It's a quiet Sunday night, so I thought this would be the perfect time for this diary. You see, today is the start of the greatest week of the entire year for anyone who has any idea what they're talking about.
That's right, it's the start of Michigan-Ohio State week, the greatest rivalry in the history of sports (sit down yanks-sox fans, I don't wanna hear it).
Follow me to the flip for some historical background, a comparison of the teams, and, as an added bonus, a fun poll...
The rivalry first began in 1897,with Michigan winning
34-0. This game would set a trend for the next several decades, as Michigan would dominate the early days. Under Fielding Yost's "point a minute" teams from 1901-1905, Michigan won by a combined score of
214-6, establishing an inferiority complex that lingers in the minds of Ohio State fans to this very day.
After these early years, someone finally taught Ohio State to play football, and things evened out in the following years. Things swung back and forth in the following years, until the devil took over the OSU program in 1951. Ohio State would go on to dominate both Michigan and the big 10 over the next 18 years. Clearly, Michigan would need a hero. And, in 1969, that hero appeared, in the form of former Ohio State assistant Bo Schembechler.
The 1969 game was a revenge game of the highest magnitude. The preceding year, Ohio State had thumped Michigan 50-14. At the end of the game, Hayes made the classless...interesting decision to go for 2. As Wikipedia says
Asked why he "went for two," Hayes responded "Because I couldn't go for three."
So the stage was set for 1969. Woody brought his defending national champion and undefeated team into the Big House, and was shocked by a mediocre, yet gutsy, Michigan team. This victory began the fabled "10 years war", an era where Michigan and Ohio State played for the Big 10 title seemingly every season, with neither Woody or Bo able to gain an upper hand. The final tally? Bo 5, Woody 4 with one tie.
The rivalry was brought to an untimely end, when the always calm, cool and collected Hayes acted with his usual level of class:
In the 1978 Gator Bowl, after a late Clemson interception sealed Ohio State's loss, Hayes erupted. He punched the Clemson defender who picked off the pass.
Hayes was fired the next day. Things seesawed back and forth for the next decade or so until Bo retired, and Ohio State made the fateful decision to hire
John "I can't believe I'm going to lose to Michigan again" Cooper . Cooper made a career out of bringing highly ranked teams into the Michigan game, only to utterly and completely choke against subpar Michigan teams, culminating in the back to back 1995-1996 seasons, where Cooper brought teams ranked #2 and #1 into the game, and was utterly humiliated both times. The very next season,
Jesus himself returned a punt for a touchdown and intercepted a pass in the endzone to single-handedly defeat Ohio State, and propel Michigan to the national championship. All in all, Cooper went 2-10-1 against Michigan, reducing a once-proud program into a collection of demoralized and traumatized nation.
Sadly, like all good things, the Cooper era came to an end. He was fired following the 2000 season, and was replaced by the ironically named "Jim "saint" Tressel (see: more arrests than any program in the last 5 years). Armed with his roving band of vandals and criminals, Tressel has guided Ohio State to wins in 3 of the final 4 seasons, as well as a national championship in 2001, led by liar and committer of insurance fraud, Maurice Clarett.
So that sets the stage for this week's game. If you need a quick recap of the good guys and the bad guys, here goes: Michigan has the greatest uniforms in professional sports. Ohio State has stickers. Michigan has the greatest fight song in all of football. Ohio State has stickers. Michigan plays in the Big House. Ohio State plays in the Horseshoe. Michigan has been led by men of character like Charles Woodson, Anthony Carter, and Tom Brady. OSU had Maurice Clarett. And oh yeah. Ohio State has stickers. Plus they're from Ohio.
So take the poll, and if you happen to have a side in this rivalry, feel free to talk some smack down below. As always, it's all in good fun.