• UnZipped (Akron Game Photos)

    A huge thanks to Karsen Welch King from Karsen Photography for classing up the sidelines on Saturday and shooting the majority of these shots.  Great work..and more from Karsen here.       If I’m Nike #7 above, I make this into a Fathead stat                 More on the game later including Sights and Sounds..  Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • Celebrating Uber Fandom

    Today I bumped into uber fan Bob MacLean, the man who has an active streak of attending Michigan football games (home and away).  Saturday’s Akron game will mark his 504th in row, and the run dates back to the 1971 Ohio State game.   Here’s Bob outside Fraser’s Pub looking fit and not anywhere close to breaking the streak: Keep it rolling Bob. And speaking of uber fans, another that you may know is Ken Magee of Ann Arbor Sports Memorabilia.    A portion of his epic Michigan collection is on display at ‘The Museum’ on Main St. in Ann Arbor now through December 1.    The exhibit is titled, ‘The Legacy of Michigan Football: Collection of a Superfan.’  Here are the details: Through a selection of items from the private sports collection of Ken Magee, you will experience the inspirational tradition and history of Michigan’s key coaches, players and games. This guest exhibit is co-curated by University of Michigan, Museum Studies Program students Megan Boczar and Alicia Juillet. Highlights include game day programs over the years including a rare and original program from the first Rose Bowl ever played in 1902 where Michigan beat Stanford 49-0. The Museum on Main Street, 500 N. Main St., Ann Arbor MI (at the corner of E. Kingsley and Beakes St).  Open on weekends: Saturday &…

  • Mark Harmon’s Comments at Michigan Stadium

    "My dad was only proud of Michigan. His whole life everything came back to Michigan. On behalf of our family, I’d love to thank Dave Brandon for putting this together and making all of this possible. My dad always talked about Michigan pride, and I get that now, better than ever.  Thank you."

  • TWIMFbH: Bay City Rolling The Hawkeyes 24-7 (1974)

    To help fire up for the Zips here’s your sneak listen at TWIMFbH for Saturday.  This time was step by 39 years to the 1974 season opener against Iowa. Thanks to a nasty virus, senior star QB Dennis Franklin couldn’t play so Bo gave the ball to Bay City, Michigan legend Mark Elzinga (left, with coach Hanlon rocking the sabertooth maize coaches shirt). Here’s a look at that game, after a brief look back at the conclusion of the 1973 season and a shout-out to my boys Crazy Legs and Spartan Bert.. Remember:  You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here.   Listen to it live tomorrow on the KeyBank Countdown to kick off on WTKA 1050AM or catch it live inside the Bud Light Victors Lounge. Follow MVictors on Twitter

  • A Cool Ninety-Eight

    << From Sports Illustrated this week, Tom Harmon joins a few current athletes on its list of ‘Breakout Performers.’    The comment on the inset pic pretty much sums up why I (someone like you who knew damn well “who?” Harmon is) am a fan of the Legends program.

  • Mud-covered Mugs and Brown Jugs

    Folks, including me, talking about John U. Bacon’s book Fourth and Long have focused on the “serious” stuff like in there, like the discussion of the state of college football and the Brandon’s handling of the athletic department and struggle of Penn State’s seniors to hold its team together.   But much of the book takes a lighter look at many of the elements off the field that we all know, especially in these parts, help form the true soul of this sport.   Two of those elements he discusses in Fourth have special place in my heart: the Little Brown Jug (Chapter 18) and the Mudbowl (Chap 19). I played in the Mudbowl but didn’t do much beyond delivering a late hit/cheapshot that triggered a bench-clearing brawl.  In future blogger-like fashion I slipped out of the melee because I have sensitive fingers and wrists, man.  Bacs described the battle in the slop (two decades removed from my triumph in the early 1990s) and he has it about right: The play wasn’t pretty, but it was fierce, with almost every down resulting in at least one player getting jammed face-first into the swamp, followed by a five-man shoving match, which usually ended with at least one more player eating mud.  If you could claim anything was “beautiful” about a game that was…