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Michigan's Media Hall of Fame

From the accounts of the first intercollegiate game that appeared on the front page of the student newspaper The Chronicle on May 31, 1879, to the first radio broadcast in 1924 and the first television broadcast in 1947, Michigan football has been reported by some of the greatest sports writers and announcers in the nation. Walter Camp and Grantland Rice made several trips to the Midwest to cover the annual Michigan versus Chicago match-up in the early part of the century. Red Grange, Mel Allen, Lindsey Nelson and Michigan's own Tom Harmon are among the legends who have broadcast some of the Wolverines' biggest games to fans around the country. The presence of a famous personality often brought an added measure of excitement to the press box.

Another set of writers, announcers, and photographers, perhaps less famous but equally talented, covered Michigan football week in and week out. With typewriter, microphone and camera, they conveyed the drama, excitement, and occasional heartbreak of Michigan football to fans throughout Michigan and the Midwest. In 1971, the Athletic Department paid tribute to the men who's words and pictures played an important part in building the Michigan tradition, by establishing the Michigan Media Hall of Fame. Eleven charter members were inducted in 1971 at the 1971 Ohio State game. The inductees are chosen through nominations by the active media.

1971 Media Hall of Fame Inductees

Roscoe Bennett, Grand Rapids Press Bennet covered the Wolverines for Grand Rapids readers from 1922-1961	Roscoe Bennett
Eddie Edgar, Detroit Free Press and Observer Newspapers William Wilson "Eddie" Edgar covered Michigan football for the Free Press for 25 years, 1924-1948.	Eddie Edgar
Les Etter, UM Sports Information Director Etter became the first full-time collegiate sports information director in the nation when Fritz Crisler appointed him to the position at Minnesota in 1930. Etter joined Crisler at Michigan in 1944 and handled media relations for all UM sports through 1968.	Les Etter
Sam Greene, Detroit News A Virginia native, Greene joined the Detroit Free Press as a sports writer August 1922. He switched to the Detroit News in 1924 and was a fixture in the Michigan press for forty years. He was also the principal Detroit correspondent for the Sporting News.	Sam Greene
Edgar Hayes, Detroit Times A native of Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, Hayes wrote for the Times from 1924-1960 when the Times was sold to the Detroit News. In 1961 he became Michigan Horse Racing Commissioner.	Edgar Hayes
Mill Marsh, Ann Arbor News Starting out as sports writer for the Michigan Daily, and during his years at the News, Marsh may have written more about Michigan athletics than any other man of his period. He covered every aspect of Michigan sports with a rare thoroughness.	Mill Marsh
H.G. Salsinger, Detroit News H. G. Salsinger covered Michigan football for the Detroit News from 1909 to 1958 and was one of the country's better known sports columnists. He also found time to ghost write an occasional column for Fielding Yost.	H. G. Salsinger
Lad Slingerland, Lansing State Journal His connection to U-M went back to 1922 when he was member of the varsity baseball team, winning an "ama" letter, and a 1924 graduate. He wrote for the Lansing Capital News, 1926-1932 and then covered Michigan football for the Lansing State Journal, 1945-1965.	Lad Slingerland
Wilfrid Smith, Chicago Tribune No major college team is localized and in the Midwest the Tribune assumed the task of bringing all of the Big Ten to its vast circulation area. Wilfrid Smith, the papers sports editor was a fixture in the Michigan press box for many years.	Wilfrid Smith
Ty Tyson, WWJ Ty Tyson did the first broadcast of a Michigan game from the stands of Ferry Field for WWJ in 1924. He did the play-by-play for WWJ for the next 26 years. Tyson also made the first broadcast of a Detroit Tigers game in 1927.
Leonard "Doc" Holland, WWJ Provided the color commentary for the first radio broadcast from Ferry Field in 1924. He teamed with Ty Tyson through the 1950 season.

E.A. (Edward Armistead) Batchelor, Detroit Free Press and Detroit News Batchelor wrote for the Detroit Free Press, 1906-1917. His main beat was the Detroit Tigers, but he also covered Wolverine football. His lead for the Free Press story on Notre Dame's upset win at Ferry Field in 1908 -- "Eleven fighting Irishmen wrecked the Yost machine this afternoon." -- is credited as the source of Notre Dame's nickname. He joined the Detroit News as a war correspondent in 1917-1919 and later went into the advertising business.
Frank MacDonald, Detroit Times
Bob Murphy, Detroit Times

1974 Media Hall of Fame Inductees

Tommy Devine, Detroit Free Press Devine covered Michigan sports from 1946 through 1957, building a reputation as one of the country's foremost analysts of college football. Outspoken and controversial in print, he was one of the most respected football writers in the post World war II period. He covered two of the greatest teams in Michigan history, the 1947 "mad magicians" who won the Rose Bowl and a national championship and Bennie Oosterbaan's 1948 national champs.
Harold Funk, Monroe News Funk joined the Monroe News in 1929 and served as sports editor for 38 years until 1967. He won Michigan AP sports writing awards in 1955, 1962 and 1966.
James Kilpatrick, Detroit News "Scotty" Kilpatrick joined the News staff as a photographer in 1930 and he covered the Wolverines through the 1960s. His photos won numerous awards and honors. His most famous photos are from "The Battle of the Overpass" at the Ford Rouge plant in 1937.
Eck Stanger, Ann Arbor News Stanger was chief photographer for the News for 40 years, 1934-1973. He saw every game at Michigan stadium from 1927 to 1973 and covered 38 Michigan-Michigan State games. Some of his action shots of Tom Harmon are among the most famous Michigan football photos.

