The term Michigan Man hasn’t been this hot since Bo dropped his epic blast at outgoing coach Bill Frieder. We know the use of the term goes way back, certainly before Bo used it so famously. Heck, we know that Bo dropped this on Mark Messner during a last-ditch recruiting trip in the mid-1980s: Bo walks over, just hands me a tape and says [Messner in perfect Bo voice]: “You’re a Michigan man and you belong at Michigan.” And got back in the car. I don’t know if there will ever be a true “source” of Michigan Man because as I understand it, it’s piggybacking on the concept of the ‘Harvard Man’, which I believe was simply extracted from England and the ‘Oxford Man’ or ‘Cambridge Man’, for instance. The Great Gatsby, chapter 7: “And you found he was an Oxford man,” said Jordan helpfully.“An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.”“Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man.”“Oxford, New Mexico,” snorted Tom contemptuously, “or something like that.” Anyway, I did a quick search to find the phrase and nabbed a century-plus old source of it being used in the context of a U-M grad in a coaching position. Vanderbilt was coached by a former M player, assistant and Yost’s brother-in-law Dan McGugin. Frank “Shorty” Longman…
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Husking History
Today the Big Ten officially welcomes Nebraska to the conference, so I say welcome to fans & the Husker bloggers. I’ve actually been to Lincoln for a “Big Ten” game – versus Iowa in 2000 and had an outstanding time. Other than the stadium being completely doused in red (something we’ve seen before), my other lasting impressions include a strapping man launching T-shirts out of his portable missile launcher, and the pro football feel to the whole event with the omnipresent ads, sponsored replays, etc. It’s a different environment than Michigan for sure, but not unlike what you get in other stadiums in the conference. Speaking of the bloggers, a few are celebrating the day with a post and Big Red Network even solicited notes from the conference blogosphere. Brian chimed in: From MGoBlog – Welcome. Michigan looks forward to proving once and for all that the 1997 Nebraska team couldn’t hold a candle to Charles Woodson and company. Please try to blend in when you overwhelm our stadium. So did I: From MVictors — Welcome. Nebraska and Michigan share many things historically of course: a deep running tradition of excellence, the 1997 national championship and Fielding Yost. Our teams even shared the outcome of the game when we met 100 years ago this fall in Lincoln – a…
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Michigan Legacy Throwbacks Revealed
As if you hadn’t heard(!). I’ll say what I said before—I wish they had more specific references to history. The guy from adidas basically said that they trolled through the old team photos and found some stripes on the 1890s-era teams, and AD DB suggested that the stained glass (I think Ira has that trademarked now) design is indicative of stitching on the old block M uniforms. Fine. I would have had a design that pointed to specific elements from uniforms for a specific team or era of Michigan football history. That being said, I really like the helmets and the gray throwback facemasks. And—the jerseys definitely look much better on the players and over the shoulder pads. I think having Denard wear it for the unveiling helped—the dude can make anything look kind of cool, right? And it’s not just that they look better on the players. The shoulder-pad fitted “sleeves” are shorter on the actual uniform than in the version that the public can purchase. Thus, there are about half as many stripes and it deemphasizes that aspect of the ensemble (as do Denard’s dreads): Here’s RVB’s helmet: those are RVB’s forearms, not mohair extensions on the sleeves It’ll be interesting to see if those number decals stay on the helmet. I’m guessing a few will be displaced…
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Ice Evolution
On Monday Red Berenson taught Sam Webb and the rest of the media a little bit about ice. Here’s what he said (thanks to Ira at WTKA for the clip): [display_podcast] Building on Red’s description of the surface for Saturday’s game, I thought it’d be cool to take a look at how the ice has evolved over the years. Where did I find a lot of this info? John U. Bacon’s outstanding book Blue Ice of course, get yours if you don’t. “Outdoor/Outdoor” Ice (1900-1916): Michigan hockey, or at least something like it, started after the turn of the century as students formed ‘The Huron Hockey Club’—a group of students that played the game on the Huron River and its “outdoor/outdoor” ice. According to Blue Ice, in those early days instead of sweaters they wore bowler hats, coats and ties. In lieu of pucks they used things “tin cans, wood blocks, frozen fruit and even packed horse manure.” I’m guessing you could also find a little bit of “maize ice” near the woods back in those days. For years the group lobbied the athletic department unsuccessfully for funding and more importantly, for its place amongst the other varsity sports. “Indoor/Outdoor” Ice (1916-1927): The sport (and ice skating in general) was growing in popularity as the years went on. Eventually the…
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From Tingley to Ann Arbor to Nashville: Coach Dan McGugin’s Friendship with Fielding Yost
A wonderful account of Vanderbilt's Dan McGugin and his relationship and history with Michigan's Fielding H. Yost.
