The year my brother kidnapped, painted and then wore Sparty
It was 1967 and my brother Charlie was a Senior at Michigan and a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. One his fraternity brothers had been to a party up in East Lansing earlier that year and saw that MSU stored Sparty at the Sig Ep fraternity house between home games so they decided to drive up there and kidnap him They were successful (read the article below for the details) so they painted a winged helmet on him and announced if State wanted him back they would have to go on the field at the Big House and take him. So my brother (that's him on the far right of the picture below) wore the now handsomely painted Sparty down onto the field and gave him back to somebody from State before the game.
Yeah State was pretty damn good that year going undefeated (only the mythical 10-10 tie with Notre Dame blemished their record) and they spanked us that day 34-0. But for a few days anyways Sparty called Ann Arbor home (actually Dexter to be precise) and he wore a maize n blue winged helmet instead of that stupid green thingie.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
I hope murderwolv is our mascot and they steal him. He’d give that whole campus nightmares for months.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
Have there been any Murderwolf sightings in recent weeks? We need pics. I like my Murderwolf lurking in the background, almost like a photobomb. It's more effective.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:46 PM ^
By the time you ask or think about Murderwolf, it's too late.
October 16th, 2018 at 4:04 PM ^
I have always been here.
October 17th, 2018 at 2:50 AM ^
Since September 2018 at least.
October 16th, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
I think you forget that Murderwolf's preferred form may not necessarily be his only form, so for all we know, he could be in any photo, perhaps even one on our living room wall or on our desk at work.
October 16th, 2018 at 10:57 PM ^
Beware the Tulpa
October 16th, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
I wore my new Murderwolf T-Shirt to the Michigan Alumni Bar in Charlotte, NC for the Wisky game. I got a lot of confused looks. (I assume nobody there reads the blog)
October 16th, 2018 at 5:12 PM ^
He was at College Game Day this weekend:
October 16th, 2018 at 5:18 PM ^
WD do you know when they will officaly release those Murderwolf Jordan 1's?
October 16th, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
Bold of you to assume he would leave any witness' alive to have nightmares
October 16th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
1. Nice troll boys!
2. That mascot isn't nearly as stupid as the one they have now.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
Same story in 2018 would involve several felony charges and a tazing.
Well done.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^
if it was here in LA several people would have been shot by police as well.....
October 16th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
Sexually assault Sparty in EL instead of abducting him and you won't draw any attention from law enforcement.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^
Wasn’t the undefeated/ND tie year 1966?
October 16th, 2018 at 3:47 PM ^
Yup. You're right and thanks. Interesting that they were pretty bad in 67 but they still kicked our ass in the game. Here's a super book trivia question - in how many years did both U of M and MSU have losing records in football as that year (67) we were 4-6 and they were 3-7.
Good catch.
Here's a nice pic of a 67 GTO convertable to make up for my error
October 16th, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^
one of my all time favorite cars.
October 16th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
I'm procrastinating. Looks like 4: 2009, 1958 and 1928 in addition to 1967. I may have missed some early seasons, though.
October 16th, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^
nice goat, mister. what you got under the hood?
October 16th, 2018 at 4:40 PM ^
In 67 I'd get a 400 Ram Air I coupled to a Hurst 4 speed, 411 rear end and posi. if I'm allowed to go back in time and fill out my order sheet with Pontiac. And that hunk of lovely Detroit metal would only cost you about $3,800 dollars or so loaded with options.
Like what else would you have?
October 16th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
two enthusiastic thumbs up with that order sheet.
October 16th, 2018 at 4:31 PM ^
Roll up to the bingo hall on Saturday night in that and you’re in like Flynn. If you catch my drift. Flynn was a pimp by the way.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^
Time was SNU used to do a football run to East Lansing (like a slow-rolling van, all the way to Hades). Wonder if they still do that.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
As a Dexter resident, this brings a bit of hometown pride to my heart.
October 16th, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^
Reminds me of the story my brother told me of liberating some of the bison from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs after seeing the inspiring movie Born Free.
October 16th, 2018 at 7:02 PM ^
Like dantonio freeing players from the county jail.
October 17th, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
Similar event happened at a small zoo in my hometown. Funny part is the bison came back after a few hours because they knew they would get food lol
October 16th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
I'm sure Sparty would have a whole other concept of "Free Willy:
October 17th, 2018 at 12:15 AM ^
Charlie and his friends are heroes.
October 18th, 2018 at 12:31 PM ^
Sparty was kidnapped by Michigan men from the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity the week before MSU was to travel to the University of Wisconsin for their game on October 7, 1967.
The Michigan Men placed an ad in the STATE NEWS:
"FOUND: ONE UGLY green and white head. Answers to the name of Sparty. Call (303) 262-124" which was the phone number of the University of Wisconsin.
When Sparty did not appear in Madison, the Michigan Men invited the newspapers to visit Sparty outside of Ann Arbor. By then Sparty had been converted into Wolveriney with a beautiful maize and blue winged helmet.
Headlines and pictures appeared in the Detroit News: "U-M Raiders Nab Spartan Head Man", the Detroit Free Press: "Sparty is a Turncoat". the Grand Rapids Press "Sparty in Michigan hands", the Ann Arbor News "MSU'S Sparty Safe, Sound, Redecorated Abductors Promise He'll be Returned." the Muskegon Chronicle "SPARTY CHANGES COLOR" the UPI and AP wire services spread the news nation wide. the Michigan Daily: "STAGE SET FOR WOLVERINEY"
Shortly before kickoff with both teams on the field and 103,210 fans in their seats the Michigan Men brought Wolveriney into Michjigan Stadium and down the aisle in the northwester corner, surrounded by cheering Michigan students and onto the field.
Although the Michigan Men returned Wolveriney to MSU, MSU decided to create a new Mascot instead of repainting Wolveriney.
AND THIS IS WHY THE MICHIGAN MEN ARE CALLED "THE FATHER OF THE NEW SPARTY."