12/2/06
12/1/06
JazBloPoMo
That's right. I'm doing my own little "blog every day" thing over here. *raises glass* here's to trying. No guarentees I"m gonna make it....especially with the holidays coming and having to crochet until my arms fall off.
So, what do I say? Do I just keep you informed of my day to day activities (which frankly aren't that interesting) or do I give you my perspective on the world (which frankly may be too much work for me...kinda like writing an English paper) or do I give you movie reviews or do I just sit here at the puter and pray for inpiration?
Who knows. I have faith that interesting things will come to me as the days progress. And hopefully by the end of my experimental month I'll be a blogger that others may find interesting enough to read.
I still have inner turmoil about that btw. When I started blogging way back in 2002 I did it as an online journal. A place to store my thoughts and stuff. Kinda of a computerized journal. (I had kept a journal in one form or another since 1986.) I never expected people to read it. I hoped, but never thought anyone would be interested in my ramblings. The few people I shared my blog url with in the beginning mever had the time and i never saw comments back then.
It wasn't until an old friend contacted me thru a comment on my blog (which I had mixed feelings about...you know who you are...and in the end I"m so glad you did contact me...I love you!) that I realized other people could be reading my thoughts. And maybe even connecting to them. Or at the very least catching up on what I was doing with my life.
Nowadays I have 3 blogs....Myspace and Blogger (which I pretty much keep identical) and a 3rd somewhere in cyberspace that is for my eyes only. For when I have those feelings or dreams that I don't want anyone else to know about.
And now for my movie review. We bought the "Masters of Horror: Imprint" DVD awhile back. It was the one done by "Audition" director Takashi Miike. The one that was too graphic and disturbing for Showtime to air.
It took us a couple weeks after we bought it to watch it. We just had so much else going on. We finally settled down in front of our TV and popped in in our DVD player a couple days ago.
All I have to say is "EWWWWWW" I didn't think it was a disturbing as "Audition". That movie kept me away for hours afterwards. I was completely unnerved by the final scenes of that film. But it was easy to see why Showtime thought "Imprint" was too much for them to air. There were a couple scenes that, as I watched them, I think I threw up in my mouth a little. It's not as bloody or graphic as, say, Hostel or Saw (I, II, or III), but it will leave you with uneasy thoughts and images after watching. And maybe motivate you to rent one of Takashi Miike's other movies and expand your horizons a bit more.
HAPPY JAZBLOPOMO!!!
So, what do I say? Do I just keep you informed of my day to day activities (which frankly aren't that interesting) or do I give you my perspective on the world (which frankly may be too much work for me...kinda like writing an English paper) or do I give you movie reviews or do I just sit here at the puter and pray for inpiration?
Who knows. I have faith that interesting things will come to me as the days progress. And hopefully by the end of my experimental month I'll be a blogger that others may find interesting enough to read.
I still have inner turmoil about that btw. When I started blogging way back in 2002 I did it as an online journal. A place to store my thoughts and stuff. Kinda of a computerized journal. (I had kept a journal in one form or another since 1986.) I never expected people to read it. I hoped, but never thought anyone would be interested in my ramblings. The few people I shared my blog url with in the beginning mever had the time and i never saw comments back then.
It wasn't until an old friend contacted me thru a comment on my blog (which I had mixed feelings about...you know who you are...and in the end I"m so glad you did contact me...I love you!) that I realized other people could be reading my thoughts. And maybe even connecting to them. Or at the very least catching up on what I was doing with my life.
Nowadays I have 3 blogs....Myspace and Blogger (which I pretty much keep identical) and a 3rd somewhere in cyberspace that is for my eyes only. For when I have those feelings or dreams that I don't want anyone else to know about.
And now for my movie review. We bought the "Masters of Horror: Imprint" DVD awhile back. It was the one done by "Audition" director Takashi Miike. The one that was too graphic and disturbing for Showtime to air.
It took us a couple weeks after we bought it to watch it. We just had so much else going on. We finally settled down in front of our TV and popped in in our DVD player a couple days ago.
