I caught up with the oldest player on the field after the game, Jim Conley of the ‘65 Rose Bowl champs. He roamed the defensive backfield for the Maize team this morning and shared a few thoughts. Worth a listen, heavily tongue-in-cheek from the salty veteran: [display_podcast] Notable: I asked Conley about the lack of a QB on the Maize team: “It met my dreams, you understand? Because I hate referees, kickers and quarterbacks.” On the refs, who seemed to give the Blue QB (John Navarre) more than the allowed 5 seconds: “They had that Spartan Bob clock…they had 8 seconds sometimes.” On playing safety: “I moved better than I thought I was going to, to tell you the truth. I just wanted to show the fans that an old man can play free safety. If you’re a safety, you gotta sit back, look at the field, read the quarterback and go to the ball. And as you saw nobody threw in my area because I was there.” On the leap he offered up during his introduction: “I wanted to show people that I have that 42” elevation…”
-
-
Hanging a Piece of Yost West (1989)
It’s Friday and the NCAA Hockey playoffs commence today. Michigan of course gets into it against Bemidji State tomorrow night in Fort Fun. By now we all know the story of the Wolverines’ heroic run into the postseason and readers of the Wall Street Journal even got clued in today. While the improbable run got started at home against Lake State, the first sign that something special might be afoot occurred up in East Lansing when mobs of Wolverine fans took over Munn and watched the Blue sweep the Spartans out of the tournament and ended MSU’s season. Here’s a chance to take something else out of Munn, check out this 1989 CCHA play-off Champion banner up for auction for a mere $4,000: The auction ends April 1st. I’m not sure what you’d do with the banner, but for $4,000 I’m guessing you can do much better. It’s certainly a cool item for a Spartan fan’s man cave but paying anything over $300 seems like a stretch. (Heck, for 4 large you could probably hire Ryan Miller come to your house…and fire tape-ball wristers at him in your basement for a few hours).
-
What A Woman! Rose Bowl Queen (1938)
Here is another great wire photo, this time from the late 1930s featuring my dream girl. It’s the Tournament of Roses Queen Barbara Dougall posing with her crown holding a team photo of none other than Fielding Yost’s first and perhaps finest team, the 1901 squad that started the Point-A-Minute reign of terror at the turn of the 20th Century.
-
Jim Rome to Visit Detroit March 19
Word is out that in a couple weeks uber popular sports radio host Jim Rome will be making a rare visit to affiliate station 1130AM WDFN. On March 19th, Rome will do his show from the WDFN studios in Farmington Hills then bolt over to Northville Downs to meet listeners, advertisers, a few celebs and media titans. This won’t be Rome’s first visit to Motown. I know he stopped in for Super XL and local fans might recall one of his (now defunct) ‘Tour Stops’, held at the Palace back in 2003: Rome working the crowd at The Palace in 2003 I dropped into the Tour Stop event with my wife (bad idea). I’ll always remember when Ernie Harwell came out on stage, the interview and the rabid fan reaction, and all that….but I also recall that Rome spent a good portion of the show apologizing for dropping an f-bomb before Ernie came on and felt horrible after he realized the old legend probably heard it. The March 19 event should make for an interesting afternoon given that the beer flows cheaply and in bucket-sized cups at the Downs & the first round of the NCAA tournament will be in full swing. Toss in Rome along with a few thousand 25-45 year-olds lead by ‘Emilio Textavez’ and you can bet…
-
Fielding H. Yost’s Bust (1927)
In the past couple of years, I’ve featured posts on Fielding Yost busting the Galloping Ghost and highlighted a program from the 1953 Football Bust which featured autographs from a few of the Yost’s finest players. Thanks to reader Craig B., this edition of eBay Watch takes a look at a statue bust of the old coach as presented in a wire photo: Along with the note, Craig asked an excellent question: So, what we know from this is that there was a bust of Yost in Yost Field House, but I have never, in my life, seen it. Do we know where it is today? Can we get it put back into Yost? Am I just missing it somewhere? Anyway, I shall eagerly await any potential news you have on this, in post or reply form. Thanks much! The photo is dated October 27, 1927 and if I had to guess at the blurry plaque below the bust, it reads “Fielding H. Yost – illegible – University of Michigan – then I think it might say, ‘University of Michigan Club of Chicago’ – 1927: As Craig points out, the auction description hints that this statue might have been associated with Yost Field House but given the date of the photo itself, it may have been presented to Yost…
-
The Wisterts: Ox, Moose and Whitey (1949)
Check out this great photo of three icons in Michigan football lore: The Wistert Brothers, Albert (“Ox”), Francis (“Whitey”) and Alvin (“Moose”):
-
Big House David Brandon
Via U-M Media Relations, photo credit the University of Michigan Athletic Department. Assume this was snapped on the day of the 1973 team photo. Thankfully Bo dissuaded him from changing his name to Brandon OchoCinco:
-
Vintage Rose Bowl Cheer (1902)
Here’s a pic currently for sale from the turn of the last century at the inaugural Rose Bowl and more specifically, from the actual “Floral” Parade prior to the game. Funny, it looks like Willie Heston and crew are decked in their game uniforms and presumably taking the wagon directly from the parade route to the game!:
