 |
| Cooper had all the talent in the world. |
What does the Ohio St.-Michigan game mean to me? Well, in my formative years in the mid to late 90’s it meant heart break, white hot rage, disappointment and missed opportunities. John Cooper was a recruiting savant and always seemed to fill out the roster with 4 and 5 star kids. Some of the greatest players this program has ever seen came from those Cooper teams.
Names such as Winfield (my personal all-time favorite), George, Pace, Boston, Galloway, and Glenn, just to name a few, peppered the sidelines for the scarlet and gray. Those teams would always roll through their schedule with relative ease and seemed to hang around the top 5 every time they would go into the game with the Wolverines. Then, for whatever reason, the team would shit the bed (not a pretty metaphor but an appropriate one)when they saw those wing tipped helmets on the opposite sideline. At least two possible national championship teams were thwarted by TSUN in the 90’s.
It was tough to be a Buckeye fan during the Cooper years mostly because the bandwagon was filling up with Michigan fans faster than the said bandwagon had room for them. Northwest Ohio has always been a battle ground for Ohio St, Michigan and Notre Dame fans. I never quite understood why because we were within those sacred state lines that separated us from those lesser states of Michigan and Indiana. I was always taught to be proud of where you are from (Ohio) and to root for the team that represented the folks in your state (Ohio again). Obviously I have a HUGE problem with people who have an allegiance to a state they aren’t from or have never lived. If I were in charge, there would be some kind of rule that prohibits this type of behavior. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be campaigning for public office anytime soon so the chances these type of people will be banned from the state is slim to none. I suppose it is a small price to pay for the freedom we enjoy in this country but a guy can dream can’t he?
After a horrendous 2-10-1 record against the Wolverines and two no shows in bowl games against the Gamecocks, Cooper was shown the door in favor of Jim Tressel. When this hire was made, I have to admit I was a little ticked that OSU didn’t go after a big name guy. Having lived in Ohio me entire life, I had heard of Tressel and his Youngstown St. team before the hire. I thought he would be hard pressed to have that level of success at the division 1 level. Then he made his famous halftime speech at the Buckeye basketball game and I was sold. I was willing to give this guy a shot. Cooper had always downplayed the OSU-MI game, most likely because he always got his ass handed to him, and it was refreshing to hear our new coach single this one out as special. Of course everyone knew it was special but we had been force fed the notion that it was just another game for the previous 13 years.
Tressel ended up calling his shot (probably the first and last time that will happen) and the Buckeyes were able to salvage the 2001 season with an upset win over Michigan in Ann Arbor. I really think that first victory was key to all the success he has had against UM. If Ohio St. had whiffed on that first game after the halftime speech I am not so sure OSU has the record it does against Michigan. That opening salvo got Tressel in their heads just as Michigan was in Cooper’s for all of those years. You can’t argue with an 8-1 record against your arch rival.
 |
| Nothing like it in the world. |
“The Game” has been and always will be the greatest rivalry in all of sports. The animosity and genuine hatred that comes spewing from each side is palpable. Both teams have rabid fan bases that love nothing more than to revel in the misery of the other side. We as Buckeye fans have enjoyed success this past decade and it is about time considering the suffering endured during the 90’s. If you would have talked to me 15 years ago, I would have told you I didn’t think we would ever beat the Wolverines again. That just goes to show you how quickly things can change in this series. It only took a couple of years and the momentum had completely shifted to Ohio. We haven’t let it shift back to the enemy but enjoy it while you can. Michigan is bound to be back at some point and they won’t be happy considering the beatings they have taken in recent years. Just thinking about the game gives me shivers and I am really looking forward to the next installment of this rivalry come Saturday.
