Rest in peace Bo

[BlindRef]

your irrational hatred of our university.

no, idiot. it's perfectly rational. your post proves it. get a fucking grip.

You are the best poster ever.

[BlindRef]

I wish I could write this well, this is today's entry from the best Michigan Blog out there: mgoblog.blogspot.com

We didn't sleep too late
There was a fire in the yard

What do you do? I'm supposed to type. I do this. I'm here now and I have responsibility to put words here. But there are no words. I tap stuff out and erase. Everything longer than two words is crass. Now? How can it be now?

All of the trees were in light
They had no faces to show


The Michigan locker room is going to be a quiet before the game tomorrow. I envision players quietly going about their various preparations: donning pads. Taping wrists. Applying eye-black. Cinching and tying, little tasks that pass the time. In between their thoughts will flutter sidelong at what awaits outside. A few may analyze the enormity of it in their heads directly. Harris. Hart. Breaston. Most will fall into the routine that has taken them from game to game since they first put on a helmet, falling into the patterns that people use to navigate when their brains shut down in fear or alarm or panic. They will proceed down the grooves they've worn in their life, and when they emerge onto the field they will operate more on animal instinct than anything else.



I saw a sign in the sky
Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans


Sport as war may have grown trite; sport as war may be vaguely offensive with the nation vaguely at actual war. But what is left when you emerge into a maelstrom of hate under a gunmetal grey sky and meet an implacable mirror of yourself? Are we to compare it to canasta? Whist? Bridge? Knitting clubs? Michigan will battle Ohio State hand and foot. It will be vicious, maiming, disabling. The winner claims dominion. Sometimes what's trite is true. When the stakes elevate to this sort of level there's nothing else to compare it to.



I heard a voice in my mind
I will try, I will try, I will try


Sport as war, clean war, where the champions of Good meet the champions of Evil on a mutually agreed battleground. According to the established rules, after three hours one is defeated utterly. The other is triumphant. The grey stops when the clouds do. We have taken the horror of war and stripped it down to its beating, thrilling heart. The term "Football Armageddon" is only partly in jest. Victory here is eternal. In 2006, Michigan beat Ohio State. Ohio State beat Michigan. Every year this is "The Game." This is The Game of Games.



We saw the dragon move down
My father burned into coal

My mother saw it from far
She took her purse to the bed

I saw a sign in the sky
Seven horns, seven horns, seven horns

I heard a voice in my mind
I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord


And then you try to figure out why the stakes are so high in the first place. Why this entire week you haven't been able to concentrate on anything by war by proxy. Fake war by proxy. Meaningless war by proxy. You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area. It's ridiculous. Intelligent people do not spend a goodly swath of their life pouring emotion and precious time into a contest that affects no one and changes nothing except some inky scribbles in media guides.

You wonder why. It occurs that at some point the Michigan program acquired the traits you hold dear -- loyalty, honesty, tradition, victory. And you wonder: if you were a different person who valued other things would you care so much? It occurs that at some point the Michigan program acquired other traits you share but do not hold particularly dear -- cantankerousness, stubbornness, an inability to suffer fools gladly. And you wonder: do I like Michigan because of the way I am, or am I the way I am because I like Michigan?

The answer seems clear.

Now the man who took that rudderless program and gave it -- gave you -- all the things you like and don't like is dead. In 1969, it all started with a victory over #1 Ohio State.


He will take you


At some point, as David Harris reclines -- head against a wall, fixing his bayonet, passing the time -- the faint ratatat of drums will filter through the concrete, beating out a march. Harris will rise from his seat, take up his helmet, and stride forward. The future holds its breath for three hours.



If you run, he will chase you

There's only one thing left. Play. Fight. Win. Please.

[Qbert]

RIP Bo

hope that my Wife's Father Art will be by your side for the Game.

hope you Both see an entertaining game in which the best Team will win.

[WolverineSteve]

I am not going to rack 88, and while I like him as a person, you exemplify the problem with this rivalry. Not even for a second can you show some class and respect to the other institution. I lack the eloquence to properly express my feelings on this matter, but I am going to make my best effort.

