing the Game Changer
In The Shawshank Redemption, while recapping how Andy Dufresne walked through the prison wearing the warden’s shoes, Red asks, “I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes?” That’s probably fair, unless we’re talking about Billy Taylor’s Pumas of course. Many of you know this season I got to test drive one of the products of my sponsor MaraWatch. Unlike Andy’s shoes the watch was noticed—throughout the season I fielded compliments heading into the stadium, on the field by alums, and even up in the press box by my media buds. I also got to know the man behind the operation, Shashi Mara. We met a few weeks back in Ann Arbor and I got to see the whole collection and the different straps. The dude has a great story and an intense passion for his product—down to the finish on the underside of the buckles. I love it. Over coffee Shashi shared a sneak peek at a couple videos he was pulling together to promote the brand. They’ve since been finished and they are pure gold–here’s my favorite: Interested in wearing one? For the holidays they’ll donate 10% of the sale price to a charity such as the Charles Woodson Clinical Research Fund or the Blavin Scholars Fund. or perhaps something that’s close to you. …
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Seeing Seven Sign
I bumped into Ricky Leach last night when he was up at WTKA last night signing photo of he and Bo taken following the 1978 win over the Buckeyes. Last week on air Leach promised anyone who donated $50+ to Debbie Williams-Hoak’s Magic of Christmas campaign that they’d receive a personalized copy from Old #7 and he obviously came through. Here’s what he put on mine: Major props to Ira, Sam and the folks at WTKA for once again posting a record-breaking number of kids “adopted”..and hats off to saint Debbie for all she does in driving this great program. Follow MVictors on Twitter
