OT - a new twist on our rivals... Who are your two favorite Buckeyes and Spartans?
Going into what will probably be a slow weekend for news, I jthought it woudl be a good time for an outside the box topic. We have plenty of well-earned negative board posts about our two major rivals but not too many "positive" ones. Here is one...
Question: who are your two favorite Buckeyes and / or Spartans?
April 21st, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
Surprised it took this long for Special K to be mentioned.
April 21st, 2023 at 11:36 AM ^
MSU my daughter
OSU Jesse Owens
April 21st, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
OSU- Jack Nicklaus and Gary Moeller
MSU- Kirk Gibson and my wife
April 21st, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
And doubly surprised it took this long for Gary Moeller to be mentioned.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
He defected to our side and was with the program for over 20 years, so most of us probably don't even think of him as a Buckeye.
I mean, he went to college there so yeah he’s a Buckeye. Who then saw the light.
Ex-Buckeye, maybe? I feel like you're either one or the other. Once you become a Wolverine (especially if you spend 20 years on the coaching staff and are eventually promoted to head coach), you surrender your Buckeye credentials (or vice-versa). Conversely, I will never think of Justin Boren or Andrew Dakich as Wolverines.
Maybe in a non-athletic context, people can be both (like if you went to undergrad at one and grad school at the other). But in athletics, especially football, the rivalry is just too intense for players or coaches to have a foot in each camp.
I wonder if Moeller has ever been invited back to OSU and if he's ever accepted such an invite. That might be instructive.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:48 PM ^
You beat me to the punch with Gary Moeller.
Favorite Spartan: Carol Hutchins.
April 21st, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
Buckeyes: Cam Heyward and Ryan Shazier (I'm biased as a Steelers fan, but those guys are good people)
Spartans: Xavier Tillman and John L Smith
April 21st, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
Ryan Miller gave the Sabres a lot of good years, so I will go with him for MSU.
Spielman for OSU.
April 21st, 2023 at 11:47 AM ^
Chris Spielman - almost had him
George Webster - a great player
April 21st, 2023 at 11:49 AM ^
Spielman and Gibby
April 21st, 2023 at 11:51 AM ^
OSU: Eddie George and Chris Speilman.
MSU: Bubba Smith, Magic Johnson
MSU guys I like because I knew: Alan Haller, James Moore and TJ and Tico Duckett
April 21st, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
As a Steelers fan - Cam Heyward is a beast on the field and a great leader too. Have gotten over the OSU roots at this point
I would add Santonio Holmes just for the 2008 run to the Super Bowl. He made huge plays in every game of that playoff game and topped it off with the amazing toe-tap for the win.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
KW3 seems like a good dude and was ok with the way those tailors pranked him with his suit. And Cardale Jones told it like it was - "play school," aced his tests, and then won a CFP title. I have to tip my cap to him.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:28 PM ^
No offense to the OP but I hate this topic.
But, Jack Nicklaus did get me started playing golf, so he's awesome, even though I hate that he is a Buckeye. The back nine of the final round of the '86 Masters ranks right up there with any of the Detroit championships in my lifetime.
Spartans, I mean yeah, Kirk Gibson. A great Tiger. But again, I hate that he was a Spartan.
TL;DR -- there's not much to like about our rivals -- they are rivals after all. Fuck 'em.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
OSU - Bobby Knight
OSU - George Steinbrenner
Knight for obvious reasons
Steinbrenner because he hired George Costanza
April 21st, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
You picked out 2 of the more obnoxious Buckeyes right there! Would be more inclined to name Knight’s teammates Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:33 PM ^
Interesting question. Never thought about it before. If I were to limit it to football and basketball, these would be my picks...
Favorite Buckeyes
Eddie George - Seems like a genuinely decent, likeable dude. He also recently posted a video of himself singing The Victors while wearing a Michigan jersey to honor a bet he had lost after 45-23. I got a laugh out of that.
Kirk Herbstreit - He also seems like a decent, likeable dude. And I may be in the minority on this around here, but I actually think he's a pretty good analyst, occasional Buckeye homerism notwithstanding.
Favorite Spartans
Morten Andersen - Andersen is one of the few kickers inducted into the HOF. I happened to watch the video of his induction speech, and I really liked his story. He immgrated from Europe when he was a teen and knew nothing about football until a high school classmate told him the football team needed a kicker and encouraged him to try out. That resonated with me for some reason.
Steve Smith - He's donated millions to MSU for scholarships and academic programs, some of which have nothing to do with athletics. And he started doing that back before it became en vogue. I respect that.
Andersen via Ben Davis HS in Indy strangely.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
like many here, Gibson and Nicklaus
April 21st, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
The list is pretty much picked through already so to be novel I'll go with Favorite buckeyes would be these delicious candies my wife makes during Christmas season.
As for Sparty...
April 21st, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
OSU: Chris Speilman and John Cooper.
MSU: George the animal Steele, Mo Peterson.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
Chris Spielman, and the Sharty statue when it’s wearing maize and blue paint. There are some other decent Buckeyes as well but for EL A & M Draymond Green is the archetype and 99.999999999% of those green pests can go straight to hell.
Buckeyes: Boston and Clarrett
Spartans: Mandrich and Smoker
For MSU, it's Jud Heathcote. When I was growing up, he lived a few blocks from me in a middle-class neighborhood. Just seemed like a regular dude. And he had that amazing hairstyle - hold the hair dryer directly behind your head and let it blow for a minute. Done.
For OSU, it's Keith Byars. My brother and I would play backyard football and I always got to be UofM. He was OSU during the Keith Byars years. We played those games so often that Keith practically became a part of the family.
Do coeds count?
Of course...
This is not a positive thread.
This is a nauseating thread.
Ohio State: Alan Freed and Jesse Owens
Michigan State: Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Jacques Levy
Favorite Buckeye: Painter and lithographer George Bellows, who painted one of my favorite works of any genre: Stag at Sharkey's
Buckeyes: Jim Marshall (for old Minnesota Vikings fans like Craig Ross); Jim Jackson
Spartans: Nick Baumgardner
Lots of good answers here, but Jack Nicklaus has gotta be the best Buckeye, right?
I'd rank Nicklaus 2nd behind Jessie Owens - maybe the greatest track and field athlete ever. Didn't Owens cause Hitler to unravel and leave one of the Olympic games?
I really like AJ Hawk since listening to the Pat McAfee show. Seems like a really good dude.
also - gotta go with Magic
Hard pass on this question
Buckeyes: CJ Stroud, Cam Brown (someone had to be hurdled by Haskins and he played the role very well)
Spartans: Bobby Williams, Jacoby Windmon (I hope he plays forever and covers every Michigan TE like he did Schoonmaker)
Jack Nicklaus and Carol Hutchins
Don't like any of 'em. Ok, MAYBE Spielman
Magic and Andy Katzenmoyer
April 22nd, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
Spartans: I have always enjoyed Steve Smith. Also, around 2004 I was enjoying a busty coed named Liz as were sporting about in Chicago. She put out as hard as those Miami (NTM) girls.
Buckeyes: none. ever.
MSU: Officer Moses Hightower himself, Bubba Smith. Bonus points for his memorable performance as Spare Tire Dixon.
OSU: Robert Smith. I've had a soft spot in my heart fot him ever since his cameo on MST3K. Never liked his band, though.