All I have to say is "EWWWWWW" I didn't think it was a disturbing as "Audition". That movie kept me away for hours afterwards. I was completely unnerved by the final scenes of that film. But it was easy to see why Showtime thought "Imprint" was too much for them to air. There were a couple scenes that, as I watched them, I think I threw up in my mouth a little. It's not as bloody or graphic as, say, Hostel or Saw (I, II, or III), but it will leave you with uneasy thoughts and images after watching. And maybe motivate you to rent one of Takashi Miike's other movies and expand your horizons a bit more.
HAPPY JAZBLOPOMO!!!
11/27/06
Kage and Jables brought the THUNDER!!!!!!!!!
TENACIOUS D ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!!!
(warning lots of you-tube links in this post)
The show was amazing! It was at the Masonic Temple in Detroit. We had Balcony seats center stage. (We bought tickets the day they went on sale. My gf bought tickets the day before the show and got main floor 14th row....but I'm not bitter)
Opening act was a guy named Neil Hamburger. If you've seen their movie "The Pick of Destiny" you'll know him. He's the greasy looking stand-up comedian on open mic night.
I think his whole shtick is to just be obnoxiously bad. At the end of the show when Jack Black gave big ups to Neil Hamburger some people booed and he said "you know you loved booing him!" His jokes were really bad and the only time he got a laugh was when he would pop off back at a heckler in the audience calling them cocksucker and such. Thankfully he was only on for about 30 minutes. I don't think I could have taken much more of him.
While waiting for the D to begin, Kevin and I discussed their entrance. I thought they'd come out big with "Pick of Destiny" and just immediately rock the house....Kevin said he thought they'd come out just the 2 of them in front of the curtain and progress towards rock and end with "P.O.D" ... he was the closer one. The curtain raised and it looked like Kyle's apt. And then you see them slowly making their way out from under some blankets on the couch where they were "sleeping" ... it was great!!!
They opened with "Kielbasa"
(this is from another show...but you get the idea...everyone sang along like that all night...it was fucking amazing!)
I don't remember the whole song list. They did pretty much every song on their first CD and almost every song on their new soundtrack CD (except "pick of Destiny" oddly enough) The whole concert was more like a stage show. It began in the apt. They even brought Lee in.
They jammed a little in the apt. and then Jables told Kage they needed to step up to the next level and go electric and when he plugged in the guitar they got electrocuted and died and went down to hell. They had a big screen they brought down to show them wandering thru hell where they meet the anti-christ jamming on a guitar. They form a band with "anti" along with drummer Colonel Sanders (who is in hell because he killed over a billion chickens) and bassist Charlie Chaplin (who's in hell because he's gay)
Eventually anti tells Jables and Kage his dad (you know....SATAN) wants to join them. So he does and they end up having a rock off (basically acting out that scene in P.O.D. minus the special effects)
So they beat the devil and come back to earth and jam some more. I can't remember what they ended the set with, but they came back for 1 encore consisting of 3 songs!
of course they couldn't leave without playing "Tribute"! We thought it was going to be the last song, but it was 2nd to last.
Their last song was a medly of songs from The Who's "Tommy". It fucking ROCKED!!!!! (the visual quality on this clip is really shaky, but the audio makes up for it)
And that was it! a night with the D!!! It fucking rocked my socks off!!! I would go see them everytime they're in town!!
Afterwards we met some friends up at Corktown tavern. Went upstairs to listen to the DJ. It totally reminded me of college. Hell, they were even playing songs from back then. "Groove is in the Heart" and "I Touch Myself" amongst others. We didn't stay long ... altho I wouldn't mind going back there.
And last night we went to see "The Pick of Destiny" at the drive in (double feature with Borat...and that movie is a..whole other blog ) It toally rocked!!! And the songs and the stage show made so much more sense after seeing it! Besides, how can you go wrong when you start the movie with a song in which both Meatloaf AND Ronnie James Dio sing!!!
So I'm madly in love with Tenaacious D. I'm sure I'll be listening to their CDs every chance I get and boring everyone around me with how awesome they were.
11/23/06
Why I LIke Thanksgiving
I love Thanksgiving! It is my favorite holiday of the year. At our house Thanksgiving is all about the 4 "F"s ... food, family, friends and football. And the 1 "B" ... BEER!
