FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 1945; . THE MICHIGAN DAILY FAOI FRIflAY, AU~US~' ~4, i945~ PA~*E JTV BLOCKS, KICKS, PASSES: Ponsetto Continues Tradition Of Exceptional Quarterbacks WE WERE ROBBED: Brown Jug 'Removed' By Villainous Gophers By BO MODIC Although prospects for the 1945 football team are uncertain during pre-season work, the Wolverine tra- dition of great quarterbacking seems destined to be carried on when Joe Ponsetto, rugged, hard hitting cap- tain and field general of the team, takes over. In 1940, Forest Evashevski cleared the way for Tom Harmon; in 1941-42, George Ceithaml piled up enemy tacklers in front of such great backs as Bob Westfall, Paul White and Bob Wiese; and this season, Ponsetto can be counted on to pave the way for the touchdown jaunts of the Wolver- ine ball-carriers. Third Season This is Ponsetto's third year of football with the Maize and Blue, as he was one of the seven lettermen left to start the1945 season, after Navy transfers and other wartime conditions swept away most of last season's great team. A junior in the NROTC program here, Ponsetto first found his way to Ferry Field two years ago, fresh from Central High School in Flint, where he was a three year gridder. Last season was his first big one at Michigan, however, as he held down the first string sig- nal-calling post on the squad which rang up a record of eight wins and two losses. As the blocking back on a team boasting such stars as Wiese, Bob Nussbaumer, Gene Derricotte and Milan Lazetich, Ponsetto was an "un- sung hero". His value as a blocker and defensive giant, however, earned him a place on the Associated Press All-Western Conference team and on the All-American blocking team at the end of the season. Praised by Crisler In his quarterback spot, Ponsetto will handle the ball on almost every play from the T-formation and Coach H. O. (Fritz) Crisler is count- ing on his experience and football sense to steady the green team which will take the field against Great Lakes Sept. 15. "Joe is a good football player and a great fellow," Crisler comments. "He upholds the tradition of Michi- gan quarterbacking that I've seen in Evashevski and Ceithaml, and is not only a good physical football play- er but also a good mental one." Expert Place-Kicker Ponsetto is the "brain trust" of the team as the signal-caller and also directs the squad on defense from his position as line backer. Though used chiefly as a blocker, he handles some of the passing duties and last year developed into an ex- pert place-kicker, booting 23 conver- sions in 28 atempts. Ponsetto, standing an even six feet, and tipping the scales at 185, can take plenty of punishment. In last season's memorable 18-14 loss! to Ohio State, he limped through the entire game with an ankle in- jury acquired on the previous Sat- urday. : D f is is f r C 1¢ Yt t + l l C T }1 t WHERE STARS ARE BORN-This view of the large Michigan Stadium shows part of the capacity crowd at a recent Minnesota game. YOST DREAM COMES TRUE: Sta dium One of Nation's Largest By FRANK WOLF One of the most coveted trophies in the sports world is the Little Brown Jug, awarded annually when Michigan and Minnesota meet on the football field to decide which school is to keep the trophy for the follow- ing year. The Jug itself has an interesting, somewhat humorous, origin. Back in 1903, Fielding H. Yost. Michigan's famous coach, brought one of his great "point a minute" teams to Minneapolis for the yearly game with the Gophers. The Wolverines were heavy favorites, and Minne- sota seemed doomed to defeat. Game Ends in Tie Minnesota, however, had forgotten! to read the odds in the morning pa- pers. The Gophers hung on tena- ciously, and the game ended in a 6-6 tie. As a reward for their moral vie- tory, the Golden Gophers wanted ,.ome sort of a trophy. Oscar Munson, Minnesota's equipment keeper, re- membered seeing a brown stone wa- ter jug which the Michigan squad had brought with it. He took the jug, but the Wolverines didn't miss it for a while. "Come and Get It!" When the team got back to Ann Arbor, one of the players remembered seeing Munson take the jug. He told Yost about it, and a. letter was promptly sent asking for its return. MINNESOTA GODSEND: The Gophers' reply was a simple challenge to "come and get it." Michigan accepted the challenge. They didn't play Minnesota again until 1909, but that year they beat Minnesota by the score of 15-6, Af- ter that, Michigan reigned supreme for a period of 24 years. In the six- teen Minnesota games played be- tween 1909 and 1933, the Wolverines won. 13, lost two, and tied one. Michigan Record Tops In 1934, however, Minnesota took over. The Gophers won nine con- secutive games untIl Michigan beat them by the score of 49-6 in 1943. The Wolverine squad took the Jug again last season. Since the beginning of competi- tion for the Little Brown Jug in 1903, Michigan has won 17 contests, lost 11, and two games have resulted in ties. Pitchers Made, Batters Born, Says Coach Fisher Pitchers, says Baseball Coach Ray Fisher, can be taught, while batters aren't made, but born. Fisher, who has turned out great hurlers, including Elroy Hirsch and the two Fishman brothers, Herman and Mickey, ought to know. His slugging finds aren't bad, either, numbering Dick Wakefield, Bennie Oosterbaan