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This Week Michigan Football History – Bo Won’t Get Spoilermakered – November 13, 1971
Here’s the next entry in ‘This Week in Michigan Football History’ to be played Saturday on WTKA 1050AM’s Key Bank Countdown to Kick-off pregame show before tomorrow’s battle against the Purdue. This time we look back to 1971, as third year coach was crushing opponents on both sides of the ball. Leading up to this game Michigan scored 124 points in the previous two games, and was holding teams to 5.1 points per game. Gary Danielson and Purdue were up next, and it wouldn’t be easy for Bo’s Wolverines: [display_podcast] . [Ed. One note: The final score of the game was of course 20-17 (not 23-30 as mentioned in the recording. Sorry about that.] The sponsor of This Week…is Wolverine Beer so here’s where you can find it, or check out the Beer Wench’s Blog. I’m still waiting to have my first Wolverine beer, perhaps some day soon. You can hear all of the This Week… clips here.
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Bo Rolls into Berlin (Navy 1976)
Here’s a program to the 1976 Navy game: A selection of a few other Navy-Michigan programs from the U-M Bentley Library program database: On Saturday from noon-3 WTKA 1050AM (and I assume WTKA.com) will be replaying the original Bob Ufer radio broadcast of the 1976 Navy game. If you’re cleaning out the garage or mowing the lawn I suggest you tune in. Old ‘Ufe practically wore out the scoring horn in this one, as #1 ranked Michigan put up 70 points on the Midshipmen, the most since 1905, and it’s a radio call to remember. Incredibly Bo’s Wolverines actually trailed with just over a minute to go in the first half before taking the lead. In a span just over 5 minutes in the third quarter sophomore QB Ricky Leach accounted for four touchdowns, two on the ground and two in the air, and shortly thereafter Ufer nearly keeled over with excitement as he tended to do. Based on the WTKA promos, after the 70th point Ufer likens the feat to “rolling into Berlin”! A few props are in order here. First, Ira and crew at WTKA for continuing this tradition. Next, my pal and M history buff Steve Sapardanis of Guts ‘n Glue for recommending they reair this game. Finally, audio and video archivist Art Vuolo, Jr., [see…
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Iron Skillet Lore
I think you know plenty about the Little Brown Jug, but if you need a refresher course head this way. A few tidbits from recent days: SMU and TCU battled for one of the college football traveling trophies last night, with Texas Christian taking home the hardware aluminum. Check out the origins and inspiration of this tradition: Ever wonder why SMU and TCU play for an iron skillet? The SMU sports information department has enlightened us: According to a Nov. 30, 1946, article in The Dallas Morning News, the "Battle of the Iron Skillet" was started to prevent "mutilation of school property" by rowdy fans. The previous year, more than $1,000 in damage had been done to both campuses. "The SMU student council proposed the skillet as a symbol of the rivalry and substitute for vandalism," says SMU Archivist Joan Gosnell. Gosnell says minutes from fall 1946 student council meetings provide more clues. On Oct. 1, the agenda includes: "Further set up idea of Little Brown Jug Trophy," referring to the Michigan-Minnesota football rivalry. On November 12, the committee arranging an SMU-TCU banquet and trophy "was reminded of their job." And on Nov. 19, a student reported that he had purchased the trophy — "an aluminum skillet." A motion was made that SMU and TCU would share the expense of…
