ijohnb

November 17th, 2016 at 1:09 PM ^

is really odd, for somebody around my age, is that while I know all about Bo Schembechler, I did not actually live through that era.  I mean I was alive and remotely conscious of college sports, but it is not as though Bo directly influenced my fandom.  I came of age during Gary Moeller and really developed into a hardcore fan under Lloyd.  It is very clear that his legacy had a huge effect on the program even after he left, so it is not as though I didn't live through his "influence."  However, Bo is more of an abstration to me as a fan than he is something I can really associate with in terms of my own fandom.  I get it, he was Michigan football and really put the modern program on the map, but any "memories" I really have of him were developed by way of ESPN Classic and You Tube.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

Bodogblog

November 17th, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^

That may be enough.  My wife is quite a bit younger than me (high-five), and didnt' really pay attention to football when she was younger.  But she loved the "The Team" speech the first time she heard it at the Big House, and she's read articles and even my book on him over time.  She loves the guy, and I still show her clips of him when I run across them on Youtube. 

Bo was awesome.  He's worth experiencing even if you didn't live through his era. 

Joined: 06/08/2010

MGoPoints: 26674

SoDak Blues

November 17th, 2016 at 1:57 PM ^

I might be a bit older (born in 81), but honestly the period from about when I was 4 or 5 till Bo's retirement, cemented my fandom for the rest of my life. My dad had a great respect for Bo's moral compass and an absolute love for Michigan football. Watching and goidn to games with him became a tradition and way of life on fall Saturdays. I was actually working at UM the day that Bo passed and not a single thing got done that afternoon other than watching the news. I am in no way relating this to a massive tragic event, but the man embodied everything good about Michigan and Michigan football. 

Joined: 09/24/2015

MGoPoints: 17693

Venom7541

November 17th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

I started following Michigan in 89 when I was still a kid living in the Philippines. It was a couple years later during the Moller years that I really started watching and even then I was more into the Fab Five than the football team. To me, Bo was a legend, but I never had a personal connection because I never lived through the games with him. I wonder if this is how new Alabama fans feel about Bryant.

Joined: 10/06/2016

MGoPoints: 3706

dsny

November 17th, 2016 at 5:11 PM ^

was the game in 1969. my dad worked for Don canham with the tigers. we had bench seats and field passes. I was just starting 10th grade and watched Don Moorehead score that last touchdown while kneeling at the goal line. M fan ever since. Later I met Bo as he became my dads boss with tigers . Bo was bigger than life.

Joined: 05/04/2009

MGoPoints: 150

True Blue Grit

November 17th, 2016 at 3:04 PM ^

As someone who became a big Michigan fan in the mid-70's, Bo WAS Michigan football during my teen and early adult years.  Even after he retired, he was always there exerting his influence and wisdom to the current players and coaches.  When he passed away in 2006, it was like the end of a great era to me.  

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32362

drzoidburg

November 17th, 2016 at 8:50 PM ^

Yeah, this day aside, it must be tough on Carr, who gets remembered for the Horror and 8-4 Everyone wants to coach where they played and where their idol coached, but i also remember what Bowden said when he turned down Bama - "Alabama belongs to the bear, Tallahasee is mine!" Harbaugh though should be revered equally to Bo if he turns around 10 shitty seasons

Joined: 09/20/2015

MGoPoints: 2220

Kwitch22

November 17th, 2016 at 1:13 PM ^

I sent this to my wife, who was at the Iowa game with me. She emailed me back asking why everyone hates him, because he always seems like such a great caring guy. It made me laugh, the Iowans do hate him, so do the fans of most schools, it is such a pleasure to watch him compete and to turn these kids into great young adults. The respect that he shows and teaches is such a great quality.

