Carr Still Hopes Avant Can Play

Wide receiver Jason Avant, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee after Michigan’s loss to Ohio State on Nov. 20, didn’t join his teammates Sunday when they returned to practice at the Home Depot Center after getting a day off for Christmas.

Avant, second on the team to Braylon Edwards with 38 catches for 447 yards and three touchdowns, had been expected to resume activity by now but developed swelling in the knee. Although time is running short, Coach Lloyd Carr said Sunday he hadn’t given up on Avant playing against Texas in the Rose Bowl.

“It’s a day-to-day thing,” Carr said after the team worked out under cloudy skies in Carson. “He tells me he’s going to play, and he hasn’t lied yet. We’ll see how he comes along.”

Carr said he’s happy with his team’s efforts. “We’ve had good intensity, which is what we wanted, and excellent concentration in meetings,” he said. “ ... Sometimes that’s as important as practice. I like where we are.”

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Although not having California in the Rose Bowl was “a huge disappointment,” a Tournament of Roses official said Sunday that tickets for the Saturday game are hot items.

“Demand has been huge,” said Mitch Dorger, chief executive of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. “I don’t know of any tickets that are left, though I suspect there are some on the secondary market, such as Ebay. They’re not available from official sources at face value.”

Cal’s absence has benefited Michigan. Dorger said that in a normal year, with a Pac-10 opponent facing a Big Ten opponent, the Pac-10 school would get 36,700 tickets and the Big 10 school would get 27,500. But with no Pac-10 representative playing on New Year’s Day, Michigan was given the Pac-10 allotment of 36,700 tickets -- all of which it sold.

Dorger said Texas was initially given 20,000 tickets and has since acquired more from the Pac-10’s allotment of 6,000 and from other sources.

“There’s not going to be a letup [in interest] in any way, shape or form,” he said. “There’s going to be a wonderful group of Longhorn fans who ... are going to leave lots of money in Los Angeles.”

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Michigan players were not made available for interviews on Sunday so the team could have a distraction-free day before beginning the customary pre-Rose Bowl activities, a team spokesman said. The Wolverines were scheduled for an early practice in Carson today before going to Disneyland for the annual Team Day.