Reader Mark Foster recently ventured where only eagles dare: he set out to create a replica Little Brown Jug for his M-Mancave and inevitably to show off at tailgates and make women swoon, etc., etc. He pinged me first with a questions about certain details and I shot him some of the photos I’ve collected from the jug research. Next, I pointed him to Eric Mierzwiak who, if you recall, in 2009 went on a similar quest and created a beauty of jug and had some great pointers on how to prime and paint the crock. Here’s a look at Mierzwiak’s masterpiece: Foster was find enough to send me the chronological blow-by-blow of the project, enjoy:
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Jug-ists Rejoice
This blogger rejoices over the news tonight. So does this guy (below). That’s Louis J. "Doc" Cooke, longtime Minnesota administrator who started Little Brown Jug rivalry by suggesting the teams play for the crock in 1909: If you’re not ready to rejoice, take in the entire Little Brown Jug lore series: Part I: What Really Happened in the 1930s Part II: Spinning Myths Part III: Getting it Right Part IV: 2013: A Space Quandary Part V: Red Wing Roots Part VI: Is the Greatest Trophy in College Sports a Fake? Part VII: Open Questions Follow MVictors on Twitter
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Less Frequent Brown Jug
The topic of conference rivalries came up on several occasions at Big Ten media days last week. You may have caught Minnesota coach Tim Brewster utter the following: “We haven’t played Michigan for the past two years,” Brewster said. “To me, I don’t see anything different there. Obviously the Little Brown Jug is a historical game and it’s been really important to Michigan and Minnesota for a long time … I just don’t feel like that game is in the same place as the Wisconsin and Iowa games.” A few thoughts here. Clearly the history of this game and its trophy means a lot to me and it seems to be a given that the Wolverines and Gophers will be on the opposite side of the soon-to-be-announced Big Ten divisions. This will mean that the teams won’t meet on a regular basis and the battle for the jug will be an on-again, off-again affair. I’m ok with this. If the conference moves to a nine game conference slate, Michigan will still face four of the six team in the opposite division anyway. The Jug game won’t be going away and when they do meet it’ll mean that much more. And heck, we’re running out of space on the crock anyway: Related, The Little Brown Jug Lore Series: Part I: What…
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Adam, What about My Jug?
I'm not seeing many plausible scenarios where we keep all of our rivals, especially considering OSU and Michigan would likely end up together in most realignment scenarios. So my question for you is, will I ever see the Little Brown Jug again? The quality of my week depends on your answer.
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What’s the Frequency? 104.3 WOMC, 10am Saturday
Yo! I’ll be on joining “The Michigan Football Network Tailgate Show With Lucy Ann Lance, Dean Erskine, and Doug Karsch” at 10AM EST on Saturday for a segment or two. For those in Ann Arbor, tune yourselves to 104.3 WOMC or those out of town listen live here. They broadcast in that yellow tent just off Stadium Blvd outside Crisler so come by to check it out. I’ll be signing jugs afterward. Replica Little Brown Jugs, that is.
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I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry
AP Photo
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Jug Deal: Win One, Get two Free
The original Little Brown (White?) Jug, from Historic Michigan Football Photos. HT: Caught this nugget on Sam Webb’s show this morning and it really hurts. The winner of Saturday’s battle will keep the Little Brown Jug for not only a year, but until November 5, 2011 (!). Bollocks! Yes, due to the way the schedule shakes out the Wolverines and Gophers don’t meet for another three years. Thankfully that game is in Ann Arbor (kick-off time hasn’t been determined quite yet). That’s our jug! As Lloyd Carr reminded everyone last year, we bought it, they stole it. It’s ours–let’s keep it. Should we fail, it’ll be the longest stint that the jug’s been in Minnesota since a four year stretch from 1960 until Michigan won it back in 1964. Previous to that, Minnesota’s great Bennie Bierman-led Depression era teams held the receptacle from 1934-1942.
