He took over a struggling program in 1969 and immediately returned it to college football prominence, with a stunning upset of the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. He compiled a record of 194-48-5 in 21 years at Michigan and never had a losing season. His one big achilles heel was Bowl games, but even in that area he showed improvement as his teams went 5-5 in Bowls in the 1980s. His teams were known for basic, "smashmouth" offenses and hard hitting, stingy defenses. But he was also able to adapt to the times, making use of skilled pass receivers like Anthony Carter.

But the legacy of Glenn E. "Bo" Schembechler is about so much more than games won and championships. Coach Schembechler ran a clean and honorable program at Michigan, where players and coaches did things the right way. Bo always upheld the Michigan Tradition of excellence in both academics and athletics, and the sort of "thuggish" behavior that has sadly become the norm at some schools was never tolerated by the Ol' Coach. His student athletes were truly both students and athletes, who earned their degrees and went on to success in life after football.

Coach Bo Schembechler passed away on Friday, November 17, 2006, but he will live forever in the hearts and minds of the Michigan Wolverine faithful. Whenever 100,000 plus gather in the "Big House" at the corner of Stadium and Main in Ann Arbor, the spirit of Bo Schembechler will be there, along with Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler, Tom Harmon, Bob Ufer, and all the others who have been part of the greatness that is Michigan Wolverine football.

And I know that somewhere up there in the Great Stadium in the Sky, Coach Bo is exchanging plays with the other late greats of the coaching profession like Vince Lombardi and Bo's longtime friend Woody Hayes.

The Ol' Coach is gone...Long Live the Ol' Coach!

Hail to the Victors Valiant...and Those Who Stay Will Be Champions!

It was not the best of weekends for me as far as the sports scene. The Green Bay Packers got whipped at home by New England and Brett Favre was knocked out of the game. And the previous day, Michigan's previously solid defense became sieve-like in Columbus as Ohio State ran up 42 points. Michigan's offense almost did as well, scoring 39, and at least covered the five point spread. Still, it is puzzling how a defense that looked so good all season could get schooled quite that badly.

Ohio State is definitely in the newly minted BCS National Championship game, while Michigan currently remains number 2 in the BCS poll. Which means that if the season ended now, we would have a rematch between Wolverines and Buckeyes in the BCS NC Game. But several games that could have an impact remain to be played, including Notre Dame at Southern California. Michigan will at least make another of the BCS Bowl games, most likely the Rose Bowl AKA the Granddaddy of 'Em All. And, we could have a scenario where Ohio State loses to some other team (USC, or Florida, perhaps) in the BCS championship game and Michigan wins the Rose Bowl. This could result in a split national championship between Michigan and Florida/USC/whoever might beat Ohio State.

Why they do not just have a 16 team playoff (as is the case at all other levels of college football) is a mystery to me. Instead, they keep tinkering with the traditional Bowl setup and nothing ever really gets fixed.

By far, though, the saddest sports news of the weekend occurred on Friday with the passing of Michigan coaching great Bo Schembechler. He really deserves a separate post, so I will end this one and post one that is Just About Bo.