One hundred and fifty eBay Watch posts later, I figured it was time to run down my favorites.  To recap, here are items #10-#6, published earlier this week.  The Top 5: 5.  Suit Up like one of Yost’s Men (posted June 15, 2009) Probably the most remarkable auction of Michigan lore I’ve seen on eBay.  A freaking Yost-era uniform – belt, pants, helmet, and shoes – from the early 1910s up for sale.   What else can you say? I guess the question is what does one do with this stuff?  Put it on display in the man cave or home office?  It absolutely belongs in Schembechler Hall or at the Bentley Library.  I’m not sure what happened to it but it fetched a lot of bucks that’s for certain.  Read the original post here.  – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4.  Coach Mac wants his Mojo Back (posted January 2008) Many ring-on-eBay dramas have played on this site thanks to eBay Watch.  Recently you’ve had the former assistant Scot Loeffler/pawn shop ‘97 ring imbroglio, which is still playing out.   Then in 2008 you have the Allen Bishop 1986 Rose Bowl ring saga.   Arguably…

“I’m onto you Dooley.” I’ll be up on the MSU Campus tomorrow morning for the walk to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.   Yes, I’ll be rubbing elbows with Coach Dantonio who’s the honorary chair of the event and I’ll be hurling sharp stares his way & will be looking for the vein on this forehead to throb, as if sensing my presence. Come out and join me – I’ll be with team “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and I’ll be signing copies of Hail to the Victors 2010 in a 1905-ish fountain pen. If you don’t understand the fuss over juvenile diabetes, this video is a good primer on what these kids and parents go through every morning, day, night (and late night). Can’t join?  Want to support MVictors?   Consider giving something – $5, $10, $250, whatever, to support this cause for me. Mandatory info block: EAST LANSING Date: August 7, 2010 Time: 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan Corporate Chairman: Ronald Simon, Chairman and CEO, Auto-Owners Insurance Family Team Chairman: Jackie Bobb, Fellowship for a Cure Honorary Chairman: Mark Dantonio, Head Football Coach, Michigan State University Media Chairman: Sheri Jones, News Anchor, WLNS TV 6 Family Team Rally: April 24 at NCG Lansing Eastwood Cinemas Team Captain Kick-Off Luncheon: June 24, East Lansing Marriott…

Via U-M Media Relations: Statement from Michigan Head Coach Rich Rodriguez I have always taken compliance seriously and have sincerely felt our program was very open and transparent. I regret any mistakes that were made or rules that were misinterpreted. Any errors certainly weren’t made intentionally. I openly discussed my past practices with NCAA investigators and will continue to cooperate fully during this process. I have redoubled efforts with my staff and our compliance team to improve several processes, strengthen communications, and work to ensure these mistakes won’t happen in the future. We have a tremendous program and an exceptional group of student-athletes, and I look forward to an exciting and successful football season. Statement from Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon We’re not part of the inquiry at WVU and we have limited access to the information pertaining to this investigation. We’re certainly paying close attention to the situation, but we all need to let the process – and the facts – unfold before we draw any conclusions. I’m not going to speculate about any aspect of the outcome. I’ve already said Rich is our coach this fall and WVU’s announcement does not change that fact. Our focus is on our program and the start of the football season.

Definitely worth a listen! ( HT to mgoblog user tickledtodeath.) Audio: [display_podcast] Bullets: Tom Osborne.  Brandon heaped praise on Nebraska’s AD Tom O.  Brandon joked that he was glad he won’t be the “rookie” AD in the conference next season. Discussions with the other ADs/division.  Brandon was impressed with the nature of the discussions with the other schools, and “the tone” they had in the discussions.  Focus on division alignment was more focused on competitive balance than with things like geography. Rivalries.  Anyone worried about Michigan not playing Ohio State of MSU each season…don’t worry about it.  Brandon puts that to rest here.  If this wasn’t the case Brandon joked they’d still be in Chicago arguing. Future expansion? He could live with there they are right now (with 12 teams) “forever” Conference championship location – Said because the timeline very short, and have to reschedule the entire 2011 season, so he’s less concerned about the location.   Longer range plans and deals will follow after they get everything settled for 2011. How many conversations has he had with RichRod? “Spending a lot of time together.”  Met with him today.   “Have a great relationship and we talk a lot.” What does he talk about with RR?  What is the tone? “It’s not about Xs and Os.”  He’s a terrific coach, etc.  “I…

