In Major League Baseball, teams often face the choice of whether to pay millions for a couple of outstanding stars or to fill the roster with solid but less spectacular players. What they stand to gain — and lose — with either choice might surprise you.

U-M produces more pro hockey players by far than any other school.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents voted Jan. 20, 2011, to install new high definition (HD) video scoreboards at Michigan Stadium, Crisler Arena and Yost Ice Arena. The boards will be installed at each venue prior to the 2011-12 season.

Photographs by Scott Galvin, U-M Photo Services. Photos available for purchase through U-M Photo Services.

Rich Rodriguez was let go as football coach after another disappointing season. But elsewhere, Wolverine athletes and teams capped outstanding careers and showed surprising promise. The highlight: an unlikely Final Four run. Get the details here.

Brady Hoke is the new coach of the Michigan football team. Hoke spent eight seasons in Ann Arbor as a key member of the Wolverines’ defensive coaching staff before embarking on his head coaching career, which took him to Ball State and San Diego State universities.

Plus: Autumn sports ups and downs, from football to volleyball to soccer’s unlikely run at a title.

Photos from the press conference introducing Hoke as coach.

The strange origins of Michigan’s least – organized tradition.
Plus: NCAA rules on football program.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions announced Nov. 4 that it has accepted the self-imposed sanctions initiated by U-M during the NCAA Response on May 25, and added an additional year of probation for the football program. The university contested two allegations, and the NCAA report was favorable in each instance.

Tradition is the animating spirit of U-M sports. But when it comes to retiring the numbers of great athletes, the traditions become downright weird.