Score it: Notre Dame beat Michigan (1909)

Readers of this site probably know that the season of 1909 is a real favorite of mine.  So much went down that year, and a true piece of college football history recently showed up on eBay from that epic season.  It’s a U-M athletic department-issued scorecard/program from the 1909 Notre Dame-Michigan game held at Ferry Field.

This is a huge day in Notre Dame football history.  The Irish, coached by former Yost player and assistant Frank ‘Shorty’ Longman, defeated Michigan 11-3 for their first victory (ever) over the Wolverines.   Some contend that the game even was the origin of Notre Dame’s nickname:

Another tale has the nickname originating at halftime of the Notre Dame-Michigan game in 1909. With his team trailing, one Notre Dame player yelled to his teammates – who happened to have names like Dolan, Kelly, Glynn, Duffy and Ryan – “What’s the matter with you guys? You’re all Irish and you’re not fighting worth a lick.”

Notre Dame came back to win the game and press, after overhearing the remark, reported the game as a victory for the “Fighting Irish.”

My hunch is someone out there knew the significance, as the righteous piece of cardboard fetched a cool $567.

After the game Yost, perhaps just to get in Shorty’s craw and downplay the defeat, contended that his men really treated the game like a practice since Notre Dame and Michigan didn’t share common rules.   Despite ND’s victory, the ‘09 season concluded with a debate in the press over the rightful owner of the mythical title ‘Champions of the West’ between the two teams.    Naturally each team claimed the distinction.

To fan the flames Coach Longman, who still lived in Ann Arbor, had his pet dog Mike (above) outfitted with a little jacket that displayed the score of the 1909 game and paraded him around town.   The next season the teams were scheduled to meet again in November but the game was abruptly cancelled due to an eligibility dispute and the teams didn’t meet again until 1942.   Pick up Natural Enemies for much, much more.

As far as the scorecard, it’s quite a relic from this historic game and even holds a little Ann

Arbor history.  The ads on its pages range from bike and tobacco shops, clothiers, restaurants and funeral homes.  Best I can tell only one of the businesses is still with us—and that’s the Muehlig funeral home (although they’ve moved off main street).

A company called ‘Varsity Laundry’ also bought an spot in the score card.  It turns out Varsity was run at one point by Moe Dalitz, a notorious bootlegger and gambling racketeer.

Count the Handlebars
Elsewhere on eBay…if you missed out on the 1909 score card, you can still get this epic piece of history.  Check out this auction of a photo of a youthful, mustache-rocking Fielding H. Yost and his buddy showing off a couple shiny new bikes?!  Really:

There’s no date on in the auction but it’s probably around 1897 when we know Yost wielded the wicked facial hair while at Ohio Wesleyan.