So we have two photos of the original, what I call the “Oscar Jug”, i.e., the Little Brown Jug as it looked after Minnesota equipment man Oscar Munson found the jug, brought it to AD Doc Cooke and painted it up. Readers of this site have seen these a few times but here they are: You know I’m a fan of Jil Gordon, artist, creator of True Blue 365, famed LBJ score painter agreed to take on a special project for me. I received this today, and…wow: I’ll be toting it around tomorrow. A huge thanks to Jil – this is awesome. Follow MVictors on Twitter
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One More for Big Jon
Pure Gold. Via Scott at The Blockhams: And check out the Brown Jug-themed strip here.
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Growing the Jug Brotherhood…with Dilithium
On the week of the Little Brown Jug game, is there a better time to welcome a member of the Jug Brotherhood? James Heike A hearty congratulations to James who created a beautiful replica jug, sent me the pics and his story and thus punched his ticket to eternal glory. He’ll never have to buy a drink again in Ann Arbor or Minneapolis. Here’s a look: And don’t look now but James went the extra mile getting it signed by #16. Proof that Denard signs jugs if you ask him nicely: James, let’s hope that Michigan wins and paints the new scores somewhere other than immediately above the Michigan ‘M’ (which seems to be the clubhouse leader in the local betting houses) so you don’t have to make a tough decision on your Denard signature :) Here’s Heike’s story in his own words: My buddy’s been bugging me to write in for a year or two now and in the spirit of jug week, I figured I’d finally share the story of my own Little Brown Jug, how it came to be, and what makes it just a little bit different from the other jugs you’ve featured on the site over the years. It all started 2 years ago. Michigan 58 – Minnesota 0I was in my living room with…
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Losing, Faking and Finding The Little Brown Jug (1931-1933)
Many of you know one of the best stories of Little Brown Jug Lore happened during the early thirties when the jug disappeared from U-M Administration building on campus (now the home to the Ticket Office FWIW). When I dug deep investigating this legend back in ‘09 I learned pretty quickly that U-M didn’t quite have the story straight. After some vintage MVictors-pestering I convinced #1000SSS to change the summary of the events in the 1930s in the online history on mgoblue.com and in the weekly game program. Unfortunately the old version is still stuck in the weekly press release: I’ll work on this next season. To summarize, no, the jug wasn’t missing between 1930 and 1934–it was actually 1931 and 1933. And saying “the actual jug was found behind a clump of bushes by a gas station attendant..” is mixing up two parts of the story and two separate reappearances of jugs in Ann Arbor. Seriously. For those who don’t know the full story, here’s a remixed version of what really happened in the 1930s: Sometime in mid-September, before the start of the football season in those days, the jug vanished from its home at the University of Michigan Administration building. News of the trophy’s disappearance made the headlines and U-M began a frantic search with the hope that…
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Big Night for Big Jon
Falk with artist Jil Gordon and the replica jug she created. Jon makes the jug actually look “little” What a cool event for Jon Falk held at MGoPatio last night! Props to Wolverine Beer for running the tap and for Slow’s BBQ for delivering the food. I dialed up WTKA this morning to talk about the night (and a little jug business) with Ira and Sam: [display_podcast] While I can’t recap everything, I captured a few of the quotes delivered by Jon’s longtime colleagues Coach Jerry Hanlon and longtime trainer Paul Schmidt. Coach Hanlon started by joking about how stingy things were at Miami, OH when Falk worked there, but because of that Jon brought a certain attitude to Ann Arbor: “He put in our kids into a mode that not everything in this life is free, not everything that’s going to happen to you is going to be great. He kept them on a straight and narrow program. He brought a realistic attitude on how to handle the kids, and I really believe he’s done as well as any coach here in developing young men and having them understand that this isn’t a free ride, you have to work for what you want to get. I have a great deal of respect for him.” Hanlon, in his vintage M…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals: When the Decals Returned
Ed. The Decals don’t stop just because it’s a bye week. Here’s Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis with a guest post and a little decal history: After a two-year hiatus, award decals returned to the Michigan helmets in 1985. Bo removed them from the helmets after the 1982 season because he felt there was not enough emphasis and focus on The Team, so off they came. Michigan still kept track of them for the 1983 and ’84 seasons, but in 1985 somebody convinced Bo to put the decals back on the helmets. (My guess is that somebody was Jim Harbaugh, but that is a story for another time.) When Bo first debuted them in 1969, the decals were crudely shaped footballs that were more orange than yellow in color. In 1975, a snarling Wolverine head was added while the shape became more rounded and elliptical. Ten years later, the now more spheroid-shaped footballs centered the Wolverine head on them and added laces. The 1985 season was a great year for Michigan and that team will forever be remembered for having one of the best defenses in U=M history. As a result, it should come as no surprise that the top two decal award winners came from that side of the ball. All-American Mike Hammerstein had 48 decals on his helmet at…
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Solving the Little Brown Jug Space Quandary
Right now somewhere inside the bowels of Schembechler Hall rests the Little Brown Jug. Upon it are the score of the 93 games played in the series aligned in four columns (2 each between the Ms): Making up those 93 scores are 68 victories for Michigan, 22 for the Gophers, with three ties (1903, 1933, and 1950). You might know that we have a decision to make after next Saturday’s game because we are out of space in the current score configuration.. …because last season Jil Gordon (above, ably assisted by the great Jon Falk) dropped in the 35-13 result in the final available slot in the column started in 1987. So what to do? I looked at this question all the way back in 2009 as we knew this day was coming. I’ve heard it all: Retire this jug, put a new jug in service Stop writing scores on the jug Extend the jug Stanley Cup-style (inset left) Find more empty space on the jug (and work in more scores) Repaint the existing score columns with tiny scores to add more space Via MGoShoe: Slightly reduce the size of the 2 Ms to allow 2 new columns to be added (1 on each side). Would require a complete repaint. Via @SeanRatGoBlue : Just make a new trophy at a…
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Ufer Returns Saturday – Toe Meets Leather at Noon
God bless your maize and blue fedora-covered ears, old Ufe returns Saturday. Continuing an awesome tradition, starting at noon Saturday WTKA 1050AM will air another game from the Bob Ufer radio archives, this time the 1976 battle between the #1 ranked Michigan men and Stanford from Ann Arbor on September 18, 1976. Here’s the game boxscore from the U-M Bentley Historical Library if you need it: So after weeks of ignoring those important in your life, tune in while you are making good with your spouse, friends, family or putting rake to leaf in the yard. Go Blue! More on Bob Ufer here. Follow MVictors on Twitter there.