Charles P Pierce on The Game
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10066130/ohio-state-vs-michigan-game
I find most of what Charles P. Pierce writes to be worth a read, and this column didn't disappoint.
Saturday afternoon, as the autumn haze burned away, there was no BCS. There were no delicate made-for-TV calculations. When and where and against whom undefeated Ohio State would be playing at the turn of the year became irrelevant within the confines of the Big House. (And may we now paraphrase the late football aficionado R.M. Nixon and point out that it is, indeed, a Big House.) Because of the way simple history can reassert itself, this game, this one right here in Ann Arbor, and later that one down in Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, solved all of college football's annual end-of-the-season conundrums. History solved all those conundrums by complicating them, and by providing the simplest answer of all to the question "Who's no. 1?"
The answer: Who the rammer-jammer hell cares? Did you see those games?
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:58 PM ^
Thanks for posting!
Great quote . . . it was one heck of a day!
Go Blue! Those men made me proud to say: "It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!"
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^
Losing to OSU was one heck of a day?
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:40 PM ^
I am definitely not proud of that defense.
One of the least clutch units I've ever seen fielded at Michigan (and I'm including the Rich Rod years)
They were a solid unit, except when it mattered
December 2nd, 2013 at 7:21 PM ^
OSU is one of the best offenses in the country against a defense that features 4 seniors on its two deep. We'll be okay.
December 2nd, 2013 at 10:09 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:03 PM ^
I wanted the season to end before Saturday. Today I want more Michigan football right now.
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^
Yeah, me too. I'm looking forward to the bowl game in a way I couldn't have imagined on Saturday at 11:59am.
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:32 PM ^
This season has been hard, but I am very optimistic going into 2014.
December 2nd, 2013 at 7:24 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^
That is a great way to describe how I'm feeling. I'm not exhausted anymore. I'm energized, optimistic, and want it back. Such is how a loss can be something much more than a loss.
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:12 PM ^
but that was one of THE classic games in The Series. I've been watching the Michigan-OSU games since the mid-70's and I've never seen one with this much offense and back-and-forth lead changes/ties. Certainly, defense took a back seat in this one. But, I was very proud of the grit and toughness showed by Michigan. I really, really, really hope this game will be a building block for next year.
December 2nd, 2013 at 9:53 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:18 PM ^
Saturday was an unbelievable game. The team played its collective heart out and never quit. That being said, it was like watching the previews for summer movies in December. I can't wait for the bowl game or next year.
Let's see if they can take all the adversity they faced this season and use it in a positive way. Mental toughness cannot be underestimated which sometimes comes with experience. Hopefully, the OSU game is a touchstone for next year's squad. Something to look back on when they are being lableled as an underdog and overmatched and say, "Look what we did here last year."
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
Very well-written piece, and like Erik In Dayton, it makes me want more Michigan football right now. Indeed, if I could watch games as entertaining as that one and there wasn't a work / money thing in life, I would probably do that. That being said, my wife likes that I try to climb the corporate ladder, but the whimsical me is willing to entertain football-related suggestions that pay what I make now.
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:23 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:36 PM ^
Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner threw for 451 yards, which turned out to be only two fewer than he needed to win the game.Aren't two-point conversions from the 3-yard line in college?
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^
"An exaltation of penalty flags took wing."
Anyone who can write that should do it for a living!
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^
He's a national treasure, even if he did write a phenomally misinformed piece about Tom Brady's origins a few years ago. Because no one in Boston has ever gotten that story right.
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:47 PM ^
...feels as though we won in a strange way.
Urban must have been crapping his khakis during that last play.
I just wish we would have run the option play on that point after. I think we'd have scored with it.
December 2nd, 2013 at 7:29 PM ^
Some people keep replaying that 2 pt play in their head; I keep replaying the looks on Urban Meyer's face pretty much all game when he realized he misjudged what Michigan was going to bring to this party. Brings me great joy.
December 2nd, 2013 at 11:35 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^
This quote also perfectly encapsulates why, for so many years, we had a bowl system instead of a playoff.
December 2nd, 2013 at 8:03 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 9:51 PM ^
December 3rd, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
I expected an unwatchable beatdown and I got to watch one of the best "The Games" in recent memory. We lost, yes, but if you told me that with under a minute on the clock we would have a chance to win I'd take it in a heatbeat.
There's more to take out of this game than just an "L", and if you can't find it when your residual upset feelings subside, I think that's unfortunate