It's the only holiday of the year without any major obligations. You don't have to buy gifts, don't have to go to church, don't have to do much but eat lots of turkey, drink lots of beer and pray that the Lions win.
I have alot of great Thanksgiving memories. When my Mama was alive and well we used to go over to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a big event. The day before we'd go over and pull out her good china, which was stored in the bottom drawer in a hutch in the dining room, and unwrap it from the newspapers protecting it. Thanksgiving day we'd go over there early and help Mama get dinner ready. I remember her putting cloves in the ham. And it was the only time she allowed beer in her house because she needed it for the ham. Tecate. I remember one year she reached into the fridge for a coke and pulled out a Tecate instead.
She actually opened it and took a drink before she realized it wasn't soda and then tried to split it with me and my cousin...both of us underage I might add.
I always dreaded those Thanksgiving dinners....now I kinda miss them. In the beginning we all sat at the dining room table, but as our family got bigger they eventually designated the table in the kitchen as the "kid's table" I never got to sit there. As the oldest grandchild I always sat at the "adult table" ... usually squashed in next to the wall in the center so I couldn't get out until everyone else was done.
I remember Turkey, stuffing, ham (complete with cloves and beer basting), mashed potatoes and tamales. I'm sure we had other stuff, but that's what I remember. No Thanksgiving was complete without the tamales. The good ones. from Evie's Tamaleria down on Bagley in Detroit. My Mama would order them a couple weeks in advance to make sure we had them for the big day and we'd pick them up on Wednesday. It's something we still do. As do most Mexican families in the area. Just go down to Evie's the day before Thanksgiving and check out the line that usually goes around the corner.
We never watched football when I was younger. Dinner was later. besides, according to my Mama girls didn't watch football anyway. This changed thru the years as we began eating dinner earlier and earlier each year (I often joke that had my Mama lived much longer we would have been having thanksgiving breakfast instead of dinner). My Mama was less strict as the years progressed. I remember not even having the TV on and not being allowed to drink anything until the dinner was over. My cousin has fond memories of sitting and watching the games while having a cold beverage (prolly coke tho and not beer).
When the dinner was over we would clean off the table and doo the dishes and then carefully package up the china again, wrapping it in fresh newspapers and putting them gently in the bottom drawer where they waited to be used next Thanksgiving.
I remember one Thanksgiving where tradition went out the window. My mom, brother and sister went down to Kentucky to celebrate with my Mamaw. It was the first Thanksgiving without my Papaw. He had passed away in the spring. I didn't go with them. It made me too sad to think of spending Thanksgiving down there without him. (looking back it was a very selfish move but at the time all I could think of was how I'd see him everywhere and how was I supposed to enjoy the holiday when I'd spend most of it crying). So I had plans to spend Thanksgiving alone at my mom's house.
I had set myself up with some instant stuffing, instant mashed taters and a small turkey ham. Dinner was almost ready when I heard a knock on the back door. I hid everything (don't ask why...to this day it doesn't make sense to me) and opened the door. There stood my Mama, Papa, Joe and Angie (my 2 cousins) with sacks of White Castles in their hands. Seems my Mama decided not to cook a big dinner for just the 4 of them so they were going to just go out to dinner. Well, they didn't plan this in advance, so most of the restaurants were closed. And the ones that were open you had to have a reservation for. So they drove around looking desperately for something. The only place open was the White Castle on Fort Street and Pennsylvania. So they loaded up on sliders and sides and came knocking on my door to share their Thanksgiving feast.
Surprisingly it's one of my favorite Thanksgivings. We laughed and joked and had dinner and then went out to Briarwood to see a movie. Stargate. My grandparents loved it! Afterwards it was off to Mountain Jack's for some coffee and pumpkin pie. I'm sure years from now when asked to recount my favorite memory from Thanksgiving, this will still be number one.
