Michigan football is currently in a contract to play Notre Dame through 2031.  HOWEVER, according to media relations there is an update today at 2:30: University of Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon and Football Coach Rich Rodriguez will meet with the media today (March 18) in the Commons at Schembechler Hall, beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The press opportunity is in regard to a football scheduling announcement with Notre Dame. Says me, quickly: I sure hope they are not breaking this contract!   Perhaps a night game is in the works?   Perhaps they’ll square off at Yankee Stadium? 

(HT: Justin at MLive)  Check out this brief exchange with Fab Fivers Jimmy King and Jalen Rose, in studio on ESPN’s First Take from yesterday.  How would the 1992 all Freshman version fare against John Wall and Kentucky?   No doubt, boo, no doubt! I love that Jalen refused to stop his preamble about the aura of the Fab 5 despite Skip Bayless repeatedly cutting in.  Sidenote:  Word on the street is that Jimmy King will be at the Jim Rome appearance at Northville Downs this Friday afternoon and is trying to drag a few other Fab 5’ers with him – nice! Sidenote #2: Speaking of Michigan-Kentucky, memories of when Jalen and crew were sophomores naturally focus on the 1993 Final Four and the Webber timeout.  Lost in that is the incredible semi-final game on Saturday against Jamal Mashburn and the Wildcats.  It was unbelievable.  I was there about 20 rows behind the bench and it remains one of the best games I’ve seen.

Check out this cool old business card from the desk of none other than General Bo Schembechler, complete with 313 area code and The Big House as a backdrop: Except for the maize stripe up top, that’s a MAN’s business card, people.  I can see Bo jamming that in some recruit’s chest, telling him to only call when he’s ready to come to Michigan.  According to the seller, Bo delivered the card to him in 1983 when he was being recruited by the Wolverines. I reached out to the seller who confirmed that Bo’s charms worked, and he played for Michigan in 84-85.   “I actually blew my knee out in the Monday practice after the Washington game in ‘84”, he told me via email.   “Bo came to see me in the hospital on the day my girlfriend was also visiting.”  After checking out the scene, Bo told the seller, “I should have known you’d have a f***ing broad in here!” Bo was a beauty. Why is he selling the card?  “Knowing that Bo had left us I thought someone who never got to know him would like to have some of these items, so I listed them on eBay to see if there was anyone interested.”   He’s also selling his offensive playbook from the 1983 season. The auction of Bo’s…

I’m pretty geeked to get out there to see the 2010 squad.  Practice starts tomorrow and I’m going to try to swing by this week to get some insight along with a few photos.   Not a surprise, but Media Relations advised that neither Rodriguez nor the players will comment on the NCAA investigation during the spring and possibly into the fall.  Naturally I expect a few in the media to either ignore this or ask anyway.  We’ll see what happens. Note: Rich Rodriguez will be joining Ira and Sam on WKTA 1050AM at around 8:20am tomorrow morning and WTKA will have audio from his presser at Schembechler Hall tomorrow. Check back in, hopefully I’ll have a few pics and clips from the opening day. Don’t forget, the Spring Game is April 17th, starting at 1pm.