Longtime equipment manager Jon Falk’s book, ‘If These Walls Could Talk’ is out and the Schembechler Hall walls are a-talkin’.   32% percent off at Amazon right now, just $15.61 and it includes this snazzy cover:   Forward by Tom Brady?  That’s a surprise and very cool.  My attempt to get an advanced copy failed miserably so I look forward to reading it and sharing a review on these pages.  ( HT: Brian for noting it was released ). ‘If These Walls Could Talk’ 32% percent off at Amazon right now, just $15.61

I did some house cleaning recently on the eBay Watch Index, the year-by-year tally of all the eBay Watch posts from these pages from over the years.   The list now spans over 150 entries and given the excellent lists floating around on the web as we await kickoff of the season, I thought it’d be a good time to run down my favorites to date. Counting down from 10: 10.  Michigan Baseball Visits Japan (1932) (posted December 15, 2008) I don’t feature common items like tickets or programs very often in this series, but this was one special stub.  It’s a torn ticket from one of the games the Michigan baseball team played in Japan in 1932.  How this ended up preserved and in an a US auction I have no idea.  An MVictors reader was kind enough to translate shortly after I posted it: From an excellent summary published in Michigan Today in 1998, it all started with baseball teams from Japan doing a college tour in the US years earlier, with many of the stops in Ann Arbor from 1911 to 1925. Then in 1929, Michigan coach Ray Fisher got an invite from the Meiji University inviting the maize and blue to visit Japan as “ambassadors of good will.” Fielding Yost and the board of athletics approved the…

Brian over at the U-M Bentley Library was thumbing through the Fritz Crisler-era archives and found this gem and was kind enough pass it along.  Huge hat tip to Brian. It’s pretty standard fare these days for football coaches to make players sign some sort of pledge prior to the season.   Well, Brian found a 1939 version filled out by Old 98, who apparently spent the summer back home in Gary between his sophomore and junior seasons.   Here’s a look: Crisler wanted to know if they were enrolled in classes and if any were scheduled a) after 3:30pm, or b) Saturday mornings.   Harmon hadn’t enrolled yet. Then there’s this.   Obviously smoking was more common in 1939 (around 66% of men under 40 smoked according to big Tim’s project) and I’m not sure how well folks understood the impact the heaters have on athletic performance.  Clearly Crisler had a clue and apparently Harmon enjoyed the cool flavor of his smokes: In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell writes, “”It’s not that smoking is cool. It’s that smokers are cool.”  Harmon was cool, Daddy-O, at least through July.   I also love, ‘Are you smoking now’, as in, ‘Are you smoking as you are filling out this form, you nicotine addict?’  It’s unknown if Harmon had started to go for the gusto quite yet.?…

Via a release from the Big Ten Network. BTN announced several new shows for this fall including this spicy meatball, to be hosted by Michigan legend Dan Dierdorf, dig this: Big Ten Film Vault (Tuesdays, 8 PM ET): With hours of rare footage, some of which has never aired on national television, the Big Ten Film Vault debuts on Sept. 7 and will feature yearbook and highlight shows from the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Fans will see rare mic’ed up footage of Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and other Big Ten coaches. The narration for these shows was originally recorded by broadcasting legends such as Chick Hearn, Jack Brickhouse, Tom Harmon and Bill Flemming. The show will be hosted by Michigan alum and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf. BTN will offer a preview of this and the other new shows next week during media days, and will post them on the network’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/thebigtennetwork) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/bigtennetwork) pages, as well as at BigTenNetwork.com.