...from MGo no less. I decided to venture over there to see what our rivals had to say about Coach Bruce. Was pleasantly surprised to find a forum post created by mGrowOld. He recounted this little story:
Passed this morning at 87. FWIW I met coach Bruce several years ago when I got invited to play golf in the Scarlet & Grey golf classic. I was wearing a Michigan polo (so I was obviously loved by all the OSU players that day) and on one hole coach Bruce and I were waiting to tee off and we both were having a beer while we waited.
I told him "hey coach - I was at your last game rooting obviously for Michigan. You were down 14-0 and came back to win. I thought you got hosed by OSU so it didnt bother me as much that we ended up losing that day."
He looked at me for a second and then barked loudly. "IT WAS 13-0. I REMEMBER EVERY GOD DAMN PLAY OF THAT GAME." Then he stopped for a second and said softly "you know - Bo told me that was the only game he didnt mind losing to OSU. I've never forgotten that."
He was our rival but I respected the hell out of him. RIP coach Bruce - say hi to Bo for us today.
mGrowOld went on to add:
Coach Bruce got pretty buzzed that over the course of that day (it was hot as hell and coach Bruce liked his beer) so my fairly small co-worker who was playing with me decided he would mess with him near the end of the day by telling him he played for him (as a kicker) and was hurt that he didnt remember him.
When he said this coach Bruce looked him up and down and said (again very loudly) "YOU NEVER PLAYED FOR ME. YOU'RE A FUCKING LIAR. I REMEMBER EVERY PLAYER WHO DID - EVEN THE STUPID FUCKING KICKERS" and then he started laughing like hell.
He was a lot of fun to play with (even for a buckeye) and every player (and i mean EVERY player) came up to him and gave him a hug at some point during the day and you could tell there was genuine and real affection for the man.
Thank you mGrowOld, not just for the story but for your appreciation and understanding of the rivalry.
Here’s the entire thread if your interested:
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/rip-earle-bruce
Nothing but respect coming from up north today.
