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| Rick Freeman |
One problem. There was this stupid show on every Sunday morning called the Earle Bruce show. Here I was, with an Ed "Too Tall" Jones-sized hankering for NFL action, and this weenie in scarlet and gray was busy making excuses for his team's latest fold.
So you see where I'm coming from. But while it's confession time, I might as well admit this. In high school, when our football team won four state titles (which seems to be about all the Buckeye have managed since I've known them), I tried to like the Scarlet and Gray. I can still hum "Across the Field." I paid attention to Bobby Hoying and John Cooper. I talked Rose Bowl chances and rankings with my classmates. I gave up in October.
It was too infuriating. I was already dealing with the ineptness of the Browns (they had just cut Bernie Kosar because of his "diminishing skills") and the Indians (their skills were diminished enough as it was). I couldn't handle Cooper's determination to avoid success at all costs.
I went back to my Wolverines. At that point, Michigan wasn't even in my college plans. I visited Ann Arbor, went to a football game and decided this was the place for me.
In the weeks leading up to that first Ohio-State Michigan game, I was a beaten-down sports fan. My Browns had been moved. My Wolverines had lost to a bunch of tulips in purple pants. Everyone in my hometown was guaranteeing an Ohio State victory. It made sense - the Buckeye were undefeated, and ranked second.
Oops. I'd say I don't need to say what happened, but since it happened twice, I suppose I do. Tshimanga Biakabutuka happened all over the Buckeyes, to the tune of 313 on the ground.
The next year was more of the same - Buckeye blew a 9-0 halftime lead and lost 13-9. In 1997, the tables were turned. This time Michigan was undefeated and No. 1. The Buckeye were primed to knock them off. But Michigan showed them how to act when you're on the brink of a national title.
But enough rehashing. The point is, which Ohio State fan right now wouldn't trade this year's team for any one of those bunch of underachievers? Come to think of it, some Michigan fans would probably trade this year's team in for some teams in the recent past (maybe not '97's).
But so what if the Big Ten title doesn't ride on this game? Wolverines and Buckeye alike know that the loser of this game has a particularly tragic fate. Michigan would have to swallow Cooper's first win in Michigan Stadium, as well as a loss to a team that's proven itself worse than Illinois this season. The Buckeye would, of course, have their season end without a bowl game for the first time since 1988.
Every year, even last year when the Buckeye got their once-every-five-years win, I never regretted turning down my free ride to Ohio State. So Michigan lost. We kind of had to make sure Cooper stays in Columbus as long as possible. And besides, when have the Buckeye been defending national champions?
Which is exactly the point.
Here's John Cooper, with his 2-8-1 record against the Wolverines, and a contract through 2003. Here's a coach who has three No. 2 finishes to his name. But no titles. Buckeye fans have Biakabutuka, Brian Griese coming off the bench and Charles Woodson's punt return. But no titles, no rings, just a trophy case full of might-have-beens.
Maybe that's part of the Buckeye' curse. Clevelanders, by and large, consider themselves Ohio State fans. And as we all know, the deities that control sport will not allow Cleveland fans a title in anything other than indoor soccer.
Here's why Michigan fans are so happy with the current state of this rivalry. Even the ones from Cleveland.
- Rick Freeman, Managing Sports Editor of The Michigan Daily, has a free "1997 National Champions" T-shirt for anyone who can get him some of those little Buckeye stickers they put on the helmets. E-mail him at rickfree@umich.edu
Freeman Of The Press
11-18-99
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