I’ve been watching The Game since I was a little boy. I’ve seen Earle Bruce win games he shouldnt have won, I’ve seen John Cooper lose games he shouldn’t have lost, and I’ve seen Jim Tressel absolutely own TTUN.
On the other side of the field, the TTUN coaches who understand the rivalry have done the best. There’s a damn good reason Bo Schembechler won that 1969 game against the best OSU team ever. It’s the same reason that Tressel beat #7 TTUN in 2004. It wasn’t about who had the better team, it was about who could motivate and execute better.
So yesterday, I saw an article about The Game, and a few key points stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb.
Head Coach Rich Rodriguez might have more riding on this game. Redemption and the ability to walk around Ann Arbor without a disguise until next football season.
“(Upsetting Ohio State) is not going to salvage the season, but it at least will make you feel good for a few days,” Rodriguez said.
Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME????
If the Head Coach of That Team Up North thinks that beating us will make him feel good “for a few days”, then he very clearly does NOT “get it”!
“We talk about … the frustrations we’ve had or any disappointments we’ve had. A win would help a little bit, but it’s not going to erase everything, and it shouldn’t erase everything.”
I don’t know about you, but if my team was 3-8 and we beat our biggest rival, who happened to be in the Top 10, I’d have to say that would erase EVERYTHING painful about the whole year.
Hey, TTUN. You have the power to knock us out of the freaking Rose Bowl….and you’re not excited?
“I’ve told the team … not a lot of people are going to expect you to do well and win the game, but we expect them to do well,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a challenge, but we are capable of playing pretty good football.”
That’s the sound of defeat coming from your head coach.
Now, here’s what it sounds like when your coach “gets it”…..
OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel said. “Ohio State vs. Michigan trumps everything. It trumps your record. It trumps whether it’s dangerous or you don’t have a chance, or any of those kinds of things. … I would like to think our guys understand that. There’s only one demonstration of understanding and that’s at 12 noon on Saturday.”
That’s the attitude to have. Ohio State has it, TTUN doesn’t.
When John Cooper showed up at Ohio State, he was wearing a blue blazer around campus one day, when a student told him “coach, you can’t wear that”. Cooper didn’t understand why. He said that the TTUN game was “just another game”.
Rodriquez is talking the same way.
Here’s hoping RichRod has the same success at TTUN that Cooper had at Ohio State.
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