The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Detroit for the 2006 Super Bowl, his appearance earning a mention in the city's newspapers. The restaurant is a destination spot for Jansen, former All-Big Ten lineman and current Detroit Lion Jeff Backus, former Heisman Trophywinner and All-Pro safety Charles Woodson, former All-American tight end Jerame Tuman and several others, while Nike founder Phil Knight, ABC commentator Brent Musburger and NFL Network personality (and Michigan alum) Rich Eisen are among those who have been spotted over the past several years. Eisen even recommended Mister Spots to Dan Patrick on Patrick's nationally syndicated show. Former Michigan legend Bo Schembechler, though, might have been as responsible as anyone for helping the restaurant gain a following within the athletic department. The coach, health conscious after his second heart surgery in 1987, was a tuna and soup man and frequent visitor, and one of the reasons athletes often chose to use their department-issued food vouchers at the restaurant. McKendry and Wojcik were firmly established by their eighth or ninth year, and were starting to put money away and add to the menu. They'd delivered to Schembechler frequently when he was coaching, but they saw even more of him in the store when he retired in 1989. "He'd get a haircut next door, and he'd stop in," Wojcik recalled. "Sometimes he'd just prop open the door, look inside and every once in a while yell, super loud, 'Are you guys still making that crappy tuna salad?' All the customers in the store would stop and look, and he'd just walk away laughing." They fed the coach one last time when he came in with his wife, Kathy, and son, Shemy, on Nov. 16, 2006. This time Schembechler, recently hospitalized and in failing health, ordered a cheesesteak sandwich. "We had talked to Shemy a few weeks before, and he said Bo had been ill but was hanging in there," Wojcik recalled. "We thought it was really weird when he ordered the cheesesteak — we all kind of looked at each other." A day later, Schembechler passed away at the WXYZ Channel 7 studio preparing to film his show with sports anchor Don Shane. His memory, though, lives on in a photo above the store's register, a shot of the coach in his younger days sporting his vintage block 'M' hat. "To Keith, Tim and Mister Spots," it reads. "The best tuna sandwich on campus. "Go Blue!" Serving A Fan Base For years, McKendry and Wojcik set up shop in Michigan Stadium on game days, earning new fans and clientele. However football is not the only game in town. For hockey fans, the restaurant is the destination spot on nights before games at Yost Arena. The lucky ones might even see former All-American and NHL all-star goaltender Marty Turco in front of the grill. "I've been back there cooking,"