I recently received this note from a reader (and Buckeye) Larry: I am a huge Buckeye fan. But I love the history of college football. I love the history of teams uniforms and helmets too. I know that Notre Dame was one of the last teams to use leather helmets. The Irish wore “plastic” for a little bit in the early or mid 40’s but went back to leather until the late 50’s. Ohio State last wore leather helmets 1946 with a guy or so a little longer. I note that Michigan had several players wear leather in the 50’s. But I saw one player, Denny Fitzgerald #18, wear a leather helmet and no facemask in 1960. That may be one of the latest I have seen a player wear leather and then to have no facemask. Maybe there was somebody else but I do not know who. I know Bobby Layne wore no facemask for the Steelers in the early 60’s. I enjoy your site for the historical things. I wonder if you could find out why Fitzgerald wore leather that late and no facemask. Larry attached a few photos of Fitzgerald donning the winged leather helmet with no facemask. I love this one: This is a man’s man and this is a tough man’s game. Fitzgerald’s athletic resume’…
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The Dickinson System: How an Econ Prof determined the National Champion
Harry Kipke’s 1932 and 1933 teams were champions not by virtue of a poll of writers or coaches. The two titles were determined by the most widely recognized method at the time: the Dickinson System, a formula devised by Illinois economics professor Frank Dickinson that ranked college teams at the end of each season.
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Mascots and Death
The Detroit News announced the winners of its Michigan Wolverine mascot design contest early this morning.
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Dirty Harry (WTKA audio)
When I hopped in the car Friday morning I was happy to hear the discussion on the WTKA 1050AM morning show focused on the 1930s and in particular, former M coach Harry Kipke. Ira took a few calls including a notable one from listener Don who broke down the whole discussion of “worst” three year stretch ever, and the fall of the Kipke era. Here’s Don’s call: [display_podcast] Well done, Don. As far as Don’s online Michigan historian, I’m pretty sure that’s me and he’s correct that you can find a lot more on that era on these pages. Regarding the worst stretch ever, I started that discussion three seasons ago when local writers started calling RichRod’s first the worst of all time. And despite what folks say (including our athletic department), by almost any measure the 3 year stretches from 1934-1936 and from 1935-1937 are worse, and Don adds some great points about our dismal performance against our rivals. It’s not so much that I care if you make a statement about the worst or best or whatever. But out of respect for those who care about the history and traditions of this university, at least mix in a “one of the” or “among the” before you drop in the word “worst” or “best”, assuming you are not willing to…
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Tom Harmon – Big Ten Icon #5 (Full Episode)
Big Ten Icon #5 Tom Harmon.. Follow MVictors on Twitter Related: Inside Big Ten Icons Big Ten Icon #5 – Why Tom Harmon Went to Michigan Tom Harmon – Big Ten Icon #5
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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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Badgers and Bad Bleachers (1905)
There is significance to this hard fought 12-0 Michigan victory over Wisconsin in 1905. First, this was really the last real test for Yost and crew before the showdown with Chicago on Thanksgiving day, where Yost would suffer his first defeat. The game also made headlines because the Ferry Field temporary stands for the game collapsed and gave everyone a big scare.
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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…
