Thee cheers and a happy birthday to a pair of Meeechegan legends: General Bo Schembechler (1929) and Bob Ufer (1920)! mgo-Cake: Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Michigan Football Nicknames
Coach Harbaugh recently sent this tweet lauding a few great nicknames in M lore – and as you might guess most of them fall into the Bo era. With some help from Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis and a few of his contacts, a nickname Rosetta Stone of sorts on that tweet: One of the great M Men who was quick to dish out nicknames was of course the great announcer Bob Ufer. Back in 2012 Sap ran down a healthy list of his nicknames and Ufer-isms that seems apropos: Below are a few of the more famous nicknames from Bob “THE UFE” Ufer: * Don Lund (Ufer’s color commentary man) – Lundo* Jack Lane (Ufer’s stats man) – The Human Computer* Tom Ufer – Old #3 son* Bo Schembechler – Bo “George Patton” Schembechler, The General* Woody Hayes – Dr. Strange Hayes* Woody Hayes’s Buckeyes – Test Tubes* Earle Bruce – “Darth Vader” Bruce* Earle Bruce’s Buckeyes – Scarlet and Gray Stormtroopers* Dan Devine – Dreary Old Dan Devine* Michigan State – Jolly Green Giants* Dennis Franklin – Dennis “The Menace” Franklin* Ed Shuttlesworth – “Easy” Ed Shuttlesworth* Mike Lantry – Super Toe* Gil Chapman – The Jersey Jet* Gordon Bell – The Whirling Dervish* Rob Lytle – The Blonde Bullet, The Fremont Flash* Rick Leach – Ricky “The Peach”…
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That’s Meeechegan with three Es
An update to your U-M style guides: Those of us who love Bob Ufer have often tried to type out how Ufe, imitating Yost, liked to say Michigan. Until today I settled on “Meechigan”. I believe John U. Bacon goes with “Meeshegan”. I’ve seen many other variations here and there.
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Dr. Sap’s Decals | Leaving the Snake Pit and 2014 Behind
Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis bids adieu to a painful 2014 with a final offering of decals to a handful of seniors. But before that, did you catch ESPN’s GameDay on Saturday? It included a nice piece on the rivalry and the Michigan banner, including a short clip of the Buckeyes tearing down the coveted slice of canvas in ‘73 synchronized with Bob Ufer’s epic audio description of that dastardly deed. Guess who put that together and shipped it off to ESPN? That’s right..Dr. Sap himself! Here’s a low res version of the full clip Sap provided to our friends in Bristol: Those painful dekes: OFFENSIVE CHAMPION DEVIN GARDNER? – We watched a gutty and gutting end to New 98’s career on Saturday. In between the first pass/interception of the game and the fumble that gave OSU the clinching score, Gardner played his heart out and did all he could to help UM win. Problem is, he also helped OSU win. Take away those free 14 points and we have an even ballgame. I don’t want to remember Gardner for his interception and fumble. I want to remember him for his courage for keeping UM in the game. I want to remember him for his compassion when he went over and consoled J.T. Barrett when he broke his ankle. Instead, I…
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Wangler, Carter discuss Ufer’s Indiana game call
On this day in 1979…still gives me the chills. Via the great WolverineHistorian: While it was somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy I suppose, I love that in all the madness Ufer recognized that play in the context of Michigan football history when he offers that it will be remembered for another 100 years (’79 of course was the 100th anniversary of the program). We can safely say that’s true of course, looking back 35 years later and it’s probably more to do with Ufer’s call than the play itself. Follow MVictors on Twitter More on Bob Ufer
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Ufer Returns Saturday!
God bless your maize and blue fedora-covered ears, old Ufe returns Saturday! Continuing an awesome tradition, starting at 9am Saturday WTKA 1050AM will air another game from the Bob Ufer radio archives, this time the battle between the #11 ranked Michigan men and #16-ranked Michigan State at Spartan Stadium played on October 6, 1979. A huge thanks to the great Dr. Sap, a few clips from the game for you: So after weeks of ignoring those important in your life, tune in while you are making good with your spouse, friends, family or putting rake to leaf in the yard. Go Blue! Stats, as you can see Braylon’s old man carried the load. [more stats here] More on Bob Ufer here. Follow MVictors on Twitter there.
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Ufer’s Brazilian Soccer Buddy (1978 audio) | Storytime with Sap
[Ed. Via the extensive archives possessed by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis, a timely piece as we begin the 2014 World Cup..proving once again that you can tie Michigan football history back to anything.] Guest post by Steve Sapardanis In 1978, Bob Ufer had some hilarious stories along with a few “friends” he would often refer to during his radio broadcasts to further emphasize how great Michigan was doing and how the stars were aligning to match U-M’s football hopes and dreams that season. When Michigan travelled to South Bend to face Note Dame for the first time in 35 years, Ufer was ready. He had talked about this game for years and couldn’t wait for kickoff. Irish fans, still feeling the highs of their 1977 national championship, claimed that “God made the Irish #1.” Ufe had other ideas. As the seconds winded down in U-M’s epic 28-14 victory in South Bend, Ufer went on about how actor George Burns, who portrayed The Almighty in the movie, “Oh, God!” was seen leaving the ND sideline to walk over to shake Bo’s hand. Burns really wasn’t there of course, but the metaphor had already been cast – everybody loves a winner, even the gentleman upstairs! Then there was this. After the game Ufer proved that Michigan fandom extended all the way to…
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Dr. Sap Discusses…the Bo Brackets (WTKA audio 4-18)
A close-up on the watch Bo is wearing on the Schembechler Statue – hmm, 1981 Rose Bowl! Note it also reads 1pm – Bo’s favorite time to start a game — (MVictors photo) Bo’s headset – with the Dymo tape and all– (MVictors photo) If you missed it, we had some great radio this morning on WTKA 1050AM as Ira and Sam were joined in studio by MVictors’ own Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis to discuss his recent Bo Brackets series. The discussion of Bo’s greatest teams wasn’t left to those in studio alone, as Ira took calls from longtime coach Jerry Hanlon and legends Don Dufek, Stan Edwards and Ali Haji-Sheikh. Check out all of the Bo Brackets posts here: Background Results: Schembechler 16 Elite 8 Final Four Title Game Here are three clips from the show with a little on each: Clip #1: The Bo Bracket is introduced, Sap explains the origins and the initial seedings. 1980 kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh joins about 10 minutes in, and shares a quote from Bo himself what he considered his best team. Clip #2: Leading off with a Bob Ufer clip, they get deeper into the Brackets and coach Jerry Hanlon joins in (5 mins in) and then Stan Edwards (10 minutes in). Edwards tells Hanlon, “…you know damn well..” that 1980 team…
