To open season 11 of TWIMFbH, it's the story of how Michigan's Fielding H. Yost returned to the head coach position. For a year Yost planned, schemed, and devised a strategy to stifle Illinois' great Red 'The Galloping Ghost' Grange on October 24, 1925. This segment appears on the WTKA 1050AM Countdown to Kickoff, starting four hours before each game.
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Yost Returns to Bust the Galloping Ghost (1925) | This Week in Michigan Football History
Lesson: Don’t mess with Michigan, its football team, or in particular, Fielding Yost or Benny Friedman. You’ll pay. Just the great Red Grange about what happened in 1925…or better yet listen to Saturday’s BEAT STATE edition of This Week in Michigan Football History: More on that 1925 game against Red Grange here. You can listen to all 6 years of This Week In Michigan Football History here. And don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course, live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge tomorrow starting at 11:30am. Follow MVictors on Twitter /script: 1925 was a special year in Wolverine football lore as it featured the return, after taking a season off, of Fielding Yost as head coach. His timing couldn’t be better and he led his beloved Meeechigan with one of the finest, arguably THE best, squads in his brilliant tenure in Ann Arbor. The 1925 season opened with 39-0 and 63-0 drubbings of Michigan State and Indiana leading to this day in Michigan Football History – a trip to Madison Wisconsin to face the Badgers 90 years ago today. The Badgers were headed by George Little, a former Yost assistant, who coincidently served as the Wolverine head coach in 1924. Wolverine quarterback Benny Friedman wasn’t…
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Benny Baseball
Thanks to his dominance in the early days of pro football some go as far to label Benny Friedman the Babe Ruth of football. And related to the Bambino, did you know Benny used to swing the bat in Ann Arbor?
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Wire Photo Wednesday | Fritz Watches Harry Wrestle
Good Wednesday to you, friends. WPW leads off with a classic shot of the B1G football coaches meeting prior to the 1931 season (see above). This photo, from the Big Ten meetings prior to the 1931 season, is probably worth its $44 auction price. On the floor you’ve got M headman Harry Kipke with Purdue coach (and former player under Rockne) Noble Kizer demonstrating life in the trenches. Minnesota’s Fritz Crisler, who would replace Kipke later that decade, watches from the back. Amongst the men seated is Illinois legend Bob Zuppke sitting next to the one & only Amos Alonzo Stagg. Great shot. Dress code in ‘31? White shirt, tie, Brylcreem in the hair (except for Stagg). I don’t know when wire photos started to be distributed to newspapers, but this has to be a fairly early one (from 1926) featuring the great Michigan quarterback and NFL HOF’er Benny Friedman. The seller claims it is an original and wants a mere $30. If it’s truly the original it’s worth over $100 easy IMO.
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eBay Watch: Hand Him the Hustler Award (1990+)
While Wolverine fans tend to toss any great individual performance that occurred during a loss in the circular file, there are a few that stand out. One of those is tailback Jon Vaughn’s 201-yard rushing performance in Gary Moeller’s coaching debut, a thrilling 28-24 loss in South Bend in 1990. Thanks to eBay, we now also know that Vaughn had a little more than game film and the occasional ache/pain to remember that great effort. Evidently Vaughn was the game’s ‘Offensive Hustler’: Yes, apparently Coach Mo not only dealt out helmet stickers, he also handed out Little League second place trophies for individual efforts. Per the auction description: Very rare one of a kind John [sic] Vaughn offensive hustler award for the game on sep 15 1990 vs the notre dame fighting irish. The trophy stand approx 14 inches high. The trophy does have some wear in areas. Please note that this trophy does not specifically mention his name. However i just recently purchased a memoribilia [sic] grouping from John [sic] Vaughn. Vaughn earned more prestigious honors at the end of the season, particular co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. Against Moeller’s advice, Vaughn bolted to the NFL after the season and had a short career in the bigs. Other Hustlers eBay Here’s a couple other guys who deserved…
