Synopsis: They might be chicken but we’re the jive turkeys. No, the season is not lost but what happened last night was worse than anything that has happened in recent years – seriously – including last year’s beat down in East Lansing. Oh yes, it got ugly (ironically, mostly Chicken Little sky is falling) on WTKA on Sunday morning. A reminder to callers, please recite your fandom credentials BEFORE your rant, please. Oh, and the Twitterverse was less than kind to the current #1000SSS regime. Hope is not a strategy but..that’s my strategy. And bourbon. Peacock Trolls: Nice to know NBC Sports is reading this site…did you see that photo and a brief mention of Yost’s dog? I wonder where they got that? Hey peacocks – how about a mention or a hat tip? Just Cover – Jokes aside about the offensive production, memo to Coach Nuss—maybe slap a cover on the play card? I don’t know if there’s anything on there we don’t want the opponents to see but you can do a lot in HD these days: Mood Update: The Mood Index. Break-in reported at Ann Arbor Torch & Pitchfork around 2am EDT Sunday morning. Investigation pending. Uniform Update: White socks – the best thing out there Saturday? Also, note the away (white) Team 135 undershirts: And…
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80 Years Today…The Real Jug Returns!
Many of you know the story—For those who don’t read on. For those who do, skip to the bottom for a little Jug update. PANIC(!) erupted in mid-September 1931. The coveted Little Brown Jug, the symbol of the Michigan-Minnesota rivalry, vanished from the U-M Administration building. A frantic search ensued sending media relations man Phil Pack (think of a vintage Bruce Madej) all over town chasing leads. Based on a tip Pack even searched a few cider mills..but those visits proved fruitless. /wink Then, on November 19, 1931, the very same week of the Minnesota game that season, a car pulled up to the Tuomy Hills gas station (now the Bearclaw Coffee at the corner of Washtenaw and Stadium) with four men wearing “dark goggles.” One of the disguised passengers rolled out a jug onto the pavement & it was scooped up by gas station attendant K.D. Smith. While initial reports were skeptical of the authenticity of the crock, which was said to have been “freshly painted”, Fielding H. Yost himself inspected it and said it was indeed the real McCoy. A local sports writer said Yost was full of it, calling it “a clever imitation.” Michigan retained the jug in 1931 but then headed back to Minneapolis in 1932. Yost went along on the trip (Harry Kipke coached the…
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Michigan’s Grand Old Man Laid to Rest (1946)
On August 22,1946, Michigan lost its Grand Old Man—Fielding H. Yost. Here is a wire photo from Yost’s funeral procession. The photo depicts the casket and his pallbearers: J. Fred Lawton, the composer of ‘Varsity’. Legendary player and coach Bennie Oosterbaan. 1922 team captain Paul Goebel. 1925 team captain Robert Brown. Legendary M Swim coach Matt Mann Andrew Baker, Yost’s secretary For as many times as you’ve speculated that Yost was rolling over in his grave, now you’ve got an idea of what he’s rolling in. Curiously the gent who composed the photo caption spelled Bennie Oosterbaan’s first name correctly (with the “ie”, often butchered as Benny) but laid an egg hammering when it came to his last name (“Oosterbaum”). Bah. The caption of the wire photo reads “GRAND OLD MAN OF MICHIGAN FOOTBALL LAID TO REST”. I can’t summarize Yost’s impact on Michigan athletics in a single post and won’t really try to. While he was not a man without flaws, he leveraged his incredible success on the football field along with his business acumen to lead U-M to build an athletic campus (for men, for women, and in spirit, for the people of the State of Michigan) that was years ahead of its time, with iconic structures like Yost Field House, the U-M Golf Course, and of course…
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TWIMFbH: Case Closed, Ghost Trapped, Yost Opened (1923)
Cigars, Ghosts, Field Houses and Yost. You get a little bit of it all and more in this week’s edition of This Week in Michigan Football History. Enjoy: [display_podcast] Want more? Check out: Yost Steps off the Sidelines, for now Leathernecks Help Dedicate Yost Field House (1923) You can catch all of the This Week in Michigan Football History clips here. Listen to it live tomorrow on the KeyBank Countdown to kick-off on WTKA 1050AM or catch it live at the Wolverine Beer Tap Room. Just a reminder the segment is sponsored by Stadium Trophy which has partnered with WTKA on its ‘Michigan High School Scholar Athlete of the Week Award’ segment.
