The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/90932
FROM OUR READERS season. When Notre Dame broke that gentleman's agreement by in- serting a warm-up game before the Michigan game, Bo Schembechler, our coach emeritus, became irate. Ironically, the Notre Dame/ Michigan series was resurrected in part due to Bo's close friendship with Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame's coach in 1969, when Bo assumed the helm in Ann Arbor. Bo was also furious at the Irish's staving off of overtures to join the Big Ten, pro- claiming that Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue should simul- taneously drop Notre Dame from schedules immediately. "To Hell with Notre Dame" he shouted to anyone who would listen. Sadly, I would have to agree. Roger E. Mayerson Morristown, N.J. It was a strong series and will be missed by many, Roger E. The way it's ending, though, will give a number of folks reason to back Schembechler's words. Dear The Wolverine: I write today to share a story with you about Coach Hoke, not about what a great college coach he is (or how lucky we are to have him at the helm), but rather what a truly kind and caring man he is. Recently, I wrote a letter to Coach Hoke to let him know about a good friend of mine, John, here in San Diego who has been heroically bat- tling multiple myeloma for the last few years, undergoing both chemo- therapy and radiation treatments in an effort to arrest the disease pro- cess. My letter to Coach Hoke was sent shortly after I learned that John had been hospitalized again follow- ing the discovery of a tumor in his head for which he was to begin un- dergoing radiation treatments. John has been a good friend of mine for over 30 years and, since his initial diagnosis, I have given him a number of Michigan hats and shirts, which he loves to wear. He calls me to tell me how much he enjoys hearing someone say "Go Blue!" to him when they see his hat. My request to Coach Hoke was that, if possible, would he please send John a short note, or pho- LIFTS SPIRITS OFF FIELD BRADY HOKE ter, John received a photograph from Coach Hoke with a wonder- ful note: "John, Fight Hard — We are pulling for you! Go Blue! Brady Hoke." My letter was sent shortly before the start of the football sea- son at a time when Coach Hoke was undoubtedly a very busy man. He could have easily just set my letter aside. But he didn't. That's not the kind of man he is. Instead, he took the time to do a very kind thing for John, a person he doesn't even know. And, regardless of the wins or the losses on the football field, none of us will ever forget it. Thomas S. Lazar Alpine, Calif. Thanks for sharing, Thomas. Our best to all involved. MISSES LAID-BACK DAYS Dear The Wolverine: On a daily basis we are all faced with many stresses: a mean teacher, a nasty boss, deadlines, traffic — the list is endless. So how do we relax and enjoy the weekend? We watch a nail-biting Michigan foot- ball game for three hours. Now I know about the "cathar- tograph and note, to inspire him while he moves forward to deal with the fight of his life. John is a good man, and I thought it would help him as he deals with this latest challenge. Well, not long after I sent my let- dured during the week seemed to fade, if only for a little while. With the parity in college football today, those days that I pine for are long gone and not likely to ever return. And so I propose the fol- lowing: Michigan drops out of the Big Ten and develops an indepen- dent schedule consisting of 11 home games and one road trip. We'll in- vite Central and Eastern Michigan to The Big House. The Southern scholars will visit next as Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice and Tulane come to town in successive weeks. From the East we'll draw Navy, Temple and our old friends from UMass. We'll wrap up the home stand by entertaining San Diego State and Washington State. By this time the cold winds of December will have rolled around and we will be con- strained to play our one road game against the University of Hawaii. Now what's not to like about this schedule? All of these teams are FBS schools with Division I athletes. And imag- ine the revenue from 11 home games at The Big House filling the coffers of both Michigan and the visitors. But best of all, we can return at long last to the days of Frisbee play and Boone's Farm. At the end of the year we will take our pristine 12-0 record before the bowls. Recruiting will be a snap for the tic effect," displacing aggression and vicariously living on the edge. But when you come right down to it, the games are STRESSFUL. The negative effects can also be long lasting. I still get a twinge every now and then over those missed field goals against Ohio State in the '70s. of yore when we had the Big Two and the Little Eight. Most games we witnessed a first half consist- ing of highly skilled Michigan play- ers running up and down the field against lesser teams. By halftime the Frisbees were out, and the sec- ond half was more of an athletic happening than a high-pressure game. We saw some exciting football plays, honed our Frisbee skills and had a laid-back, fun-filled time. Somehow all those stresses we en- Personally, I pine for the days Blue. Apart from the obvious (the recruits have an opportunity to at- tend a premier school in a lovely college town) I would add the fol- lowing. The players will play in front of their home fans against largely beatable teams. Because of several anticipated blowouts, the new players will get to play mean- ingful minutes each week. And ending up in Hawaii in December is most attractive to kids who may not have ever been out of the Mid- west. The naysayers will decry my plans as exhibiting a lack of sports- manship, cowardice or some other such nonsense. To which I respond pish-posh, the Frisbee is coming, get off my cloud. Walnut Creek, Calif. Harvey Dasho Good luck with that, Harvey. And watch out for those walnuts. u NOVEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 13