Kevin and I took over Thanksgiving dinners around 2002. Our first year together we had to cook the dinner at my mom's cuz she had gone to pick up my sister from Virginia so she could be home for the holiday. It went over well. The next year we had a minor setback thanks to the judicial system and weren't allowed to celebrate together, but 2002 is when my family got wise. They realized Kevin wasn't going anywhere and decided to put the family chef to work. We had the tiniest kitchen but Kevin, with all his expertise, somehow made it work and put out a feast. Turkey with all the trimmings, ham, green bean casserole, tamales (from Evie's of course), and the crowning glory...pumpkin cheesecake. We fed both families and had leftovers for days. It was a great Thanksgiving.
So we've been in charge of it every year since. Until this year. We decided one major famly event (the wedding) was enough. There were many other reasons as well which I won't get into but involve other family members and some hurt feelings on my part, and of course the big reason was that my brother's wife is due anyday now with their first child (and my parents' first grandchild). So in the event she decides to pop it out today no one will feel bad about leaving our feast.
It's about time for kickoff for the Lions game. The Turkey just came out of the oven and the fixings are getting ready to go in. In case you're wondering the menu today is:
Roast Turkey
Spiral Sliced Honey Baked Ham
Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Turkey Gravy
White Castle Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Sweet Potatoes w/ Caramelized Bananas on top
Evie's Tamales
and lots and lots of beer!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!
It's the only holiday of the year without any major obligations. You don't have to buy gifts, don't have to go to church, don't have to do much but eat lots of turkey, drink lots of beer and pray that the Lions win.
I have alot of great Thanksgiving memories. When my Mama was alive and well we used to go over to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a big event. The day before we'd go over and pull out her good china, which was stored in the bottom drawer in a hutch in the dining room, and unwrap it from the newspapers protecting it. Thanksgiving day we'd go over there early and help Mama get dinner ready. I remember her putting cloves in the ham. And it was the only time she allowed beer in her house because she needed it for the ham. Tecate. I remember one year she reached into the fridge for a coke and pulled out a Tecate instead.
She actually opened it and took a drink before she realized it wasn't soda and then tried to split it with me and my cousin...both of us underage I might add.
I always dreaded those Thanksgiving dinners....now I kinda miss them. In the beginning we all sat at the dining room table, but as our family got bigger they eventually designated the table in the kitchen as the "kid's table" I never got to sit there. As the oldest grandchild I always sat at the "adult table" ... usually squashed in next to the wall in the center so I couldn't get out until everyone else was done.
I remember Turkey, stuffing, ham (complete with cloves and beer basting), mashed potatoes and tamales. I'm sure we had other stuff, but that's what I remember. No Thanksgiving was complete without the tamales. The good ones. from Evie's Tamaleria down on Bagley in Detroit. My Mama would order them a couple weeks in advance to make sure we had them for the big day and we'd pick them up on Wednesday. It's something we still do. As do most Mexican families in the area. Just go down to Evie's the day before Thanksgiving and check out the line that usually goes around the corner.
We never watched football when I was younger. Dinner was later. besides, according to my Mama girls didn't watch football anyway. This changed thru the years as we began eating dinner earlier and earlier each year (I often joke that had my Mama lived much longer we would have been having thanksgiving breakfast instead of dinner). My Mama was less strict as the years progressed. I remember not even having the TV on and not being allowed to drink anything until the dinner was over. My cousin has fond memories of sitting and watching the games while having a cold beverage (prolly coke tho and not beer).
When the dinner was over we would clean off the table and doo the dishes and then carefully package up the china again, wrapping it in fresh newspapers and putting them gently in the bottom drawer where they waited to be used next Thanksgiving.
I remember one Thanksgiving where tradition went out the window. My mom, brother and sister went down to Kentucky to celebrate with my Mamaw. It was the first Thanksgiving without my Papaw. He had passed away in the spring. I didn't go with them. It made me too sad to think of spending Thanksgiving down there without him. (looking back it was a very selfish move but at the time all I could think of was how I'd see him everywhere and how was I supposed to enjoy the holiday when I'd spend most of it crying). So I had plans to spend Thanksgiving alone at my mom's house.
