Win for Bo.

I am not ashamed to admit that I am in tears right now.  My alma mater just lost one of its most beloved icons, and it's hard for me to even work.



To sports fans, Bo Schembechler was the equivalent of Penn State's Joe Paterno to Michigan fans.  He was the legend who coached Michigan to the best record in college football history through the 70s and 80s.  He retained positions at the University after he retired as coach, including Athletic Director. 



To non-sports fans: I don't really expect you to understand.  But to describe Bo's presence, he was a god to Michigan.  Well after he retired, he remained with us.  He was possibly the biggest symbol of a place where I spent four of the best years of my life. 



When I was a litle kid, I took a liking to Michigan because of the colors, uniforms and tradition of the football team.  I thought the winged helmets were neat.  And on the sidelines growing up, there was always Bo.  He was the coach archetype -- never smililng, yelling, running confidently onto the field in front of all his players out onto what would eventually become my home stadium.  Michigan Stadium.  The Big House.  The largest sports stadium in the country.  110,000 strong. 



Eventually, I would grow to hate Michigan because of all the bandwagon-jumping classmates I had.  Then of course I visited, liked the school, and went there.   And graduated as a Michigan fan for life.  I made some of my closest friends there.  I had my biggest life-changing experriences there. 



I am a huge sports fan.  I was born and raised in DC, and I am very loyal to all my home teams.  If you want to know who my favorite teams are, all you have to do is list off all the D.C. teams in each sport. 



Despite all that, there is only one team, one group of teams, that I refer to as "we."  That's Michigan.  



Every time a Michigan player or alum in any sport competes, he or she not only represents the school - they represent every single person who has ever passed through the University of Michigan, a school that houses about 27,000 undergrad full-time students each year.  I was blessed to see some very good football players play at our home stadium in college: Tom Brady, Dhani Jones, Larry Foote, Brian Griese, Tim Biakabutuka, Jon Jansen, Chad Hutchinson, Marlon Jackson, Charles Woodson, Anthony Thomas...the list is a long one.  I still follow these players.  I still cheer for them.  And I treat all Michigan players since I was there with almost the same reverence. 



Bo was a big reason for that reverence.  He had a banner that still hangs in the locker room.  It reads, "Those who stay will be champions."  It was true: when Bo coached Michigan, the team would win the conference championship at least every 4 years.  So incoming freshmen who stayed on the football team were basically guaranteed that feeling of success.  In many ways, Bo Schembechler was Michigan -- in the same fundamental manner that The Beatles were rock n' roll or Pearl Jam was grunge.



If you didn't go to a school like Michigan, you'd never understand.  But today, 2 Michigan alums immediately notified me that Bo had been hospitalized.  One of my female friends (who to my knowledge is not a big sports fan, but did go to college with me) didn't know.  When I told her, her reaction was,  "WHAT?"



I think somewhere along the line, I had irrationally convinced myself that Bo would never die.  He had survived some serious heart surgeries, but still seemed in full command of himself until recently.   But now, he's...gone.  And I'm way more stunned than I have any right to be.



For me, the worst part isn't that all of the UMich community feels that we lost a friend and a brother.  It's that Bo didn't get to see what might be the biggest game in the biggest sports rivalry in the United States that kicks off tomorrow: Michigan vs. Ohio State.   It was already the biggest rivalry.  But now, for the first time ever, both teams will face each other undefeated at 11-0.  Ohio State is ranked the #1team in the country; Michigan is ranked #2.  The winner will earn a shot at the National Championship. 



Even for non-Wolverines and non-Buckeyes, this is a clash of historic proportions.



We have been on the short end of this rivalry lately.  But Bo was current Michigan coach Lloyd Carr's mentor.  Everyone wearing the maize and blue will take the field with heavy hearts tomorrow at 3:30. 



I wasn't going to write about this at all, for fear of jinxing them.  But Bo's passing forced me to say something, so I'll say this:



If our kids can't find it within themselves to win this game, even on the road, after the loss we suffered today, I may cry at the result of a sports event for the first time since the Raiders unexpectedly crushed the Redskins in Super Bowl 18.  I always want to beat Ohio State, but this year I was poo-pooing our chances to beat such a strong team at their home stadium.  Not anymore. 



Bo died at a TV station while dicussing The Game, for crying out loud.



So go get 'em, my fellow Wolverines.  Do it for every Wolverine that ever lived.  You already had plenty of reasons to want this game.  Bo just gave you one more.  He'll be watching.  Please, for all of us, don't let him down.

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