Bo Schembechler

I simply must say a few words about Bo Schembechler, the former coach of the University of Michigan football team, who died on Friday at the age of 77. He is a tie to my childhood in many ways. I was born on the campus of that University, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when my father was a student there. And it has always been a constant that my father has been a huge fan of their sports teams, particularly the football team. That rooting interest has also followed to me. As a kid during the seventies, while Schembechler was coach, Michigan always had good teams, and every year the conference championship came down to the season-ending game against Ohio State, coached by Woody Hayes, who Schembechler was a player and then assistant coach for. The rivalry, as it is today, is intense, to say the least. Schembechler and Hayes coached against each other ten times, in what is now known as the "ten-year war."

Those games were watched raptly by everyone in my family. Since becoming an adult I haven't seen every game, but if I'm around a TV set I'll be sure to tune in, because it doesn't matter what records the two teams have, the rivalry is always there. I even went to one, back in 1995. Over the years I've been to a few games at Michigan Stadium, known as the Big House, for it seats well over 100,000 fans. That was quite a day, when the favored Ohio State Buckeyes and Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George fell to the Wolverines of Michigan, buoyed by over 300 rushing yards by Tim Biakabatuka. Being amidst over 100,000 people is an eletric feeling.

Schembechler retired almost twenty years ago, but his legacy continued up to until the day of his death. Almost cinematically, he died the very day before the latest Michigan-Ohio State game, the first time the two teams met while ranked number 1 and number 2 in the nation. The script didn't have a Hollywood ending, though, as Ohio State outlasted Michigan in a wild game, 42-39. It was a shame, as it would have been great to see a win for Bo.

I haven't had a chance to talk to my father, who still lives in Michigan and lives and dies with the Wolverines. I'm sure Bo's passing is the talk of everyone in the state.