• Yost Gets His Stadium. Stagg Gets Stalled. (1927) | This Week In Michigan Football History

    With all the stadium and tunnel talk, this week is a perfect opportunity to discuss Fielding Yost and his quest to build Michigan Stadium (yes, with its coliseum-like tunnel entrance in the center of the arena). We also discuss a prime example of someone who didn't get his--namely Chicago's iconic coach Amos Alonzo Stagg--as well as the consequences. Go Blue.

  • Stuffing Stagg on Thanksgiving (1903) | This Week in Michigan Football History

    This Week In Michigan Football History, as played during the WTKA 1050AM 'Countdown to Kickoff' held November 21, 2020 before the Michigan-Rutgers game. We start with the conclusion of the glorious 1964 Michigan Wolverines season and their 10-0 triumph over Ohio State, as well as their dominant conclusion over Oregon State in the Rose Bowl. We then roll back to 1903 with a brief review of the beating of Oberlin College that set up the Thanksgiving Day battering of Amos Alonzo Stagg and the Chicago Maroons, 28-0 at Marshall Field.

  • The Life and Career of Fielding H. Yost

    A video of my complete guest lecture at U-M course EDUC 212: The History of Intercollegiate Athletics. The topic is the career of Fielding H. Yost. In Part I we cover his early life and coaching career before Michigan, and just into his first season in Ann Arbor. Part II gets into his coaching and AD career, and legacy.

  • Vintage South U

    Had a great time joining my man Rishi Narayan on his fresh new podcast, South U Stories. I nutshelled a few fun stories involving Chicago's Amos Alonzo Stagg and Michigan's Fielding H. Yost, check it out:

  • Unraveling Michigan Football Rivals

    With rivalry talk fresh in the crisp air, this post....where I’ve attempted to represent the overall and relative strength of U-M’s football rivalries over time. If you had a seizure reading this, cheers, you are reading it correctly. Click the pic to expand it. Please jump to Bullets listed below for additional notes, definitions and context.

  • Michigan’s Most Painful Moments

    With Colorado visiting Saturday and their choice to supposedly wear 1994 throwback jerseys, I’ll revisit the top moments where the Wolverine faithful were punched in their collective giblets.   The focus is on specific devastating moments in games, not necessarily the totality of the game. First off, sadly enough and while certainly devastating, here are the honorable miserable mention moments: 2001 Spartan Bob stops Clock/TD pass to TJ Duckett (East Lansing vs. MSU) 1990 Desmond mugging (Ann Arbor vs. MSU) 1973 Mike Lantry misses 44 yard FG (Ann Arbor vs. OSU) 2013 Failed/intercepted 2 point conversion to win The Game (Ann Arbor vs. OSU) 1980 Harry Oliver nails 51-yard FG into the suddenly still wind (South Bend vs. Notre Dame)  HT: John Kryk 2016 “JT was short” The list: #6 ‘The Catch’ (vs. Colorado @ Michigan Stadium, 1994) The Moment:  With six seconds remaining down 26-21, Colorado’s Kordell Stewart hurls the pigskin 70 yards and finds Michael Westbrook: Why it sucked so hard:  It was a big game, at home, and Michigan seemingly had the game sealed.Why it might not be as bad as (see #1):  While Michigan seemingly had the game sealed, Colorado still had the ball in their hands.  As brutal as that was, Hail Mary’s happen.  They even have a name for them.  Stewart made a perfect…

  • Holiday Shopping List for Michigan Fans

    [Ed. Bonus Giveaway Time!  Thanks to the folks at Rivalry Trophy.  If you retweet this tweet or like this post on Facebook between today and Monday, I’ll pick one at random and send you a free mini-Little Brown Jug]: Without further ado, Is your better half stuck on what to get you for the holidays?  Wondering what to get your Michigan-obsessed cousin?   This is the best of the best of the stuff you should be considering – so read on, send and share.  Some cool stuff this year: Leading off, I already mentioned the new line of awesome M watches from the mind of Shashi Mara – his new brand of HAIL Timepieces.  Nice work Shashi, these are awesome.    Check them all out here including some exclusive bundles.  My favorite?  Got to be the Khaki and Steel.  Additional offerings include “Michigan Man” ($349), “Maize and Blue” ($299) and “Special Teams” ($279).  Hurry because they are selling fast:   Rivalry Trophy features a must-have with their Little Brown Jug replicas.  Since it is home in Ann Arbor for while now you must have one in your M shrine or certainly, minimum, on your Christmas tree.  That’s coming straight from the universe’s leading Jugologist.  Available in ornament/dashboard, mid-size (around a foot) and full size.   They also have bundles with ugly Paul Bunyan.  …

  • #GoBlue150 and Being Decidedly Golden

    As part of its celebration of the 150th anniversary of the athletic program, mgoblue.com is running a few nice pieces including a video bit from Greg Kinney of the U-M Bentley Historical Library and a breakdown of the first athletic team at Michigan – the baseball squad that played during the 1885-86 school year.  Here are a few notes: