Everyone Murders

December 29th, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^

Harbaugh admires him because of two words.  Bo Schembechler.

Woody was Bo's mentor, fierce rival, and good friend.  They had immense respect for one another.  And Bo was Harbaugh's mentor and friend.

I did not like Hayes either, mostly because he propagandized The Game to a level where he was signalling to OSU fans that it was OK to hate Michigan.  Most of them get it as "hate", but too many take it a level or two too far.

That stated, I don't demonize Hayes.  Of course, he never throat-punched me either.

Joined: 12/14/2010

MGoPoints: 65552

M-Dog

December 29th, 2017 at 2:50 PM ^

In the "Ten Years War" video, Bo goes out of his way to defend Woody's punch in the Clemson game.  He said that Woody was a diabetic and that his insulin levels were not proper.

Don't know how he would know that, but that's what he wanted to believe.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257507

True Blue Grit

December 29th, 2017 at 2:02 PM ^

including his players, seemed to really like him.  He had a very good side.  But, he had some militaristic view of the rivalry like it was some kind of all out battle against a hated enemy.  To him, it was more than a sports rivalry and IMO he was the one who created so much of the poor sportsmanship you see today among both fanbases (swearing, spitting, throwing stuff at perfect strangers; vandalism; teaching children to hold up their middle fingers at the other teams' fans; etc.).  I became a Michigan fan here in the state during the 10 Year War, and I never saw or heard about Bo doing ridiculous things like refusing to buy gas while driving in Ohio (like Hayes did in Michigan) or preaching about hating the whole state of Ohio.  Hayes just took things too far.  

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32373

taut

December 29th, 2017 at 3:33 PM ^

I do think they took it farther than we did, for there were stories during the Woody/Bo era about people driving their VW Beetles to Columbus for a game and coming back post-game to find them upside down.

We did our part too however, with less destruction but a certain intensity of dislike. I remember an Ann Arbor bank in the 70's giving out bumper stickers to their clientele.

"OHOWIHATEOHIOSTATE"

and

"Happiness is Crushed Buckeye Nuts".

Kinda salty for a bank, don't you think? 

Joined: 12/01/2015

MGoPoints: 1057

Sam1863

December 29th, 2017 at 8:36 PM ^

You're not in the minority as far as I'm concerned. I hated that bastard. I was just a kid, but the sight of that screaming psycho helped make me loathe the Columbus Reformatory for the Tattooed Inbred to this day.

I wasn't surprised that he snapped. The only thing I wish was that the Clemson player had beaten the shit out of him.

That would have been a fitting end to his career.

Joined: 04/27/2014

MGoPoints: 28880

maizenblue92

December 29th, 2017 at 11:39 AM ^

I remember watching the rivalry documentary on HBO about the Michigan-Ohio State game. They get to the part where they talk about the end of the Ten Year War and show the clip of Hayes punching the Clemson player. Then they put on this Columbus Dispatch writer and he says something to the effect of, "It was unforturnate, but it was kind of the only way Woody Hayes could have gone out." Which is so stupid to me, even having seen it about ten times, because, no, it wasn't. He could have not punched an opposing player in the throat and just retired like a normal coach.

Joined: 01/01/2009

MGoPoints: 19715

nerv

December 29th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^

I always consider how this event would be thought of if one of those Clemson players turned around and absolutely rocked Hayes with a haymaker and knocked him the fuck out. It would have at least made for great TV.

Joined: 04/14/2009

MGoPoints: 14072

M-Dog

December 29th, 2017 at 2:55 PM ^

Bauman showed remarkable restraint.

Woody didn't hit him hard being an old man, but he hit him right in the throat.

When Bauman saw that he was just punched by the head coach of Ohio State, he just stood there in bemusement.

He should have decked him.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257507

MMB 82

December 29th, 2017 at 12:09 PM ^

Woody Hayes:

238 Wins

72 Losses

10 Ties

1 Knockout

 

....which actually gave me a chuckle. Saw that game with the MMB when we were out in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, and we were like "did Woody just throw a punch!?" In Bo's autobiography he blamed it on Woody's hypertension and diabetes, and said that in conversations soon afterward Woody actually did not remember the incident, and refused to apologize for it.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 18691

Human Torpedo

December 29th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^

Have been dealing with his shadow over them to this day. As great as those two have been for O$U and as teflon as Ohio State has been in general, I don't think there will ever be a coach there again as dominant, exultant and universally beloved by them as Woody

Joined: 01/15/2016

MGoPoints: 2195

DonAZ

December 29th, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^

I remember watching that game.

