This Week in Michigan Football History is back for Season 9, featuring a sweeping look of Meechigan football over several decades including – 1887, and the origins of the Notre Dame rivalry. And a several of canceled games:
- 2001 and the response to and reschedule following 9/11
- 1963 reschedule after Thanksgiving following the Kennedy assassination.
- 1918 handling WWI and the wicked worldwide flu epidemic
Audio:
Check it out Saturday on the WTKA 1050AM pregame show, live from Soaring Eagle Casino. Props to Ira Weintraub on the 1s and 2s, and To Hell With Notre Dame! Go Blue.
Script:
Tonight we renew the on-again, off-again, on-again storied rivalry with our Natural Enemy, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The history of our prestigious pigskin institutions is very much intertwined starting with your beloved Wolverines traveling to South Bend to teach them how to play this sport back in 1887.
Immediately after that lesson we taught them another lesson, beating them 8-0 – providing an early jump on the all time win percentage race. The rivalry really heated up 2 decades later after the Irish (coached by Yost protege’ Frank “Shorty” Longman) finally won a game in 1909, then due an eligibility dispute the 1910 game was ABRUPTLY CANCELLED, literally hours before the scheduled kickoff. Things would never, and I mean EV-ER – be the same.
Fast forward to this day exactly 17 years ago today in 2001 when we opened the season in the Big House against another program with whom we have DEEP ties, namely Bo’s alma mater Miami of Ohio. BJ Askew’s 94 yards on the ground along with John Navarre’s 200 in the air helped pace the offense, while the defense forced 3 picks of “Big Ben” Rothlisberger in the 31-13 victory.
But the story of 2001 was OFF the football field, as just 10 days later the nation was stunned by the horrific attacks of September 11th. Michigan were scheduled to face Western Michigan on that following Saturday the 15th but no one was interested in playing football that weekend and many feared that large stadiums could be another target. Eventually entire college football schedule was cancelled for that weekend.
You might remember that sports turned out to be an important element of the nation’s healing process following 9-11, and Michigan AD Bill Martin was able to get the Western game back on the slate by filling a bye week and pushing the Illinois game back.
2001 wasn’t the first time world events altered the planned schedule. In 1963 following the Kennedy assassination, the Ohio State game was postponed a week and pushed out to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The move forced many on team to stay in town during the holiday week, and they were invited to watch the annual Lions-Packers Thanksgiving Day game then-played at Tigers Stadium in Detroit.
Going back a century ago to 1918, with World War I raging and a frightening flu epidemic gripping the globe, most games of any kind were canceled. In all, Michigan ended up playing just 5 times – including games that were rescheduled against MSU and Ohio State.
Yost said if we’re going to play ’em we might as well win ’em, and sure enough his beloved MEECHIGAN swept all 5 games, good enough for NATIONAL TITLE #5 for HURRY UP and for his beloved CHAMPIONS OF THE WEST!
Go Blue, To Hell with Notre Dame and for more – check out WTKA.com and MVictors.com. For the Key Bank Countdown to Kick-off this is Greg Dooley.
One Comment
Teddy
Always look forward to hearing this before every game. GO BLUE!