MICHIGAN PLAYS RUGBY AGAINST SURGEONS, SOLDIERS, AND CRICKET-PLAYERS, AND CALLS IT "COLLEGE FOOTBALL" - - - WHAT A JOKE!

Did Michigan really challenge a cricket club to play "football"? And a surgical college? And a small military school? And they count those all on their "All-Time Wins" list? YES THEY DID, and YES THEY DO.

And they feel so good about it! Indeed, where would the average Walverine be without their belief that Michigan has won more COLLEGE FOOTBALL games than any other college football team?

The only way UM can lay claim to the

"All-Time Wins" record in COLLEGE FOOTBALL

is to count non-events from the days of the covered wagon.

Here are five more BOGUS WINS

that UM lists in their mythical game-count:

1894 vs Michigan Military Academy - Event Date - October 21, 1894

The Michigan Military Academy, was an all-boys military prep school in Michigan. It was founded in 1877 and closed in 1908 due to bankruptcy. Over the course of its 30-year history, the Michigan Military Academy had 2,558 enrollments and 458 graduates. That's 85 new students per year, graduating about 15 annually (for a graduation rate of about 18%). Very prestigious institution.

1895 vs Michigan Military Academy - Event Date - October 5, 1895

No proof that the MMA had an athletic department. No evidence that they had a football coach or a practice schedule. Looks like the "big boys" from UM didn't exactly pick on someone their own size.


1885 vs Peninsular Cricket Club - Event Date - November 26, 1885
The Peninsular Cricket Club began as a cricket club in 1858 but by 1885 it had evolved into the city's leading all-purpose athletic club, featuring baseball, tennis, and bicycling. The UM student newspaper described this team as "a club composed of men in Detroit who play without practice." In 1887, it would become part of the new Detroit Athletic Club.


1896 vs College of Physicians & Surgeons - Event Date - October 15, 1896
The school was located on the corner of Harrison and Honore streets in Chicago, and was named the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Its doors opened in 1882, with a class of 100 students and a faculty of 27 physicians. This game was played "mid-week", on a Thursday between two Saturday games against Grand Rapids High School and "Rush Lake Forest". (Is that a college?)


1904 vs College of Physicians & Surgeons - Event Date - October 12, 1904
For some reason, UM decided to play this "team" again. The Second Half of this game lasted seven minutes. Touchdowns were worth five points. The 1904 Michigan squad is called the "point-a-minute" team, and you can see why; they were playing against opposition like this small single-building surgical training school.


We have identified 20 BOGUS WINS on the "all-time record" list that UM fans talk about incessantly. Their self-proclaimed lead over Notre Dame is 34 wins. We are now merely 15 games away from proving that Michigan is NOT IN THE LEAD FOR ALL-TIME COLLEGE FOOTBALL WINS.

More to come on this web site!

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MORE FAKE UM FOOTBALL WINS? HOW ABOUT THE ENTIRE 1909 SEASON! (ineligible player)

Seems like we keep hearing about "fake-out" attempts by the University of Michigan. They faked the attendance numbers for their football games, they faked an exhibition basketball game into a regular-season game (Hillsdale), they faked a "Senior Night" for a player who was not a senior and whom they may still "re-sign" for his second "senior season" (Max Bielfeldt), and they faked a college basketball career for a player whom they dropped like a hot potato as soon as better players appeared on the horizon (Austin Hatch).

We've been reporting on the faked-out nature of their so-called "All-Time Wins" record for college football. UM claims 915 "victories" and the top-spot amongst Football Bowl Subdivision schools, yet we've shown how dozens of their claimed wins were against pick-up squads of high-school age kids.

But the 1909 season may be the most

egregious claim of them all.

Michigan blatantly used illegal players

to win six games that year.

They even admitted to cheating.

The non-college-student who caught most of the attention was James "Joy" Miller, arguably the best player on the UM team in 1909. Turns out he barely attended any classes, and he was never actually enrolled as a college student at Michigan. In other words, he was a professional player.

We don't need to make things like this up,

we just report on stuff that's glossed-over by 

the UM-loving mainstream sports media.

Here is the link.