Joined: 12/04/2015

MGoPoints: 2918

Don

November 17th, 2016 at 3:17 PM ^

No, they hated him because he won and was a cantankerous, volatile, don't-take-no-shit-from-anybody SOB while he was doing it. The grandfatherly image he has for most young fans is entirely an artifact of his retirement. When he was in his prime, other fanbases hated him for the same reason they hated Woody: to them, he was an obnoxious prick who enjoyed running up the score on his opponents.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148288

M-Dog

November 17th, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^

I worked with a guy that played for Bo . . . at Miami of Ohio.  He said that Bo was the meanest SOB he ever met.  He would grab player's facemasks and yell at them and kick them.  He wanted it done and he wanted it done right.  And he got results.

It was a different era.  All coaches did this back then.  We know about Woody, but Bear Bryant was just as tough.

Bo mellowed some with age, but on the field, he was the general in charge and he did not give a damn about what anybody else thought about it.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257400

Watching From Afar

November 17th, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^

If Harbaugh stays and wins at the clip that he is right now. Maybe a few national championships and Big Ten titles, you think the statue they'll put out there of him will be of Bo grabbing his shirt like in the banner? Or just put the guys next to one another, wearing the same hat and shirt, showing the similarities and lineage.

Joined: 10/10/2016

MGoPoints: 15981

CRISPed in the DIAG

November 17th, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^

The coach player photo is iconic. The builder and rebuilder.  

What's great about Harbaugh is that he didn't take the straight route to success as a player. He was kicked off the team, thought about transferring, broke his arm and sat out a season before the team took off in '85. It's the exact story I told my daughter when she went to college - with a little Henry Hill (Goodfellas) thrown in..."everybody takes a beating sometime."

Joined: 11/08/2010

MGoPoints: 47452

charblue.

November 17th, 2016 at 2:16 PM ^

loved his coach like a father. He probably acted out with him like a son. But last year when he went to visit Bo's grave site as part of the home ritual during Ohio State week, it was plainly evident those two had a special bond. There is no more iconic photo in Michigan football history than the picture of Bo clutching Jim Harbaugh's jersey while giving him a play call. Bo did that so often with so mahy different players before sending them back in the game. It was almost like he wanted to be in their ear and give them his personal endorsement on whatever message he was imparting before letting them cross the threshold of that field.

Luckily, we can endorse our coach's sentiments about his former coach and relive his thoughts and ideas on leadership through John Bacon's book on Bo's Lasting Lessons.

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 11384

bsand2053

November 17th, 2016 at 2:49 PM ^

Love this quote from Bobby Knight in the vignettes article linked in the beginning.

 

“The first (Big Ten) meeting we went to — Wayne Duke was a great commissioner. The guy who succeeded him (Jim Delany), I had no use for him. Neither did Bo. I remember the first meeting we had, Bo came in and he sat down with me. I was sitting by myself. Bo sat down and looked around and said ‘I’m damn sure not happy about this.’ He was very smart.

Joined: 04/14/2010

MGoPoints: 19317

maquih

November 17th, 2016 at 3:40 PM ^

I was a sophomore who knew nothing about Michigan football until I got to campus the year before. Bo's death was the first time I ever cried about someone I never met.

Joined: 11/04/2010

MGoPoints: 1772

Esterhaus

November 17th, 2016 at 5:53 PM ^

 

It was bloody soaking wet and raining while there is crowd and band noise. This said, I didn't state there was any yelling. The photo shows two great men, one knowing and the other responsible for executing the mission, communicating on a level so personal and inseparable, each man giving his best to win the game, that the photograph speaks volumes if you care to really look. Bo knew Jimmy as practically a son and he wanted his charge to rise to the occasion. This is an extremely rare photo first and foremost because it captures almost perfectly how much each man is depending on the other man on behalf of a team. Priceless.

Joined: 03/16/2015

MGoPoints: 7733

I Want To Believe

November 18th, 2016 at 12:50 AM ^

Let's hope harbaugh is able to do what his idol / mentor could not do at Michigan.

As great as Bo was, his teams struggled in bowl games, and despite having some insanely good teams, he never won a national title.

I'm not saying that to knock the man a single bit. I just hope Harbaugh is able to reach a level of success unseen at Michigan (in modern era).



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