I try to keep tabs on ticket prices for the upcoming season especially for the big games. According to my sources at Stubhub.com, early this afternoon the ducats for the Wolverines’ September 12 game against Notre Dame spiked: Any thoughts on what happened? (HT: A tweet from UM Hoops) In unrelated news, former Lion GM Matt Millen gave the thumbs up to Coach Rodriguez and in Vegas, the 2009 Michigan’s over/under win total plummeted to 4.5 and ten people canceled their reservations for big house luxury suites. [poll id=32]

I believe this will conclude what’s become Michigan vs. Army at Yankee stadium week on MVictors, but had to throw this up.  Perhaps inspired by my posts on these games, a local seller has tossed up this beauty of a program up on eBay and is asking a measly 45 bucks (or best offer).  It’s the program from the 1945 game in New York and it’s got to be pretty rare.  Collectors (I’m am not) might want to grab this one.  Unfortunately Michigan was smoked in each of these games so that might keep U-M memorabilia hounds away. For more on the 1945 and 1950 battles againsts the Cadets at Yankee Stadium, click here.  View the auction of the program here.

So I got the final edition of the Ann Arbor News delivered today.  Geoff Larcom pulled together a nice compilation of memories in the opening section. . I relied on the paper less and less for information but still enjoyed getting it each day. Speaking of Larcom, he pulled together a few favorite headlines from over the years and cited one that mentioned a scandal in 1909: Yes, that pretty much the summary of what happened except while he’s listed as a part-time quarterback, the  regular 1909 QB was Billy Wasmund.   The scandal not only hit the pages in Ann Arbor, it made it all the way to the New York Times.  All this said, you need to pick up a copy of Brian Cook’s Hail to the Victors 2009 and read about the entire 1909 season including the exploits of Wasmund, captain Dave Allerdice and even the Joy Miller scandal. Meanwhile, the death of the News means the launch of AnnArbor.com, which is available tonight in its new layout.  The sports page is loaded up with some nice features including a mention of a recent post on these pages. New writer Michael Rothstein will be providing a daily compilation of the big stories surrounding U-M athletics, his first edition here including a few links out to fellow bloggers UM…

In response to my post about Michigan’s trips to Yankee Stadium, and in particular, the New York Times excellent recap of the exploits of the M Marching Band, check out these photos provided by reader Jeremy. Here’s the MMB depicting the Coney Island parachute jump ride: Here are the rest; great stuff and cool photos of old Yankee Stadium:

It’s that time of year.  Vegas has set Michigan’s over/under at an even 6 games.  (I’ve seen other numbers offering 7).  Remember the win total doesn’t include any bowl game or conference championships. Last summer the book had Rich Rodriguez’s first team set at 8 which I thought was a bit optimistic: I would have thought it’d be set a tad lower (was thinking somewhere between 6.5-7.5 before I heard it). It’s probably the correct median for betting purposes, I’d probably go on the high side of that.  I’m basing a lot of that on the success big time coaches have had in their second seasons in gigs like this (there was wonderful analysis in HTTV ‘08) and you’ve got to think things will be clicking a little better no matter who’s at the helm of the offense. Other totals of interest: Feeling really good on the Wolverines chances in 2009?  Odds to win the BCS Championship are at 150/1.  More odds from BetUS.com.

I just picked up the 2009 version of Brian Cook’s always awesome Hail To the Victors season preview guide.   Once I make it through the book I may share some thoughts (I busted a gut reading the letter from the editor) but definitely go get a copy.  I found mine at Costco in Brighton this afternoon. Naturally I found one item to nitpick.  The sections previewing each unit contain these nice little snapshots out of the Michigan record book.   But a couple of them appear to be a tad off inside the defensive section, here’s one: No, I’m not so much of a nerd that I know the defensive record books cold.  I recently interviewed legendary Michigan defensive lineman, captain and All-American Mark Messner and as part of the prep, took a gander at these numbers.  I knew he was well represented in these (and other) categories. Here’s the official season and career leaders in sacks from the 2009 Spring Media guide: When I met Messner, I offered him the customary dead fish blogger handshake.  He then preceded to nearly rip my arm off.  Needless to say it’s probably best to set the record straight on this one. While thumbing through the guide, one statistic that jumps right off the page: the record for most sacks in a single game.…

The scene of Tiger Woods searching in vain for his golf ball yesterday at the British Open was quite a sight.  To think that Woods can snap a ball sixty yards off-target is a bit scary to anyone who plays the game. What does this have to do with Michigan sports?  Not much.  But did you know that Woods played a junior tournament at U-M’s incredible Radrick Farms golf course in 1991?   Tiger lost the tournament that year, and according to my buddy ‘Mudbowl’, Eldrick carded a sextuple bogey 11 on the course’s par-five twelfth hole!  Does anyone out there know for sure?

Exciting news – I signed up with Sam Webb and the fine team at GoBlueWolverine magazine to produce a monthly column on Michigan athletics history.  Yes, kind of like what I do on MVictors only with a bit more depth, polish and maybe even with some photos.    The monthly piece will be exclusive to magazine subscribers (which I believe includes all full year members to the website) and after a certain period they will likely appear on Scout.com.        To the existing subscribers: I hope you enjoy it.  To those on the fence (scout vs. rivals) – do it now!  Sam Webb’s killing it on the recruiting trail and elsewhere.  Mention MVictors and get a 0% discount.