Here is a preview of what you will find in the story if you click on the link:

"In early December 1909 the Michigan Daily reported concerns over whether newly elected team captain James ‘Joy’ Miller was properly registered as a U-M and if he actually attended enough classes during the fall 1909 to be eligible for the football team. While an official decision had yet to come down on the incident, Chairman of the Board in Control of Outdoor Athletics Geo. W. Patterson had heard enough and started firing off letters of apology to Michigan’s 1909 opponents. The U-M Bentley Library holds a copy of the apology sent to Minnesota in its archives. The one page missive, dated December 22, 1909, explained the situation:

"The facts of the case are that Mr. Miller returned to college late this fall, registered in the Engineering Department but neglected to enroll in his classes, although he did attend some of them."

"On Christmas Eve 1909 the New York Times broke the news to the world with a headline that howled “FOOTBALL SCANDAL IN MICHIGAN TEAM”. Miller’s colleagues in the School of Engineering recommended that he be kicked out of school. After ignoring several requests to return to campus to face the charges, Miller was officially expelled on January 14, 1910."

So there goes another six (6) "football wins" swirling down the drain-pipes of history. And along with it, the mythology that Michigan never cheats at football. Looking over the historical record, it's not so hard to understand the roles played more recently by players like Taylor Lewan, Brendan Gibbons, and others.

Combined with our other articles on this topic (links below), that makes 27 undeniably bogus football wins for UM, leaving them a mere eight (8) games ahead of Notre Dame on the all-time list. Can we find more fake victories? Yes we can, stay tuned to this web site!

Five "Wins" Claimed Against a Modern Banquet Facility

Five More Bogus Wins Claimed by UM

Five More Phoney-Baloney "Games Won" by Michigan

Games Against Surgeons, Soldiers, and Cricket-Players

Michigan's Most Stupid "All-Time Win"

- - - Research credit for this article goes to MSUSpartan76 - - -

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FIVE MORE BOGUS "WINS" BY UM FOOTBALL - CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY COUNT THESE?

It's always cool when a college or university sets up a "mentoring program", in which students at the institution of higher learning can interact with and teach younger people the things they need to know at the next level and the things they have learned in school. It's a great way for the educational system to advance society.

At Michigan, in the late 1800s, they had such a system in the athletic department, and it was used to teach younger folks about a modified rugby game that was gaining popularity. These were the transition years between traditional rugby as played in England, and the modern college football game we know today. The UM team would get together with kids and show them how to play the new-fangled sport.

Nothing wrong with that, eh? Seems cool enough. Older kids getting together with younger kids, sharing their knowledge for the benefit of all.

But at UM, they count the exhibition practices with the high school kids as regulation college football victories!

WE KID YOU NOT. Apparently Don Canham showed up 50 years ago and decided to re-interpret those events, adding them up as part of the so-called "All-Time Wins Record" in college football. In case you haven't heard about or seen evidence of these BOGUS GAMES, we list  them below:

1891 vs ANN ARBOR HIGH SCHOOL:  Event Date - October 10, 1891

Ann Arbor High School eventually became Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. The first recorded football league title for Ann Arbor Pioneer was in 1950, six decades after they "lost in football" to Michigan.

1896 vs GRAND RAPIDS HIGH SCHOOL - Event Date - October 10, 1896

There are no significant details available from this game.

Look at these other events, also counted by Michigan as regulation college football "victories":

1885 vs WINDSOR RUGBY TEAM - Event Date - November 7, 1885

On November 7, 1885, Michigan officially began its season with an 8–2 victory over the Windsor team from the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU). The game was played in Windsor, Ontario, under Canadian rules.

1885 vs WINDSOR RUGBY TEAM - Event Date - November 14, 1885

The game was played under American rules, putting the Canadians at a disadvantage. The Windsor team had sent a telegram canceling the game, but the president of the Michigan Rugby Association traveled to Windsor on the morning of the game, and "a team was picked up, somewhat inferior to the team which met our boys last week."

1885 vs PENINSULAR CRICKET CLUB - Event Date - November 26, 1885

The Peninsular Cricket Club began as a cricket club but it had evolved into the city's leading all-purpose athletic club, featuring baseball, tennis, and bicycling. In 1887, it would become part of the new Detroit Athletic Club.