I had set myself up with some instant stuffing, instant mashed taters and a small turkey ham. Dinner was almost ready when I heard a knock on the back door. I hid everything (don't ask why...to this day it doesn't make sense to me) and opened the door. There stood my Mama, Papa, Joe and Angie (my 2 cousins) with sacks of White Castles in their hands. Seems my Mama decided not to cook a big dinner for just the 4 of them so they were going to just go out to dinner. Well, they didn't plan this in advance, so most of the restaurants were closed. And the ones that were open you had to have a reservation for. So they drove around looking desperately for something. The only place open was the White Castle on Fort Street and Pennsylvania. So they loaded up on sliders and sides and came knocking on my door to share their Thanksgiving feast.
Surprisingly it's one of my favorite Thanksgivings. We laughed and joked and had dinner and then went out to Briarwood to see a movie. Stargate. My grandparents loved it! Afterwards it was off to Mountain Jack's for some coffee and pumpkin pie. I'm sure years from now when asked to recount my favorite memory from Thanksgiving, this will still be number one.
Kevin and I took over Thanksgiving dinners around 2002. Our first year together we had to cook the dinner at my mom's cuz she had gone to pick up my sister from Virginia so she could be home for the holiday. It went over well. The next year we had a minor setback thanks to the judicial system and weren't allowed to celebrate together, but 2002 is when my family got wise. They realized Kevin wasn't going anywhere and decided to put the family chef to work. We had the tiniest kitchen but Kevin, with all his expertise, somehow made it work and put out a feast. Turkey with all the trimmings, ham, green bean casserole, tamales (from Evie's of course), and the crowning glory...pumpkin cheesecake. We fed both families and had leftovers for days. It was a great Thanksgiving.
So we've been in charge of it every year since. Until this year. We decided one major famly event (the wedding) was enough. There were many other reasons as well which I won't get into but involve other family members and some hurt feelings on my part, and of course the big reason was that my brother's wife is due anyday now with their first child (and my parents' first grandchild). So in the event she decides to pop it out today no one will feel bad about leaving our feast.
It's about time for kickoff for the Lions game. The Turkey just came out of the oven and the fixings are getting ready to go in. In case you're wondering the menu today is:
Roast Turkey
Spiral Sliced Honey Baked Ham
Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Turkey Gravy
White Castle Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Sweet Potatoes w/ Caramelized Bananas on top
Evie's Tamales
and lots and lots of beer!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!
11/21/06
Blech I feel like crap
I have been fighting a cold or something since last tuesday. I started to lose my voice then and it's been downhill ever since. coughing, nausea, sneezing, and sleeping way too much. I finally broke down last night and got some TheraFlu (daytime and nighttime) I took the daytime and it kicked my ass. I fell asleep about 1/2 an hour after I took it and snored for 5 hours before I woke up. So i figured what the hell and I took the nighttime, was up for about an hour before I crashed for a solid 13 hours!!! (with a small half hour break in there when I woke to go potty and feed the demon spawn kitties in the backroom)
I feel slightly better today. Altho I did have some crazy dreams last night involving people camping out in our dead ash tree in the backyard, people chasing me around a swimming pool with laser guns, and Mr. Williamson trying to kill me. I don't know what that was all about.
I feel slightly better today. Altho I did have some crazy dreams last night involving people camping out in our dead ash tree in the backyard, people chasing me around a swimming pool with laser guns, and Mr. Williamson trying to kill me. I don't know what that was all about.
11/17/06
we'll miss you Bo
Michigan, Ohio State mourn Schembechler
Legendary coach dies on eve of big game
November 17, 2006
FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Bo Schembechler, one of the nation's greatest college football coaches during his two decades at the University of Michigan, died today after taping a TV show on the eve of the Wolverines' historic showdown with perennial rival Ohio State.
Schembechler, 77, collapsed during the taping of a television show at WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) in Southfield and was taken by ambulance to Providence Hospital in Southfield. His death at 11:42 a.m. was confirmed by Mike Dowd, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office in Oakland County.
"This is a tremendous shock and an irreplaceable loss for the University of Michigan family,'' said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. "Bo Schembechler embodied all that is best about Michigan – loyalty, dedication and the drive for ever-greater excellence.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all those who loved him, a number as great as the Michigan community in every corner of the world.
