While I was writing for the L A Times that I was assigned ahead of the Rose Bowl to
cover visiting Michigan. Michigan was coming to Pasadena. The headquarters, of
course for the Rose Bowl would be here for the week ahead of a Rose Bowl game against us.
C so I was assigned to cover every practice, every function
just to be around the Wolverines in their time in Los Angeles.
And so it was that the pr people at Michigan
told me that, well, one of the functions they were going to was Disneyland and that
maybe there'd be a little media availability while the team was spending the day at
Disneyland. So I said I'm there. That was my first trip to Disneyland. It was a working trip,
a trip. None. Nonetheless.
So I went and I felt a little foolish following the Wolverines as they went through
Tomorrowland Frontier Land, adventure Land.
And if any of the players stop to get something to eat or drink, I struck up a
conversation, obviously identifying myself as the L A Times reporter. They're all good kids.
They're all good to me. I got some good stories out of that week,
I was at Disneyland following them from land to land.
Four or five hours late in the day, the sun was setting. I look
over and had a little picnic table. They sat coach Bosin Beckler, legendary coach at
Michigan by himself, taking a break, getting off his
feet for a couple of minutes. He had seen me at practice. I waved to him, he
waved back. I said, can I join you for a couple of minutes? He said, yeah, just for a
couple. So I sat down, I think he liked me
one strength I had as a reporter was, I could get people to talk to me. I kind of
eased into a conversation about some of his draft eligible kids who could go high.
We talked about a linebacker he loved and then we talked about a cornerback. He didn't love.
He told me this is off the record and I said you can trust me. And the more he talked about
the cornerback, the less I liked said cornerback, he went into some gory
details, but they were true. It's just a good honest conversation.
The head coaches evaluation of, of why this cornerback won't amount to
much at the next level. And by the way, he was right about that cornerback.
So as the conversation wound up, I thanked Coach Bo and as I
got up to leave, he stood up and he grabbed my hand and squeezed it and he looked me
dead in the eyes from about six inches away, nose to nose.
And he said to me, if you print any of what I told you about that cornerback, I will
come and find you and I will knock your teeth out. He didn't
grin, he didn't chuckle. He was deadly serious . He was going to come and find me and knock
my teeth out. And I said, coach, you
can trust me and I was trustable and I obviously did not print
any of what he told me about that cornerback. But I did write a story with a different
perspective than I would have had on my own without his guidance.
But it did shake me up that Bosin Beckler had just looked me right in the eyes and
said, I will come and find you and knock your teeth out. And I believe he not only meant it,
but he was highly capable of just that, even though at that point he was, I don't know,
30 years older than me. That was Boche Beckler . And as I walked
away, I looked around at whatever it was Tomorrowland and I thought
I, I finally made it to Disneyland. I'm, I'm here. It's real and it's so real
that the legendary Michigan coach just threatened to knock my teeth out.
And I thought, talk about surreal. I guess I have arrived. I
tell this story only because we've come full circle. And as I speak, Michigan's football
team. The number one seed in the college playoff tournament is out here in Los
Angeles, getting ready to play Alabama in a national
semifinal. May Boschen Beckler. Rest in peace.