Happy Birthday to me!

Today, April 30th, marks the 140th birthday of me, your humble blogger, Fielding H. Yost.  But as you can see by my picture, I don't look a day over...whatever age I am in this photo.

As you probably know, I was born in Fairview, West Virginia and actually went to college in Ohio at what was then called Ohio Normal (now Northern) University (although we all know there is nothing normal about Ohio).  I later enrolled at West Virginia where I played tackle and never, ever sang nor listened to Josh Groban.

But my life really began in 1901 when I was hired as Michigan's head coach.  I coached there until 1923, then again from 1925-1926.  While in A2, I went 165-29-10, a winning percentage of .833, and won 6 national titles with nary a free tattoo given to any of my players.

After my coaching days were over, I stayed on at Michigan as AD until 1940. 

Besides my kick-ass record, I invented the position of linebacker, co-created the first ever bowl game, the 1902 Rose Bowl, with then legendary UM athletic director Charles Baird, invented the fieldhouse concept that bears my name, and supervised the building of the first on-campus building dedicated to intramural sports so that frat guys could have a place to feel like athletes before going back to their houses and puking all weekend.

DID YOU KNOW

I also started the tradition of U-M coaches screwing over West Virginia.  According to Wikipedia:

In October 1896, after his team lost three times to Lafayette in home games played on three different fields over the course of three days, Yost became a remarkable personification of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." He transferred in mid-season to join Coach Parke H. Davis' national championship team at Lafayette. Just a week after playing against Davis in West Virginia, Yost was playing for Davis in Lafayette's historic 6–4 win over the Penn Quakers.

The fortuitous timing of Yost's appearance on the Lafayette roster did not go unnoticed by Penn officials. They called it "the Yost affair." The Philadelphia Ledger quoted Yost as saying that he came to Lafayette only to play football. The fact that Yost appeared in a Lafayette uniform only once, in the Penn game, and that he returned to West Virginia within two weeks of the contest did not help appearances. He assured all concerned that he would return to Lafayette for at least three years of study.  But 1897 found him no longer a student or a player, but a coach.

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Today is our own Andy's birthday.  Now, the appropriate MZone birthday wish would include a funny Photoshop in this post of Andy eating b-day cake with Brady Hoke and the ghost of Bo Schembechler or something like that. 

But since he's the Photoshop guru not me, this simply photo-less well wish will have to suffice.

Frowning Girl

Okay I admit it: the reason I have been lax in posting of late here on the MZone is because I've been so excited, so crazy with anticipation, so obsessed, with the Royal Wedding, that I haven't been able focus on the MZone until the joyous, blessed, event was over

So as I watched, live, naturally - a bowl of popcorn and my 16 cats named after other British royalty at my side - I, along with the rest of the world, couldn't help but notice the "frowning girl" on the balcony next to the future King and Queen as they shared their first kiss.

According to Yahoo, she's "Prince William's goodaughter 3-year-old Grace van Cutsem, who was one of the official bridesmaids (there are no "flower girl" roles in traditional British weddings, so children are often included as bridesmaids or pages)."  Apparently, Little Grace was also pouting for part of the carriage ride due to the noise of the crowd.

But as I watched and, yes, wiped the tears from my eyes, I realized this wasn't the first time I'd seen her.  So I did a little sleuthing and, lo and behold, I figured out where I'd seen her expressing her displeasure at other events.

As you can see below, Frowning Girl couldn't listen to Jim Tressel's bullshit, either.

And Grace wasn't pleased with UMD's OT victory over UM in the NCAA Hockey Championship.

Mystery solved.

Let us know if you've seen her anywhere else.

Michigan's next FG kicker

Sure he's only 18 months old, but he couldn't be worse than last season.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Jim Mandich & Bo

James Michael Mandich

Leader and Best

July 30, 1948 – April 26, 2011

Et tu, Herbie?

O-lie-o!

We here at the MZone would like to officially thank Jim Tressel and THE Ohio State University for providing some much needed material during the dog days of college football blogging.

And, with real life intruding of late, we'd especially like to thank regular reader Bob for the pics below.

First up is the revised edition of Jim Tressel's book The Winner's Manual.

Next, in order to help Tosu players sell their Buckeye memorabilia, a new tech company has sprung up.

Finally, as Tresselgate heats up, we end these guest pics with the obligatory 'Shop of Script O-lie-o.

So, what are the odds of Tressel getting canned when all is said and done?

Two-Minute Drill

As previously noted below, real life has intruded on blogging of late.  Again, my apologies for falling behind on MZone email.  But, alas, here are a couple quick things I wanted to pass along:

* Even The Dispatch knows penalties against Tosu could be severe  (HT: SiC)

* More Tressel emails re: Tresselgate released.  And guess what: none of them are to his bosses or the compliance department.  (HT: SiC)

*  MZone reader and high school junior TL has created a new Android app called UM Recruit, which focuses on Michigan Football and Basketball recruiting and it allows users to follow the recruiting trail on their phone

*  Clock is ticking for Tosu/Tressel in C-bus  

*  Check out longtime MZone reader Thorin's site, MGoVideo.

* Chengelis to current, former Wolverines: Can't we all get along?

NCAA to Tressel: Liar!

ED. NOTE:  It's been an extremely busy time lately so my apologies for the lack of new posts.  Double apology for all the unreturned emails as I hadn't checked MZone email in a couple days.

The NCAA sent a "notice of allegations" to Tosu Friday (which defines "Good Friday") and verbally bitch-slapped coach Jim Tressel in what could amount to "potentially major violations."

