[Ed. Bumped up – I wrote this on MVictors just after I heard Bo passed away 10 years ago on November 17, 2006]NOVEMBER 17 – What an empty feeling here at noon on Friday before the biggest game that may ever be played against Ohio State and Michigan. I just heard on WTKA 1050 am that we lost the man that single-handedly restored Michigan Football to its rightful place. I had the pleasure to be in school for Bo’s final season. He is the heart and soul of modern Michigan football, and his legacy will be felt in Ann Arbor forever. I actually heard Bo talking live on WTKA this morning giving his thoughts on the game…he sounded a little rough. I remember thinking ‘Wow, Bo is getting old’. I understand he was in his car on the way to the taping. He collapsed at the TV station minutes later. For whatever reason, coincidence I assume, perhaps it was stressful on him, he collapsed again during the taping of his TV show. This is pretty shocking, and the timing of this is really crazy, and this turned this into a really sad day for college football. For those of you outside the football program. Yes, Bo Schembechler was still an active part of the team and the program. Look no…
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Trouble for Former Ann Arbor News writer
Update: Now Mlive picked up the story, so go there for more details: From MLive Original Post: So, you debate whether to post a link to stuff like this. I didn’t sign up for this to get personal or embarrass individuals, and perhaps I’ve crossed that line a couple times. A friend of the site forwarded this story along. When Jim Cnockaert was let go from the Ann Arbor News in 2003 there were rumors that he was found with porn on a work computer. To me, it was scuttlebutt, nothing more, I don’t know if any specific charges were brought against him or if anything proven. He suddenly moved on and I don’t know if any formal reason was given. Apparently he lost another job in spring 2008 at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle for allegedly the same type of issue. He went on to a new gig in Virginia, but this time he’s being brought up on federal charges for the Bozeman incident: Cnockaert, 54, was fired from the Chronicle last spring after a co-worker told supervisors that she saw Cnockaert viewing child porn on a computer in the newspaper’s advertising department. According to court records, Chronicle publisher Stephanie Pressly and managing editor Nick Ehli confronted Cnockaert, and he acknowledged that he had used the computer to view pornography.…
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On the McGuffie rumors
Update 11/18: mgblog is posting he’s got solid sources confirming McGuffie is gone. [Ed 11/17/08: This is blog, this is a rumor, many insist it is silly. That’s fine, but this is crap that people talk about at Fraser’s and at tailgates and I’m talking about it. I have no evidence that McGuffie is seriously considering transferring and I hope he doesn’t.] Original post 11/16: There’s been a lot of Sam McGuffie talk about and I’ve heard Fred Jackson was puzzled by the freshman’s request to not play Saturday. Here’s the deal–if McGuffie wants to leave that’s fine. There were a pile of backs ahead of him on the depth chart when he arrived. From what I could tell, he busted his ass and in the eyes of Jackson and RR, he did enough to earn a start in the opener despite the political fallback that could have resulted with all the other guys that had been there (and playing for Jackson BTW). What else could a guy ask for? Ninety percent of guys transfer because either they’re not satisfied with their playing time or there’s been a coaching change. These coaches obviously like the kid and demonstrated that if he works hard and performs he’ll get the ball. He was getting a fair shake from the coaching staff so…
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Michigan Football’s Worst Season Ever? 1934.
Well, quite a few in the media are pounding the most-losses-in-129-years drum. That’s true of course but Rich Rodriguez’s 2008 debut will not be the worst season in Michigan football history. The percentage of games in the loss column is certainly among the worst but consider that Michigan didn’t consistently play more than eight games for the first 62 years of its existence. If we’re going to toss around the 129 years number, the worst season record-wise belongs to the 1881 team that played and lost three games, scoring just four points to 28 for our opponents (Harvard, Yale and Princeton). But since there wasn’t a coach or a conference or any known photos of the 1881 team, we’ll have to look a little further down the line for a comparable loser. Harry Kipke’s 1934 outfit is probably the definitive low point for Michigan football [see my post ‘The Fall of 1934‘ for more on this season]. The Gerald Ford-led team went 1-7, scored just twenty-one points while being shut out in five of the games. Kipke’s 1936 team also went 1-7 but played just five league games and scored a few more points than Ford and company. What’s remarkable about the 1934 skid was that Kipke’s teams had lost just a single game in the previous four seasons, winning…
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Everitt Rules
Former Michigan offensive lineman Steve Everitt (89-92) was one of the honorary captains at today’s game. A few quick stories:* After a bowl game (I believe the 1993 Rose Bowl in Everitt’s senior year), ABC was doing a post-game interview when a deep voice bellowed, “EVERITT RULES!”* He lost his helmet and had his jaw shattered in the middle of the 1991 Notre Dame game. Doctors put three plates to stabilize his jaw and they gave him a special chinstrap. He returned to play 20 days later. One of the screws they used to insert the plates came loose and has yet to be found.* During a trip to the Rose Bowl, Everitt climbed that hill that has the Hollywood sign. Someone got a pic of Everitt dangling from one of the letter Ls.* While playing center he broke his snapping hand. He learned how to snap with the other hand and didn’t miss any action.* The sideline Wok microphones were aimed at the offensive line one game, I don’t know the circumstances. The team is watching the game film. Everitt pancakes a guy from the other team, gets right in his grill, and asks him over and over, “YOU LIKE THAT, HUH? YOU LIKE THAT, HUH?”.
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Broncs Cheer
photo: mgoblue.com I went to Yost to see a rout last night, instead I witnessed a Western Michigan squad gut out a tough 2-1 win. For the biggest run down of notes and analysis you’ll get anywhere, go to The Blog That Yost Built. My takes: * Western celebrated like they just beat the Russians after the game, piling on their goalie Gill and one guy scrambling to grab the puck for a keepsake. I think I saw one guy try to cut the net off the goal (can they do that?) and another dude trying to jam the Score-O board into the team bus. Guys, great win but act like you’ve been there before. * We saw the 2008 debut of the women’s synchronized skating team at Yost, giving a solid performance with only a couple slips. One gal went down pretty hard at the end, tried to get up only to be denied her footing. She finally made it back to the group to the relief of the crowd but her frown revealed she was hurt or pissed or maybe both. I think they should spice up the show by skating in a costume-wearing villain character, perhaps a guy in a wolf getup or a sweatervest and have the girls somehow subdue the rapscallion. * The Michigan players…
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Angelique: Michigan fans suffering, Carr sad (WDFN audio)
The Angel of the Big House discusses the tough times, the reaction from fans, on Bill Martin, Rich Rod, Shafer and more second guessing.
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Carty Interview Part II: Critics, Kolarik and Barnacle Bill
Continuing the interview with former News columnist Jim Carty. In Part I we talked about his decision to leave the News, on his new blog, the day Lloyd Carr canceled his subscription, and his feud with Bill ‘Huge’ Simonson. In Part II we talk about some of his critics and its impact on his personal life, on his access to the team at the Capital One Bowl, on the accusations the News misled some student-athletes during the athademics series, and finally, on dubbing Michigan athletic director Bill Martin ‘Barnacle Bill’ during the coaching search: MVictors: How big of a concern was some of the criticism of your work at the News reaching your family?Jim Carty: My kids I think are too little at this point, my oldest daughter is eight and I don’t think she’s ever been aware of the controversy I create. She just sort of thinks it’s cool that I worked for the newspaper and didn’t understand why I would go back to school. At one point during the Bernard Robinson thing, when I was writing that he should be kicked out of U-M, there were some phone calls to the house that really freaked my wife out. And in general, during the backlash from the project [academic series] I think that was very disturbing to my wife.…
