moe's

The MGoRadio Show at Moe's 100th Birthday party last year.

This is not sponsored editorial, but it's editorial about a sponsor. I didn't tell Rishi I was even going to write this until like 10 minutes ago.

If you're not familiar with the history of collegiate sports apparel, here's a brief version: People used to go to sporting events in whatever their normal clothes were. Then in 1934 a sports apparel salesman walked into Moe's in Ann Arbor, and together they decided to sew big block M's on sweaters and sell them to Michigan fans.

When Moe retired he sold the store to Harold Trick, who had worked in the store for most of a decade, and adopted Moe's view that the campus sports shop should be part of the fabric of the Ann Arbor community. A generation later Trick sold it to Bud VanDeWege, who passed it on to his son, who was at that time the UM Women's Basketball Coach. Bud wanted to sell Moe's in 2010 to pursue other opportunities, but only to the right people who would continue that tradition of investment in the community as a whole.

If you're at all familiar with the history of MGoBlog you'll know it started as something Brian did in his spare time while holding down a "real" job, and that at some point in 2007-'08 that transitioned into his real job. A big part of that transition was Rishi Narayan and Ryan Gregg of Underground Printing coming on as a full-time sponsor of this site. They've been the difference ever since.

They are extremely good dudes who built UGP on the premise of if you help cool small businesses and charities around this town that everyone wants, people will buy shirts and stuff from you. When Bud Jr. was ready to sell the place where sports apparel began, the place that literally invented referee stripes, the place where Jim Harbaugh would spend all the money he'd saved raking leaves as a kid, the obvious guys to sell to were right there on everything from the local robotics competition, to Pear, to high school field hockey, and the local sports team's blogs.

From our t-shirt store, to our annual book, and even the short-lived radio show last year, all of these things were possible because Rishi and Ryan wanted them to succeed. If you spend enough time around Ann Arbor you can't miss them. They're the guy on a fold-out chair at a local gardening event who supplied the t-shirts to the volunteers. They're the guy with the glorious beard whose kid is dancing on the Crisler fan cam. They're our guys, and this site literally couldn't be our livelihoods without them.

So when this came in my email today:

I thought it as good a day as any to remind you that if you're going to buy Michigan stuff to wear to Michigan things, you should buy it from them.

By the way, our shirts are part of that "everything" that's 30% off this week. Use the same code— FEB30 —through Feb. 30 to stock up on whatever shirt you missed from this season. Like…

If you've ever got an idea for a shirt (and it doesn't violate copyright or NCAA rules) email me—Seth @ [this site].com—and if we got something I'll pass it on to Rishi. Either way, when you're next in Ann Arbor, stop in the store and tell the owners thank you for MGoBlog.

[Reminder: we're at Moe's today!]

As Harbaugh noted in his introductory press conference, Moe Sports Shop has been around a long time. A hundred years in fact.

That is an epic video for a rather unpretentious little nook on North U. Well, current owner Underground Printing is making the 100th anniversary pretty epic. In fact he's throwing a party there to celebrate next Monday, 5-7 p.m. He's even got Busch's bringing food and drinks. Good drinks.

I know what you're thinking: "That's time when I have always since four weeks ago spent listening to MGoRadio!" Well, yeah. But we're not missing the 100th anniversary of Moe's for that. We're just bringing the show there. You should come too!

Details:

MGoRadio at Moe Sport Shop - Monday, October 12th - 5 to 7 pm

• Address: 711 N. University on Campus.
• Make sure to RSVP here ASAP as we will need to limit to the first 50 people to sign up.
• Thanks to Busch's for the Food!
• Prizes/giveaways, like not sure how yet but probably if you have a Gimmicky Top Five thing that's better than what we came up with you get a t-shirt, that sort of thing.
• We're limited to 50 people so use this signup sheet if you'd like to come.

USE THE FORCE JIM. Daily article on Harbaugh's mentors with them all lined up…

…and the mind instantly puts them in this:

Sorry, Mr. Carr. Shouldn't have stood in the center.

MATTISON IS PRETTY MUCH IN. Man is still recruiting:

Isaac Nauta (@inauta24) said he talked to Greg Mattison: “He said I know you’re committed, but we’re going to recruit you until you sign.”

— Jeremy Crabtree (@jeremycrabtree) January 1, 2015

Score.

GET THIS MAN A TATTOO. Mark the Nomad has got to get some ink:

He's looking for the internet to fund it, in order to slightly reduce the chance this results in a divorce.