You can see that Wolverine Historians are throwing everything they can into pumping up this so-called "All-Time Wins Record".

Who among us believes that these "events"

are worthy of rank as COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES?

If we subtract these five "wins" from the inflated total, along with the five "wins" over the Detroit Athletic Club, UM loses 10 games from their list, decreasing their "all-time lead" down to 25 games. We will continue to show you some of the more ridiculous game-claims this weekend.




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FIVE MORE "GAMES" FROM THE 1800s THAT MICHIGAN COUNTS AS "FOOTBALL VICTORIES"

Michigan fans claim the "All-Time Wins Record" in COLLEGE FOOTBALL, yet they count multitudes of outdoor events that may not actually have been what anybody today would think of as a COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME. We've talked about this in the past, but now we've drawn a line in the turf and made a commitment to expose this egregious fallacy.

The UM lead - - - according to them - - - is 34 games over their arch-non-rival Notre Dame. So we're looking for 35 bogus games to debunk their fanciful theories. So far, we've got 10 fake wins summarized in these two articles (click click). Now we list five more:

1883 vs Detroit Independents Athletic Club - Event Date - March 12, 1883

The Wolverines were 1-4 in 1883 (which was one more win than they had the previous year, when they didn't play any games). They also only had one home game, and this was the one, as they put the hurt on an un-named group of guys with no historical record to review. There is no information available about this opponent, suggesting it was a pick-up team of untrained players.

1884 vs University Club of Chicago -  Event Date - November 22, 1884

The University Club of Chicago is a private social club and is not affiliated with the University Of Chicago varsity squad. This opponent was likely a pick-up team of untrained players without a coach who never practiced together before game-day.

1887 vs Chicago Harvard School - Event Date - November 24, 1887

This opponent came from a high school (prep school) that began competing against other Chicago-area high school rugby teams in 1888. That's one year after this "game" against Michigan. So this "game" was played against high-schoolers who had not yet started a football program.

1892 vs Michigan Athletic Association - Event Date - October 8, 1892

This opponent appears to be another pick-up team of untrained players. There is no information about the "M.A.A." except that it was located in Detroit. There is no reason to believe that this was a "college football team" by any definition. The Wolverines "won" by a score of 74-0.

1892 vs Michigan Athletic Association - Event Date - October 12, 1892

Just four days after shellacking this rag-tag group of pick-up players, the Michigan folks decided it was time for another "game" against them, and beat them again, this time 68-0. In less than one week, UM found a way to claim two college football victories. Hoo-hah, go blue, eh?

No reasonable review could conclude that the events
listed above were COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES
that should be counted as part of an
"All-Time Wins Record" for college football.

We have now identified fifteen (15) bogus wins on the Michigan all-time record. Subtracting these record-keeping errors would leave them with a 19-game lead over the Irish. But we're not done yet! Stay tuned, and watch this web site for more information de-bunking the wild wolverine dreams.

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MICHIGAN'S MOST STUPID "ALL-TIME WIN"

It all had to start somewhere, didn't it? This massive list of football victories claimed by the University of Michigan must have had a grand and royal beginning, right? Probably a classic down-to-the-wire win over arch-non-rival Notre Dame, or a season-capping triumph over Ohio State. Or maybe a historic match-up against Cornell, or Harvard, or some of the other original "Beasts of the East".

Not quite that classy, as it turns out. UM began their mind-numbing victory march against an opponent that no longer exists.

The vanquished foe was not really a "college team".

And the game they played was not really even "football".

1879 vs Racine - Event Date - May 30, 1879

Racine College was an Episcopal preparatory school in Wisconsin, founded in 1852. Most boys enrolled at Racine College were grammar school students preparing for the Bachelor of Arts course. The collegiate department at Racine closed in 1887. The grammar school and a military school continued to operate until it closed in 1933.

So there, right? Michigan sure put those boys in there place, eh? Oh, did we mention the final score of this historic win?

Michigan defeated Racine, 1-0.

This game alone tells you more about the UM mindset than you ever wanted to know. They are willing to claim that Racine was a college team playing college football. They want you to believe that you can get a score of 1-0 playing football. And they want you to believe that they are "leaders and best".

