Saturday, December 2, 2023

Michigan Helmet Stickers

 





















Detroit News - "New Michigan helmet stickers to tell story of a player's career"

"The stickers, which Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh brought back to the helmets during his first season in 2015, used to feature a wolverine in blue and could be awarded for any number of in-game achievements. Players accumulated helmet stickers each season and would start over the next with a clean helmet.

Now, the stickers represent anything from a win — the familiar maize sticker with a wolverine but with the overall number of the victory (the first win of the season will produce a sticker with 965) — to rivalry games, to All-Big Ten honors and academic honors, and a captain will have a sticker with a “C.”"

...

"“It’s a great way to reward the guys. We’ve always given ours players their helmet at the end of the their career, and this provides them with a keepsake that tells the complete story of their career rather than just that final season.”"

ESPN - "Sticking to Tradition"


"The Wolverines and Buckeyes are two of 13 FBS teams that currently use helmet decal reward systems, but they do so with different philosophies. The famous buckeye leaves are awarded for team, unit or individual on-field accomplishments throughout a single season, while Michigan's stickers display a unique image for each accomplishment and accrue year-over-year."

...

"Much like many elements of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, helmet stickers trace back to Woody Hayes (Ohio State) and Bo Schembechler (Michigan), and stir debate. Ohio State wore the stickers first, in 1967, but Schembechler's teams at Miami (Ohio) began wearing tomahawk stickers on their helmets in 1965. Schembechler brought the tradition to Michigan, and both teams wore stickers for the first time in The Game in 1969, the start of The Ten Year War between the famous coaches."

The Long-Lost Minnesota-Wisconsin Slab of Bacon

 















The Athletic - "The Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry trophy: What happened to the Slab of Bacon?"

"Dr. R.B. Fouch of Minneapolis created the trophy, which was first played for in 1930, with the idea that the winning team would bring home the bacon. It was presented each year through 1942. Wisconsin won the game 20-6 in 1942.

One version of the story goes that Peg Watrous, the president of Wisconsin women students, was supposed to exchange the trophy with a student from Minnesota after the 1943 game. But Minnesota fans stormed the field following a 25-13 victory, the task was never completed amid the chaos and Watrous didn’t know what happened to the trophy from there.

Another version of the story is that the trophy was presented to Minnesota that year, but Gophers interim coach George Hauser refused to accept it out of respect for World War II (head coach Bernie Bierman was ordered into active military duty during the war). Either way, the trophy never again exchanged hands because it disappeared. Upon its discovery in 1994, there was debate as to which school was the rightful owner, but it remains housed inside a glass encasing in Wisconsin’s student-athlete performance center. Alvarez famously remarked, “We took home the bacon and kept it.”

The Next-New Minnesota State Flag

 













MNhs.org - "State Emblems Redesign Commission"
Smithsonian Magazine - "See the Top Contenders for the New Minnesota State Flag"
CBS News - "Here's the new flag design Minnesotans want, according to a ranked-choice poll"

"A new ranked choice poll shows the flag that Minnesotans would pick to represent their state.

Flag design F29 [the above flag] won the mock poll with 55.8% of the final round votes. Called the "L'étoile du Nord flag," it features a snowflake overlayed on a north star against a blue background. The artist, Brandon Hundt, said the design pays tribute to Minnesota's weather, geographical position, and lakes."







FURIOSA : A MAD MAX SAGA Trailer


Directed by George Miller
Written by George Miller, Nico Lathouris
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke

Denis Villeneuve’s Next Movie Could Be Cleopatra

 










World of Reel - "Rumor: Denis Villeneuve’s Next Film is ‘Cleopatra,’ Starring Zendaya [Updated]"

"Villeneuve‘a next film will be “Cleopatra” for Sony Pictures. The screenplay is said to be written by David Scarpa (“Napoleon”) and based on the best-selling book by Stacey Schiff. Production is supposed to begin sometime in 2024.

The story focuses on Cleopatra's ruthless rise to power using her skills as a seductress. I highly doubt it’ll bear any resemblance to the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor starring epic, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

NFL Black Friday Game Gets the Celebratory "Leftover Sandwich"

 





























From David Chang's IG: "The first Black Friday @nflonprime game is in the books. Grateful to the entire TNF family for helping me showing me the way. We worked 7 months to bring The Wedge Breaker…the inaugural thanksgiving leftover sandwich to the mvp of game. 🙏 to the entire @wholefoods @momofukugoods @majordomomedia @cookanyday @meyercookware @nyjets @miamidolphins & @metlifestadium kitchen crew for all of the help. Al doesn’t know what he’s missed out on!! ❤️ dc"

The QB and Football Whisperer

 















Washington Post - "Mike McDaniel needs a reboot"
By Kent Babb

"He would call Tagovailoa to remind him that he’s special. He even compiled a 700-play tape of Tagovailoa’s most impressive moments to bolster that message. In doing so, McDaniel discovered a trend: Rather than hesitate until a receiver beat a defender, Tagovailoa could sense an opening before it happened. His release came quicker even than most star quarterbacks. He wasn’t naturally afraid of mistakes. This fear had been learned."

...

"Any advice to a first-time parent?

“Be present,” Tagovailoa says McDaniel told him. “Just the joy, the unconditional love that I’m able to give him, that he gives me.”"