Message from John Kolesar

This just made my evening. I logged on to my youtube account and I had a message in my inbox from Wolverine great John Kolesar; one of Bo's best receivers who had a habit of breaking the hearts of the Buckeyes.



The message said,

"Dear Andy, Great Job!

You have done a great job at capturing Michigan history over the years..it has allowed my kids to enjoy my playing days!

Thanks and Go Blue!

John Kolesar #40"

That is awesome. I echo his comments. You have done a great job of capturing the great history of UM football.

WolverineHistorian, did you by chance ever see that basketball video called "Team 96: A year in review" that I linked back in April.

It started off showing Stu Douglass and Zack Novak cheering about making the NCAA tournament last year. It was a 16 minute video that climaxed with a Trey Burke's shot vs Kansas. The video pauses at the shot and flashes back to something (I think maybe a flashback to his press conference announcing that he was staying?).

Anyways, the video is removed from youtube. It was truly an amazing video that gave me chills countless times. If you could find it, that would be great. If you can't you should make a video just like that (I can help you with ideas/highlights for it).

what a very cool reward for your hard work. Congrats buddy!

DUDE....THAT'S AWESOME.

Congrats, WH, you certainly deserve all of the mentions, nods, etc. that you receive from the wolverine faithful, the media (mgoblog and other sites, in particular) as well as any former people associated with the program.

It 1,000% keeps us linked with the past.

Go Blue

Yes indeed!  An----, er, WolverineHistorian---takes a back seat to no one when it comes to accurate,
knowledgeable information on U-M football (and other topics as well, I can attest).

Five(5) special plays (or sequences) come to [my] mind regarding speedy John (or was it JON?).
In chron. order:

(a) The OSU '85 game. He caught a desperation heave by Harbaugh, who was about to be sacked,
and outraced the OSU defender for the put-away score (27-17). Man, could he run...maybe the
fastest white U-M player ever. (And I'm not the only one who thinks so).

(b) The Notre Dame '86 game, depicted in WH's initial post of this thread. He caught, looking back into
the sun, a 33-yard pass from Harbaugh, over-the-shoulder. It probably saved the game for us, even
though we fumbled and gave them a last chance, by moving the ball well out of our territory (24-23).

(c) The '87 bowl game with Alabama. After we blew a 21-3 lead, on Jamie Morris' superb running,
he gave the victory back to hospitalized Bo (heart), outracing and outjumping the 'Bama defender
for the winning TD (28-24). Afterward, he sought out the defender to shake hands. "He's just a good,
fast white kid, like me."  (See?  Told you I wasn't the only one...)

(d) OSU'88. After we blew a 20-0 halftime lead against a miserable OSU team, and trailed 31-27, he
flat-out accounted for all 100 yards of our winning score: returned KO 59 yards to our 41, then
caught TD pass from Demetrious Brown (34-31).

(e) USC-Rose '88. On one play, in our 22-14 victory, he was caught (so everyone thought) on a botched
reverse for -15...escaped, and ended up with a 17-yard GAIN. A 32-yard "reversal".  So much so as to
move frustrated losing coach Larry Smith to remark, "Are we playing touch football out there?"

WH I can't add to the praises you've received here.

I can just say

DITTO!

Thanks guys.

I sent a reply to John last night and I listed all of the games I have from his playing years and then I said I would email him any plays or moments he would like to save on his computer. Surprisingly, he said the moment he would like to see most was when he broke his collar bone against Illinois in '86.

He also told me that he had lunch with Bo's son the other day. Sounds like a really nice guy. See how great a person can be when they leave the state of Ohio?

And a reply to hailtoyourvictor, I believe I did see that video during March Madness and yes, it was awesome. It also doesn't surprise me that YouTube removed it. I think if you upload sports videos under ten minutes, they're more likely to stay. I couldn't find the video for you. I have no power over YouTube anyway. They have already blocked 200 of my videos.

WolverineHistorian wrote:

 It also doesn't surprise me that YouTube removed it.  I think if you upload sports videos under ten minutes, they're more likely to stay.  I couldn't find the video for you.  I have no power over YouTube anyway.  They have already blocked 200 of my videos.  

 

Yeah, the guy who runs MGoVideo lost everything he ever had.

That site used to be gold. I'd fall asleep every single night re-watching an old Michigan game on my laptop next to my bed.

Those days are over now, though.    

That is so cool. John was one of my favorite players.

'shoes

I've been messaging back and forth with John the last couple nights, emailing him as many of his plays as I can remember off the top of my head. He's had a blast watching the clips and showing them to his kids. He asked me if it were possible to put these plays on to a DVD, so I'm going to have to learn how to do that.

Anyway, he ended his last email telling me that he'd love to take me out for a beer some time.  

Sounds awesome, yes. But I'm such a nerd when it comes to former (or current) players. Even the ones who played before I was born. They're such HUGE celebrities to me that meeting them in person might cause me to have a little trouble putting basic sentences together.

Sounds familiar. I ran into Jack Johnson on Saturday night and became a little flustered...

It happens to the best of us.

1. Who's Jack Johnson.

2. I think you will be ok historian. You will handle it well.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

1.  Who's Jack Johnson.

2.  I think you will be ok historian.  You will handle it well.

jack johnson was our all american hockey defenseman a few years back. NHL'er now.

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

fishgoblue22 wrote:

1.  Who's Jack Johnson.

2.  I think you will be ok historian.  You will handle it well.

jack johnson was our all american hockey defenseman a few years back. NHL'er now.

Oh yeah, no kidding, I should have known that.

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

fishgoblue22 wrote:

1.  Who's Jack Johnson.

2.  I think you will be ok historian.  You will handle it well.

jack johnson was our all american hockey defenseman a few years back. NHL'er now.

^5 'eggo, especially if you knew that off of the top of your head without looking it up.

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

fishgoblue22 wrote:

1.  Who's Jack Johnson.

2.  I think you will be ok historian.  You will handle it well.

jack johnson was our all american hockey defenseman a few years back. NHL'er now.

^5 'eggo, especially if you knew that off of the top of your head without looking it up.

I did. also knew he came back for his soph year after he was drafted I think by Carolina. Ended up with the Kings, now plays for Columbus I think. all off the top of my head.

Like I said in another post (the thread is still on the first page), I bumped into him, literally, on Saturday night.

Fine, WH....I'll go have the beer in your place.

I'll just need you to provide me with your basic personal information for imitation purposes.

I'll handle the rest.