Is Brian Our Generation's Bob Ufer?
Throughout this whole coaching search (and the last one) and Rich Rod's tenure, Brian has usually seemed to touch on the heart of the issues as they affect us, the Michigan fan base. I understand this is a sympathetic crowd (as I'm writing this on his blog), but I think that Brian is this generation of Michigan football fans' Bob Ufer.
Yes, unlike Ufer, he doesn't really have a job with the university, nor does he broadcast games, but he does have a connection with the younger (I'm 27) Michigan fans that remind me of how my dad talks about Ufer. Most of us have probably never met the guy but it seems like we know him. It is this way because he feels the same way about Michigan, and things relating to Michigan tradition (anti-rawk music, disgust at losing to our rivals, nerdily examining football and basketball) that we do. We call him by his first name as though he's a friend or at least acquaintance; to me this seems similar to Ufer. However, instead of hearing him broadcast Michigan games over the radio (a relic of Ufer's time) we read him on our computers, smart phones, and every other modern medium of communication.
Thought this was something to think about while we clamor for the scraps of information and crash his servers waiting for a new update on our odyssey to find someone to coach Michigan besides a guy who's best finish was second in the MAC one time.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
Ufer was a broadcaster. Brian is an analyst and an information hub. I can see the parallels you're trying to draw but it's apples and oranges.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
Unless of course Brian actually is a broadcaster... I would assume to cover his identity he would pose as a woman with seemingly no knowledge of football...
BRIAN COOK IS PAM WARD.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
So Brian dons a Silence of the Lambs-style skin suit to disguise himself as Pam, leaves his brain in a jar by the door, and broadcasts under the pseudonym Pam Ward? Consider my mind officially blown sir.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
Sure he gets some kind of deranged pleasure out of it, but he really does it for the supplementary income. This blog thing pays well, but he couldn't say no to Pam's 5-figure contract.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
Pam Ward backwards is Draw Map. Like a treasure map. Pirates, like John Cooke, were into treasure maps. Our Cook is a faultless guide through the slog to the treasure that is our next coach. I think the connection is clear. All we can do is hope we're not chasing fool's gold.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
Les Miles has had sex with Brian Cook (since I know for a fact that he banged Pam Ward).
This might explain some of the hostility after Les inevitably refused to call him back.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
Les Miles banged Pam? Eeeeeew. I don't want him coaching the Wolverines now.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
Les Miles has had sex with pretty much any woman you can think of.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:26 PM ^
Laura Bush?
January 9th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
He didn't go back for seconds with Oprah. Holly Rowe was his mistress for a year and a half. That is how she knows so much about football.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
Lucky bastard. I wish I had a mistress who loved talking about football in bed.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^
Marry one, bang one, kill one: Oprah, Barbara Walters, or your wife. GO.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
Marry Oprah. Then kill her and inherit all that dough. Then bang Barbara Walters just to say you did it.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
This isn't 'Nam...there are rules.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^
Carrot Top?
January 9th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
Leslie is all man. He and Carrot Top did have an orgy with the Olsen twins on June 13th-16th, 2004 in a suite at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:49 PM ^
Woah, hold on, hold on. I thought Carrot Top was just an ugly lesbian.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:06 PM ^
And was a truly great track man in his youth. I remember Ufer when he wasn't even known outside of Ann Arbor. He was on WAAM radio. No network. One little local station, and Bob doing the broadcasts for fun basically.
I kinda like the comparison between Brian and Bob. To be sure: different times, different styles different circumstances and different people. My guess is that Bob Ufer would love what Brian is doing. Bob's kids are around; they are gracious and enthusiastic supporters of the program. The Bob Ufer Quarterback club raises hundreds of thousands for unrestricted giving and scholarship funds. My guess is that none of them read MGoBlog. Tom might; he's a fun-lovin' guy. Tom would probably enjoy it but also think that it's a pretty weird comparison with Brian and his dad. Brian would probably think it's an even weirder comparison. I don't; I see the connection.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
sounds reasonable. I wish he'd use the horn though
LOOK AT THOSE WOLVERINES
January 9th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
honk honk honk
January 9th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
Better late then never but I wanted to give you props for your phone-in to EDSBS Live last fall.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
thanks dude bro
January 9th, 2011 at 12:06 PM ^
No, sorry but no.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
Brian is like a more informed, intelligent, even handed, non-douchey love child of Rosenberg and Sharp in a parallel universe.
For broadcasting, Ufer has no equal, much like Keith Jackson has no one that can match him for college football, IMO.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
He could also probably take that old man in a fight.
