There are...
...days until Merv Pregulman (OT/C 1941-1943) supports the Wolverines in spirit as they host Western Michigan on September 4th at the Big House.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv_Pregulman
Go Blue.
Here was the opener from #67's final season, a matchup with the Camp Grant US Army Facility in Rockford, IL...
https://bentley.mivideo.it.umich.edu/media/t/1_edxuehmn
Thanks again to the Bentley for digitizing this film. Enjoy!
1943 was Fritz Crisler's sixth season as Michigan's coach, and his first conference championship, albeit shared with Purdue.
Crisler's second, and last, conference championship was the great 1947 national championship team.
And today's ticket stub, the closer from the same season:
In Ken Burns' excellent documentary, "The War", you catch a glimpse of a lunch counter with prices for pie, coffee, burgers, and so forth on the wall. Hamburgers were 5 cents. So, based on that, you could get 55 hamburgers or go see the Michigan-Ohio State game in 1943. That's a high burgers to football ratio.
The 1943 ticket stub is for section 33. That's in the Student Ticket section. Those are going for $25 per game this year. A burger at a diner is going to run you, what, ~$5, give or take? So today's student is looking at a 5 hamburger to football game ratio.
Alternately, we could view this through another lens. Endzone seats for OSU are $145 face value. I can get a cheap dollar value menu burger at McD's for $1, putting the ratio at 145 hamburgers to football.
What we need to do is travel back in time and judge the quality of the 1943 restaurant hamburger. I'm guessing they were not the monstrosities that today's burgers are. Let's split the difference and call it a $3 burger, upgrade our seats to the Maize level, and we're back to ~55 burgers to football ratio. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
this is the kind of hard hitting analysis I love to see on this blog. quality of meat, portion size ... these are all important to equation
Wagyu half pounder x55 = luxury suite
Boom
Wait. I missed 69? And all the presumably hilarious jokes?
This Benjamin Button-down count is technically easy but requires dedication and discipline. Kudos to you, JWG, for doing such a good job with this.
Thank you, East Quadie. From an old West Quadie.
My comment aimed more at praise for JWG's dedication than concern about #69 BUT I do appreciate the link. Now I'm sorta like the squashed tomato, catched up.
Shout out to Big John Vitale #67, All American center and great example of a true Michigan Man. He was taken from us far too soon.
Go Pilots!
Go Blue!
All love for Mr. John Vitale. Always, always.
Thanks for the shoutout, a welcome annual tradition at this point. I’ll be happy to give him the spotlight again when his turn comes around.
No problem at all. I appreciate the variety and depth that you provide to these posts, both within each year and also throughout the various years. It is a testament to your knowledge and effort and also to the excellence of the Michigan football lettermen over the years. Bottom line is I would not change a thing. Plus, I really appreciated the video that you included in the tribute to #74 Mike Husar that also included John Vitale.
i love these posts, love that they often highlight players that i'd either forgotten or (as in this case) have never heard of. and he's a college hall of famer!
#67 was also worn by the late John Vitale, who started 4 years, was an essential part of two conference champion teams, and was a team captain and All- American in his senior season in 1988.
https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fballam/aavitale.htm
He passed at the tragically early age of 34 from cancer.
