OT: time capsule placed after 1968 Michigan - MSU game opened
Via Reddit's Mildly Interesting: "Found a time capsule tearing down a shed this summer. Included a note, a penny from that year, and our state stone."
As the note says, it was placed at October 12, 1968 at 3:59 p.m.
At the end, the note says:
Mich State Univ 14
University of Mich 28
I gather a husband and wife watched Michigan beat Michigan State on a "a beautiful Sunny October Day -- weather perfect 70°" and that wanted to remember the day and the game.
Via Wolverine Historian are highlights of the game in which Bo calls this "one of those picture postcard days that seemed designed just for playing college football." Bo became the head coach the next year, of course.
I also want to take a moment to remember Ron Johnson who played in the game and who Bo mentions in the video. Johnson died four days ago. I haven't seen anything on MGoBoard about it, but I assume his death was mentioned.
Still, I think it worth remembering once again. "Ron Johnson, the first African-American captain in Michigan football history and an All-America halfback in 1968, passed away on Saturday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, according to the University of Michigan athletic department. Johnson was 71."
Ron Johnson set the school record that still stands with 347 yards rushing against Wisconsin in 1968. He ran for 1,391 yards that season and scored a school-record 19 touchdowns, another record that still stands.
His 2,524 rushing yards set a new career rushing record at Michigan, eclipsing the record set by Tom Harmon from 1938 to 1940. He currently ranks 17th, having been surpassed by Karan Higdon on Saturday.
Michigan Football and players like Ron Johnson have given us all a lot of memories. I'm grateful for mine.
Go Blue!
November 14th, 2018 at 9:42 AM ^
I'm grateful for your post, OP.
And grateful for a lot of wonderful Wolverine memories to cherish from over the last 5+ decades of being a Michigan fan.
November 14th, 2018 at 9:44 AM ^
FWIW my earliest memory of a Michigan game was that 68 team. I remember listening to WJR's broadcast (virtually nothing was televised back then) for the famous 347 yard game for Johnson and I remember listening to the butt-whipping we took in Columbus later that year and how pissed my brother & dad were when Woody went for two at the end of the game.
I was nine. That started a love affair that has lasted to this day.
November 14th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
That '68 Wisconsin game in which Ron Johnson ran up and down the field several times was in fact televised. I remember watching it with one eye while using the other to help my wife tend to our newborn son, who arrived the previous April.
This past April that newborn son became eligible for AARP --- Oh My God!
November 14th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
You sir are this blog's time capsule. I read, note listen, with intent focus to each story and every discussion. Thank you.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:49 PM ^
My sophomore year and the weather was terrible. I didn't attend the game and, instead, watched it on television . Later I was really ticked off that I didn't attend. Ron Johnson was an awesome running back and a great captain. R.I.P.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:48 PM ^
My family moved to Kentwood, MI from Spokane, WA in the winter on 68. I was 8. All the cool 8 year olds were sporting Purcell shoes and wearing Green Spartan shit.
I didn't know Michigan football, but I knew I didn't want to look like those douchebags. My neighbor was a Michigan fan, and he was pretty cool, so I started rooting for the Wolverines...and pestering my dad to take me to games starting fall of 69...just in time to witness glory under Bo.
Thanks Glenn for not being a Sparty and introducing me to the greatest University in the world. Who says you dont learn shit at 8?
November 14th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
GO BLUE! Great timepiece. I would’ve watched it over and over and over again! My oldest memory of Michigan football was when we beat Michigan State at home, by it seemed like a million touchdowns. And it seemed to me that Harlan Huckleby was a super hero as he somersaulted into the South endzone all day long! I was so young that the players from Michigan State seemed like giants and I asked my Mom and Dad can we beat them and my dad just smiled and kept talking to our seat mates. I LOVE THE BIG HOUSE and it’s nostalgia and I can’t wait to get there for our final home game of this year and hopefully we’ll have one more home game in Indy really, really soon.
November 14th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
Harlan Huckleby.. now there was a name!! I remember seeing him run track when he was at Cass Tech! Man he was fast!!
One of my favorite memories of Bob Ufer was him calling the Michigan backfield with him in it:
Huckleby up, Davis close and Leach under center....
November 14th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
That would be Harlan "H-Bomb" Huckleby to me.
November 14th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
When Huckleby and Davis were here I used to play them in football, them against me, two on one, and I beat them EVERY time! Over and over and over!............
.......in 4 man Atari Football at Tommy's Pinball!
PS: While it's not the same as what Ron Johnson did for Michigan against Wisconsin, Davis played in the Senior Bowl or the other all star game and ran for SIX TD's and 230 or so yards!
November 14th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
...and that guy was probably told that, now that the game is over, he should rake the damn backyard.
Or was that me last week? Either way...
November 14th, 2018 at 11:02 AM ^
Here's the original post re: the passing of Ron Johnson:
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/rip-40-ron-johnson
Ron was just a shade before my time as I was born 6 months after Bo was hired in Dec. of 68' but I remember hearing stories of that 347 yard game.
I vividly remember Biakabutuka's 313 yards against the buckeyes in 95' and wondering how RJ was able to get another 40+ yards. Those guys must have been gassed for the rest of the week after performances like that.
November 14th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
Great post, great thread.
November 14th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
much more than mildly interesting.
it's very touching
November 14th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
The Detroit Tigers had just won the 1968 World Series 2 days before the time capsule was placed under the shed.
November 14th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^
Quality post; thank you.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:46 PM ^
Great thread! So many memories over the years. Went to my first M game in 1973. Didn’t miss many years since then that we didn’t attend at least one game.