Bo Schembechler dies
The biggest game in the history of college football is supposedly being played tomorrow afternoon- my college (University of Michigan) versus the evil Ohio State University. On the eve of this game, former UM head coach Bo Schembechlar collapses at a taping for a show and passes away. He will be sorely missed and it’s so sad that he will be missing tomorrow’s game. I went to a bone marrow drive in September for a former UM quarterback Tom Slade, who also passed away this week, and Bo Schembechler and his wife sat down next to me. RIP Bo.
Update: I will be updating this post with links to articles, columns, etc. about his death. I will also be posting brief quotes/stories about the legendary football coach. You might not hear much hockey talk this weekend as the game tomorrow is going to be HUGE. Go Blue!
- Funny story about Bo:
Lions executive vice president and COO Tom Lewand, who worked for Bo beginning with the end of the 1987 season:
“The first team meeting I was ever in with Bo he was an intimidating figure. I was just out of high school and was a freshman at Michigan in my first team meeting and he goes up to the grease board to write up some team rules and he opens the marker and starts to write on the grease board and it’s red ink. He looks at the marker and puts the cap on and throws it across the room as it whizzes by my head - ‘We will have no red markers! Blue markers, only blue markers!’ I got all the red and green markers out just in case.”
- Column by Wojnowski of The Detroit News
Schembechler lived the fullest life imaginable and lived it to the end, even as he knew the end was nearing. He passed away Friday morning as he was preparing to talk about Michigan football on his weekly TV show at Channel 7. He left us barely half a day after addressing the Wolverines before Thursday’s practice, canceling a doctor’s appointment to be there. Speaking to the players, he had hammered home his favorite themes of teamwork and pride before sending them to their collision against No. 1 Ohio State today at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
- Column by Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press
I likely will fail at this assignment, because I cannot focus on what posterity should know about this man. You start with facts about Bo Schembechler but you quickly drift to anecdotes. It can’t be helped. Bo made memories even better than he made history.
Related Posts
2 Responses to “Bo Schembechler dies”
Leave a Reply
November 17th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Truely sad! (and that’s coming from a Spartan alum)
November 19th, 2006 at 9:07 pm
I listened to Albom’s whole show on Friday afternoon (exclusively devoted to remembering Bo), and I was almost moved to tears as I listened to former players, colleagues, and Mitch himself tell stories about Bo’s integrity, passion, and genuine commitment to “doing the right thing” in all areas of his life. Like you, I have a pretty profound love for U of M, and I think Bo Schembechler’s legacy has contributed to the honest excellence I think the university tries to embody. I don’t think we realized how lucky we were to have him as a living legend.