• Getting Pantsed

    One nugget in the Ohio State/Tressel tattoogate Notice of Allegations [full version] released today concerns the Ohio State gold pants - the little charm OSU players get if they beat Michigan.

  • eBay Watch: Gold Pants Galore !

    Oh man, word is out that Terelle Pryor hocked his ‘gold pants’ charm, the prize Buckeyes get if they beat Michigan in the big one.  The tradition started in 1934,  Gerald Ford’s senior year, when then coach Francis Schmidt told his men not to fear Harry Kipke’s Wolverines because: “They put their pants on one leg at a time, the same as we do!” –Francis Schmidt, March 2, 1934 There are four sets of the gold beauties on sale right now: 1967 click to view 2009 click to view 2007 click to view 2008 click to view The pants include the year, the score and initials of the player who originally owned them. As a Wolverine this is funny but as a historian/memorabilian this hurts – really.  That a guy would toss this out on the market while he was still in school?  I almost understand a ring to the BCS game, but brother, not the pants! Ed. 12/24 –  Sure enough, the auctions above were pulled from eBay :{

  • Jesse Owens, Gerald Ford and 1934

    Regular readers of this site know one of my favorite decades of Michigan football is the 1930s, having covered different seasons and events in eBay Watch and in the Little Brown Jug Lore series from those years. If I had to pick one year as my favorite during the stretch it’s definitely 1934 which is ironic, as it’s arguably the worst season in Michigan football history.   I argued this point here and here, but in a nutshell consider that Harry Kipke’s team, coming off back-to-back national championships, finished 1-7, was shut out in five of the eight games and scored a mere 21 points.  Fugly. Despite the futility on the gridiron, the season is packed with historical treasures of major significance both on and off the field.  Check out this program from the Ohio State-Michigan held on November 17, 1934: The program features several photos of players, including a collage of the Michigan team including team MVP Gerald Ford: The top of the photo features Willis Ward, the African American end who was at the center of a fierce controversy that played out before the Georgia Tech game a few weeks earlier that season.  For those not familiar, The Jackets made it known well before the game that they wouldn’t take the field in Ann Arbor if Ward played, spawning…

  • A Hard Combination to Beat (1905 Michigan Football)

    Another vintage Michigan football item showed up this week on eBay, this time a post card celebrating Fielding Yost and his fine 1905 squad. The team is assembled in a line with Yost in the middle, standing on a large sign in the shape of a football that reads 'Western Championship'. Atop the photo is a block letter title, 'A HARD COMBINATION TO BEAT'.