and Jack Blott. HE INVENTS, TOO: Trainer Roberts Is Important Part in Wolverine Grid Setup By MILT GOLDRATH Ray Roberts is the little-known man with the big job on the Michi- gan grid squad, or, in other words, the hard-working trainer of the team. Roberts first came to Michigan in 1930, and has been here ever since. His career as trainer had its earliest beginnings when he entered the Army during the last war. He was assigned to the medical corps, and upon completion of the war, be- cause of his Army experience, he was given the job as trainer of the Army's West Point team. He re- Ca ers.. (Continued from Page 1) Wolverines were third in the Con- ference, but their fortunes continued down hill in the next games, and all chances of a championship were lost. In an unorthodox contest with the eventual title-winner, Iowa, the Wol- verines used controlled ball tactics to lead at the close of the first half and during most of the last stanza, only to succumb in the closing sec- onds by a 29-27 count. Two-Game Revival The following night, Ohio State repeated its early win in more con- vincing fashion, 61-47. The second game with Indiana, in turn, saw a Wolverine victory repeated as the Hoosiers were decisioned, 47-43, at Bloomington. Focussing attention on Wisconsin next, the cagers trounced the Badgers, 50-39, in an attempt to hit the comeback trail. The next game saw their hopes dashed, how- ever, as Iowa avenged the anxious moments in its first tilt with the Wolverines, 50-37. Victorious in Last Tilt In the last home game of the year, Michigan bowed to Northwestern, 49-34, as Lund returned to the line- up after his injury had benched him during the three previous games. In the return game with Wisconsin, the Wolverines were defeated, 55-44, but they finished the season with a vic- tory over Northwestern, starting what is hoped will be a winning streak at the beginning of this season. miined at West Point for the next 10 years, until he became trainer for the Wolverine squad. No Natural Athletes In his 25 years as an athletic train- er, Roberts has come to the conclu- sion that "there is no such thing as a natural athlete." By this he means that no matter how natural an ath- lete appears on the surface, his abil- ity is, in reality, the result of mental and physical conditioning acquired in early youth. No athlete, then, can become truly great without intensive training. Turning to the more personal side of the trainer's life, we find that he was born and raised on a farm near Decatur, Ill. He attended a small country school and showed little in- terest in athletics. His'interests have turned in recent times to none other than that of inventing. This Don Ameche of footballdom has perfected many inventions, among which is a new type of headgear for wrestlers which is considered to be quite ef- fective. Natators Boast Amazing Past Michigan's '44-45 swimming squad had a famous past to uphold, as some of the greatest individual mermen in the country have worn the colors of the Maize and Blue. In the past 12 years, Michigan swimming teams have captured nine Big Ten championships, and have placed second in the other three. They have taken first place in the National Collegiates eight out of 12 years, and have been runners-up the other four. They have churned to victory twice in the last seven Na- tional AAU's, while securing the sec- ond place position four times. The list of Michigan swimming greats is long and unrivaled: The names of Fenske, Christy, Drysdale, Renner, Stewart, Corey and. Skinner could be added to almost endlessly. Nevertheless, the individual cham- pion would probably be Harry Holi- day, who set records in the 100-yard, the 150-yard and 200 meter events in 1942. By BERNNRD MEISLIN This fall will mark the beginning of the 18th grid season in which Michigan football teams have played in one of the largest American sta- diums. Around 86,000 fans have crowded into the Michigan stadium each Sat- urday of the Wolverine home foot- ball season since 1927. A field to hold the giant crowds Wolverine grid teams always drew was one of Coach Fielding H. Yost's pet ambitions, and construction was begun in 1925 on just such a field. When the largest Big Ten stadium was finally built the crowds really began to pour in. In 1927 alone, three of the all-time Michigan fotoball attendance records were made. Michigan Won Opener The first game ever played in Mich-} igan Stadium saw the Wolverines trounce an Ohio Wesleyan team to the tune of 33-0. Bennie Oosterbaari, present end coach of the 1945 edition of Michigan gridders, was one of the outstanding players on the 1927 elev- en. Rounding out his third consecu- Dick Wakefield Entertains','45 Basealquad When Dick Wakefield, the Detroit Tigers' slugging ex-left fielder, ap- peared at a Michigan baseball prac- tice early last spring, members of the outfield of the diamond squad received a thrill - and a laugh - from the former Wolverine star. The famous Tiger batsman, who was on leave from Great Lakes, where he had played very little base- ball since the end of the major league race last October, took up the light fungo bat and prepared to hit fly balls for the outfilders to shag. He swung mightily - and missed, the ball. He tried again - and missed. And again. This procedure was re- peated seven times., At