Michigan football memories
I think that I’ve mentioned before that I’m a Michigan football fan. I came of age during the Bo Schembechler years, and became the type of true-believer that only a pre-teenaged boy can be. I lived & died with what Bo’s boys did on the gridiron, rooting for them with a white-hot passion. (That my ardor for all things maize & blue cooled considerably just a decade later is a story for another day…)
Even better, because that’s when bigsis was attending UofM, I got to attend most every home game during the late 1970s. Football Saturdays in Ann Arbor were magical & larger than life. Even bigsis’s dorm room in South Quad was awe inspiring to me. I really do think that it was during those visits that I got bit by the higher-ed bug that has kept me working in the college environment to this day.
Generally speaking, being a Michigan fan back then (in the days of the “Big Two & the Little Eight”) was pretty darned fun for 363 or 364 days of the year. The only exceptions were, once in a while, the Ohio State game and New Year’s Day (or whenever UofM played in a lesser, “fleabag” bowl game). Even then, the legendary Bob Ufer (see here & here) made being a “Meeechigan” fan entertaining, turning even the sorrowful moments sweet.
The first clip in the video embedded at the start of this post is, quite honestly, the most exciting sporting moment of which I have ever been a part. I was in the crowd at that game — UofM’s homecoming game against Indiana on 10/27/79. This was a bit of a down season for Bo, but things were starting to look up. Anthony Carter was a freshman, John Wangler was QB, and Bo was starting to appreciate the forward pass — Carter was that good.
By the end of the game, however, the faithful at Michigan Stadium were in a stunned silence. It looked like Lee Corso’s band of Hoosiers would escape with a 21-21 tie. Which, for Michigan fans, was just as bad as a loss. Just before the fateful play shown in the clip, there was a play where UofM running back Lawrence Reid “fumbled” the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, lateraling it right into Corso’s hands. Corso comically held it for half a beat & then dropped it like a hot potato & proceeded to throw a fit. That incident, the ending of the game, & Corso’s whining about it are why I still cannot take Corso seriously to this very day.
That final play — the 45 yd Wangler to Carter touchdown with no time on the clock — caused the volume in Michigan Stadium to jump as if the volume knob had been twisted from 0 to 11 in an instant. I’ve never heard a change in sound like that, before or since. Then, to hear Ufer’s call of the play & eventually to have that call combined with the video, well, that just added to the specialness of the moment in my mind’s eye.
I may not always like individual Michigan folks (players, coaches, students, alums, etc.), and the town & university can be rather pretentious & full of themselves, but the mythology of Michigan football will always be able to awaken the 10 year-old true believer in me.
-ghp
The season starts
The NFL regular season starts tonight.
Yay!
I’ve always been a pro football fan (it’s a shame that Detroit doesn’t have a pro team, y’know?), but it’s only been in the past 10-15 years that the NFL has become my favorite league, and pro football my favorite sports season. Basketball (pro or college) is nowhere near the force it was for me growing up. Baseball is still important to me, but more on a personal & nostalgic level. Hockey comes close, and the Red Wings will always be my #1 team. College football is ok, but oddly enough I haven’t cared about it quite as much ever since I actually went to college. Attending Ann Arbor for a semester cured me of living & dying by what the Wolverines did on the field (thus, the App State travesty wasn’t all that traumatic for me…).
The NFL just strikes me as the best run league out there. Labor peace. Optimal season length. Smart salary cap. Non-guaranteed contracts. Fan friendly. Fun like fantasy football (although I don’t play) & pick’em contests like those at ESPN & Yahoo. Granted, it all gets a little too over the top by Super Bowl week, but it’s an amazingly enjoyable ride to get up to that point.
In response to Hank Jr.’s question, yes, I’m ready for some football!
-ghp
Bad Rex Wrecks Bears
The Bears need a quarterback. I don’t think that Rex/Wrecks Grossman is the guy to get them through to a Super Bowl title. When they need to be carried by the QB, or even just need the QB to put them over the hump, rather than having the defense & special teams carry the load, Grossman just can’t be counted on to get the job done. Is he the only reason they lost? No. Is the main reason? I think so. Hopefully Lovie Smith & Jerry Angelo will realize this sooner rather than later…
The NFL season is now over. That makes me sad. While I have a more visceral connection to, and fondness for, NHL hockey, Pro Football is my favorite season. There’s something special about its pacing - the ebb & flow that occurs over the 17 week regular season + 3 weeks of playoffs that is just more appealing than the Bataan march-like regular seasons of the NHL, NBA, & MLB (not to mention the bloated playoff structures of the NHL & NBA!).
Only 22 weeks until training camp opens!
-ghp
29-Jan: Today in History
January 29, 1936 - The first members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, New York.
WDTM? Well, the most significant data point is this: None of the initial inductees were unanimous choices. This ushered in the era of pompous & boneheaded sportswriters completely jacking up the HoF voting process. It’s a farce that the pitcher of the 1980’s is not yet in the HoF! 
Induct Jack Morris!
-ghp
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