• Jil Gordon & Painting The Little Brown Jug

    Most people know the basics (or if you read this site, about everything you’d ever want to know) about the story of the Little Brown Jug.  To recap, back in 1903, Michigan and Minnesota’s powerful teams played in Minneapolis to a fiercely fought 6-6 tie. After the game, the Wolverines left behind a five-gallon stoneware water jug, purchased at a local store before the game.  Minnesota equipment manager Oscar Munson found it the following day or two and brought it to Director of Athletics L.J. Cooke.  In remembrance of their mighty tie they decided to give the jug its first paint job, scribing, “Michigan Jug – ‘Captured’ by Oscar, October 31, 1903,” on one side. On the opposite face they spelled out, SCORE, “Minnesota 6, Michigan 6,” making the Minnesota “6” three times larger than the Wolverines’ score.  Six years later Cooke and Michigan coach Fielding Yost agreed to play for the righteous crockery, something they’ve done 92 times now (if you count that 1903 game). While playing for the jug is of course one of the deepest and most replicated college football traditions, painting the jug actually is a practice that started before the teams even agreed to play for the pottery. After Cooke and Munson’s initial handicraft, the scores of the game have been painted on sometime after…

  • Sugar Bowl 2012 – Behind the Scenes

    A few random notes, pics and takes in the aftermath of a solid trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.    A few quick hitters: >> Hospitality.  File under you probably don’t care, but I’ll say it.  The media was treated first class by the Sugar Bowl folks.  Beyond being ridiculously courteous, they provided excellent communication, was quick with the transcription of the press conferences, offered good food/coffee/drinks, workspace, logistics, etc. They offered a couple of nice gifts as well—a Sugar Bowl jacket and luggage tags.  It was very cool to be a part of it all.  They also arranged for a 30 foot Po Boy (above). >> Dome View.  The press box in the Dome is all the way at the top, here’s a fairly accurate look at the view from up top: They did have video monitors rolling everywhere, along with a screen of live stat updates.  The ESPN feed appeared to be about 6-7 seconds behind the live-action. >> Fans.  I was surprised by the number of Virginia Tech fans that showed up for the game.  I thought Wolverine fans would overwhelm the joint but that didn’t happen.   There was still more Maize and Blue out there but to me, it was only a slight majority.  One thing I noticed wandering around town—Michigan definitely had more students just…

  • 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?