This morning 1964 championship team captain Jim Conley joined John U. Bacon on WTKA as part of the Fantastic Friday lineup. Captain Conley covered a lot of ground – from leadership to his unique set of teammates, to coach Bump Elliott – and of course, shared a bunch of stories from that amazing season: Conley also noted that the ‘64 team will be honored during the Minnesota game this year – which is great news. Hopefully Bump (who is 89 and lives in Iowa) will be there.
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And I’ve Been Working Like a Dog
A Hard Night’s Day – via Hail to the Victors 2014. Yo! I’ve been wrapped up for a while with all kinds of stuff, including working on some interviews and pieces that you coming up soon or this fall. Things will being to ramp up on these pages soon heading up the season. Things to look for: Hail to the Victors 2014 – Within the pages of mgoblog’s annual epic preseason book, this time I dropped in a piece on the widely ignored 1964 Big Ten/Rose Bowl championship team. It takes you through the season primarily through the eyes of team captain Jim Conley, along with some help from his coach Bump Elliott and teammate Barry Dehlin. Earmuffs! It’s harsh – it’s spicy – and after you read it you won’t have a problem remembering the ‘64 team. GoBlueWolverine Mag – Coming out before the season, I dropped in my interview with Bump Elliott that you’ll dig – it talks about the ‘64 team of course, but also gets into Woody, Bo, Bump feeling on his own legacy and much more. 2014 Game Program – Still working on some stuff for the program (a few things in the works) and I interviewed both Dan Dierdorf and Jim Brandstatter. You’ll get the full interviews on these pages later on. A sneak…
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Model Athletes | Wire Photo Wednesday
WPW returns after a brief hiatus with a trip back to Ann Arbor in 1965, a few months following Michigan’s 34-7 Rose Bowl beatdown of Oregon State. The folks at Esquire Magazine visited Ann Arbor and came to the Sigma Chi house looking for a few good men to model summer clothes. This shot included a few of Bump Elliott’s champions strolling in the Arb: [Left to right above you’ve got Captain Jim Conley (Sr – End) in his prime, joined by Rick Sygar (Jr. – fullback), the lovely Jane Horsfall (class of ‘65), Jane’s boyfriend Bill Laskey (Sr. – End), and student Norm Legacki.] I recently caught up with Captain Conley recently who explained how it went down: MVictors: How did this shoot come about? Capt. Conley: “It started at the Sigma Chi house. It wasn’t about the athletes because, of course, because they can’t do that, but they could do it about the student athletes. Since our house was totally filled with athletes, it was pretty easy for them to round up the right amount of guys and put this whole spring fashion thing together. The guy that was doing it apparently was a U-M grad. He came to campus and he went and went to Sigma Chi house and said, ‘Hey guys, you want to get some…
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Denny Fitzgerald and Winged Leather
I recently received this note from a reader (and Buckeye) Larry: I am a huge Buckeye fan. But I love the history of college football. I love the history of teams uniforms and helmets too. I know that Notre Dame was one of the last teams to use leather helmets. The Irish wore “plastic” for a little bit in the early or mid 40’s but went back to leather until the late 50’s. Ohio State last wore leather helmets 1946 with a guy or so a little longer. I note that Michigan had several players wear leather in the 50’s. But I saw one player, Denny Fitzgerald #18, wear a leather helmet and no facemask in 1960. That may be one of the latest I have seen a player wear leather and then to have no facemask. Maybe there was somebody else but I do not know who. I know Bobby Layne wore no facemask for the Steelers in the early 60’s. I enjoy your site for the historical things. I wonder if you could find out why Fitzgerald wore leather that late and no facemask. Larry attached a few photos of Fitzgerald donning the winged leather helmet with no facemask. I love this one: This is a man’s man and this is a tough man’s game. Fitzgerald’s athletic resume’…