FIFTH YEAR OPTIONS. A quick glance at the roster will tell you that Michigan should be in the market for a graduate transfer QB. Their current options are either freshmen, Russell Bellomy, or Shane Morris. The former two have never played in college; the latter two have struggled immensely when they've gotten in the game. So this bit of news is intriguing:

A redshirt junior on track to graduate in June, [the Chicken Bowl] was probably [Kevin] Hogan’s last shot in a Stanford uniform. He hasn't addressed whether he'll return for his final year of eligibility, and head coach David Shaw intimated that Hogan didn't want to discuss it before the end of the season.

Harbaugh recruited Hogan, and he's obviously got he academic chops to make a smooth transition.

Hogan wasn't a world-beater this year (or he wouldn't be transferring) but he did finish with a 66% completion rating, 7.9 YPA, and a 19-8 TD-INT ratio. He's also a decent runner. He would almost certainly be an upgrade on Michigan's current options, and he knows the offense.

Another option: Everett Golson. Golson dropped off a cliff at the end of this year, as he turned into a turnover machine and split time with Malik Zaire in the bowl game. ND insiders and message boards are rumbling about a potential departure. If I had to bet I'd say he returns to ND, but keep an eye out if he doesn't.

DISCOUNT STILL IN EFFECT. Moe's is taking advantage of an opportunity with an enthusiasm unknown to retail-activation-kind.

AND SUDDENLY YOU'RE A FREE AGENT. Bills coach Doug Marrone has a bizarre window built into his contract that allows him to opt out at no cost… one he's just exercised. This puts his assistants in serious limbo, one of whom is Tyrone Wheatley. Even before this happened a lot of Michigan folk suspected that Wheatley would end up in Ann Arbor; now it seems highly, highly probable.

ALL THIS COULD HAVE BEEN OURS. LSU fans have always been turning on Les Miles, but now the knives are well and truly out. Miles is losing DC John Chavis to a megaoffer from A&M, leaving LSU scrambling to keep their defense as good as it needs to be to keep the wonky Tiger offense from submarining seasons.

ADDING TO MOUNT NFLWRONG. He hates recruiting!

Every old coach/staffer/whatever I've ever talked to who knows Harbaugh has ranted about how much he actually enjoys recruiting.

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) December 31, 2014

His wife didn't want to come!

Was just talking to @IronsJarrett when Harbaugh's wife stopped to chat...she mentioned her shock re: rumors she wouldn't leave the Bay Area.

— angelique (@chengelis) December 30, 2014

His heart is in the NFL!

York, though, would not shed any light on what was said in those discussions, saying they were "private" in nature, though he did acknowledge that teams had inquired about trading for Harbaugh, and Harbaugh was not interested.

It was all about the money!

Jim Harbaugh told Hackett he did NOT want to be the highest paid coach in CFB, or even the Big Ten. More concerned with pay for assistants.

— John U. Bacon (@Johnubacon) December 30, 2014

NOPE. If you were wondering if Devin Funchess would return to the team because Harbaugh, your answer is no:

Just met coach harbaugh...Wish him the best with Team 136! Great guy glad he got the job #goblue

— Devin Funchess (@D_FUNCH) December 31, 2014

He'll be a first or second round pick in the draft even with the disappointing finish to his year.

WHAT ON EARTH. There is a woman named Ann Arbaugh who lives in Ann Arbor. And she's…

The Ohio State graduate said she hasn't abandoned her Buckeye roots, and that she's become an Ann Arborite but not quite a Wolverine-lover.

…an Ohio State graduate. Life is weird.

COLTS ON HARBAUGH. They didn't think he was a total weird megalomaniac:

"I've read about that side of him, but that's it," Ward says. "He was not thought of in that way (here), and it doesn't characterize Jim as we knew him. He was intensely competitive, absolutely, but he was a great team player and scrappy and always, always battling for the team."

Indianapolis fell in love with Harbaugh, in part because he was the anti-Jeff George, a superstar talent whose less-than-superstar results and aloof air – think Jay Cutler – rubbed people the wrong way. Jeff George was not what the city of Indianapolis craved in a leader. Jim Harbaugh was, and he gave this city what it loved.

There was the 1995 AFC championship game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, when the Colts trailed 20-16 in the final minutes and Harbaugh was bleeding from a torn hand and still leading the team down the field before his final pass, a heave into the end zone, bounced away from Colts receiver Aaron Bailey.

"I remember blood dripping from his hand," Ward says, "and he singlehandedly pretty much drove the team within inches of winning that game."

ETC.: Mitch Albom bashing always goes down smooth. His latest stuff is so bad that colleagues are publicly mocking it on twitter. John Morton 49ers interview. Ditto Drevno. We are mad about khakis.

How to get eligible real quick, or The Demar Dorsey Eligibility Plan. Someone at a newspaper wrote something that's actually funny. HSR on the hire.