What's that? A Wolverine Coach behaving below legal standards? How could this be? His name isn't Gary Moeller, is it?
In case you didn't know about this, we bring you the news, two decades after the fact. And don't blame yourself for not finding evidence on your own, as the UM faithful have scrubbed the Internet nearly clean of any record of his arrest. We can find glancing references in comments and blogs, but the main reports are much more difficult to locate. Berenson must have a strong cyber-team working on his behalf.
So we turn to the Michigan Daily for a review of the situation:
"On the night of March 16, 1994, as Berenson left Banfield's Bar and Grill in Ann Arbor, a police officer was watching from across the street. The officer watched as Berenson first urinated outside next to a wall of the public library, then got in his car and put it in reverse. Berenson had gone about 20 feet before the officer stopped him and arrested him for drunken driving and urinating in public.
"And suddenly, like never before, Red Berenson was a front-page story. And so was the Michigan hockey program.
"The charges were eventually reduced to "driving while visibly impaired."
The next closest source we can locate with a brief mention of the Berenson arrest is in Eugene Oregon, and you can check into it right here.
Sure, some might say, "nobody's perfect", and that's exactly our point. The University of Michigan isn't perfect, either, no matter how many incidents they may sweep under the carpet or scrub from the Internet. Right, Brendan Gibbons?
So we bring you these FACTS to help you understand the true nature of the U-of-M. They are just about like anybody else that you would find anywhere else. They do some things well, but they also screw up and even get caught now and again. THEY ARE NOT "SPECIAL" BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT DIFFERENT. They are just another school, and they should be viewed and treated accordingly.
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Gotta love This Date in chUMp History. I legitimately had no idea that this happened with ol' Red.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up as a hockey-playing youngster, I attended a camp at UM. This had to have been right around the time of Red's bar-hopping antics. Anyway, I can personally attest to the fact that Red is canonized at UM much the same as Bo. At least among hockey fans with a particular allegiance to UM, Red is (or, at least, was) THE MAN. "Ron Mason? Who's that?"
A note about that particular hockey camp that believers in the "Michigan Difference" may have trouble appreciating: The camp was largely run by the UM hockey players. They were benignly boorish and, having been left entirely unsupervised, they would report to camp joking about their hangovers. One of the more responsible players even counseled us youngsters that, "I like beer, same as most of the guys. But you can't show up to games or practice hungover and expect to play well." I'll admit to that likely being paraphrased since it was some time ago, but I have no doubt as to the spirit of what he was saying.
Were they irresponsible monsters? Heck no. They were fun guys, treated us well, and we youngsters rather enjoyed seeing the "big kids" hamming it up amongst themselves (anyone who's been a younger brother will recognize this appeal). Point is, they were JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. Forget your "Michigan Difference".