In a lot of ways it was fairly sad to see.  I think Hayes knew his days were over.  If memory serves, Clemson that day was beating OSU with speed at the edge, and OSU had no answer.  The "three yards and a cloud of dust" thing just didn't work when the other team wouldn't play the same game.

The early days of the "10 Year War" really were special.  TV broadcasts of college football games were rare -- one per Saturday -- and the Michigan-OSU game was always the featured game of the week.  The whole country tuned in.  The 71, 72, 73, 74 games were epic battles.

Joined: 12/05/2011

MGoPoints: 16763

befuggled

December 29th, 2017 at 1:59 PM ^

Ohio State could have won or tied pretty easily. They had an extra point blocked after their first touchdown and got stopped when they went for two later. That was the margin. In fact, if you look at the box score (here), Ohio State actually outgained Clemson and averaged more yards per play.

Freshman Art Schlichter threw an interception in the closing minutes when they had a third and five at the Clemson 24, which is what prompted the punch. Hayes had converted senior quarterback Rod Gerald to flanker in order to play Schlichter; while Gerald had been more of a running quarterback and Schlichter would eventually be a first round draft pick before he let his gambling get out of hand, Schlichter was terrible as a freshman and threw a ton of interceptions.

Later I remember reading that Ohio State had locker room problems because of Gerald's benching; if true, they were gone the next year when basically the same team under Earle Bruce went 11-1 with Schlichter under center and narrowly missed out on a share of a national title with a 1-point Rose Bowl loss to USC.

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 9955

Wolverine 73

December 29th, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^

I remember watching and saying to the person I was with, “what the hell did Hayes just do?” Then his players had the cooler heads and got him pulled away. Wow, that really says it all.

Joined: 08/03/2009

MGoPoints: 27239

Unsalted

December 29th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^

Woody was the coach I loved to hate, so part of me was sad to see him go. Hating on Earle Bruce just wasn't the same as hating on Woody.

I was a student and worked at Campus Corners when Woody sucker punched the Clemson player. This left the store sitting a couple cases of Woody Hayes toilet paper. The boxes were still on top of the big walk-in cooler when I left a couple years later. I wish I would have taken a few rolls for momentos.

Joined: 09/26/2014

MGoPoints: 4090

Zoltanrules

December 29th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^

He was absolute evil to me back then, but like Bo, his singular love for football and leading his men on and off the field was admirable. Anyone who thinks both these guys were not tough couldn’t be more wrong.

Joined: 08/23/2009

MGoPoints: 21134

Schem Bobechler

December 29th, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^

at the time and I will always remember my dear Aunt Kathy walking into the living room with a tray of drinks that she dropped all over the floor right after Woody sucker punched the kid from Clemson.  Good times!

Joined: 12/29/2016

MGoPoints: 363

Perkis-Size Me

December 29th, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^

For as much insane amount of luck as OSU has had over the years in any and all things related to football, the one bad thing for them is that seemingly a lot of their coaches have either been fired or resigned in disgrace. Hayes punching a player, Cooper fired because he couldn't beat Michigan, and Tressel with improper benefits. 

I wonder what sniveling weasley shit Meyer will leave for that program before his time is done. 

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105742

CRISPed in the DIAG

December 29th, 2017 at 1:24 PM ^

Woody apparently put a lot of work into his players after they graduated. He would ride them about grad school and getting into the right job situation. I don't know, but I have a hard time imagining someone like Saban or Kiffin showing the same level of involvement.

Joined: 11/08/2010

MGoPoints: 47451

OkinawaGoBlue

December 29th, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^

Was at the OSU UM game when Woody punched the sideline ABC camera man after Ricky the Peach Leach scored go ahead TD. Didn't know it happened until seeing it on the news later. The start of his senility.

Joined: 07/27/2009

MGoPoints: 8982

Eng1980

December 29th, 2017 at 1:51 PM ^

Woody was getting old. He was diagnosed with blocked arteries. In a way, he had a stroke during that last game. He stayed too long. He cared about his players and they cared about him. In the sad days of segregation, he would dine with the black players when OSU was caught on the road in the wrong town at the wrong time. He once explained that certain bitter comments made by opposing coaches after a game would tell him what they (Bo) would emphasize in the next game. So now we have coaches that won’t say anything! No, I don’t like OSU (top 200 academics and most of their non-football teams fare poorly) but I will learn whatever I can from successful leaders.

Joined: 04/28/2016

MGoPoints: 11957