RIP

The winningest coach in University of Michigan history, a giant of an icon here in the Midwest, a legend of the sport, is gone on the eve of the biggest game in a rivalry he helped turn into arguably the best in all of sports.

"I just don't see one any bigger than this,” he said.

Monday he was everything Bo Schembechler ever was, charismatic yet uncompromising, charming yet combative. Bo was never one to tell stories about himself, that’s the kind of self promoting he would never stand for. But here on game week he was willing to talk about Woody Hayes, he was willing to stick up for his protégé, Lloyd Carr, he was willing to choose sides and say the things that others couldn’t or wouldn’t and fight for what he always believes is right.

He would laugh one minute and growl the next. He would bash Ohio State for silly gamesmanship one sentence and praise its class the next.

...

He was, as always, a throw back to a time when football was about building character, about accepting challenges instead of money, fame or glory. A window into a day and age that is about gone for good now, and not for the better. It sounds trite until you listened to Schembechler, until you looked into his eyes and saw the truth.

Bo never believed in national championships, never believed there should be or could be anything greater for a Michigan team than beating Ohio State, winning the Big Ten and playing in the Rose Bowl. He never cared to hold the school up for money, to move games to night for television, to play on a weekday, to make kids miss class.

For as unbending as his demands were, for as tough as he could be, for as all-encompassing as his focus was on winning football games for the Maize and Blue, he also always fell back on a realization that this was nothing more than extracurricular pursuit, that academics were the priority, that this wasn’t the pros.
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Today just happens to be the Wisconsin high school state championships at Camp Randall. At that level, you can see the game's benefits to the kids up close.