His long-time rivals in Columbus, Ohio, mourned him too.
"This is an extraordinary loss for college football," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement. "Bo Schembechler touched the lives of many people and made the game of football better in every way. He will always be both a Buckeye and a Wolverine and our thoughts are with all who grieve his loss."
Former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes, choked back tears today as he spoke at a fundraiser on the OSU campus, where people with forlorn faces were stunned at the news.
"The state of Ohio and the state of Michigan has lost a great man, has lost a great coach, and a great dad," said Bruce, who addressed the crowd choking back tears. "In my opinion, Bo Schembechler is the greatest football coach Michigan ever had."
Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970 and another one in 1987. He has had two quadruple heart-bypass operations.
On Oct. 20, he became ill at the Channel 7 studio and was hospitalized. A device was implanted to regulate his heartbeat. During a news conference earlier this week at which he discussed Saturday's big game, he told reporters that the device covered about half his chest and that doctors were still adjusting it.
Schembechler said he didn't plan to attend the game in Columbus on Saturday, and that he didn't attend road games anymore.
He was talking about the show again this morning when he collapsed about 9:25 a.m. Southfield Police spokesman John Harris said station personnel called emergency workers. The city's fire department escorted an ambulance to Providence Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 11:42 a.m.
The seven-time Big Ten coach of the year compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89. Schembechler's record in 26 years of coaching was 234-65-8.
Schembechler's Wolverines were 11-9-1 against the Buckeyes. But fans in both states generally agree that the rivalry's prime years were 1969-78, when Schembechler opposed his friend and coaching guru, Woody Hayes. Ohio State prevailed in those meetings, going 5-4-1.
"It was a very personal rivalry," Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes as coach, once said. "And for the first and only time, it was as much about the coaches as it was about the game.
"Bo and Woody were very close because Bo played for Woody at Miami of Ohio, then coached with him at Ohio State. But their friendship was put on hold when Bo took the Michigan job because it was the protege against mentor."
Thirteen of Schembechler's Michigan teams either won or shared the Big Ten championship. Fifteen of them finished in The Associated Press Top 10, with the 1985 team finishing No. 2.
Seventeen of Schembechler's 21 Michigan teams earned bowl berths. Despite a .796 regular-season winning percentage, his record in bowls was a disappointing 5-12, including 2-8 in Rose Bowls.
The mythical national championship eluded Schembechler, but he said that never bothered him.
"If you think my career has been a failure because I have never won a national title, you have another thing coming," Schembechler said a few weeks before coaching his final game. "I have never played a game for the national title. Our goals always have been to win the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl. If we do that, then we consider it a successful season."
His last game as Wolverines coach was a 17-10 loss to Southern California in the 1990 Rose Bowl. One week later, Schembechler — who also had been serving as Michigan athletic director since July 1988 — was named president of the Detroit Tigers.
Schembechler's signature moment as athletic director probably came in March 1989, when basketball coach Bill Frieder accepted a job at Arizona State on the eve of the NCAA tournament.
An angry Schembechler declared, "A Michigan man will coach Michigan, not an Arizona State man." He refused to accept Frieder's 21-day notice and named assistant Steve Fisher as interim coach.
The Wolverines went on to win the national championship by beating Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime.
Schembechler's tenure as Tigers president was less rewarding.
Schembechler fired beloved broadcaster Ernie Harwell after the 1991 season.
Harwell was brought back two years later.
Schembechler hired extra coaches for every farm team, upgraded all the facilities and introduced football-style strength and conditioning programs.
But those moves bore little fruit at the big-league level. The Tigers' last winning season was in 1993 until they advanced to the World Series this season.
Tigers owner Tom Monaghan fired Schembechler as Tigers president the day before he sold the team to Mike Ilitch in August 1992 — and 13 days before Schembechler's wife, Millie, died at age 63 of adrenal cancer. Bo Schembechler sued, claiming Monaghan had broken a contract the Domino's Pizza owner had jotted down on a napkin. They settled out of court in 1994.
Schembechler was an intense disciplinarian and his gruff persona belied his devotion to his players, both during and after their playing days in Ann Arbor.