According to the ESPN link above:

In a 13-page indictment of Tressel's behavior, the NCAA alleged that Tressel had "permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics while ineligible." It also said he "failed to deport himself ... [with] honesty and integrity" and said he was lying when he filled out a compliance form in September which said he had no knowledge of any NCAA violations by any of his players.

Gee, shocker.  I guess our photoshop of the movie poster below is no longer just MZone hijinks but rather something now confirmed by the NCAA.

And no, we never tire of posting this pic.

CHAPTER 1: Cheat

Name That Tune Contest

Let's have a contest to guess which "country" song prompted Coach Tressel to break out his dancing shoes?

My entry:

Hockey Healing

Phil reminded us in a comment today that, if any time deserved - nay, required - a healing pic (or more), it's right after losing the hockey national championship in OT

So while this won't erase The Pain, we humbly offer the photos below as but as a first step in the road to recovery.

Michigan vs. Minnesota-Duluth National Championship Open Thread

HEARTBREAK

OT FINAL: Michigan - 2, Minnesota-Duluth - 3

GO BLUE!

Michigan - 2, North Dakota - 0

wow, Wow, WOW!

Shawn Hunwick - a former walk-on whose story will go down as one of the great Michigan sports stories of all time in any sport - stops 40 shots as Meeeeechigan advances to the NCAA hockey championship game against Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday.

What a game!  What a team!

GO BLUE!

Hail Hunwick!

Oh, and to this jackhole...

Your team lost and you have to go back to North Dakota. Ouch.

Bottom pic HT: @EDSBS

Vada Wallpaper

God Bless Vada Murray and his family. Rest in Peace.

If you have not already viewed the Vada Murray tribute video by WolverineHistorian, you should do so. I was a young 2nd Lieutenant stationed at Camp Pendleton in the fall of 1989 when the Michigan Wolverines came into the Rose Bowl to play UCLA. I made the drive with my new Marine buddies who both went to small schools and had never attended a big college football game. The one play that sticks out in my mind was the perfect onside kick (recovered by none other than Vada Murray) that kept Michigan's comeback hopes alive. We won 24-23 in one of the most exciting games I have ever watched. There was no band (they didn't make the trip) so, when it was over, we sang "The Victors" without assistance and it echoed throughout the stadium. To this day, after 6 attempts, it is the only time I have ever walked out of the Rose Bowl stadium a happy man.

Edit: Here is a link to the first Vada Murray wallpaper I did in 2008. After I posted it, I got a nice email from his wife (Sarah) telling me how much they all loved it.

RIP Vada Murray

Sad news to report:

Former Michigan free safety Vada Murray passed away Wednesday after a long battle with cancer.  He was 43 years old.

Murray played for the Wolverines from 1988-1990 and then became an Ann Arbor police officer.  He is survived by his wife and three children.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

UPDATE:  Great article on Vada by Michael Rosenberg in the Freep.

Is Tressel staff member now voting on hoops, too?

Remember the story of the "miscommunication" between Tosu coach Jim Tressel and some assistant who allegedly took it upon himself to change The Vest's USA TODAY Coaches' Poll ballot?

To recap: at his media luncheon leading up to the September 2006 showdown between top ranked Texas and second ranked Ohio State, The Vest told reporters he had voted Texas #1 on his USA TODAY ballot.  But he was exposed as being, shall we say, "less than accurate with the facts" when USA TODAY revealed Tressel's ballot actually had the Buckeye's #1, not Texas.  That's when Tosu's Director of Player Development came forward and said he took it upon himself to change his boss' ballot and put Ohio State in the top slot.  You know, because that's what Directors of Player Development do.

Well, lo and behold, the Buckeyes again find themselves in a controversial Coaches' Poll balloting situation, this time on the hoops side.  But apparently no Tosu coaches were involved, or so we're to believe.

As you all know, Monday night UConn won the NCAA basketball title in a contest even uglier and more deserving of mass walkouts than a Charlie Sheen one man show in Motown.  But when the final USA TODAY Coaches' Poll ballot was released on Tuesday, UConn only garnered 30 of the 31 possible first place votes.

So who got the lone non-UConn first place vote?  You guessed it: THE Ohio State Ugottabekiddingme.  The same OSU team that lost not in the championship game, not in the Final Four, not in the Elite Eight, but in the Sweet 16 - a number slightly larger than, well, 1.

But this time Tressel and his staff have an alibi: Northern Arizona's coach, Mike Adras, claimed he voted the Bucks #1 on his ballot "based on their entire body of work during the season."  As of press time, the MZone is checking into Adras' medical condition and looking into whether or not he has any tattoos.

HT: SiC

This is no April Fools Joke

Check out the urban camouflage designed helmet Ohio State is wearing for spring football. The official word from the Athletic Department is they want to honor "the military".

According to the press release: Ohio State players will be wearing the specially commissioned helmets throughout their 2011 spring practices. Following the Spring Game, all but 25 helmets will be sent away to be repainted in the traditional Buckeye silver. Each of the 25 remaining "camo" helmets will be individually numbered, autographed by Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel and then sold, with the sale benefiting the Ohio National Guard Family Readiness and Warrior Support Program, LiFE (Learning in Fitness & Education) through Sports Program and the Ruth and Jesse Owens Scholars Fund. These helmets will be sold off-line on a first-come, first-served basis for $1,000.00/helmet (limit one per an individual). Each helmet will come with a special Certificate of Authenticity, which will include the purchaser's name, helmet number and OSUDA signature authenticating the item of purchase.

There is no truth to the rumor the school is taking a proactive "on the offensive" approach by selling their gear before the players can get their hands on it and trade it for new ink.

As someone who actually served in "the military" -- I'd like to make a suggestion to the fans and administrator's of THE Ohio State University. One of the best ways to honor the military might be to require integrity and honor from the leaders of the organization.