Thanks to the new U-M Bentley Game Film vault, we’ll have a chance to see game events previously only experienced through photos, written descriptions, or rarely, first-hand accounts. And maybe we’ll use these videos to learn a few new things, and possibly, clear up a few mysteries or misconceptions. In the 2011 season opener against Western Michigan, U-M’s Brandon Herron took an interception return 94-yards to the house. But was it the longest ever?
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Righteous Stubs
I don’t feature ticket stubs very often on eBay Watch but this one is special. On its face, this musty, chewed up stub from the 1943 Michigan-Michigan State game doesn’t look very valuable, does it? I’m guessing the seller had no idea and is wondering why as of Saturday afternoon it had 17 bids, the tops at $330. It was a very nice season by Fritz Crisler’s crew, going 8-1, sharing the conference title and finally beating freaking Minnesota whom they hadn’t beaten since 1932. Readers of this site might recall that this is a very rare find, so rare, in fact is that it was the final stub that local Jack Briegel needed to complete his collection of every game played at the Big House (dating back to ‘27). Thanks to a gift of this stub in 2011 from fellow collector Ken Magee, Jack got that final piece of the puzzle. It’s rare for a few reasons as I explained in an earlier post: The ticket to that September 25 game actually lists Michigan State as the opponent. But the Spartans did not field a team that season as it was common for teams to shut down their football squads that year due to obligations to the war effort. Folks seemed to have better things to do that fall…
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Tom Harmon – Big Ten Icon #5
This morning the BTN revealed that Old 98 Tom Harmon will be the next athlete featured in their Icons series. The Harmon segment will appear on Super Bowl Sunday at a special time: 2:30PM (and will re-air again at 9pm). The BTN cameras were on campus last week interviews for the feature. This week I’ll run a few posts on interesting things you might not know about Harmon. You know he’s #98 and the Heisman winner and of course he’s actor Mark Harmon’s dad. (Mark did consider coming to Michigan FWIW—his pops stayed out of it.) For starters, here’s a little about Harmon’s exploits before he even strapped on Crisler’s new-fangled winged helmet: High School Days Harmon was beyond a standout athlete in high school—he was off the charts. It was in his blood, demonstrated by his athletic family. Two of Harmon’s brothers ended up at Purdue, another at Tulane. In addition to being named all-state quarterback twice, Harmon earned 14 varsity letters at Horace Mann High in Gary, IN. He captained the 1936 basketball team and won the state title in the 100-yard dash & the 200-yard low hurdles. He tossed three no-hitters in AAU summer baseball. Fielding Yost called him the scholastic athlete of the year. It was in high school that Harmon also settled on the famous…