I'm voting for Brian.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:48 PM ^
I don't know, Ufer was an elite athlete and probably had some serious old man strength. That's a potent combination.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
Ufer was completely enthusiastic 100% of the time, and I never once heard him utter one critical word about anything having to do with Michigan football, whether it be a coach or player or AD or the program as a whole. Bob Ufer was in effect a cheerleader for UM, and that's the last thing Brian wants to be. That's not a criticism of either; it's just a fact.
For instance, Bob Ufer would not have said or written "Sheridan = Death" in a million years, even with a gun to his head.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
Brian is a man. Ufer was a robot.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
Brian's not 40 yet.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
I love it when the commentators completely derail the original point of the post.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^
HE'S A BOY
January 9th, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^
HE'S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY
January 9th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
Here is a good throwback article about Ufer on ESPN. I guess a parallel I would draw is comparing when Ufer called a Horseshoe sellout crowd "10,000 alumni and 74,000 truck drivers.'' to Brian calling MSU fans "Juggalos". Both are pretty solid. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_ge…
January 9th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
TOUCHDOWN BILLY TAYLOR! TOUCHDOWN BILLY TAYLOR!
Still gives me watery eyes every time I hear it.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
OK. Under center is Wangler at the 45, he goes back, he's looking for a receiver he goes downFIELD TO CARTER CARTER HAS IT CARTER IS THERE *HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK* CARTER SCORES *HONK HONK*
LOOK AT THOSE WOLVERINES
January 9th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^
In the glory years of his career, Ufe had the luxury of a stable, winning program - he never had to worry about criticizing, commenting on controversial topics, etc. He could trust he'd just have to show up and call the game.
I feel badly for Jim Brandstatter - covering a losing team is bad enough let alone covering a coach who didn't come from your college coach's tree and no doubt having everybody and their mom ask you for your opinion which you desperately don't want to discuss.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^
In the glory years of his career, Ufe had the luxury of a stable, winning program - he never had to worry about criticizing, commenting on controversial topics, etc.
Ufer was our radio announcer from 1945 to 1981, so he was working during the entire "dark ages" (1951-68). Didn't change him a bit. The man was a homer, through and through.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^
My mother-in-law is a huge Sparty fan and asks me "What is wrong in Ann Arbor?" I want to vomit or strangle her. I feel for Beckman and Brandstatter.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^
Brian provides an entertaining and informative blog...
the flight aware speculation being very entertaining because of how folks react to it.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
No.
I'm sure Brian would be the first to tell you that's ridiculous.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
This post made Tom Hemingway sad.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
The Tom Hemingway-Tom Slade broadcasts were, to my mind, the among finest sports radio broadcasts in Michigan sports history, ranking alongside Ernie Harwell and Geroge Kell, and Bruce Martyn and Sid Abel's Red Wing broadcasts.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
I am glad you brought up Bruce Martyn. He was so good that he made it preferable to listen to a Wings' game v. watch it. That is no knock on the TV team back in the 80s.
http://members.tripod.com/ice_wars/waves.html Here is a link to some hockey audio recordings. If you have never heard Mr. Martyn, take a couple minutes and listen to an underrated sports voice.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:41 PM ^
For MOST of the decades-long career of Bob Ufer, he was not a networked voice of Michigan football. He got that appointment rather late in his life and his career, after many years on local Ann Arbor AM radio.
And when he did get the WJR-flagship-network gig, even then you could listen to Michigan football as broadcast by Tom Hemingway and Tom Slade on the Michigan Radio network, in Ann Arbor/Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids. Basically, most of the state's population.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
JP McCarthy and his buddies who were Michigan guys (JP was not) all said, essentially, Hey there's this guy in Ann Arbor named Bob Ufer who does the Michigan games on local radio out there, and he's completely out of his mind. He's a total homer, and the broadcasts are hilarious, with all kinds of weird literary and historical references. This Ufer guy is a cult hero. He's got amazing energy, so why not put him on our network broadcasts? See what happens?
It was a big risk in the broadcasting business, and it worked. JP by that time had massive influence at WJR, the flagship station of the network.
The odd thing about Ufer was that he had been used to doing the broadcasts almost by himself for so many years, there was never a real analyst paired with him that I recall. They had Bob Forman, I think, who was the President of the Alumni Association and a bigger homer than even Ufer. I don't know; I don't recall very well the late Ufer years, because I was always either at the games or listening to Tom Hemingway on WUOM.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
Hemingway kept going into the 90's, right? I remember being able to switch between Beckmann and another broadcast (101.9FM, maybe?) in the late Moeller/early Carr years.
Hemingway also wrote one of the best books on Michigan athletics, IMO. Life Among the Wolverines is a must-read if you can find it.