I grew up in Ann Arbor, I could pronouce Schembechler before most other words. I spent every Saturday of my existance watching Michigan play football, and have lived and died with the team. I didn't always agree with Bo, he's a Republican which always pissed me off, and he fired Ernie Harwell which is unconscionable. However, Bo is Michigan, and Michigan is Bo. The success of this program and its current status is entirely due to the way Bo coached and the way Bo lived.

I am a life long Ann Arbor resident, and I live in a city that is crying. Bo was the patriarch of our family, a family of alum's, townies, students and friends. I have been broken up by this all day, and this game has completly changed in my eyes. I expect that now Michigan will lose, because teams usually lose these games.

As for Ohio State, I doubt that proper respect will be shown, the truck driving, tabacco chewing assholes will make bad jokes about Bo's death. There will be inappropriate signs and comments made, and i wouldn't be suprised to hear Boo's during the expected moment of silence.

Even the golden boy Tressel showed his repect to Bo without reservations or qualifications. If OSU fan truly appreciates this rivalry you'll shut up for one minute and show us some respect. This is bigger than the game, and its bigger than your irrational hatred of our university. It will always plague Buckeye fan that Michigan fan doesn't hate OSU as much as OSU hates Michigan, just like Bo never hated Woody as much as Woody hated Bo.

I respect OSU's football program, and that will end tomorrow if my fears of how your fans will react are true, and I will consider you and your institution no more of a equal than I consider Michigan State an equal.

Blind,

Thank you for this post. You said what I wanted to far better than I am capable of today. It's been a crushing day, I only wish the fellows from Ohio could give it a rest for one day.

88,

I don't know who disrespected Woody upon his death. I can assure you it was not me. In large part due to the reverence Bo had for Woody, I actually grew to like the tough bastard. I was saddened at Woody's passing, it has only been many years after his death that I've used anti-Woody smack on forums like this one.

I knew this day was coming, we all knew Bo had a heart condition. The timing of his death is wonderous.

[TenTallBen]

Can somebody change the title of this thread? Dude is dead, not in critical condition. Rack the fuck outta dude's life. Not very many people deserve the adoration that he had.

[M Club]

your irrational hatred of our university.

no, idiot. it's perfectly rational. your post proves it. get a fucking grip.

i can't say much about a person simply b/c i know what team he supports, but i can tell a lot judging from whom he hates and how he broadcasts it. you are a sad human being in need of that fucking grip.

[BlindRef]

88, thank you. Any asshole Michigan fan that said anything bad about Woody when he died deserves a special place in hell. There are lots of funny things in the world, death is rarely one of them.

Thank you to all the non-Michigan fans who have posted postive things and respectful things on this board. I know that the Michigan fans on this board appreciate it.

Before Bo died I knew I wasn't going to have that much fun watching today's game anyway. This game is almost never that much fun to watch if you are dedicated to either team. You watch the game almost in fear of what horrible thing will happen next and the only time you get to relax is when the clock hit 0:00. At that point there is a sigh of relief followed by which ever emotion the result of the game requires.

Go Blue.

[Harvdog]

Gotta love how Skull can interject a somber moment with an "I hate Texas "blast.

Growing up we had neighbors across the street that were huge UM fans. The guy had his own plane and it was Maize and Blue. In fact, they went to the Rose Bowl and took my parents in 1979 or 1980. I forget what year it was but Michigan beat UW. I always had a respect for Bo.

RIP BO

[Shoalzie]

I'm not going to spaz out over 88's take...it was a strong opinion that triggered strong reactions. Bo isn't the first guy from Ohio to be part of the Michigan family and he won't be the last. I will take some issue with 88 talking out of both sides of his mouth. He'll spit on the casket of one of Michigan's football icons and take a swipe at 'the entire state of imbreds' and then in another thread tells some a story about talking to his young son and saying he respects Michigan. Which is it, 88? Hate Michigan or respect them, don't ride the fence.

