I Cried
Friday afternoon, I started my car to leave work and tuned in WRJ. A special report just came into the newsroom. Bo Schembechler had died that morning.
I listened in disbelief. Of course, Bo had a history of heart trouble and had a recent episode only two weeks ago. The unbelieveable part, of course was the timing. Bo's beloved University of Michigan Wolverine football team (#2) would play The Ohio State University Buckeyes (#1) in the biggest game of their entire history. To many, Bo Schembechler is MICHIGAN FOOTBALL. My eyes started to tear up as I drove home.
Many of us in the great state of Michigan shared the same experience that November day. For me however, my feelings were unexpected and came out of the blue.
I hated Bo Schembechler!!! My feelings started in a very subtle way. My Dad was getting his Master's Degree from the University of Michigan when I was around 4 or 5. I remember him singing "Hail to the Victors" around the house. I didn't really get any of it as my parents weren't sports fans, so we never watched football at home, but I knew that song. However, my Dad also frequently said, "Oh why oh why did I ever leave Ohio?". Yes, my Dad and Mom were both proud Ohioans living in enemy territory.
I didn't understand this stuff in the early years, but somewhere in elementary school, I learned that people in Michigan liked to make fun of Ohio. Since our family didn't follow sports, I didn't know exactly why. I started to figure some of it out when our neighbor, a local sportscaster, put a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, "What's a Buckeye? Some Kind of Nut?". We also got a new pastor at church. Pastor K. had degrees from Capital University (OHIO) and Harvard, but he LOVED the Buckeyes and liked to rub it in from the pulpit on that certain November Sunday after the Big Game. His wife, incidently had a degree from the University of Michigan.
In junior high, I once borrowed a long-sleeved polo from my mom and wore it to school. I'm not even sure she bought it because of the color, but showing up to a Michigan school in November wearing scarlet and gray was a big no no. Then I finally understood. I also started to know who Bo and Woody were and why things were the way they were.
In high school during the early '80s, I planned to attend Captial University in Columbus, but for a brief time, I was a Wolverine fan. I was in the Michigan Youth Symphony sponsoed by U of M and attended U of M's All State camp at Interlochen, so I had a legitimate connection to the university in those days. In 1980, I went to Detroit's Metro Airport to welcome back the 1980 Rose Bowl Champion Wolverines. I probably even saw and cheered Bo's return with the team. I bought a big U of M penant at the airport which hung on the wall of my room until I selected the school which would become my "Alma Mater".
It was through my experiences at the University of Michigan School of Music, that I concluded that I didn't not like the University of Michigan. There was an arrogance in the air; to be a Wolverine, you had to believe you were better than anybody else. My cello teacher begged me to audition for U of M and I just did not want to be part of that scene. From football to music, Bo to Bob (Robert Culver, the music ed./string specialist at UM), everything seemed so intensly competitive in a dog-eat-dog kind of way.
I chose Michigan State. Until I walked onto the MSU campus, I didn't even know that Michigan State and U of M were both in the Big 10 and played each other. In time, however, Wolverine Football, lead by Bo Schembechler, became a symbol of the overt arrogance of the University of Michigan.
When I first graduated, co-workers would laugh at me because I went to MSU and not U of M. They didn't even attend college, but they had the audacity to say stuff like that. This was also the year Michigan State won the Rose Bowl. I hate U of M for a long time.
Nearly 20 years later, I've gotten over it or at least I do allow myself to wear the color combination that could be considered Maize and Blue. I started to look at Bo Schembechler differently as well.
After all, Bo is just a good old Ohio boy. My dad always liked to remind people of that fact. Bo meant a lot to a lot of people, even to me. Even to me in a good way. He stressed loyalty and excellence and there is nothing wrong with that!
I watched the game yesterday and wanted to Buckeyes to win, but felt kind of bad that the Wolverines didn't win one for Bo. Alas, Bo held a masters degree from The Ohio State University, and OSU won one for him.
I've blogged about my Buckeye connections here http://mustangmamma.blogspot.com/2005/11/go-bucks.html
I listened in disbelief. Of course, Bo had a history of heart trouble and had a recent episode only two weeks ago. The unbelieveable part, of course was the timing. Bo's beloved University of Michigan Wolverine football team (#2) would play The Ohio State University Buckeyes (#1) in the biggest game of their entire history. To many, Bo Schembechler is MICHIGAN FOOTBALL. My eyes started to tear up as I drove home.
