Sights and sights from pre-game today. Actually turned out to be a nice day: The fabulous Air Force chicken (is that unpatriotic of me?) mocking Denard’s Usain Bolt comments It was basically like a practice for Hoke in pregame – he was coaching up the D-line hard Court’s moms and his pops with the custom gear – not available in stores Custom made pylons Gardner still doing a few drills with the QB Gear note #1 and #2. The helmet numbers are gone; blue socks with the maize ‘M’ are here Gear note #3: Brendan Gibbons’ adidas soccer gear? Meet Ben McCready – Bennie Oosterbaan’s godson and namesake Follow MVictors on Twitter or MVictors on Facebook Related: Oosterbaan Honored – Official Release Provisioning for Michigan Stadium 2012: Bridge is Closed version TWIMFbH: Bo Shows ‘The U’ How We Do Things (1984) Oosterbaan, Banners and Books Honoring Oosterbaan: An Interview with Ben McCready
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Honoring Oosterbaan: An Interview with Ben McCready
Young Ben McCready with a gift from his godfather, namesake and then-U-M coach Bennie Oosterbaan. It’s the gameball from the 1958 Minnesota Little Brown Jug game & was a Christmas gift. For Michigan historians Saturday’s game holds special significance. Bennie Oosterbaan, arguably the greatest athlete in U-M history will be honored. He was the first football man to have his jersey retired (#47) and against Air Force, he will be the first to have a Michigan jersey “unretired”. Oosterbaan’s exploits on the field are well known: a three time All-American in football, a two time All-American in basketball, and a Big Ten batting title champion in baseball. The Muskegon native turned down offers to play professionally and instead chose a different path: a life dedicated to coaching U-M students in each of the sports in which he dominated. He coached all three sports at one time another, the highlight being when he led Michigan to the 1948 football national championship. After his coaching days he remained an administrator with the athletic department until he retired in 1972. Over the past year I’ve gotten to know Ben McCready, the godson and namesake of the great Oosterbaan. He’ll be there Saturday when his godfather is honored. McCready was kind enough to share some insight on how the “unretirement” came to be, his…
