Hoke offers 4 tickets to kid who named his tumor "Michigan"

Submitted by lazyfoot10 on

You've heard the backstory by now. A young buckeye fan named his cancer "Michigan" so he could beat it.

Turns out Hoke has made a classy gesture of inviting him to the Big House this year to watch the game.

Hoke is a true class act. We are lucky to have a man like him representing Michigan.

Link to story: http://www.nbc4i.com/story/22904725/michigans-hoke-comes-through-for-patient-who-beat-michigan

Brown Bear

July 22nd, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^

"It's getting hard to keep my dislike for them, because they've been so classy and unbelievable to us." Said Troy, who played in the OSU marching band along with his wife, Denise.

MGozer

July 23rd, 2013 at 5:46 AM ^

This is not a difficult decision to make, and anyone would be inclined to offer such a gift.  Urban Meyer would absolutely do the same thing for a young Michigan fan.  The difference, I suspect, is that Coach Meyer would have already made several media appearances to accept praise for his gracious gesture.

Starko

July 23rd, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^

Maybe not, but I don't think you can blame them for that.  Hoke went above and beyond, that's why it's special.  You can't blame someone who doesn't go above and beyond, because that would just mean it's expected behavior, and therefore not special.  

SalvatoreQuattro

July 22nd, 2013 at 8:39 PM ^

This is a reminder of that. Sometimes we get so caught up in the rivalry that we forget that this is just sports. It is temporary distraction from life. It's meant to be fun. Coach Hoke understands  that perfectly.

 

Frankly, this is the single best thing he has done as coach.  I'm proud he is our coach.

Jeff09

July 22nd, 2013 at 9:45 PM ^

I sort of think the opposite.  This shows to me that the Michigan Football program isn't just sports.  It's supposed to represent an extremely high ideal for how to live and act.  It's supposed to be a place where children enter and good men leave.  The program at its very best should be bound up with all the ideals we want the most public face of our university to represent, and should not just be a sports team.

LSAClassOf2000

July 22nd, 2013 at 8:12 PM ^

"The Rotary Club of Jackson, MI has offered to pay for the Reed family's hotel stay."

Between things like this and Brady Hoke's offer, it makes me that much more proud of Brady Hoke, this staff, this program and the people that work to support it through their efforts. The culture surrounding Michigan football really is a great one. Awesome stuff indeed.

jdon

July 23rd, 2013 at 1:11 AM ^

 we do have like 7 or 8 threads about arrests of ohio players...

sometimes I get sad because some of our fans, some on this site, act like little brother to ohio in the way that sparty is little brother to us...

pathetic, you know?

jdon

 

bronxblue

July 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 AM ^

I hate to admit it, but I agree.  Though in this particular context, it is kind of a big deal and it is a slow news period.  When 4-5 kids are arrested/charged over a single weekend in the dead of summer, it is going to get some notice.

Feat of Clay

July 23rd, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^

Yeah, my second thought after "how awesome that Hoke did that" was "Oh god don't let that small minority of UM fans be dicks to this family when they show up in their Buckeye gear"

Chuck Norris

July 23rd, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^

But there’s also comments like this:

“Perspective.

This story oozes it.

Yes, it is a Huge game and usually has a myriad of story lines: Big Ten Championship, bragging rights, pay-back, win one for the Gipper/Bo/Woody, Heisman hopes, NC chances, but it's hardly life or death.  It's a game, it might be The Game but win or lose there will always be next year.  This little guy wasn't guaranteed that.  So to see Hoke go out of his way to make this upcoming version of The Game a special one for Grant after he fought his own battle it makes me very proud of the tradition both schools share together that allowed this wonderful story to happen.

So for the first, last, and only time in my life:

Hail Hail to Michigan.”

mastodon

July 23rd, 2013 at 3:08 AM ^

That spit joke actually made me laugh...cuz it was a joke - they've responded to this story with more overall class than this site has.

I read 11W almost as frequently as this site.  I like to gain the rival's perspective, and I know I'll enjoy future Games even more, with greater insight into their program.  The 12-year-old level banter is embarrassing - on both sites - but I guess that will always be there.

I do like this site a lot, but I must say that at least on 11W there are far less grammar police, over-sensitive whiners, arguments over whether something is OT or not (and disclaimers just in case someone thinks it is - oh no!).  Oh, and the way the slightest criticism of Brian brings on a North Korean-esque defend-the-dear-leader, knee-jerk response? - love that.  I think Brian's a big enough boy to defend himself folks - if/when he cares to.

There's a lot I like about this site, I just needed to purge some accumulated BS.  Just keepin' it real - we like that here- right?

Ben from SF

July 23rd, 2013 at 12:27 PM ^

The grammar police would crash an OSU forum after an hour.  A Michigan education, on the other hand, comes with higher expectations.

Come On Down

July 22nd, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^

It's not exactly out of the blue as the story gained a good deal of national attention. I'm sure fans, alumni, etc probably suggested somebody from Michigan make some sort of gesture. Also it's not like it would be hard for them to get their hands on tickets, so I don't think I would say "they went out of their way." So in a world where Meyer and Smith didn't offer some sort of genture to a Michigan fan in a similar situation they would have to be, at best, indifferent and at worst hostile to the idea. I don't see how anybody can draw a lesson from how they run their sports teams that would lead them to this conclusion.

The only reason I bring this up is that I think there's way too much character assassination in sports. People show that they can rise above sports rivalries all the time yet fans are always quick to assume the worst about each other.

samdrussBLUE

July 22nd, 2013 at 8:18 PM ^

Someone will know this. As a visiting team, does Meyer have the ability to offer tickets? This just is so good for us to make this move- on so many levels. Perfect. And may he make a full recovery.

Danwillhor

July 23rd, 2013 at 4:40 AM ^

Why did Hoke even have to do it? Beyond glad he did but don't tell me urban couldn't get tickets for the kid. I'm sure we would have obliged even if it wasn't urbz who is a millionaire and coach at the opposing school in The Game. Hoke and that kid, ftw!

dothepose

July 22nd, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^

This kind of news better make Sportscenter, not that it's important, most important thing is this kid being healthy. But with all the rubbish about OSU, I'd like to see a truly good story come out today.

Wee-Bey Brice

July 22nd, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^

Coach Hoke is a true Michigan Man and leading by example. This is how a head coach should behave himself. If you want the boys to grow to be men you have to lead by example. Its great to be a Michigan Wolverine!