Wednesday Quick Hits: It’s a Small World

By Sean · Wednesday, June 18, 2008 · 12:14 PM |  Share | Leave a Comment 

• Although he posts only once in a blue moon, Johnny at Ronald Bellamy’s Underachieving All-Stars brings it strong when he does put up new content. I mention this because for the first time since the day before last year’s Michigan-Ohio State game, there is new content up at RBUAS. Johnny writes about Lloyd Carr and what the Capital One Bowl meant, and includes part of an interview he did with the now retired head coach. The post is a must read, so check it out.
• I’m sure we’ve all had experiences in the past that make us stop and say something along the lines of “it’s a small world.” The experiences vary from randomly meeting a friend thousands of miles away from home to reconnecting with someone years after you last spoke with each other. Well, for a former Michigan football manager, he had one of the most amazing experiences like that.

  The story starts back in 1997 when Michigan was hoping to end a two-game losing streak against Northwestern. The Wildcats were in town (by the way, this was my first ever U-M football game) and Michigan couldn’t afford to slip up in their quest for an undefeated season. Despite a lead at halftime, Northwestern was reading Michigan’s offense quite well, and two managers for U-M were suspicious. They noticed someone on the NW sideline shouting out what Michigan’s next play would be and figured out that he had stolen the Wolverines’ signs (in a legal way).

  Knowing that the coaches needed this information, one of the managers informed Carr about what Northwestern was doing. Once it became evident to Carr that this was in fact going on, Michigan added a dummy signal caller and controlled the rest of the game en route to a victory.

  Going back to the part about how small a world it is, we wouldn’t even know about this story if it hadn’t been for an incredible meeting. Out in Colorado, one of the managers was making small talk with the husband of a woman testifying in court, and they somehow got on the topic of why the husband moved to Colorado. As it turned out, that husband was the man stealing Michigan’s signs all those years ago, and he came face to face with the person that figured out what he was doing.

  I guess it truly is a small world after all.

• MGoBlog has pictures of what the Big House renovation looks like from inside the stadium.
• Varsity Blue previews the Utah game.