I don't go out of my way to take shots at the Buckeyes...scoreboard is the only thing that matters and as of late, I've got nothing on the tOSU. I do have gripes with some of the fanbase in Columbus being borderline psychotic about this rivalry but I can't fault people for getting into it because it the best rivarly in sports. This will be a game of passion and intensity amidst the sadness of yesterday...I would hope that nothing but respect is given today at the Shoe when they honor Bo's memory. I wish BuckeyeFan the best of luck today.

[M Club]

Now Bo is dead. I'll tip a beer toward the sky tomorrow, nod, and then do my best never to think of his sorry ass again.

death isn't funny, but it isn't so sancrosanct that ppl must drop unadulterated encomiums all over the deceased. ohio state fans aren't required to love bo, but they don't have to pretend he was anything other than a nemesis. i think the above quote from 88 exemplifies a very respectful attitude towards bo's death and probably captures the essense of the relationship between bo and woody that made the rivalry as intense as it is today: i don't like you, but i respect you.

[Bobby42]

I found this article this morning and I believe it brings a great deal of perspective over the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry:

COMMENTARY : Bo-Woody kinship survived rivalry
Saturday, November 18, 2006
BOB HUNTER, Columbus Dispatch

Bo Schembechler’s death was accompanied by more than a pinch of irony.

In life, Schembechler helped shove the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry into the sports stratosphere, engaging in a "10-year war" with old boss Woody Hayes that seemed to transform it into more than just a game.

In death, the day before what some are calling the biggest Ohio State-Michigan game ever, he gave it back some perspective. The sudden loss of the former Michigan coach to heart failure yesterday morning at least temporarily interrupted the frenzy created by the most-hyped game in the series’ rich history.

He had tried to do that Monday while he was still alive. Schembechler opened a news conference in Ann Arbor by talking about the death of former Wolverines quarterback Tom Slade the night before. His words offered a perspective that his own death would accentuate four days later.

"I was thinking about this game with two great undefeated teams playing against each other," Schembechler said. "And last night we lost Tom Slade … so there are some things that are more important than this game on Saturday."

Despite all the bluster and bravado that followed these two cranky characters through the 1970s, Schembechler and Hayes were never the acrimonious enemies they appeared. Bo was a graduate assistant coach on Woody’s first Ohio State staff in 1951, and after a stint in the Army and jobs at three other schools he returned to Hayes’ staff for five more years.

"I escaped from Columbus when I got the head-coaching job at Miami (University)," Schembechler said this week. "But I had a wonderful experience there because I coached for Woody when Woody was really Woody. He was the most irascible guy that ever lived and the worst guy in the world to work for. But I wouldn’t change that experience for anything in the world because … I learned a lot."

He landed the job at Michigan at precisely the time when he could do the most damage to Hayes’ Buckeyes. With a starstudded sophomore class, the Buckeyes had won the national championship in 1968, closing out the regular season with a 50-14 win over Bump Elliott’s Wolverines.

It set up another national championship run in 1969, and the No. 1 Buckeyes were on the way until Schembechler’s Wolverines pulled a stunning 24-12 upset. It started an escalation in the rivalry that has continued to this day.

Although today’s game might be the biggest in terms of rankings and prestige, the 1970 revenge game was probably more important to Ohio State players and fans than any in school history. The Buckeyes won 20-9, setting the stage for eight more years of Woody-Bo battles.

Ohio State fans hated Bo and Michigan fans hated Woody, so it was natural to assume the two men hated each other. Later, when Woody was retired and Bo’s coaching career was winding down, we learned that the image of "hatred" masked an enormous respect.

"Several times (Schembechler) would be sick or ill and he would never ever miss a practice," former Michigan defensive back David Key said. "Once he had kidney stones and I swear he passed the kidney stones in the middle of practice just so he wouldn’t miss it. But when Woody died, it was such an emotional roller coaster for him, we took two days off of spring drills to honor Woody."

Woody felt the same way about Schembechler. In 1987, he heard Bo was speaking at a luncheon in Dayton. Even though he was in poor health, Woody asked a friend to drive him over there just so he could introduce Schembechler. Bo later remembered how feeble Woody looked leaning on his cane but said he gave a 20-minute introduction and then stayed for every word of his old friend’s speech.

Woody died the next day.