According to accounts of the event, it was not "football" as we know it.

"We play according to modified Rugby rules, which we will be able to send you, in printed form in about a week."

-Excerpt from letter sent by Racine

"The Rugby game, then unknown to us, was to be played. The challenge was accepted, but no interest seemed to be taken in the game until late in the spring of the year, when elevens practiced evenings on the campus."

-Recollection by member of Michigan Rugby team

The Chicago Daily Tribune called it "the first rugby-football game to be played west of the Alleghenies." The Chronicle (a weekly newspaper at the University of Michigan) called it "the finest game of Rugby foot-ball every played this side of the Alleghenies."

-Wikipedia

So this classic victory started it all, way back before UM actually had a team. If that makes sense. (Which it doesn't.)

Michigan went on to play one more "game" that season, against Toronto. That clash ended in a 0-0 tie. No "extra innings" were played that day, just the normal two-inning game of rugby-football.

This makes 21 football victories claimed by Michigan

that are absolute bunk by any standard.

These 21 "wins" are total fabrications by Don Canham, former Athletic Director at UM. They are as fake as a four-dollar bill.

Our series examining the bogus baloney spun by Michigan about their "football history" will turn towards the classification of larger blocks of games that could be discounted based on general circumstances rather than specifics of the opponent. Do stay tuned!

Five "Wins" Claimed Against a Modern Banquet Facility

Five More Bogus Wins Claimed by UM

Five More Phoney-Baloney "Games Won" by Michigan

Games Against Surgeons, Soldiers, and Cricket-Players

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HERE IS THE "COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM" THAT MICHIGAN CLAIMS TO HAVE BEATEN FIVE TIMES AS PART OF IT'S "ALL-TIME WINS RECORD"

We've been looking over the "All-Time Wins Record" that Michigan folks claim to have, presumably for COLLEGE FOOTBALL. They never really specify that the wins are over COLLEGE TEAMS, but hey, let's go out on a limb and assume that's what they mean. They say they own the record for most FOOTBALL wins over COLLEGE TEAMS. They claim to have more than 900 of these victories.

But when we look over the records, we find a number of so-called "wins" that were against people who weren't playing for a college team, many of which transpired before the advent of modern American Football. We will expose the fallacy of this bogus record in the coming weeks and months.

Did you get it? Could you guess which

"college team" was "defeated" by the

University of Michigan in "football" five times?

IT'S THE "DETROIT ATHLETIC CLUB"!

HISTORIC PICTURE OF THE FOOTBALL POWERHOUSE

CONTEMPORARY PHOTO OF THE MICHIGAN "FOOTBALL" OPPONENT

Michigan claims wins over the Detroit Athletic Club in '88, '90, '93 (twice), and '95. To be clear, those years are 1888, 1890, 1893, and 1895. They supposedly played the formidable DAC two times in one week in 1893, with a total attendance for both "games" of 150 people.

Common sense tells us that "football" - - - as we know it - - - didn't exist until players were allowed to throw a forward pass, which was legalized in 1906. A realistic view is that modern "college football" didn't exist until the NCAA began tracking it officially, which was in the mid 1930's. But you certainly can't count rugby games against a banquet facility as a college football game.

"I find a lot of the things they do amusing."

-Mark Dantonio

This would be one of those "things". It's amusing if everybody knows that it's nothing but a joke. It is our mission during the remainder of the football off-season to scrutinize this so-called record, and expose it for what it is; an amusing joke.

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MSU FOOTBALL FRONT BURNER: B1G Championship Game Edition Part 1. Time to Claim a Seat at the Table.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME EDITION PART ONE
Our weekly feature on MSU Football brings diverse responses to
a variety of questions related to the Spartans program. 

Panelists:

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s chUMp of the Month Award for November)

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Front Burner Questions:

1. It was the Michigan football players who started the on-field brawl in their game against Ohio STATE, yet only a single UM player was penalized in any way. This, despite multiple Wolverines who ran onto the field, several of whom made physical contact with Buckeyes. How does Michigan come out of this ugly incident relatively clean, while Ohio STATE is made to look like the bad guys?

