Thursday Portrait.....

Please be patient, only TWO more days of
my Maize and Blue Theme week...Hehehehehe!
There are NO overt or subliminal 55's today,
But I do have a little 'Theme Related' story for you.
The last verse of U of M's Fight song "Hail To The Victors's"
goes...Hail Hail to Michigan The Champions of The West!!
This reference goes back an awful long time. U of M's first
year of collegiate varsity football was 1879.
The conference that they played in was called The Western
Conference. It is now defunct! Michigan joined it's present
conference The Big Ten in 1896. As you might expect, back at
the turn of the Century The Ivy League dominated college football.
The rest of the country was pretty much up for grabs with
Minnesota, Chicago, Notre Dame, and Michigan always in the fray.
I made refernce the other day to a famous sportswriter of the
mid 20th Century...Grantland Rice.
He wrote a powerful piece of nostalgia that always sends shivers
up the back of any Wolverine....

"I remember the stand at Thermopylae
The Greek Guard made one day;
I remember the legions that Caesar used
To shatter the Gallic sway;
And I remember across those years
Two banners that crowned the crest,
When Yale was king of the conquered East,
And Michigan ruled the West.

At night in my humble den I dream
Of the glories that used to be-
Of Hannibul taking The Alpine Trail,
Of Drake on the open sea;
And then I wander the ancient ways
To a dream I love the best
When Yale was king of the conquered East
And Michigan ruled the West."


Be True To Your School....
Now do you know why I LOVE it so?
See you Thursday 8:00 PM EST.