Glenn “Bo” Schembechler wasn’t the only major change to hit Ann Arbor in 1969. New athletic director Don Canham decided to introduce artificial turf inside the Big House. Here’s a great photo of Dan Dierdorf and Bo inspecting a sample of the righteous carpet up on eBay now: Apparently Dierdorf was skeptical of the safety of natural grass, having suffered a knee injury in 1968 (from the notes on the wire photo): I’m not sure what they hoped to accomplish with their little empty shoe test, but oh well. It’s pretty clear that Canham was not only dead set on the innovation, but he was also pretty proud of it. The new coach would seemingly be the obvious choice to don the cover of the game program, but Bo was present. In fact, no person is present at the front of the program for Bo’s first game at the helm—here’s a look at the Vanderbilt game program (also on eBay now), showing off Canham’s carpet: The bid on the Bo/Dierdorf photo is currently at $27.28. The Vandy program is going for $59.99.
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The Clans React to John U. Bacon’s Three and Out
I just finished John U. Bacon’s Three and Out and I need to talk to somebody. For a while. Same thing will happen to you. If you landed on this page, I don’t need to suggest you buy this book—you probably already bought it or certainly plan to. You really don’t have a choice now, do you? (It drops October 25 – get it now on Amazon). This isn’t a full review. I was lucky enough to receive a beta version of the book and its content is subject to be tweaked, added or removed. But I can offer a few thoughts. For starters, I’ll note that it’s painful enough to relive the past three seasons just from memory. Now try it in 3D and HD, complete with unreleased scenes, quotes and outtakes. And did I mention cockroaches? I give credit to Bacon for writing this—no one held a gun to his head to do it—and he surely knew he’d be ruffling a feather or two twenty by putting this out there. As Brian mentioned, everyone seems to be upset about the book. Most people will be talking about Lloyd Carr, who is charged with conduct unbecoming a Michigan Man yet, it is strongly noted, didn’t speak to Bacon for this book so in several cases we rely on the perspective…
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Bo Is Always Watching
Were you there? Well prove it. The Under the Lights Fan Cam from the Notre Dame game is out. Look who checked in: To Hell with Notre Dame! Speaking of watching, I think old Bob Ufer was watching, too. Via The M Zone, love this:
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Moe’s Knows Bo
Good for Moe’s and UGP for scoring an exclusive partnership with the Bo people. A portion of the proceeds from each sale of Bo Schembechler apparel will be donated to the Heart of a Champion Research Fund and they’re nice: Rumor has so additional designs are in the works so stay tuned. Go Blue, Go Bo, Go to Moe’s!
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Bo says, “Hey Mouse, Look Me in the Eye like a Man!”
Here we’ve got Bo Schembechler flanked by the great Jim Mandich and Rose Queen Pamela Tedesco, shaking hands with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland before the 1970 Rose Bowl: Bo’s certainly thinking, “Look me in the eye, MOUSE!”
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Bo Enjoys Beating Spartans (1974)
I love this wire photo of Bo Schembechler that popped up on eBay recently. A photog caught Schembechler in the final few minutes of the 1974 game against Michigan State. Bo is hunched down and he appears to crank out a slight grin as he gazes up at the stadium clock. Love it: Let’s hope we get a similar grin from Coach Beilein at Crisler this afternoon.
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This Week in Michigan Football History: The Student becomes The Master (1976 Ohio State)
Here’s the next entry in ‘This Week in Michigan Football History’ to be played Saturday on WTKA 1050AM’s Key Bank Countdown to Kick-off pregame show before tomorrow’s battle against the Badgers. This time we look back to 1976, as Bo was set to face off with Woody Hayes in the 8th battle of their 10 Year War. Here’s the audio and it’s deeply laced with the voice of the great Bob Ufer and I love it: [display_podcast] A hat tip to the great WolverineHistorian who compiled this collection of clips with Bob Ufer calls overlaid. Watching Rob Lytle fly out of the backfield and break off those big chunks of years is a quite a spectacle: The sponsor of This Week…is Wolverine Beer so here’s where you can find it. You can hear all of the This Week… clips here.
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Down to Bo
Spotted this on Maize n Brew not to long ago and really enjoyed it. WolverineHistorian pulled together various on field interview with general Bo. Damn, Bo was a pisser. Chomping that gum with those tinted glasses:
