Niles Kruger nkruger@monroenews.com
No one would have enjoyed Saturday’s Michigan-Oho State game more than Bo Schembechler. What a shame that the man who defined Michigan football died on the eve of one of the greatest matchups in the history of this great rivalry.
I can’t claim to have known the man, but I covered a couple his games during my time at the Ann Arbor News and Monroe Evening News and got a chance to talk to him once during his tenure as president of the Detroit Tigers, when the Tiger winter caravan visited Toledo. He could be crusty and curt, but the man had a charming side.
I’ll never forget the way he spoke frankly about his heart troubles during the stop in Toledo. He was pragmatic about his ailment, saying a bypass only lasted a certain number of years before the process had to be repeated.
His doctors say is was a minor miracle that a man who suffered his first heart attack in 1969 survived as many years as he did. I am glad he got a chance to enjoy many years as an ambassador for the game after he left the sidelines. Even non-Michigan fans benefitted from that.
Just last week Bo spoke about how the Saturday’s Michigan-Ohio State winner should be crowned as national champion, forgetting about the BCS title game. He was right. These are the two best teams. They are meeting on the field to decide it. Who needs another game after this?
Somewhere in the back of my closet I have an old “M Go Bo” T-shirt my mother bought me during my college years. I might pull it out and wear it Saturday.