last, Wake- field exchanged bats for a heavy stick. The results were distinctly encouraging, as the white pellet be- gan to soar past the outfielders. '44 Gridders tive All-American football season, Oosterbaan was all over the field on that day. His spectacular pass-receiv- ing and brilliant blocking and tack- ling made victory sweet to Yost on the day his team first played in the stadium of his dreams. Since that Autumn day of Michi- gan victory in 1927, the stadium has served as the stage of many thrilling football games and as the testing ground of many an All-American Football.. (Continued from Page 1) conservative estimates, will be form- idable. After the open date, the Wolver- ines will swing into action once more against Illinois, Oct. 27, at Cham- paign. Following the game with the Illini, Michigan will meet Minnesota here Nov. 3. in the classic which de- termines the annual disposition of the "Little Brown Jug". The next opponent will be a very strong Navy aggregation which will be host to the Wolverines Nov. 10 at Baltimore, renewing a rivalry which lapsed for 17 years. After the Navy game, the season will wind up when Michigan meets Purdue and Ohio State here Nov. 17 and 24. The Ohio State contest will see a bitter rivalry renewed as the Wolverines attempt to avenge last season's 18-14 defeat by the Buckeyes. Seven Lettermen Back Prospects for the Michigan squad are still unpredictable, although the Wolverines have ended six weeks of summer practice, and will resume' work Aug. 27. The team was bol- stered by the return of seven letter- men at the start of summer drills, including Capt. Joe Ponsetto, quar- terback; John Lintol and Harry Watts, centers; HowardYerges, quar- terback; Warren Bentz, halfback; and John Weyers and Cecil Freihof- er, linesmen. Jack Weisenburger, halfback last season, will report for drills at the end of August. New talent will be drawn mostly from Navy V-12 transfers, as has been the practice during the past two seasons. player. From Oosterbaan to Harmon to the teams of today, the fans at Michigan stadium have witnessed football at its best. Special Facilities Few realize, as they sit in the great amphitheatre, of the many facilities which are designed with the view of serving each individual fan. Refreshments are served at more than 50 refreshment stands, located around the concourse of the Stadium, and emergency medical treatment is available in the First Aid Building, at the northwest corner of the Stadium grounds. Doctors and maids are in constant attendance at this building, and special service is granted in case of an emergency. A lost and found service, telephone, ambulance, and taxi cab service are also maintained. Therefore, the sta- dium is not only rich in the sports panorama it offers the fan, but in special services designed to aid the onlooker in enjoying the game. Track... (Continued from Page 1) two-mile and sweeping all 15 points in the mile, a performance unprece- dented in Big Ten track history. Michigan copped only two first places in the meet as Illinois grabbed eight, but the points piled up in the dis- tance events paid off as the Wolver- ines hung grimly to their lead through the last event. Shine in Penn Relays The outdoor season started with a bang as Michigan copped four titles of five events entered at the annual Penn Relays, and finished second in the. fifth event. The performance rated as one of the best ever seen in Eastern track circles. After sweeping through a triangu- lar meet with Purdue and Miami uni- versities, the Wolverines hooked up with Ohio State, Illinois and Great Lake in a quadrangular affair and came off second best as a surprising Great Lakes squad was the winner. The meet was not decided until the last event when the Sailors placed two men in the broad jump to insure victory. Lose Outdoor Title A smashing dual meet victory over Purdue served as the final tuneup for the Conference outdoor meet, but no tuneup could have stopped Illinois at the tourney as the vengeful Illini squad poured it on to take a 65%/ to 54 1-6 victory. Again the Wolverines scored heavily in the distance events, but Illinois took seven firsts and placed in all but two events to put on I a remarkable show of team balance, In describing his most thrilling ex- perience of more than 19 years of newswriting, Les Etter, head of the publicity department of the Univer- sity athletic association, related the incident which won the second of a two-game series between Michigan and Minnesota during the 1926 sea- son. "It was late in that game," Etter said, "that the great All-American, Bennie Oosterbaan, whom I have. come to know quite intimately as a Michigan coach in the last year, picked up a free ball inside the Mich- igan 40-yard line and romped 60-odd yards for the score that tied the ball game." That play, coupled with the conversion for goal by the other mem- ber of the.Bennie-to-Benny combina- tion, Benny Friedman, was the most thrill-packed moment of his life, Etter related. "I was a freshman at Minnesota atthe time and was full of the old college spirit. It was a seri- ous blow to my morale, for with that play, Michigan won the game 7-6," he added. Ends First Year Here Etter, who has seen quite a few thrilling sights during his career as news reporter and publicity man, is now entering his second