2. MSU Punter Mike Sadler was clearly roughed near the end of the Minnesota game, yet no penalty was called. This feels similar to the bogus pass-interference calls made against the Spartans at Notre Dame, and the multiple non-calls that should have been made against Taylor Lewan in the Michigan game. Do you believe that Michigan State plays on a level field when it comes to Big Tens referees and/or administrators? 

3. The Buckeye Defense looks pretty vulnerable this season, but what can MSU do about the Ohio STATE Offense? Miller and Hyde look pretty damn good. Give your best guess at the point total to be scored by the Buckeyes.

4. What under reported developments, plays or story-lines have you observed since our last Front-Burner?

5. Despite the great season in progress, Mark Dantonio has not been able to register measurable gains in recruiting, at least according to the five-star-system used to rate high school players. On the other hand, Langford and Lippett came in as three-star "athletes", and Dennard and Waynes arrived as two-star recruits. Do the benefits of a season most likely show up with high school juniors more than the current class of seniors? Do you care at all about the recruiting rankings for Michigan State? 

MSUSpartan76 Bonus Question: You have the most-read post on this web site. In that post you discuss the myth of the widening recruiting gap that UM supposedly enjoys over MSU and statistically supported the facts that the gap is, in fact, shrinking. Without sending you on an a multi-day research project, can you comment about the recruiting gap or trends for Ohio State vs. MSU, even in general terms?

ATownAndDown Bonus Question: I saw something about Bennie Fowler possibly getting an extra year of eligibility. That would be huge - every receiver coming back? Can you fill us on what you know? Has Lawrence Thomas been limited enough to get a sixth year (if he even needs it)? 

SpartanMan82 Bonus Question: How about that Mike Griffith of MLive? Even though he ranked MSU higher than most in the polls, the headlines of his articles on the Spartan team still seem to be like back-handed compliments, if not outright denigration. Who does this guy think he is?

Front Burner Panelist Responses:

MSU FOOTBALL FRONT BURNER: B1G Championship Game Edition Part 2. Time to Feast at the Table.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME EDITION PART TWO
Our weekly feature on MSU Football brings diverse responses to
a variety of questions related to the Spartans program. 

Panelists:

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

SpartanMan82 (See SM82s chUMp of the Month Award for November)

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Part 2 Panelist Responses:

4. What under reported developments, plays or story-lines have you observed since our last Front-Burner?

SpartanMan82 (See SM82's This Date in chUMps History)

All of the chUMps have convinced each other that this is a one-time-season for Michigan State as "all of the defensive stars will be graduating". Um, not really. We have a five-star recruit playing third-string on the D-Line. We have two four-star recruits red-shirting at linebacker, with another four-star linebacker verbally committed and a Bullough moving back to that position group. Two of our four starting defensive backs will return, plus all of the subs in the backfield.

The Spartan Football Program is in good shape, with strong depth all over the field. The main loss to worry about for next year may be Narduzzi.

[From Return2Glory: Also returning is nearly all skill positions on offense. Nearly all of the production statistics on offense. If Bennie Fowler stays, I think MSU will return 100% of passing, receiving, rushing yards and offensive scoring less Andrew Maxwell's early playing time. I'm sure our panelists will correct me if I'm wrong.]

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Going into the Minnesota game there was a whole bunch of stupid talk about the Spartan Defense not being legitimate. During the game there was nothing but how great MSU's defense is and how excellent they play. Now, we are back to the Spartan defense not being up to facing Miller and Hyde. Give me a break.

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

I think a lot of people are getting caught up with the matchups and the noise that is going on about this game Saturday and they are losing sight of the bigger picture. MSU wants to have a perennial seat at the table. MSU fans gripe about how other teams and conferences get more respect and national love than the Spartans who are "just as good if not better" than those guys. Well boys and girls, here we are. We have beaten a path to the table. You want a seat... win.

