The AMAZING story of the 1909 Michigan-Penn game, held in Philadelphia. Needing a boost after getting crushed by the Quakers the previous 3 seasons, Yost and Michigan got a big one. The navy men stationed on the U.S.S. Michigan came out to root Wolverines on in this HUGE historic win. You'll enjoy this one.
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Golden Forty Seven
Saturday night I had dinner with some friends at the Sheraton in Ann Arbor. In the bar I spotted a group of folks donning black and gold #47 jerseys and was puzzled. Was it a group of Oosterbaan family members? I’m thinking Bennie O’s godson Bennie McCready would have given me a heads up if that were the case, right Bennie?. Maybe it was Jake Ryan’s crew? Again I was thinking probably not, and if so, why would they wear throwback-ish jerseys? So I walked over. It turns out they were wearing the #47 in honor of Dr. Gerald Drake, a former Michigan State football player from the late 1930s. Oh, and the kicker: the 95-year old Dr. Drake was there with them! Photo inset are the Drakes: Chuck, Molly, Gerald, Donna, Dan & Doug. Naturally I hustled over & chatted with him. What a great man. I asked him how he ended up playing football at State. “My dad played football at [M.A.C.] in the class of aught three,” Drake told me. “It wasn’t intercollegiate football; it was class team football. They beat each other up without headgear on the banks of the Red Cedar.” He shared that he was a fullback at East Lansing High School and also ran track. Freshmen back then didn’t play on the varsity…
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Really, really Little Brother & Shorty’s Pooch (1910)
For This Week…we got deep into the archives back into 1910 and focus on the battle against M.A.C. and the controversy surrounding the scheduled game against Shorty Longman and the Irish. You can hear all of the This Week… clips here.
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Wanted: Fans with 98% Enthusiasm, 2% Husky Fatima Drenched Vocal Chords (1911)
From the 1911 Michigan Daily, love this. In just about every issue the ‘Night Editor’ submitted a short column with a pointed message or opinion, and in the fall of ‘11 it was often related to the football team and fandom. Check out this piece delivered by night editor Loren Robinson, the week of the game in East Lansing against M.A.C.: Michigan scored 15 unanswered points in the second half to take down the Farmers 15-3. It’s assumed the Wolverine fans enjoyed a few of these on the two hour train ride back to Ann Arbor that evening:
