Buckeye fans once paid Bo Schembechler for pizza

In one of the most interesting pieces of sports mythology reporting I've come across in some time, some middle-aged pizza lovers out there might come to the realization that they were once adding to Bo Schembechler's financial stability.

That's right, Ohio State Buckeye fans were giving their pizza money directly to the former Michigan head football coach from 1982-92. ESPN has the full detailed story, but here's the shortened edition.

It was 1981 and Schembechler had just finished his 13th season in Ann Arbor. His record was impeccable. He had beaten Ohio State in four of the last six years. He was regularly finishing ranked in the Top 10. Things were good. So naturally other programs wanted to pluck Schembechler away by offering more money. Texas A&M was the one that tried to woo the Michigan coach with what was reported as the biggest contract in college sports history at the time. Obviously Bo stayed at Michigan until the 1989 season, he cited that there are other things more important than money as a reason for turning down the Aggies. Even though he did get a big raise at Michigan and as this myth proves, some money from a Dominos pizza as well.

That's where Tom Monaghan comes in. Monaghan founded Dominos Pizza (headquartered in Ann Arbor) in 1960 and by the 80s things were rolling and his locations were opening all over the map. Being a Michigan guy Monaghan wanted to do whatever he could to keep Schembechler in town. He remembered how the coach once spoke of his desire to own a pizza place....so Monaghan made that happen.

Even though Schembechler didn't "officially" own the location, Monaghan explains in his biography that Schembechler received all the profits from one of the two Columbus franchises. This went on from 1982 to 1992, when Monaghan fired Schembecler as president of the Detroit Tigers and ended the financial deal.

So that's it. You may have been contributing to the wealth of Michigan's football coach. Maybe that makes you angry. Maybe not. Maybe you'll look at Dominos differently if you're a Buckeye fan. But what an interesting story nonetheless.