Gordie Howe takes in old Yost.  Photo credit: me Sweet. One clarification, the application offers the opportunity to buy additional tickets to The ‘17th Annual College Hockey Showcase’ games at Yost against Minnesota (11/27) and Wisconsin (11/28) for $30/each. According to the U-M ticket office, these games are included in the regular season ticket packages, they are just offering extra seats (at a steep price) for those interested.  I don’t know where the extra seats came from, but since these games are right after Thanksgiving, perhaps they didn’t offer these as part of the student ticket package?

Another gem, this time published in the October 20, 1920 Michigan Daily.   Apparently a team of South American soccer players had to have some action on this American football-crazed campus.  Tellez somehow convinced the Daily staff to post this notice smack dab at the top of the Sports page: Early wagering line:  South American soccer team completely jonesing for a game: -7.

WTKA 1050AM morning show host Sam Webb phoned in for a rare afternoon segment today to talk about the commitment of hoopster Tim Hardaway, Jr., and the state of basketball recruiting vis a’ vis Coach Izzo. Here’s the audio (give it a few seconds to start): [display_podcast] Sam explains that Hardaway is not a chip off the old killer crossover; this version of Tim Hardaway is a shooter and a great fit for Beilein’s offense.  While he’s at it, Webb provides some other updates across the recruiting map.

Great to see this story by Jeff Arnold in the Ann Arbor News.  Student basketball season ticket sales jumped through the roof, from less than five hundred last season to over 2,000 for the 2009-10 schedule.  Marty Bodnar and company came up with a great idea; they allowed student to buy the tickets “in conjunction with their season football tickets”. One beef I have with the story is this paragraph: In addition to bigger numbers, the university will, for the first time, release Maize Rage seating on a first-come, first-served basis, which Bodnar said was the most fair way to allow students into the sections right behind the benches. It’s a great concept but it’s definitely not the first time they’ve done this, in fact, I guess I assumed the student section of GA all the time.   While we didn’t call ourselves the ‘Maize Rage’, as a student ticket holder during the Fab Five era the entire side of the court was completely general admission for the entire season.  We didn’t even have a section or designation.  Show up early and wait, and you were in the Blue.  Show up late and you were up top.  That was the deal.  You didn’t have the quite the feel of the Krzyzewski-ville or whatever they call it, but you did have folks…

One of the side effects of trolling through old newspapers is that you occasionally see something like this.  In October 1934 the Ann Arbor Daily News shared that the parents of young Spartans could take advantage of this service before their game against Marquette:

A lot of sports radio hosts are trying to deal with how to present Michael Jackson’s death, and it’s interesting listening to them struggle with the topic.  A common, tired theme is the whole “Do you remember where you were when X person died.”  Here’s my little MJ moment: I slept out one night on the sidewalk outside Wherehouse Records in East Lansing for tickets to his concert at The Palace (I believe it was the first show ever at the facility).  Still scratching my head on how I cleared that one with my parents. Anyway, a call today into WTKA evoked one incredibly sad memory from my younger days, much sadder than even this.  Distinguished professor, author and radio host John U. Bacon dialed into WTKA this morning and challenged readers ($1) to read his latest blog post without shedding a tear.  Bacs talked about his experience at a YMCA camp up at Torch Lake and the influence of the camp patriarch Pat Rode.  It’s a wonderful post, not much to do with sports, but give it a read. As far as Bacon’s challenge, there’s no bet coming from me.  That’s because of this passage in the post: At camp I learned how important it is to be needed.  When a young camper lost his mother in a car…

  Another incredible JDRF fundraiser concluded Monday evening at Franklin Hills CC.   I’m still waiting on the final numbers, but they raised a bunch of money for Type 1 diabetes research.   Some of the notables on hand: Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz, who kicked off the outing with a passionate speech about JDRF along with a few positive words about his Lions.   Word of advice: don’t cross this guy.  He looks like an MMA fighter and he’s all business. Here’s Schwartz delivering the opening remarks (don’t cross him!): Channel 7 sports director Don Shane, served for the second year in a row as master of ceremonies of the dinner afterwards and can really swing the golf club, FWIW.  Here’s Shane mastering the dinner ceremony: Former Michigan football quarterback and db Rich Hewlett, probably best remembered for getting the starting nod against Ohio State in 1979.  Hewlett held his own golf outing benefitting JDRF last year at the U-M Blue course, attended by Cathy Schembechler and Lloyd Carr. You can learn more about JDRF and Type 1 diabetes here. Thanks for all the readers who support this site and its sponsors.

For curious minds.  The auctions highlighted last week on this site drew quite a few serious bids.  The 1910s era helmet closed with a winning bid of $1,225.00 while the uniform including a jersey, belt, boots and pants fetched a whopping $3,716.00. Let’s hope they found a good home, maybe back within the Michigan athletic department?