These next two games (and you might even include the Oregon game next year in here too) are crucial to changing the national perception of MSU football. Look at Stanford. Jim Harbaugh took over that program the same year Coach D came to MSU. Going into 2010, Stanford was not getting much national love just like MSU. By the end of the year they were a top-5 team because they won (12-1 with not an overwhelmingly tough schedule but they won on the big stage in the Orange Bowl). The next season they got some love nationally and proved they deserved it (started #7 and finished #7). The following year they lost Andrew Luck and got a little less love (still top 20) but they went out and proved they were no worse off without Luck. Then this year with two bad losses, they are still getting respect and are in the top-10. Stanford changed the perception that they were a cute story. We have seen years where teams put together cute seasons (Iowa, GT, Cincinnati, UConn, etc.) but when they get their seat at the table they can't back up why they deserve to keep it. That is where MSU is standing right now. If MSU wins 2 of those 3 games (B1G Champ, bowl, and Oregon 2014), people will start to be convinced. Win all and people will believe.

5. Despite the great season in progress, Mark Dantonio has not been able to register measurable gains in recruiting, at least according to the five-star-system used to rate high school players. On the other hand, Langford and Lippett came in as three-star "athletes", and Dennard and Waynes arrived as two-star recruits. Do the benefits of a season most likely show up with high school juniors more than the current class of seniors? Do you care at all about the recruiting rankings for Michigan State? 

MSUSpartan76 (Follow him on M-Live)

Do we really care about what those recruiting sites say? They are set up to generate revenue, not give accurate assessments. Augment that with the rediculous scoring systems employed by Scout (and others) and the only conclusion is that they are in business to generate stuff people will pay to read. Are you aware that in the Scout rating system, a Junior College transfer is worth 1 point versus a 5-star worth 200?

MSU is getting the players that Dantonio and his staff believe can contribute to the success of the program. Unfortunately, MSU had a major transition year (QB and WRs) and an injury prone offensive line or we would not be having this conversation.

[See '76's Post, The Myth of the Widening Recruiting Gap]

ATownAndDown (Follow him on M-Live)

Recruiting at MSU is a funny thing. First real scouts will tell you that MSU targets guys that are "fits" for their system. They don't put the time and effort in pursuing someone that they don't see having a role in our system. And they are not going to sell any one a bill of goods they do not intend to deliver. They are going to tell you where they see you fitting and they are going to be real with recruits on what is going to be expected of them before they sniff playing time. Some recruits don't like where MSU pegs them. Some don't like the idea of not just being handed a spot. And some just are not interested. But those that buy in and those that do come, get it. They improve and they fit in a successful system and it works. I would be shocked to see MSU ever pull a top-5 class (not that I wouldn't like to see it) but it's not because players will never go to MSU. It's because Coach D and company are going to find guys that are "fits" that want to fit. That pool increases as you win and recruiting has been slowly trending up IMO and will continue on that path.

SpartanMan82 (See SM82's Post - Not All UM Fans are chUMps)

It would be nice to get 5-10 "four-star" recruits in each class. That may sound like a lot, but Dantonio offers more than that many each year, so it would be helpful if a few more of them signed up for the program. Our coaching staff has proven that they can develop players in their system, so it stands to reason that if incoming players had a little bit more athleticism coming in, they could become even better as part of the program.

All that said, the keys to watch in recruiting is how MSU does when offering players that other top programs have also offered. In other words, check the offer list when a player commits, to see what other choices that player had. If Dantonio gets commitments from players who had multiple high-level offers, that's a good sign. If not, they stick with turning lumps of coal into diamonds.

Part 1 Questions (Previous Issue):

1. It was the Michigan football players who started the on-field brawl in their game against Ohio STATE, yet only a single UM player was penalized in any way. This, despite multiple Wolverines who ran onto the field, several of whom made physical contact with Buckeyes. How does Michigan come out of this ugly incident relatively clean, while Ohio STATE is made to look like the bad guys?

2. MSU Punter, Mike Sadler was clearly roughed near the end of the Minnesota game, yet no penalty was called. This feels similar to the bogus pass-interference calls made against the Spartans at Notre Dame, and the multiple non-calls that should have been made against Taylor Lewan in the Michigan game. Do you believe that Michigan State plays on a level field when it comes to Big Tens referees and/or administrators? 

3. The Buckeye Defense looks pretty vulnerable this season, but what can MSU do about the Ohio STATE Offense? Miller and Hyde look pretty damn good. Give your best guess at the point total to be scored by the Buckeyes.

Click here for Part 1 panelist responses.

Click here for Part 3

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