The Barwis Method ca. 1941
A letter from Fritz Crisler to a prospective player, found in an attic.
This is Fantastically Fantastic.
the stupid shit we did during practice.
Barwis has really come a long way, from "ruffage" to just keeping the animals in lieu of eating them!
Why on earth would anyone write on that document with a red marker?
That was my first thought. What dumbass would write on top of a letter like that?
I doubt he sent the original! I'd guess he made a copy, and then felt fine writing on top of that.
Nice copier, assuming that was the case! It even captured and reproduced the stains from the staple.
I sure hope that wasn't the original they scrawled all over. That would make me scream.
The guy with the red pen seemed to find it hilarious that Crisler would practice "crabbing" when his friend's name apparently is "Crab."
Alright I'll be honest, it wasn't until I finished reading the letter that I realized it was the letter that was found in the attic, not the player.
But that's really interesting. Any ideas who Walter is?
If this Walter made the team, then the internet's formost authority on facts says
- ^ Walter B. Freihofer, born May 26, 2012 at Albany, New York. He grew up in Indianapolis and attended Shortridge High School. He served in the U.S. Army in Europe during WWII. He practiced law in Grand Rpaids for over 50 years. He was also Kentwood City Attorney for over 20 years. He died May 26, 2012.
Impressive that he was able to serve in the army and practice law for over 50 years in the span of a day...
Nice! Didn't even notice while copy/pasting from Wiki.
HOWEVA, from Bentley, there were TWO Walters on the roster in 1941, Walter Richard Flannery, Freshman out of Orchard Lake, MI, and Walter B. Freihofer out of Indy.
I highly doubt if this was to a freshman, because it sort of reads like a letter to someone who had, in the previous year, really had a lousy spring and embarassed himself with poor physical condition. It reads like the coach knew he was a drinker and smoker, and he liked to stay up till 1 or 2 AM on the regular.
it looked like a form letter and "Walter" and maybe the date were type in individually.
then I looked at the born date and died date...May 26, 2012 for both. Had to check for myself and low and behold Mr. Freihofer was born August 28, 1922. His obituary had this little gem in it as well:
"Walter proceeded to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he played football under legendary coach Fritz Crisler and made many life-long friends"
Should send a copy of this letter out to recruits with "YOU'RE A BALLER" written in bold letters covering half of the first page.
Thanks for sharing... these are treasures. Usually I see this kind of stuff @ MVictors but this is a pleasent surprise - almost didn't open this thread due to the title.
Everybody knows that alcohol isn't a stimulant.
I love the part about diving headlong with your arms stretched out taking the full brunt of the impact on your chest, and then being advised to find some grass or sand first. That would suck on pavement.
And how in God's name does a cold shower after situps improve your conditioning?
Seriously, this stuff seems really quaint now, especially for a coach who was regarded as a true innovator.
To be fair, he said cold bath, not cold shower. I assumed by "setting up exercises," he meant a variety of warmup exercises (situps, squats, pushups, running in place, etc.), but perhaps that was the vernacular at the time for sit ups.
Also, many athletes do ice baths or cold baths after workouts. They say it helps with injury prevention and recovery. According to wikipedia, it's controversial, but this stuff has been going on for a while.
The best part of that link is the sentence about Manny Harris hurting himself by wearing wet socks in some sort of Cryo Chamber.
great article in Wired magazine in February.
http://www.wired.com/playbook/2013/02/ff-cold-weight-loss/
This is really gaining traction as a method for weight loss and a way to substantially increase metabolism.
As the key to any strength and conditioning program lies in the heart of recovery, cold showers or baths are a useful tool. Athletes in the Eastern Bloc were very fond of the contrast bath method, where they would submerge themselves in hot water for one minute and transfer immediately afterwards to a tub of cold water, repeating the cycle as necessary. Crazy, but it works. This is also why many D1 football players take ice baths after practice. The sooner, the better.
April 19th, 2013 at 10:47 AM ^
I work out in the mornings at the gym. It's usually weights followed by some cardio. When I swim, i jump in the hot tub for a few minutes, then go directly into the unheated pool. It's super refreshing and will put a jolt into you.
This is really cool and interesting. I love the part about rolling around on the floor to harden the body.
Great post and what an awesome find.
This one is going up on the wall.
14 Knee injuries and 7 Ankle injuries in one spring?
Perry used to wear a Michigan jersey, apparently.
This passed for strength and conditioning in 1941.
Thanks for posting.
Makes you wonder though. How out-of-shape must some of the recruits been for Fritz to have to send this out in advance? No doubt it was for the recruits benefit and Crisler wanting to see them perform well, but wow. Pretty detailed list of requirements.
Diving onto the ground, landing on your chest? I would break every bone on the front of my body.
It's amusing to read this letter and compare this suggested regimen to what players do now to keep fit essentially throughout the year. I can only imagine getting this letter a few weeks before you were supposed to actually try out and running outside to start that moment. Actually, it makes me feel a little guilty about this pizza I have - I think I will start with the walking and crabbing.
Seriously though, thanks for sharing this!
it's startling how few of them are in what we would today regard as top-level physical condition. Very few of them look like they've ever lifted weights, their upper bodies and arms are pretty slender, and few of them look like they'd be ready to compete for high school football teams of today. Crisler's regimen seems to fit that era perfectly.
Having said that, they were plenty fit enough to fight and win a world war fought all over the globe against two fanatical and well-armed adversaries.
tremendous number of young men who were medically deferred due to the consequences of chronic malnutrition. The pictures taken in the recruiting depots, during physical exams or during basic all reflect that. This is where the scrubbed, healthy farmboy meme was born - farmers worked hard, and ate well for the time.
Get back into shape with the Michigan football conditioning method! Maybe we can get Denard to do the video! It's a million dollar idea!
Please post the copy without the "red" highlights. This thing is worthy of a spot on the wall of the man cave!
Thank you in advance!
if such a document exists any longer. I posted it as I got it for a friend who is a a couple degrees removed from "Walter." I think it's just a case of not realizing the value of attic discoveries. Sorry.
Thank you for sharing. Great stuff!