© Jerimiah J. Brown

No offense, Fritz

You say Crisler, I say Chrysler

by Greg Dooley

posted 3/16/2009

Thirty years ago this fall, the U-M celebrated the 100th anniversary of its football program. In February an eBay auction offered an original ticket to the kickoff of the centennial festivities, held September 8, 1979, in Crisler Arena. The evening included the unveiling of eighteen display cases, designed by Ann Arbor artists, that contained artifacts from a century of Michigan football, some of them dating back to the inaugural game against Racine College in 1879.

But as the online image revealed, whoever designed the ticket fumbled royally. Though former athletic director Fritz Crisler was an honored guest, the event’s location appeared on the ticket as Chrysler Arena. And the bungling didn’t stop there: no doubt confused by the recent national celebration, the designer decided that attendees were marking U-M football’s bicentennial. The winning bidder paid $12—a bargain for a ticket that could still be valid for the actual 200th anniversary party in 2079.   

[Originally published in March, 2009.]