• Kramer Just Being Kramer

    I hope you had a chance to check out the piece on Bennie Oosterbaan that I contributed to Saturday’s game program. If not,  I’ll post that in full on these pages in days to come.    I will also have a story on #87 Ron Kramer in this weekend’s UMASS program and I think you’ll like it.   Several of his friends helped out including former Lions teammate Tom Nowatzke, longtime Detroit TV and radio broadcaster Bob Hynes, and the widow of legendary U-M athletic director Peg Canham-Keeley. Speaking of Mrs. Canham-Keeley, I met her a few years back while I was doing a segment on the official Michigan Football Tailgate Show.  She was standing behind the set and I noticed her necklace—a 1970s-era M football ring (inset)—and had to learn more.  I led to this MVictors post from back in 2009. Anyway, Canham-Keeley and I swapped a few emails & I couldn’t quite fit all of her thoughts on Ron Kramer into the program piece.   So here are a few bonus memories and thoughts on the truly one-and-only Ron Kramer, #87: “The funny thing is though when I first met Ron back around 1975 I couldn’t stand him. My first impression was of him taking a can of beer, taking a bite out of it, drinking the beer in one gulp…