Sports Memories²

2023 National Champions

After winning their 3rd straight Big Ten conference title but having fallen short in the playoffs during years prior, Michigan finally breaks through and wins the college football national championship to finish the 2023 season undefeated.

It was not without notable controversy, however. The team was accused of “cheating” (most loudly by rivals) as they sought to decipher opponent play signals. Neither “sign-stealing” nor “advanced scouting” is forbidden, and these things are practiced by all teams to some degree.

But when a staff member paid relatives to attend games observing future opponents, it represented a potential rule violation (not all institutions could be expected to pay for such an expense). For context, several teams recorded Michigan’s signals and shared the Wolverines’ signs among the group – also not against the rules.

The staff member accused of paying family members to attend games was fired halfway through the season, and Michigan’s head coach served a preemptive “voluntary” suspension during the final games of the regular season (including against Ohio State). Nevertheless, the players overcame the distraction and continued winning despite swirling allegations.

After the season, NCAA president Charlie Baker had this to say on the matter: “At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn’t win the national title fair and square.”

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JT Barret was short on 4th down

Controversial call in the 2nd overtime of the 2016 game between Michigan (ranked #3 nationally) and Ohio State (ranked #2). It is tough to tell for sure (there is no video angle right down the line) but the ball does not appear to advance all the way to the solid white line.

The yellow (TV) line is inaccurate; in overtime, teams start on the 25 yard line, so a 1st down would be exactly the (solid white) 15 yard line. Ohio State player #88 is right at the line to gain, and quarterback JT Barrett slams into his backside – therefore he would be just short.

Michigan was leading 27-24 at the time, having already scored a field goal in the 2nd overtime. So if JT Barrett was ruled short on this play, the game would have been over. As it was, Ohio State was awarded the first down as went on to win the game.

Detroit is home to many professional sports teams, but during the 2000’s it was widely referred to as “hockey town.” The Red Wings were an iconic team during that time, making the playoffs for 25 consecutive years (1991-2016) and winning the Stanley Cup championship 4 times.

I mostly remember the 2008 team and players like Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Nicklas Lidstrom.

The Detroit Pistons had a decent run of success as well in the 2000’s – appearing in 6 consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. Known for their defense (“Deee-troit, basket-ball” being a popular fan chant) and for not having a definitive superstar player, the Pistons defeated the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers (with players Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neil) to win the 2004 NBA Finals.

Although the Tigers had some good teams when I was still watching baseball (World Series runner-ups with players Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson in 2006 and Max Scherzer, Miguel Cabrera in 2012), the moment I most remember is Armando Galarraga’s “near-perfect game” in 2010.

Pitching a perfect game is extremely rare in Major League Baseball, with only 20 recorded in the 130 seasons prior to the game in question. Galarraga was pitching a perfect game all the way through to the final out in the game, when a runner was mistakenly ruled “safe” at first base. Video review was not yet part of the game, but was later added because of this play – as video showed conclusively the runner was out and the perfect game should have counted.

I did not know it at the time, but from 2005-2010, I was watching one of the greatest Tennis rivalries unfold – between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Because tournament brackets were seeded according to global rankings, and they were the best in the world for so long, Nadal and Federer would almost always play each other in a championship match.

They had different play styles and were dominant on different surfaces. Rafael Nadal was best on clay (French Open) and Federer was nearly unbeatable on grass (Wimbledon). In 2008, Nadal defeated Federer at Wimbledon – ending a 5 year winning streak for Federer. A year later, Federer broke through at the French Open – snapping what would have otherwise been 10 consecutive titles for Nadal from 2005-2014.

I think most people find golf boring to watch, but something about it kept my attention. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were at the top of the sport when I was still watching major tournaments. Tiger Woods is considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time (his only competition for that title being Jack Nicklaus).

Tiger Woods seemed to be on pace to pass Jack Nicklaus for most major golf championships, until his marital infidelity was exposed, and his career was almost totally upended. He slowly recovered and achieved a kind of redemption with his win at the 2019 Masters tournament.

Trey Burke’s block was clean

2013 College Basketball National Championship game. At the time of the block, Michigan is trailing Louisville but has “momentum” and looks like they may take the lead.

Basketball is often called a “game of runs” and a block like this would have tilted the emotion of the players even more in Michigan’s favor.

Instead, this block was called a foul. Louisville was awarded free throws, and all of Michigan’s momentum was lost. Louisville would go on to win the national championship, but their win was later vacated by the NCAA for recruiting violations. Officially, there is no 2013 college basketball champion.

Peyton Siva (the Louisville player pictured) later admitted he thought Trey Burke’s block was clean.

Quarterback Bobby Layne helped the Detroit Lions win 3 NFL championships in the 1950s. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1958 and notified of the deal over the phone. Layne was angry at not getting a face-to-face meeting and famously said the Lions wouldn’t win a championship for another 50 years.

Since the trade, the Detroit Lions have been among the worst performing franchises in the NFL. Two Hall of Fame players have retired early (Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson), they became the first team to finish 0-16 in a season, and several controversial calls have gone against the Lions.

Below are links to some of the most unique and egregious calls to hurt the Detroit Lions:

–Calvin Johnson’s catch (The Lions get to showcase the NFL’s “process of the catch” rule as this touchdown is called an incomplete pass)

–Golden Tate’s running clock (The referees made a mistake awarding the Lions a touchdown. If originally ruled short, the Lions would get another play. As it was, video review changed from a stopped to a running clock, and time was taken off to end the game. One of the most bizarre endings to a game)

–Jim Schwartz’s challenge (The Texans scored on a long touchdown that should not have counted. The Lions’ head coach throws a challenge flag to initate video review. However from a new rule at the time: scoring plays are automatically reviewed. Due to a very strange part of this rule, because the coach threw the challenge flag, the play could not be reviewed at all!)

–Taylor Decker reports as eligible (Both Taylor Decker and Dan Skipper report as eligible receivers on a two-point conversion. The referee only acknowledges Skipper. Decker catches the ball and is penalized for the official’s mistake – Lions lose the game)

and countless more…