Michigan Monday

In honor of football season, which I have grown to love(learn to love it like Aunt Bea's Pickles as my mom would say), I have decided to post a Michigan story every Monday.

I always tell people that I am a Michigan fan by marriage. When Tony and I were dating, he was always telling me about all of the traditions and stories that make up the history of the Wolverines. I can't help but truly love it! I haven't got to the point where I can say "we" when I talk about the team like Tony does, but I'll get there. I am going hunting with him this year, so anything is possible....(that's another post later).

The very first story he ever told me is "the crane story."

The Crane Story

Through Fielding Yost’s dogged perseverance, the Regents approved the building of a new stadium on April 22, 1926. Although Yost originally wanted to build the new stadium where the Michigan Golf Course is now located, that plan was denied. Instead, this new structure was to be built on land the University had purchased in 1925, land that at one time had been home to a barn, a strawberry patch, and an underground spring that had served the University’s water needs in the early years. The water posed a problem to the construction, as the land had to be lowered to take care of a large underground lake. The underground lake also led to a surface which nearly resembled quicksand.

It was this moist ground that during construction, engulfed a crane which, according to legend, remains under the stadium today.

Today's stadium seats 109,901. There is one "extra seat" in Michigan Stadium "reserved" by former head coach Fielding H. Yost for the then athletic director Fritz Crisler, although its location is not specified.

Go Blue!