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?

Join MVictors.com at the 2009 JDRF Fore the Kids Golf Classic which returns to Franklin Hills Country Club on tomorrow, Monday, June 22. Scheduled to appear, Channel 7 Sports Director Don Shane and Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz (left)! For more on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, click here.  For information about the Detroit chapter of JDRF and how to support this great cause, click here Here’s the schedule for tomorrow: Here’s more about JDRF: The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide.  The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.   Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research, including more than $156 million in FY2008. More than 85 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education. In FY2008, the Foundation funded more than 1,000 centers, grants, and fellowships in 22 countries, including nearly 40 human clinical trials. For more on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, click here.  For information about the Detroit chapter of JDRF, click here.

Former WDFN mainstay Mike Stone joined Mitch Albom on WJR to promote his new book, ‘The Great Book of Detroit Sports Lists’. . Stoney talked about the Red Wings, Lions, Tigers and of course a little about the new book.  He also mentioned he has no plans or offers to return to the air be is clearly still interested.  In the meantime, he’s hanging out, doing his show on Channel 7 and following Bruce around.  (That’s good livin’). Mitch didn’t disappoint, delivering another demonstration of how he’s completely out of touch, saying of the Lions first round draft selection, “since they picked Stafford, there has been universal approval of that pick.” This wasn’t said in jest. Of course he’s right if by “universal approval” he means complete outrage by the overwhelming majority of the fanbase. Here’s the full audio of the interview. [display_podcast] Related: “Sweeping Cuts” at WDFN, Stoney & Wojo Gone! The Great Book of Detroit Sports Lists from Amazon.com

Assuming this is authentic, and it appears so, this is probably the most valuable piece of Michigan football memorabilia that I’ve seen since starting the eBay Watch series a few years ago.  Try this on for size–Pieces of a Michigan football uniform the seller claims date to 1912 and 1913: And why not round it out with a helmet from the period, in a separate auction by the same seller: There have been a couple instances of vintage jerseys showing up for auction, you might recall this beauty dating to 1931 (left – #32) and earlier, another from 1930 (right – #28): I’ve never seen anything like this.  My birthday is this week and yes, it’s also Father’s Day [which combined make for a dad version of the ol’ kid-born-on-Christmas nightmare scenario].  Some people are amazed that I don’t actually collect this stuff although occasionally I grab some unique, lower priced items.   This is an exception—I want it but I’m not sure how to explain to “the boss” why I spent thousands on this “costume”.  Then there’s the question of what I would do with it [other than trying to squeeze into it and crush dropkicks in my backyard]. Here’s more details on the jersey from the auction: The jersey is a heavy knit wool (similar to sweater material).  It…