Another conversion

A pro in the business who agrees with me: OSU-Michigan is the game in college football.

Re-ranking the rivalry
BRUCE FELDMAN

Upon further review, I think I need to revise that list about top rivalries and bump Michigan-Ohio State to the top spot. This was the most charged game-day atmosphere I've ever seen. It was like 10 straight hours of a goal-line stand vibe.

Thanks to Todd Jones, a columnist with the Columbus Dispatch, I got an up-close look at some of the pre-game traditions of Ohio State football, ranging from the fans serenading their beloved Bucks at the team hotel to the skull session, a pep rally inside a jammed old stacked-to-the-rafters basketball arena.

For someone raised as a Buckeye fan in upstate New York, it was a much cooler experience than I expected. Anyhow. Before kickoff, one of the end-zones was overrun with OSU recruits, who were soaking up the scene with former Buckeye great Cris Carter. A few feet away Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta was with some of his players marveling at the spectacle, too. Then, there was OSU Heisman winner Eddie George running off the field waving a towel above his head to chants of "Eddie! Eddie!" just a few minutes before Michigan native Derek Jeter made his appearance on the Wolverine sideline.

With such an emotional day at the end of weeks of build-up for this No. 1 vs. No 2 showdown, I kept thinking 'there has to be some kind of let-down factor coming because there had been so much energy surging throughout Columbus.' But that was hardly the case. This game actually more than lived up to its hype, which is really saying something.

Troy Smith was terrific, again, and he was just as impressive in the post-game talking about the Buckeyes season and their program. Jim Tressel and his staff also deserve a ton of credit for masterfully calling a great game, setting up big play after big play while keeping the Wolverines D off balance. In reality, they made an outstanding defense look shaky.

Late in the game the buzz along the sidelines was, 'is this the kind of match up people would want to see again in Arizona in January?' I didn't have much interest in that idea 72 hours ago, but after Saturday, I think it would be a great game. I still think OSU is a better football team, but I doubt Michigan would get picked apart so badly on defense a second time. Right now, I think USC has the inside track to get the crack at OSU, although the Trojans need to be more impressive than they were against Cal when they play a Notre Dame team that the Wolverines crushed in South Bend. The winner of Arkansas-Florida would have an argument, but I just don't buy that either team has an offense balanced enough to hang with the Buckeyes.

Courtesy ESPN.Com

Also, this from a local writer that further frames the day!

They laughed and they cried, and in the end, they celebrated
Todd Jones

The veins in his neck look like ropes. His face burns with rage under a weathered Ohio State cap. "Hey, line judge, that’s holding! Holding!" the man in the front row screams. The Game is all of two minutes old. Michigan has scored. Anger fills the air. Moments later, the Buckeyes tie the score. Another face, this one aglow, lights up. People jump for joy. "Way to go, Buckeyes!" a fan yells into a white plastic megaphone.

They waited six weeks for this football game, the most anticipated of the 103 played between these bitter rivals.

Six minutes into the action, fans in the stands already look wrung-out.

White towels swirl throughout the Ohio Stadium-record crowd of 105,708. Everyone is strapped into a carnival ride of agony and ecstasy.

Ohio State is 11-0 and ranked No. 1. Michigan is 11-0 and ranked No. 2.

They’re smashing into one another on a field of screams. Noise fills the cement canyon, a chaotic scene so different from a few hours earlier, when all was quiet on the Columbus front.

"What do you think about Bo?" an Ohio State assistant equipment manager asks.

A ghost hovers over The Game. Bo Schembechler, an Ohio native and a legendary Michigan coach, died Friday at age 77 of heart failure.

The Ohio State locker room is serene, solemn, empty except for a few student workers scurrying across the scarlet and gray carpet. They’re hanging jerseys in the Buckeyes’ red, metal lockers.

On the wall is a clock. "Beat Michigan" it says on the bottom. The red digits count down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to kickoff for the day’s Big Ten finale.

A piece of paper is taped on the hallway wall. It’s a list of OSU players’ quotes for "Our Greatest Challenge in 2006."

"Beating Michigan for 3 rd straight year," reads the one from Dionte Johnson.

Kickoff is six hours away. Outside the near-empty stadium, hints of blue crack through the morning clouds. Fans flow across the campus. They have have a bounce in their step, but their faces look tired, as if no one has slept. Tired and excited, too, like kids on Christmas morning.

Noise rises up to row 41 of C deck on the north end of Ohio Stadium.

Down below, at the south end, sits a blue and gold semitruck with Michigan equipment. People walk by, gazing in disgust. They’re carrying signs, smoking cigars, tossing footballs, toting 12-packs of beer.

A man stands on the muddy grass, playing a trombone. The crowd sings along: We Don’t Give a Damn for The Whole State of Michigan.

There are old men with canes, a woman in a wheelchair, a student with a mohawk haircut. Children are on fathers’ shoulders, high up, where the smell and smoke of tailgate grills swirl.

People line up outside St. John Arena, awaiting the skull session pep rally.

Music rocks through the old gymnasium. Every seat filled, all ears tuned to the Ohio State band.

Outside, a few thousand fans have lined up near the Blackwell Hotel to see the OSU players emerge, and here they come. They’re decked out in dark suits, heading to the skull session. A grown man has tears in his eyes.

The fans’ faces change from joy to horror 20 minutes later. A police escort guides five buses carrying Michigan players, coaches and officials down Woody Hayes Drive through a gantlet of boos, middle fingers and upside-down thumbs.

The boos continue inside Ohio Stadium, nearly full for pre-game warm-ups. The sound drowns out the Michigan band’s rendition of Hail to the Victors.

Now, cheers ring out. The OSU band high-steps onto the field, sweat dripping down the musicians’ faces. They sternly march through Script Ohio and then, silence — throughout the stadium.

A video tribute to Schembechler plays on the scoreboard. For a moment, the rivalry’s inherent respect rules.

Michigan players look confused, upset. They’re staring up at the video board in the second quarter, having just surrendered a 39-yard touchdown pass from Troy Smith to Ted Ginn. OSU leads 21-7.

The visitors’ despair evaporates midway through the third quarter. Now, Ohio State fans look stunned. Some are glum. Some nervously wipe their chin. Others shake their heads. A few mutter in disbelief, their Buckeyes’ lead cut to 28-24.

A gaggle of former OSU players strolls along the team’s bench. Eddie George, Mike Doss, Mike Wiley and others are now cheerleaders.

The game rolls with waves of momentum. Even the State Highway Patrol troopers on the field are caught up in the action. One takes a photo.

Both bands blare their fight songs. Both teams keep slugging.

It sounds like an airport tarmac on the field. You can’t hear the person next to you speak.

The OSU band director stands on a stepladder, holding a bullhorn.

"Do not rush the field," he yells to his musicians.

Pandemonium reigns throughout the old Horseshoe.

"Three . . . Two . . . One," the crowd chants along with the scoreboard clock.

Game over. Ohio State 42, Michigan 39. A game for the ages.

Fans climb over metal railings and dash onto the chewed-up turf. They’re wildeyed, adrenaline pumping, arms thrust into the air.

The Buckeyes have won their first outright Big Ten championship since 1984, and their third straight game over Michigan. OSU coach Jim Tressel is 5-1 against the Wolverines, one win from a second national championship in five seasons. He’s standing with his team and fans. They sing Carmen Ohio in the chilly night air. "Look at that," says fan Ryan Gale, an OSU senior. He points to the south stands’ giant scoreboard. "It doesn’t get more beautiful than that," he says.

Courtesy The Columbus Dispatch