Schembechler's proves he's boor

It was after Michigan's Rose Bowl loss to Southern Cal lastJanuary that I wrote the Bo Schembechler of the last few years wasn'tnearly as much of a bully and a blowhard and a boor as he had beenfor the majority of his coaching career.

I was wrong. Schembechler is as much of a bully and a blowhardand a boor as he's ever been. Probably more so.

My eyes were reopened by a couple of recent events, one of whichinvolved a woman sportswriter from the Detroit Free Press, andanother involving a final chapter Schembechler added to the paperbackversion of "Bo," his 1989 autobiography.

In that last chapter, Schembechler not only implied that the RoseBowl officials were out to get him, but that Big Ten Commissioner JimDelany was pleased that the Wolverines lost 17-10.

Schembechler also discusses a phone call between Delany and GeneCalhoun, the former Big Ten supervisor of football officials.Schembechler claims that was an attempt by Delany to prejudice theofficials before Michigan played Illinois last November.

Never mind how absurd that sounds. In Schembechler's narrowmind, Delany was out to get him. Why? Because Delany reportedlyasked Calhoun to make sure that a couple of Illinois players who'dbeen involved in a fracas the week before at Iowa be watched, andthat Schembechler behave himself on the sideline.

"What did I ever do to Jim Delany?" Schembechler wrote. "Ihonestly believe that he was just as happy that Michigan lost thatRose Bowl. Our own commissioner.

"Go ahead, accuse me of whining. I know the truth. As far asI'm concerned, that phone call to Calhoun prior to the Illinois gamewas an attempt to prejudice the officials in a key game. This Delanyis bad news and people should know it."

Schembechler insisted that the Rose Bowl officials "were out toget something" because of the fourth-quarter holding call againstBobby Abrams made by Pacific 10 official Charles Czubin.

First of all, the zebras didn't have a thing do with the factthat USC marched 75 yards for the winning touchdown while convertingthree clutch third downs.

Second, I'll bet if he thought about it, Schembechler, who wasn'thalf the coach he thought he was, could undoubtedly find an excusefor his seven other Rose Bowl defeats.

Third, if Delany did indeed want Schembechler to stop intimidatingofficials, as he did throughout his years in Ann Arbor, he's to becommended, not chastized.

As for Calhoun, who backs Schembechler 100 percent, anything hesays shouldn't be taken seriously.

Not only was he fired by the Big Ten, he wasn't particularlypopular with conference officials before Delany even arrived.

But Schembechler outdid himself in the incident with JenniferFrey, a Free Press intern.

It began when Frey approached Tigers pitcher Jack Morris, who'dmake most everybody's list as one of the five biggest boneheads insports, to ask for a comment on the latest ruling regarding baseballcollusion.

Morris, who was wearing sliding shorts, said, "I don't talk topeople when I'm naked, especially women, unless they're on top of meor I'm on top of them."

After receiving a letter from Free Press publisher Neal Shinecomplaining about Morris, Schembechler, the Tigers president, wroteback that Morris' behavior was "out of line but predictable" because"your intern watched men from 20 to 65 years of age undress and dressfor more than half an hour without asking any questions."

Schembechler added, "Your sports editor's lack of common sensein sending a female college intern in a men's clubhouse caused theproblem. I really wouldn't doubt that the whole thing was a scamorchestrated by you people to create a story."

Frey said she was waiting for catcher Mike Heath, who had failedto show for a pre-game interview. She decided to talk to Morris.

Not that any of it matters to Bo the Caveman, who in the span ofa few days proved himself utterly paranoid and completelyinsensitive. That's the real book on Schembechler.