Many of us in the great state of Michigan shared the same experience that November day. For me however, my feelings were unexpected and came out of the blue.
I hated Bo Schembechler!!! My feelings started in a very subtle way. My Dad was getting his Master's Degree from the University of Michigan when I was around 4 or 5. I remember him singing "Hail to the Victors" around the house. I didn't really get any of it as my parents weren't sports fans, so we never watched football at home, but I knew that song. However, my Dad also frequently said, "Oh why oh why did I ever leave Ohio?". Yes, my Dad and Mom were both proud Ohioans living in enemy territory.
I didn't understand this stuff in the early years, but somewhere in elementary school, I learned that people in Michigan liked to make fun of Ohio. Since our family didn't follow sports, I didn't know exactly why. I started to figure some of it out when our neighbor, a local sportscaster, put a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, "What's a Buckeye? Some Kind of Nut?". We also got a new pastor at church. Pastor K. had degrees from Capital University (OHIO) and Harvard, but he LOVED the Buckeyes and liked to rub it in from the pulpit on that certain November Sunday after the Big Game. His wife, incidently had a degree from the University of Michigan.
In junior high, I once borrowed a long-sleeved polo from my mom and wore it to school. I'm not even sure she bought it because of the color, but showing up to a Michigan school in November wearing scarlet and gray was a big no no. Then I finally understood. I also started to know who Bo and Woody were and why things were the way they were.
In high school during the early '80s, I planned to attend Captial University in Columbus, but for a brief time, I was a Wolverine fan. I was in the Michigan Youth Symphony sponsoed by U of M and attended U of M's All State camp at Interlochen, so I had a legitimate connection to the university in those days. In 1980, I went to Detroit's Metro Airport to welcome back the 1980 Rose Bowl Champion Wolverines. I probably even saw and cheered Bo's return with the team. I bought a big U of M penant at the airport which hung on the wall of my room until I selected the school which would become my "Alma Mater".
It was through my experiences at the University of Michigan School of Music, that I concluded that I didn't not like the University of Michigan. There was an arrogance in the air; to be a Wolverine, you had to believe you were better than anybody else. My cello teacher begged me to audition for U of M and I just did not want to be part of that scene. From football to music, Bo to Bob (Robert Culver, the music ed./string specialist at UM), everything seemed so intensly competitive in a dog-eat-dog kind of way.
I chose Michigan State. Until I walked onto the MSU campus, I didn't even know that Michigan State and U of M were both in the Big 10 and played each other. In time, however, Wolverine Football, lead by Bo Schembechler, became a symbol of the overt arrogance of the University of Michigan.
When I first graduated, co-workers would laugh at me because I went to MSU and not U of M. They didn't even attend college, but they had the audacity to say stuff like that. This was also the year Michigan State won the Rose Bowl. I hate U of M for a long time.
Nearly 20 years later, I've gotten over it or at least I do allow myself to wear the color combination that could be considered Maize and Blue. I started to look at Bo Schembechler differently as well.
After all, Bo is just a good old Ohio boy. My dad always liked to remind people of that fact. Bo meant a lot to a lot of people, even to me. Even to me in a good way. He stressed loyalty and excellence and there is nothing wrong with that!
I watched the game yesterday and wanted to Buckeyes to win, but felt kind of bad that the Wolverines didn't win one for Bo. Alas, Bo held a masters degree from The Ohio State University, and OSU won one for him.
I've blogged about my Buckeye connections here http://mustangmamma.blogspot.com/2005/11/go-bucks.html
posted by Susan at 1:16 PM
1 Comments:
I don't follow football much, not even the Buckeyes, except for last Saturday's game, which was really unusual. But Bo was known nationwide. By the time he died, he was well loved here too.
As far as meme's go, usually you just go to the website and copy the code so that your site will be on the blogroll. To do Monday Memories, which has no leader at the moment, just write a memory on Monday, and I'll read it if you let me know. It's a good discipline. It can be on any topic--from yesterday to cello lessons to your first pregnancy. I'll add you this week.
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