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TWIMFbH: Stanford, ‘73 and a Salute to the Big Ten
Salute! via Dr. Sap’s archives The Stanford Cardinals (yes, s) came to town exactly 39 years ago Saturday and surely braced themselves to face Bo Schembechler in the 1973 home opener. TWIMFbH gets into that game and much more. Have a listen…includes a couple salutes to the great Bob Ufer: [display_podcast] As discussed in the clip, the boys from Palo Alto hold a special place in Michigan football history as they were the lambs opponents vs. Fielding Yost’s undefeated, untied, and unscored upon Point-A-Minute crew in the 1902 Rose Bowl. Staring at a 49-0 deficit with eight minutes still left in the game, the Indians found the only white towel that wasn’t blood-stained and waved it, begging for mercy. It was granted. Fast forward nearly four decades and it was once again Stanford who faced another one of the finest Wolverines squads in history—this time Fritz Crisler, Bob Chappuis and the Mad Magicians of 1947. Once again Michigan hung 49 (to Stanford’s 13) on October 4, 1947. Bo Schembechler didn’t hold back either when the Cardinals visited in ‘73, thirty-nine years ago this Saturday, in fact he practically beat the “s” of the Stanford nickname (although that wouldn’t officially happen until 1981), winning 47-10. But ‘73 is better remembered by U-M fans by the vote of Big Ten commissioners that…
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1902 Usher’s Ribbon (Michigan-Minnesota)
So you don’t see many authentic items on eBay that fall inside the Yost Point-A-Minute era from 1901 to 1905. There’s one up now. So check out this Usher’s ribbon for the Thanksgiving day game held on November 27, 1902. It’s the last game played between the Gophers and Wolverines that didn’t involve a certain water crock. It wasn’t until the following year, 1903, that the Little Brown Jug was purchased in Minneapolis, left behind after the game, and reclaimed by Michigan in 1909…and the rest is college football history. Looking at the Usher’s ribbon, it looks to be authentic, although I’m not suggesting that someone would have the stones to forge such a thing, but you never know. Having written on this stuff for a while now when I first spotted the ribbon I knew I’d seen that font style before. Sure enough, on this vintage MVictors post from 2006, you clearly see the athletic department favored that print type on official materials including this 1901 season athletic pass that I’d give my right pinky to have on my wall. The usher who donned this silk ribbon watched Michigan take down the Gophers 23-6 in the ‘02 season finale. Yost and crew once again ran the table finishing the season a perfect 11-0, outscoring opponents 644-12 to claim the…
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Bring Back the Old Man!
You might know that Yost Ice Arena, the current home of your beloved Frozen Four bound hockey squad, was once the home of the Michigan basketball team. Up on eBay right now is a wire pic of hoops star Cazzie Russell and notice the gent who’s featured on the wall with his familiar grin: I’d like to see that giant photo hanging somewhere inside Yost–AD Dave Brandon, you must bring it back. Extend the Yost brand! Bring back the Old Man! What better place than here? What better time than now? Beat Irish! Update March 9: Yes, I was up to something. Indeed the Children of Yost will unveil their new flags tonight at Yost for the ND-Michigan hockey tilt… including…the old man!!:
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Score it: Notre Dame beat Michigan (1909)
Readers of this site probably know that the season of 1909 is a real favorite of mine. So much went down that year, and a true piece of college football history recently showed up on eBay from that epic season. It’s a U-M athletic department-issued scorecard from the 1909 Notre Dame-Michigan game held at Ferry Field.