1975 Media Hall of Fame Inductees

Al Cotton, Jackson Citizen-Patriot Jackson saw his first Michigan game in 1922 at Ferry Field and covered his first Wolverine game in 1930. He became sports editor of the Citizen-Patriot in 1938.
Wendy Foltz, Battle Creek Enquirer Wendell Foltz was a 1939 Michigan State graduate where he won three letters in tennis. He served in WW II and was wounded in the Normandy Invasion. In over 20 years as a sports writer he never missed a Michigan-Michigan State or Michigan-Ohio State game.
Todd Rockwell, Detroit Free Press Rockwell was a member of the 1922-23 Michigan football teams and participated in a play that changed the college football rule book. In the 1923 Wisconsin game he returned a punt, was tackled several times, but still scored the touchdown that beat the Badgers. The rule stated that a player must be "in the grasp" of tackler while on the ground. A near riot occurred in Madison over the ruling that Rockwell had not been downed. The following year the rule was changed to read that a play is over when the ball carrier's knee touches the ground. As a sports writer, Rockwell was regarded as one of most analytical writers on college football.
Bob Ufer, WWJ, WPAG The unmistakable of voice of Michigan football, Ufer broadcast 362 consecutive "M" games over a 37 year career. A world class track athlete at UM in the 1940s, Ufer began his broadcast career with Ann Arbor's WPAG in 1945 and later worked the mike for WJR.

1977 Media Hall of Fame Inductees

Joe Eyler, Muskegon Chronicle
Don Kremer, Detroit News, A.P., WWJ Kremer worked the WWJ radio booth from 1960-1970. He also was a sports reporter of WWJ-TV and later was public relations director for the Detroit Lions.
Doug Mintline, Flint Journal Considered the most popular writer in Journal history, Mintline spent 44 years as a reporter, columnist and editor. He was named Michigan sports editor of the year award in 1966 and 1969.

1979 Media Hall of Fame Inductees

In previous years most of the Hall of Fame Inductees were retired newspapermen or broadcasters. As part of the observance of the 100th year of Michigan football, active members of the media who were covering the 100th season were nominated.
Wayne DeNeff, Ann Arbor News At the time of his induction, DeNeff had worked for the News for 26 years, 17 as sports editor, covering Michigan football since 1962. He writes a regular column in addition to covering events. DeNeff continued writing and editor of the sports section for the News until his retirement in 1988.
Joe Falls, Detroit Time, News and Free Press One of the most widely read sports columnist in the Midwest, Falls came to Detroit as writer for AP in 1953 and worked for the Detroit Times and Detroit Free Press before joining the Detroit News staff in 1978. He has been named Sports Writer of the Year in Michigan several times and writes a column for the Sporting News. Falls continued writing a column for the News until a year before his death at age 76 in 2004.
Jerry Green, Detroit News Green began covering Michigan football in 1956 as a one-man bureau for the Associated Press. In those years daily reports of Wolverine football were filed and carried on the AP wires throughout the state. He joined the Detroit News staff in 1963 and has covered nearly every important Michigan game since. Greene retired for the Detroit News in 2005. He was inducted in to the "writers wing" of the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Tom Hemingway, WUOM-Radio Hemingway began broadcasting for the university's radio station in 1962 and took on the football announcing duties in 1974. His regular season and Rose Bowl reporting, has reached every corner of the state on the WUOM network that sometimes includes 30 stations. Hemingway as lo broadcast Michigan basketball and baseball and has been the Play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Pistons on WJR. Hemingway continues as play-by-play coverage for WUOM.
Jack Moss, Kalamazoo Gazette Moss joined the Gazette staff in 1948 and immediately began covering the Wolverines. The first game he covered was a 0-0 tie with Northwestern. His regular beat has included not only U of M, but Western Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame as well as high school sports. Moss became sports editor in 1967.

1980 Media Hall of Fame Inductees

Vince Doyle, WWJ
New York native Doyle spent 25 years as a color announcer for UM football after a stint as a broadcaster for Notre Dame. He also hosted a popular afternoon sports show on WWJ.

Bill Fleming, WUOM, WWJ, ABC
A 1949 graduate of the U of M, Fleming got his start in broadcasting at WUOM in 1949 for a salary of $100 a month. He joined the staff of WWJ radio in 1953 and broadcast Wolverine games through the 1959 season. He became a regional broadcaster for ABC television's NCAA football coverage and also did work for Wide World of Sports and covered major golf tournaments. He was also the voice of many Michigan and Big Ten highlight films.