Highlights from Tuesday’s Celebration

A few notes and highlights from Tuesday’s Celebration of Bo Schembechler’s life:
– First off, I was very impressed with how well Carr & Moeller delivered their speeches.
– Carr’s speech was particularly nice. His memorial speech was laced with poems and stories about his mentor. Carr talked about how he had an offer from Lou Holtz to be the defensive coordinator several years ago. He went to tell Bo that he was seriously considering the offer and wanted to visit South Bend. Bo said ‘No, you’re not going to Notre Dame. You’re Michigan.”

– On the topic of the Irish, Carr added “”Bo did not have a particular fondness for Notre Dame. I can promise you this, the first time Bo Schembechler will ever cheer for Notre Dame will be this Saturday.” This of course in reference to the need for the Irish to beat Southern Cal which will likely bump USC from the current BCS standings.

– Carr threw in a diddy about how Bo always said that President Clinton was Carr’s President, not his. Coach Carr said he walked down the hall with the invitation to visit the White House after the 1997 National Championship and told Bo he had to join them. Bo said, “I’m not goin’! And you shouldn’t go either!”

– Jamie Morris was solid as well. Not because he’s a great speaker but rather because this guy bleeds maize and blue and is a true Michigan man. Morris went into a story about how Bo just had told him that he’d offer him a scholarship if one came available. Morris said that Bo then paused and saw the fire in the young recruit’s eyes. Bo changed his mind on the spot. Morris was so choked up after this he had to pause. Morris also made reference to some kind of Schembechler Hall football pool, and said he always used to beat Bo.

– I didn’t hear all of Dan Dierdorf’s speech but I’ll try to catch it later on (a replay is available on mgoblue.com). Dierdorf recalled Schembechler’s message to him after not taking Bo seriously as a recruiter at Miami of Ohio, and Dierdorf instead went to Michigan. When Bo was given the Michigan job, he ignored the young lineman’s attempt at a handshake, bear-hugged him and said emphatically: “You’re fat, you’re mine and I never forget.”

– I didn’t hear any of Shemy Schembechler’s speech. I did get some feedback that he spoke for 50 minutes. My relation to Shemy? As youths, we were exiled together at Camp Hayo-Went-Ha on Torch Lake, Michigan, together at the same time. I remember it being a big deal when Bo came up for parent’s weekend.