A few of the sights and sounds from the pregame Saturday. Beastly Jake Long returns to the Big House for the game: CNN Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta represented. He was only asked 39 times if he had a prescription for the Wolverines’ woes: A look at the Ohio State throwback uniform and the Buckeye stare drill: This Buckeye band member got tuckered out in the middle of the script Ohio and decided to take a knee on the Michigan sideline: 1969 team take the field, you can also see a video here: Zoltan and parents: Team getting ready to come out, check out Brandon Minor in streets on the left (with towel covering some type of brace on his shoulder): Sweetness Melanie Collins of the Big Ten Network swung by our tailgate (hosted by Kristen and Todd Mitchell) to get some footage for their Big Ten Cookout show: You’ve no doubt seen quite a few pics and videos of the M Club banner. Here’s kind of a unique perspective from right past the banner. I actually felt a strong breeze as they rushed by: Recent Posts Ohio State Game Notes Hit CTRL-Z Ohio State – Pregame (Photos) 1969 Wolverines Take the field Fare Thee Well
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26?
Photo: Detroit News photo services. Thanks to BiggieMunn for sending this over. The photo above was set alongside of Angelique Chengelis’s fine piece on a few of those involved with the 1969 Wolverine victory over Ohio State. Question: Anyone know the significance (if any) of the 26 on Bo’s sleeve? On the extended team roster, #26 belonged to a sophomore quarterback named William Ross of Beaver Falls, PA. Answer this question definitively and we win Saturday. Related: Jim Mandich of ‘69 on WTKA (audio) <—You’ll enjoy this
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Mo
Coach Gary Moeller was at Schembechler Hall this afternoon. Don’t know the circumstances for the visit, but the no doubt the he had a few words for the coaches and team about Ohio State. Moeller is a Buckeye grad and captained Woody Hayes’s squad in 1963. Moeller went 3-1-1 against Ohio State. Looks pretty good, don’t you think?
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Jesse Owens, Gerald Ford and 1934
Regular readers of this site know one of my favorite decades of Michigan football is the 1930s, having covered different seasons and events in eBay Watch and in the Little Brown Jug Lore series from those years. If I had to pick one year as my favorite during the stretch it’s definitely 1934 which is ironic, as it’s arguably the worst season in Michigan football history. I argued this point here and here, but in a nutshell consider that Harry Kipke’s team, coming off back-to-back national championships, finished 1-7, was shut out in five of the eight games and scored a mere 21 points. Fugly. Despite the futility on the gridiron, the season is packed with historical treasures of major significance both on and off the field. Check out this program from the Ohio State-Michigan held on November 17, 1934: The program features several photos of players, including a collage of the Michigan team including team MVP Gerald Ford: The top of the photo features Willis Ward, the African American end who was at the center of a fierce controversy that played out before the Georgia Tech game a few weeks earlier that season. For those not familiar, The Jackets made it known well before the game that they wouldn’t take the field in Ann Arbor if Ward played, spawning…
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A Hard Combination to Beat (1905 Michigan Football)
Another vintage Michigan football item showed up this week on eBay, this time a post card celebrating Fielding Yost and his fine 1905 squad. The team is assembled in a line with Yost in the middle, standing on a large sign in the shape of a football that reads 'Western Championship'. Atop the photo is a block letter title, 'A HARD COMBINATION TO BEAT'.
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Buckeye B.J. Mullens is Duncish and Gaumless (YouTube)
Just posted on YouTube, a quick interview with Ohio State center B.J. Mullens this week on the upcoming Michigan game. Interviewer: Let’s be honest, give me your thoughts on the University of Michigan.Mullens: They suck. I mean come on. We’re going to go up there and beat them pretty bad. That’s a rival and that’s how it’s going to be.Interviewer: Do you give a damn for that whole state?Mullens: No. Not at all. So that’s fine, I don’t have an issue with a Buckeye trashing Michigan or vice versa, even dropping a “sucks” here and there. But the final question inadvertently produces a great moment in the history of this rivalry: Interviewer: In as many S.A.T vocabulary words as you can, your opinion of Michigan.Mullens: Boo. Isn’t that grounds for an NCAA investigation? A cow could have scored as well on that question. I love it because you know the interviewer is a Buckeye grad, yet he inadvertently delivers a perfect Stuttering John question. Update 1/17: Good question from Biggie Munn, ‘what in the hell sport did this raj cat play that he did not lose to um in 4 years?‘. Midway through the interview, Raj offers that he “went four years and never lost to Michigan”. The best I can tell Raj was in the homecoming class and his…
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HBO’s The Rivalry Released on DVD, Review
Glad to hear that HBO’s documentary on the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is now available on DVD. You can get a copy here from Amazon.com or head over to your local Borders. I really enjoyed it; here’s my review from last November (with a few tweaks): ———————————————- With the hype building for Saturday it was a great night to watch the premiere of HBO’s first documentary dedicated to sports: The Rivalry. Initial review by those that at pre-screening event was that it was slanted toward the Buckeyes and didn’t mention Lloyd Carr. I went in with an open mind: – The content definitely slanted toward the Buckeye side of the house. I’d say the last half of the piece was 80% focused on Ohio State fans and Woody Hayes. – Overall it was well done. While they didn’t have any mention/picture/video of Lloyd Carr, they didn’t exactly spend a lot of time on Tressel. But the Carr omission was a little weird. I mean, they showed footage of John Cooper and a lot of Earle Bruce, but and didn’t mention Carr? – The quotes from Bo were great. They talked about the gold pants that each OSU coaches and players gets if they beat Michigan (and later show up on eBay). One thing that never occurred to me is that Bo…