"He preached the team from day one, and it's still being taught now," offensive guard Reggie McKenzie, who played for Schembechler from 1969-71, said when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
McKenzie said Schembechler's iron hand almost prompted him to quit. But, he said: "I learned to beat him by doing it the right way every time, all the time. That's the attitude we had at Michigan."
While Schembechler loved coaching, he was less enamored with some other aspects of college football. In his 1989 book "Bo," co-written with Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom, Schembechler decried drugs, sports agents and the pressures of recruiting.
"Recruiting is the worst part of college football," he wrote. "I no longer look forward to it. I can't wait until it's over. It makes me feel like a pimp."
Schembechler was born April 1, 1929 in Barberton, Ohio. He graduated in 1951 from Miami of Ohio and earned a master's degree in 1952 at Ohio State, where he served until 1953 as a graduate assistant under Hayes.
After serving in the Army, Schembechler held assistant coaching jobs at Presbyterian College in 1954 and Bowling Green in 1955, then joined Ara Parseghian's staff at Northwestern in 1958 before returning to Ohio State as an assistant to Hayes.
Schembechler was named head coach at Miami in 1963, winning two Mid-American Conference titles in six seasons. In 1969, he took over a Michigan program that had posted six losing seasons over the previous 11 years. He did not have a losing season at either school.
Schembechler worked as an ABC Sports football broadcaster and analyst in 1991-92 and was a popular motivational speaker for many years.
Schembechler was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame in 1972, the State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1992, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.
Bo and Millie Schembechler had one son, Glenn III. Schembechler and his second wife, Cathy, married in 1993.
Associated Press writers Larry Luge Jim Irwin, Tom Krisher and Ron Vample contributed to this report
Legendary coach dies on eve of big game
November 17, 2006
FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Bo Schembechler, one of the nation's greatest college football coaches during his two decades at the University of Michigan, died today after taping a TV show on the eve of the Wolverines' historic showdown with perennial rival Ohio State.
Schembechler, 77, collapsed during the taping of a television show at WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) in Southfield and was taken by ambulance to Providence Hospital in Southfield. His death at 11:42 a.m. was confirmed by Mike Dowd, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office in Oakland County.
"This is a tremendous shock and an irreplaceable loss for the University of Michigan family,'' said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. "Bo Schembechler embodied all that is best about Michigan – loyalty, dedication and the drive for ever-greater excellence.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all those who loved him, a number as great as the Michigan community in every corner of the world.
His long-time rivals in Columbus, Ohio, mourned him too.
"This is an extraordinary loss for college football," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement. "Bo Schembechler touched the lives of many people and made the game of football better in every way. He will always be both a Buckeye and a Wolverine and our thoughts are with all who grieve his loss."
Former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes, choked back tears today as he spoke at a fundraiser on the OSU campus, where people with forlorn faces were stunned at the news.
"The state of Ohio and the state of Michigan has lost a great man, has lost a great coach, and a great dad," said Bruce, who addressed the crowd choking back tears. "In my opinion, Bo Schembechler is the greatest football coach Michigan ever had."
Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970 and another one in 1987. He has had two quadruple heart-bypass operations.
On Oct. 20, he became ill at the Channel 7 studio and was hospitalized. A device was implanted to regulate his heartbeat. During a news conference earlier this week at which he discussed Saturday's big game, he told reporters that the device covered about half his chest and that doctors were still adjusting it.
Schembechler said he didn't plan to attend the game in Columbus on Saturday, and that he didn't attend road games anymore.
He was talking about the show again this morning when he collapsed about 9:25 a.m. Southfield Police spokesman John Harris said station personnel called emergency workers. The city's fire department escorted an ambulance to Providence Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 11:42 a.m.
The seven-time Big Ten coach of the year compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89. Schembechler's record in 26 years of coaching was 234-65-8.
Schembechler's Wolverines were 11-9-1 against the Buckeyes. But fans in both states generally agree that the rivalry's prime years were 1969-78, when Schembechler opposed his friend and coaching guru, Woody Hayes. Ohio State prevailed in those meetings, going 5-4-1.
