I had a chance to hop on the field before the game. First off, it’s just a perfect day here – can’t say more. The EverBank Field gridiron appears to be in excellent shape – a couple gashes visible here and there but only up close. While I’m not natural grass expert I can safely say the grass is cut very tight—specifically 9/16” per Nick, the head groundscrew guy in charge of it all: Naturally Nick is a Spartan, having graduated from MSU’s prolific turf grass school. He’d much rather be in Orlando watching his Spartans battle Saban and crew, but he expects to be peppered with texts throughout the game for updates. Nick had the painful task, for a Spartan that is, of making this happen in the North endzone (but he did a nice job): Michigan’s end zone is North, the and the Wolverine players will be on the East sideline. Here’s a view looking South: Go Blue. And if you’re not on the Twitter, get on the Twitter, I already tweeted out photos an hour ago!
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Bill Yearby, Michigan All-American, Passes Away
Bill Yearby, an All-American defensive tackle for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1963-1965, died on Dec. 20th after a long illness.
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Signed WWJ Michigan Pigskin (1958)
Check out this vintage football signed by the 1958 University of Michigan football squad (see above) Above ‘UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’ it is stamped ‘WWJ 1958’. The WWJ stands for longtime radio station WWJ in Detroit which aired Wolverine games for many years, including, according to the Bentley Library, what is believed to be the first live broadcast from a football stadium in 1924. The auction’s limited description doesn’t indicate why it says WWJ or when the ball was signed, but perhaps it was passed around during the annual bust held in December of that year after the rough season. How rough? Well, the Wolverines finished 2-6-1, losing their final four games, and prior to the finale against Ohio State coach Bennie Oosterbaan resigned. This probably didn’t help matters: There was no drama or transition period after Oosterbaan handed in his resignation. He stayed at the university and former star player and then assistant coach Bump Elliott took over effective January 1, 1959. Back to the ball, while it doesn’t appear to be loaded down with superstars, it does include Oosterbaan’s predecessor and current athletic director Fritz Crisler: And historians might recognize the name Harry Newman, the great quarterback from the early 1930s, but.. ..you might also notice the “Jr.” tagged on the end. That’s Harry Newman’s son who didn’t leave…
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Groban Jokes Still Hot
More proof that Josh Groban jokes are still on fire, caller ‘Mark from Novi’ dialed up Sam Webb during the recruiting round-up on WTKA 1050AM this morning and killed it: [display_podcast] . The full segment is here, and as Sam recaps the visits on the Big Chill weekend. The theme? It was an outstanding event for all involved but recruiting and more importantly, commitments, are in limbo with the coaching situation.
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Lovely Parents – Big Chill | Sights & Sounds
It was quite a day in the Big House yesterday and Michigan smoked the Spartans 5-0 in front of 113,000 plus. A few notes: Sam and Ira firing up the Victors Lounge before the game. Ira taught fans the traditional Yost chants all week but the classic “UGLY PARENTS” was left in the chamber in the shut-out. An example of the nice touches they included – the hockey team going under the Go Blue banner before the game Mike Hart was in attendance. I asked him if he smoked peace pipe with Jim Harbaugh. Hart told me he’d support whomever is Michigan’s coach, including Harbaugh, but reminded me that Rich Rodriguez is our coach. Teams assembling for the national anthem. My weak lens doesn’t illustrate the view from the 6th level of the press box. Surprising to me, you could actually following the puck very well up there. Unfortunately I couldn’t see the stealth bomber fly over from the photo deck but it got rave reviews from folks in the stadium. Funny – I didn’t see this on the rack at Moe’s Almost 5 minutes into the game I left the photo deck and headed to my east side seats. The West lower concourse was a mess – huge lines. There was no wait to get in on the…
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Lightly Chilled (Pregame Notes and Photos)
I popped over to the stadium for a few minutes to get a flavor of the action and the scene. Notes: Achtung! Media relations announced that they have CLOSED both golf courses tomorrow due to the weather. Fend for yourselves! mgoblog’s game preview is up. Check out The Only Colors for the Spartan preview if nothing else for the photo that leads off the post. I ran into the pyrotechnic crew (at least a dozen guys). From the sound of those cats, it’s going to be pretty good. If-Dwight-Scrute-were-in-charge good. Tune into WTKA 1050AM for the pregame show. I’ll be doing a Big Chill edition of This Week in Michigan Football Hockey History. It involves life, death, ice and you might even from Red Berenson in the middle of the segment. And here it is: [display_podcast] FWIW – I’ll likely be in the Victors Lounge tomorrow if you have the means. A few photos for you, enjoy. It was beautiful out there around lunch time: A view of the Blue line from one of the benches Refrigeration in Exexcelsious deo From the student section
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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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The January Effect
I’ve maintained all along that the money involved in Rodriguez’s contract isn’t driving Michigan’s timeline for a decision. I think it was Mike Rosenberg who first pointed out that if Brandon decided to terminate RR and waits until January 1 to formally make that change, Michigan owes Rodriguez $1.5 fewer bucks. Article 3.01(b) defines the contract years: Article 4.01(a) defines the amount U-M must pay Rodriguez if he’s terminated without cause and note the drop in contract year four starting January 1, 2011. However, these terms require Michigan to provide 30 days written notice of the termination: Practically speaking if Brandon fires Rodriguez next week, Rich Rod is not going to hang around for 30 days. But it appears as though the contractual time table on the termination will stretch into January, providing another reason why the $1.5 million “savings” question doesn’t hold water. All this said and even without this 30 day notice clause, these matters are negotiated. Michigan could argue the NCAA violations provide an out “with cause”. If the NCAA finds wrong-doing by Rodriguez at WVU Michigan, per the contract, could again argue termination with cause. Above and beyond all this, there are other legal matters and requests by Michigan that will certainly be in play. Finally, Brandon’s not going to let $1.5 million drive the decision…
