Article published October 08, 2008
Carty’s choice: Toledo's mayor will be rooting for . . .
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, left, has already struck up a friendship with first-year Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, and co-hosted a reception for him at the Toledo Club in May also attended by Rodriguez’s wife, Rita. Then again, the mayor has always been strong for Toledo.
(
THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY
)
|
By JOE VARDON
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
A lifelong Michigan Wolverines fan with family ties to the university and its football program just happens to be the mayor of Toledo and a former Rocketsassistant coach.
In this the week that UM and Toledo finally face one another on the gridiron, Carty Finkbeiner is indeed caught between a Rocket and a hard place.
So, who will Finkbeiner root for when the Wolverines and Rockets meet Saturday at noon at the Big House?
The respective coaches at UM andToledo seem to have this one alreadyfigured out.
“Well, I would hope he’s rootin’ for the maize and blue,” Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez said. “He probably can’t say that because he is the mayor of Toledo, and I’m sure he has a lot of affection for the Rockets.
“He’ll probably tell me he’s for Michigan all the way.”
Rockets coach Tom Amstutz, naturally, disagrees.
“There’s no doubt Carty’s a Toledo man all the way,” Amstutz said. “Yes he does have friends up at Michigan, but I know his heart will be midnight blue and gold.
He’ll be cheering for Toledo during the whole game.”
One of these coaches is on the money with his assessment.
Which one is it? Before we tell you, consider Finkbeiner’s background.
Finkbeiner, 69, is in his third term as Toledo’s mayor and is a former city councilman. Also, Finkbeiner’s first job following his graduation from Denison University was as a graduate assistant and later a full-fledged assistant football coach at UT under Frank X. Lauterbur — positions he held from 1963-66.
But there’s also quite a bit of “Michigan man” in Finkbeiner. His father was a UM graduate, and his uncle, Don Finkbeiner, once played for the Wolverines and coach Fielding Yost.
The Toledo mayor has been going to the Big House for games since his youth, and he and his brother Chris still have season tickets. Finkbeiner has also struck up a friendship with Rodriguez, and co-hosted a reception for the UM coach at the Toledo Country Club in May.
And just before training camp began, Finkbeiner drove toRodriguez’s home in Saline, Mich., to deliver a sheet cake that read: “Good luck Rich. Go Blue!”
“That wasn’t a political move,” Rodriguez said. “That was just Carty being a great friend. I love his enthusiasm.”
But let’s get real, folks. Finkbeiner and politics go hand in hand, which leads us to hispreference in Saturday’s game.
Cakes and receptions aside, hizzoner may run for a fourth mayoral term in 2009, and it does him no good to court the Ann Arbor vote.
The top Toledoan sitting in the south end zone Saturday might be a Wolverines season ticket holder, but he’ll be rooting for the Rockets.
“I just owe a ton to that university,” Finkbeiner said while speaking of his days as a UT football coach. “So for me to do anything other than, at heart, be for anyone other than the University of Toledo on Saturday, I would be a guy who was unappreciative of the people who helped me grow as a man back in the ’60s.”
But quick to cover his tracks, Finkbeiner also said he wouldn’t be cheering for negative plays on UM’s part.
“I suppose if they had ties in football anymore, in my heart of hearts that would be a happy moment, not an unhappy moment, if [they tied],” Finkbeiner said. “But there isn’t. There will be a winner and a loser.
“As a Toledoan, I will be rooting positively, affirmatively, for [UT] to make plays.”
Contact Joe Vardon at:jvardon@theblade.com or 419-410-5055.
Permanent Link
|
|
 |
|
Search
advertisement
