So Amara Darboh had 9 helmet stickers after Utah, Jake Butt 8 and a handful of others (Peppers, Rudock) had seven. Assuming the stickers are dealt out after games, we’ve presumably got a few guys with at least 15 helmet stickers on their lids following Oregon State. Now, I’ve heard some argue that these assumptions are wrong – that many of the decals to date were earned in practice (including camp) and therefore it’s not a straight line ratio from now to the end of the season. But if the stickers are tied to game performance, and the criteria for getting stickers in a game stays consistent throughout the season – things will get sticky soon. The skinny: We already know the stickers are the same size as the 1985-1994 version. As discussed here, the standard for decals likely goes to Mike Hammerstein, the mid-80s standout defensive tackle. He was the team MVP in 1985 and his helmet showed it. The big man was honored with 47 decals entering the bowl game, assuming he didn’t leave a couple on Keith Byars’ arse: Assuming we’re not touching the area on or inside the wings (I will fight you, Jake Rudock!), at a glance it looks like we’ve got max capacity at 60. Maybe we could get 62 on Wormley. Fast forward…
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Decalanalysis Phase II: Evolution of the 2015 Helmet Sticker
Guest Post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis Before we examine the 2015 decal (which we started in Phase I here) we need to look back at the evolution of the Michigan Football helmet decals. 1969-1974 Version #1 – When Bo introduced the helmet stickers at Michigan in 1969 (Version 1), they were solid, maize-colored, crudely shaped footballs. These were used through the 1974 season. Here’s Don Moorhead’s helmet as featured on HelmetHut.com: 1975-1982 Version #2 – The decal shape became more oval and the snarling wolverine head was added. There was now a left-facing version, and a right-facing version. Here is a good look at them from one of Jim Dack’s helmets (find more info on Jim’s collection at wolverinehelmet.com): The other distinction with this version was that the wolverine image was actually clear, thus allowing the blue helmet paint to make the wolverine appear blue: Because the design was made 40 years ago, there was no high-end computer program like Photoshop that was used to create the snarling Wolverine head graphic. It was probably created using Line Art. Notice the level of detail on the hair, teeth and nose of the wolverine. The more you zoom in, the more detail you will see. 1983-1984 No Helmet Stickers. The mystery of this two-year stretch discussed here. 1985-1994 Version 3 –…
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Jim Harbaugh’s Top 5 Games at Michigan
A guest post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis #5: 1984 Miami (FL) – Jim Harbaugh’s first start as a Michigan Wolverine would come against the #1-ranked, defending National Champion Miami Hurricanes and he didn’t disappoint. Wolverine fans, myself included, had long felt that the maize and blue lacked one thing on offense for a few years – a tall, pocket-passing QB, ideally from California. That finally happened with the Palo Alto, CA 6-3, 202 pound Harbaugh. Having heard that he had attended a high school passing camp with John Elway as his instructor, sealed the deal for me – Harbs was going to be the next starting QB in my opinion and his first start was highly anticipated by many. His first two passes against Miami – an out pattern to Vince Bean for 11 yards and another to Steve Johnson for 16 yards – showed off his strong arm, much to the delight of the Michigan Stadium crowd, as Michigan went on to win, 22-14. It was an impressive victory for the Wolverines and a great start for the new QB from California. #4: 1985 Notre Dame – Remembering how Michigan finished the 1984 season at 6-6, not many gave U-M a chance in the season opener against Notre Dame in 1985. It was a statement game for both…
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The Case of the Missing Helmet Decals | Storytime with Dr. Sap
In my never-ending quest to accurately recap the history of the Michigan Football helmet stickers, I have since determined, and confirmed with Jon Falk, that there were indeed three versions of the Wolverine decals. The image below recaps the nuances of the three versions:
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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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Michigan Helmet Stickers with Jon Falk
Bo era savant Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis recently caught up with Jon Falk to get down and dirty on the decals. And if you are wondering when this site is going to stop talking about helmet decals, the answer is NEVER.
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The Huckleby Wink & The 1970s Player Introductions | Storytime with Dr. Sap
By Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis In the 1970s player introductions for college football games were very different compared to the productions that they are now. There were no fancy graphics, no computer-generated backgrounds, and no animations some forty years ago. While the intros back then lacked the glitz and glamour of today’s game, they made up for it in uniqueness and creativity. In 1973, the player introductions for the Michigan-Ohio State game were announced over the Michigan Stadium public address system. ABC-TV’s Bill Fleming was live on the field and had the players run-up to the on-field camera as he announced their names to the sell-out crowd and national TV audience, literally minutes before kickoff. Those introductions were epic and captured the emotion of the moment. None were better than Michigan’s Curtis Tucker, Dave Gallagher, and Paul Seal’s introductions. A few years later, ABC decided to use video mug shots at the Friday walkthroughs for both teams instead of delaying the start of the game with on-field player introductions. This was relatively boring as the players were usually just standing there in their team-issued sweat-suits as the camera moved down the line, one by one. Then, in 1978, Michigan tailback Harlan Huckleby added a subtle coolness to his intro for the game against Notre Dame. When the camera moved in…
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Jim Harbaugh and the Pro Pigskin | Storytime with Dr. Sap
[Ed. Dr. Sap is back and offers up some Bo-era flavor that comes from the treasure trove that is the Sap archives. –G] Guest Post by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis When Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh scored on a quarterback draw against Notre Dame in 1985, little did he know that a photo of the classic TD would spark an interesting discussion in the national media. As Harbaugh crossed the goal line that afternoon, Ara Parseghian exclaimed on the CBS broadcast, “A quarterback draw – great call!” The next week, Sports Illustrated captured Harbaugh’s scoring play under the title, “A Cure For Bo’s Blues”: A couple of SI readers took notice of the NFL football Harbaugh was cradling in the photo. They were inspired to write the editor and ask why a collegiate athlete was using a professional pigskin:As noted by SI’s ED/Sir, this question was addressed by the NCAA and the next year they decided to modify their college footballs that were used by Division I schools. So when Michigan played at Notre Dame in 1986 Harbaugh was throwing around the new AFCRT Wilson 1001: It was the same model, size and shape as the NFL Wilson – it now just had a different, less professional-looking, stamp on it. Of course everyone then was asking, “What the heck does AFCRT…