"It was a very personal rivalry," Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes as coach, once said. "And for the first and only time, it was as much about the coaches as it was about the game.
"Bo and Woody were very close because Bo played for Woody at Miami of Ohio, then coached with him at Ohio State. But their friendship was put on hold when Bo took the Michigan job because it was the protege against mentor."
Thirteen of Schembechler's Michigan teams either won or shared the Big Ten championship. Fifteen of them finished in The Associated Press Top 10, with the 1985 team finishing No. 2.
Seventeen of Schembechler's 21 Michigan teams earned bowl berths. Despite a .796 regular-season winning percentage, his record in bowls was a disappointing 5-12, including 2-8 in Rose Bowls.
The mythical national championship eluded Schembechler, but he said that never bothered him.
"If you think my career has been a failure because I have never won a national title, you have another thing coming," Schembechler said a few weeks before coaching his final game. "I have never played a game for the national title. Our goals always have been to win the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl. If we do that, then we consider it a successful season."
His last game as Wolverines coach was a 17-10 loss to Southern California in the 1990 Rose Bowl. One week later, Schembechler — who also had been serving as Michigan athletic director since July 1988 — was named president of the Detroit Tigers.
Schembechler's signature moment as athletic director probably came in March 1989, when basketball coach Bill Frieder accepted a job at Arizona State on the eve of the NCAA tournament.
An angry Schembechler declared, "A Michigan man will coach Michigan, not an Arizona State man." He refused to accept Frieder's 21-day notice and named assistant Steve Fisher as interim coach.
The Wolverines went on to win the national championship by beating Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime.
Schembechler's tenure as Tigers president was less rewarding.
Schembechler fired beloved broadcaster Ernie Harwell after the 1991 season.
Harwell was brought back two years later.
Schembechler hired extra coaches for every farm team, upgraded all the facilities and introduced football-style strength and conditioning programs.
But those moves bore little fruit at the big-league level. The Tigers' last winning season was in 1993 until they advanced to the World Series this season.
Tigers owner Tom Monaghan fired Schembechler as Tigers president the day before he sold the team to Mike Ilitch in August 1992 — and 13 days before Schembechler's wife, Millie, died at age 63 of adrenal cancer. Bo Schembechler sued, claiming Monaghan had broken a contract the Domino's Pizza owner had jotted down on a napkin. They settled out of court in 1994.
Schembechler was an intense disciplinarian and his gruff persona belied his devotion to his players, both during and after their playing days in Ann Arbor.
"He preached the team from day one, and it's still being taught now," offensive guard Reggie McKenzie, who played for Schembechler from 1969-71, said when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
McKenzie said Schembechler's iron hand almost prompted him to quit. But, he said: "I learned to beat him by doing it the right way every time, all the time. That's the attitude we had at Michigan."
While Schembechler loved coaching, he was less enamored with some other aspects of college football. In his 1989 book "Bo," co-written with Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom, Schembechler decried drugs, sports agents and the pressures of recruiting.
"Recruiting is the worst part of college football," he wrote. "I no longer look forward to it. I can't wait until it's over. It makes me feel like a pimp."
Schembechler was born April 1, 1929 in Barberton, Ohio. He graduated in 1951 from Miami of Ohio and earned a master's degree in 1952 at Ohio State, where he served until 1953 as a graduate assistant under Hayes.
After serving in the Army, Schembechler held assistant coaching jobs at Presbyterian College in 1954 and Bowling Green in 1955, then joined Ara Parseghian's staff at Northwestern in 1958 before returning to Ohio State as an assistant to Hayes.
Schembechler was named head coach at Miami in 1963, winning two Mid-American Conference titles in six seasons. In 1969, he took over a Michigan program that had posted six losing seasons over the previous 11 years. He did not have a losing season at either school.
Schembechler worked as an ABC Sports football broadcaster and analyst in 1991-92 and was a popular motivational speaker for many years.
Schembechler was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame in 1972, the State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1992, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.
Bo and Millie Schembechler had one son, Glenn III. Schembechler and his second wife, Cathy, married in 1993.
Associated Press writers Larry Luge Jim Irwin, Tom Krisher and Ron Vample contributed to this report
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