Eighty years ago today on November 13, 1937, this Western Union telegram landed in Ann Arbor (a copy was later obtained by the Michigan Daily and plastered on the front page): In the fall of 1937 things were a bit dicey for the football program. Since the 1933 national championship, coach Harry Kipke’s crew had just a handful of wins on the field. And in November 1937 the university launched a well-publicized investigation of the program, suspecting that football players were being “subsidized.” Kipke was sitting atop a flaming hot seat. If you need a two-minute version of Kipke’s mess, check out this episode of This Week in Michigan Football History: As the drama unfolded, eyes turned to Michigan freshman Tom Harmon. Despite the struggles on the field (..but perhaps due to some of the questionable behavior off the field), Kipke landed the multi-sport high school superstar from Gary, IN. In the fall of ‘37, he suited up for the freshman football team as was required back then. Harmon’s athletic exploits in high school made him widely known in the sporting world and even as a freshman, having yet to take a snap on the varsity squad, a Chicago Tribune headline dubbed frosh Harmon a “star”. Suddenly Harmon found himself involved in the off-field drama. He was named in the…
-
-
Poof Goes the Vest?
The saga continues on the Big Ten all-time coaching statistics. Readers of this site know that at the urging of a pesky blogger, the Big Ten officials updated their records last season to reflect the time Michigan left the conference from 1907-1916. The result was a boost to Fielding Yost’s lead over Jim Tressel in conference win percentage by coaches from .833 to .888 (here are the current numbers, through last year’s bowls): Mark Snyder discussed the ramifications of the Ohio State self-imposed vacated wins on the all-time records in this recent piece, & note Mark corrected Yost’s official win pct last night ;) As Snyder points out, I think we can assume nothing is official until the NCAA/Big Ten complete their investigations. I asked the Big Ten offices to confirm and I’m guessing they will say it be resolved when the investigation is completed. [Update July 11] I got the expected response from the Big Ten’s Scott Chipman: My question: Scott, is there an official ruling from the Big Ten on how the Ohio State sanctions/vacated wins affect Tressel’s conference win percentage? Or is this all pending the final NCAA/B10 rulings on the sanctions? Chipman’s reply: Greg, As of right now, that’s all TBD. I see a few possible outcomes that could impact these records once again: Final Punishment…
-
Crisler Arena Clock (2011)
A big thanks to Noel for passing this along. You’ve certainly heard about the new scoreboards going up next season at Crisler, Yost, and inside Michigan Stadium. Well, U-M is apparently unloading some of the old visual equipment on eBay, at least this beauty along with a back-up that looks just like it: You could find this one at center court opposite the benches for years including last season. It comes affixed to a table: So what would you do with something like this? Trick out your man cave? Roll it out for pick-up games at your house? Mount it upside down and layout the most epic spelling of digital “BOOBS” ever?
-
Broom! (Goes the Dynamite) Michigan 70, MSU 63
What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, don’t you think? Bullets: It has been amazing to witness the young guys, especially Morgan, Hardaway & Morris, maturing and improving since the start of the season. It’s tangible progress before our eyes so hats off to the entire coaching staff and of course the team. I actually give some credit to the M fans for the Maize out. As I like to say, Wolverine fans are really good at “Wear Whatever You Want-Outs” but horrible at Maize-outs. I thought the place was about 75-ish percent maize which is about as good as you are going to get. I was a student during the Fab Five era when we used to wait out hours to pile into Crisler and pack the place It had that feel yesterday. Speaking of the Maize-out: the always sharp-dressed M assistant Bacari Alexander looked sharp in his brown suit, but what do we need to do to get Coach Tweet outfitted in an all-Maize ensemble?? Sharp! Those on Twitter might have seen a barrage of “HALOL!”. I’ve been asked by a few folks what it refers to. It’s a common tag on Coach Alexander’s tweets which I presumed to simply be an emphatic version of “LOL!”. Sunday morning Bacari confirmed this: I expected the students…
-
Hoke, Denard at Crisler
More later on Hoke and his comments, but thought I’d share a couple quick photos. Here’s Hoke emerging from the Crisler tunnel, his first public appearance before the Michigan crowd. After people figured out who he was he got a very nice reception. Hoke did not speak at the game and sat courtside with Dave Brandon and his wife and daughter. This man was also there and the camera panned on him during the break – the crowd went nuts. When he heard the crowd roar and saw his face on the big screen, I saw him mouth, “Aww mann,” and break out that huge smile. Here he is finishing off ‘The Victors’ with authority. While fans certainly wanted these two ships to meet and hug, it didn’t happen. Hoke did chat with Governor Snyder for what it’s worth. I was kind of hoping Hoke and Coach Tweet (Barcari Alexander) would get to get together a shout at each other about how much they love Michigan.
-
Signed WWJ Michigan Pigskin (1958)
Check out this vintage football signed by the 1958 University of Michigan football squad (see above) Above ‘UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’ it is stamped ‘WWJ 1958’. The WWJ stands for longtime radio station WWJ in Detroit which aired Wolverine games for many years, including, according to the Bentley Library, what is believed to be the first live broadcast from a football stadium in 1924. The auction’s limited description doesn’t indicate why it says WWJ or when the ball was signed, but perhaps it was passed around during the annual bust held in December of that year after the rough season. How rough? Well, the Wolverines finished 2-6-1, losing their final four games, and prior to the finale against Ohio State coach Bennie Oosterbaan resigned. This probably didn’t help matters: There was no drama or transition period after Oosterbaan handed in his resignation. He stayed at the university and former star player and then assistant coach Bump Elliott took over effective January 1, 1959. Back to the ball, while it doesn’t appear to be loaded down with superstars, it does include Oosterbaan’s predecessor and current athletic director Fritz Crisler: And historians might recognize the name Harry Newman, the great quarterback from the early 1930s, but.. ..you might also notice the “Jr.” tagged on the end. That’s Harry Newman’s son who didn’t leave…
-
Winged Helmet T (As in Trouble)
Michigan is set to release their self-imposed sanctions in about 30 minutes. File this under FWIW, but despite what some maintain it’s not the first time Michigan has been mixed up with serious off-the-field issues. I’ve covered a couple of these incidents on these pages and beyond, but thought it’d be a good time to review.
-
Buckeye B.J. Mullens is Duncish and Gaumless (YouTube)
Just posted on YouTube, a quick interview with Ohio State center B.J. Mullens this week on the upcoming Michigan game. Interviewer: Let’s be honest, give me your thoughts on the University of Michigan.Mullens: They suck. I mean come on. We’re going to go up there and beat them pretty bad. That’s a rival and that’s how it’s going to be.Interviewer: Do you give a damn for that whole state?Mullens: No. Not at all. So that’s fine, I don’t have an issue with a Buckeye trashing Michigan or vice versa, even dropping a “sucks” here and there. But the final question inadvertently produces a great moment in the history of this rivalry: Interviewer: In as many S.A.T vocabulary words as you can, your opinion of Michigan.Mullens: Boo. Isn’t that grounds for an NCAA investigation? A cow could have scored as well on that question. I love it because you know the interviewer is a Buckeye grad, yet he inadvertently delivers a perfect Stuttering John question. Update 1/17: Good question from Biggie Munn, ‘what in the hell sport did this raj cat play that he did not lose to um in 4 years?‘. Midway through the interview, Raj offers that he “went four years and never lost to Michigan”. The best I can tell Raj was in the homecoming class and his…