year at the University, having marked his first anniversary here Aug. 8. As head of the department, Etter's responsibilities are numerous. He sends all Michigan sports news to more than 600 newspapers and radio stations throughout the country. In addition a five-page monthly sum- mary of sports events is compiled and sent to more than 150 former 'U' men who are now in the Armed For- ces. He is planning a one-page paper that will cover every Michigan foot- ball game this fall and this will be forwarded to these men every week. Was Minnesota Reporter Etter does not lack the necessary background for his present occupa- tion. Starting in 1930, he was assist- ant sports editor on the Minnesota "Daily" and sports editor of the "Go- pher," Minnesota's year book. He Etter Celebrates Initial Year As Athletics Publicity Director also assumed the position of the uni- versity ad manager the same year. He covered Gopher sports for the Minneapolis "Journal," and upon graduating took a job with the.Duluth "News-Tribune" as police reporter. In 1935, he returned to Minnesota as a reporter on the university news service. Later that year, he took a job with the Associated Press, and was with them until 1937, returning once more to his Alma Mater, this time as director of the news service. He worked as a public relations man for several private concerns before coming to Michigan. Golfers .. (Continued from Page 1) to the Maize and Blue golf squad by scores of 172-1/2 and 141/2-12% re- spectively. John Tews was the star in the match against the Broncos, shooting a six over par 78. In the contest with the Wildcats, Phil Mar- cellus took medalist honors with the day's low score of 71. Out to avenge their defeat at the hands of Ohio State, the Wolverines swamped the Buckeyes, 79-5, in the return match. Again it was State's John Lorms who took the individual honors. Notre Dame was next on the list of defeatables for the golfers. The match was played on May 21 with the Michigan men winning, 19-5. This was the fifth win in a row for the Wolverines. Third in Championships The Big Ten golf championship meet followed the match with the fighting Irish. Coach Barclay sent five lettermen to try aid take the crown for Michigan. However, much to their disappointment, the Wolver- ines could only place third behind Ohio State and Northwestern. Playing their last match of the season, the Maize and Blue golfers trounced the Western Michigan squad to the tune of 161/2-11/2. < ------ .o... .. I r ii (Continued from Page 1) Conference honors, took over Le- Roux's starting assignment at one tackle by the time the second game had rolled around. Wiese and Nuss- baumer left the team in mid-season and were replaced by Don Lundand Ralph Chubb. Those few changes were about the only ones made all season. Few Replacements The Wolverines were in a bad way for replacements, so most of the starting eleven became 60-minute men, although many of the second stringers helped out considerably. Dick Rifenburg made a name for himself at end before joining the Navy, and Ted Greer also performed creditably as a flanker. LeRoux be- came the number one (and almost only) tackle replacement, while Rog- er Chiaverini and Howard (Jeep) Mehaffey spelled the guards. Har- old Watts, Charles Wahl, and Don Lund all took an occasional crack at center. Reserve backs included Howard Yerges at quarter; Jack Weisenburg-' er, Bill Culligan, and Warren Bentz at the halves; and Tom Peterson at full. This comparative handful of starters and reserves did most of the dirty work against the opposition. Beat Great Lakes Michigan opened against Great Lakes and won a 12-7 victory, thanks to a couple of long touchdown passes from Culligan to Rifenburg after the ground attack had stalled complete- work, as the Wolverine attack fiz'led and died after the opening minutes. Trip Minnesota But Michigan was not to be count- ed out, coming back to whip its arch rival, Minnesota, in the renewal of the Little Brown Jug classic, 27-13. The Wolverines made it even more convincing the , next weekend by whipping a strong Northwestern out- fit, 27-0, tearing to shreds what was supposed to be the strongest line in the Big Ten. Purdue was the next victim, and the Boilermakers fell hard, 40-14, as Wiese and Nussbaumer . made their last Michigan appearances. It was the worst beating a Wolverine team ever gave Purdue and was especially welcome in view of the fact that the two teams were defending Confer- ence co-champs. Pennsylvania, Too Pennsylvania was the lamb next led to slaughter, and was effectively bitchered, 40-19, anoth'er worst beating" in a series. Illinois and Bud- dy Young then came to town and left in considerably worse shape than they came, after absorbing a 14-0 licking. Young was held scoreless for the first time in his career, although his unbelievably fast end runs brought the spectators' hearts to their mouths more than once before the final gun sounded. Wisconsin was next, and the Bad- gers proved a surprisingly tough ball club, beating the Wolverines in every- thing but the scoring column. Al- though the statistics gave Wisconsin l i i YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ±946 MICHTGf4NENSLRN The school yearbook includes pictures of house groups, organizations, activities, graduating seniors, and FROSH I n / Le i c u tst.