Pond played percussion in the University student orchestra. The crowd responded with cheers of "Pond, forever!""īesides being a popular athlete on campus, Pond was equally well known as a fine musician. Midway through the first inning, Irving Kane Pond scored the first touchdown in Michigan football history. The game consisted of two "innings" of 45 minutes each. The Chicago Daily Tribune called it "the first rugby-football game to be played west of the Alleghenies.” The weekly newspaper at the University of Michigan, the Chronicle, called it "the finest game of Rugby football ever played this side of the Alleghenies. The game was played in Chicago at the White Stockings' grounds in Lakefront Park which, today, is part of Grant Park. The University of Michigan’s first intercollegiate football game took place on when Michigan played against the “Purple Stockings” from Racine College (Wisconsin).
The following is a timeline that tells the story of these two marches and their composers. Revelli explained that somewhere, somehow, Elbel must have heard George Rosey’s march and used this tune in his “Victors”. And there it was! The trio of “Spirit of Liberty” is our “Victors”. He opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out the music to “Spirit of Liberty”. When we asked him, he replied, “Oh, yes!” He acted as if this were old news. Revelli to ask if he knew about Rosey and the “Spirit of Liberty” march. Rich and I could not wait to meet with Dr. The march he referred to was “Spirit of Liberty” by George Rosey. (WHAT?) George explained that the trio of our “Victors” is nearly identical to a march that was written and published one year before the famous football game that inspired Elbel to write his march. During our conversation, George said something to the effect of “You know, Louis Elbel did not write ‘The Victors’”. We wanted to learn more about that critical time of Michigan Band history. George was a student manager of the Michigan Band during the years of transition from Nicholas Falcone to William Revelli.
In 1981, Rich Alder and I visited with Band Alumnus, George Anderson. As I ran past a residence where the owner was blasting “The Victors” onto the street, I was inspired and found renewed energy in my legs that enabled me to finish the race! I love “The Victors”. At my first race, I was dying by Mile Six. In my old age I started to run the annual 10-mile Crim Race in Flint, Michigan. In 1994, at the national convention of the Organ Historical Society, I performed an organ recital that ended with Jerry Bilik’s “Organzation: Victors in the Style of J.S. That was the beginning of my relationship with the William Revelli.įor the rest of my life, I continued playing the organ in church, and still, I celebrate important Michigan victories by putting references from “The Victors” into the hymns. He recognized me only as the 17th chair clarinet player. He saw me, and said, “Oh! It’s YOU!” I was a freshman in the Marching Band, but he did not know my name. Revelli came up to the organ loft to find out who was responsible for this trickery.
One Sunday, I made “The Victors” quotation a little too obvious in the hymn, “Crown Him With Many Crowns”. The noon mass, by the way, was the mass that Bill and Mary Revelli attended. If Michigan was victorious the day before, I found ways to insert phrases from “The Victors” into the inner voices of the hymns. Timeline of the Origins and Early Performances of “The Victors March”īefore reading one word of this article, please know how genuinely I love “The Victors”.ĭuring my student years at Michigan, 1967-72, I played the organ at the Sunday noon mass at Saint Mary’s Student Chapel.
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