Gene Woj article on The Game- Urbz lol
Gene Wojciechowski has a little excerpt in his latest article on ESPN. LINK
Found this funny. Urban a little obsessive, no?
Just got back from Columbus, where The Ohio State's players, coaches and staff are working their way into a Defcon 1 state of readiness for Saturday's game against The Michigan.
Walk down any hallway of the Buckeyes' football facility and you'll see sign after poster board-sized sign heralding the football rivalry between the two programs. Except that on every sign, the M-word (Michigan) has been blacked out or covered in athletic training tape. In it's place is the handwritten, That Team Up North.
There is a NASA-like countdown clock at the end of one hallway, measuring the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the noon kickoff at Ohio Stadium. There is another countdown clock in the Buckeyes' massive weightroom, as well as rivalry banners on the second-floor railings. Every plasma screen in the weightroom has Michigan-Ohio State programming on a continuous loop.
See Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler scowl. See stadium tunnel dust-ups. See black-and-white footage of old-timers. See crushing tackles that make your teeth hurt. See anger, football hatred and, yes, respect.
"I just knew since the day I was born in the state of Ohio, it was made very clear who the enemy was," said Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer. "The enemy's up north, a little bit west."
November 20th, 2012 at 1:41 PM ^
BEAT OHIO!
THE END/
November 20th, 2012 at 1:41 PM ^
OMG SO much motivation! How will either team deal with the other's EXTREME motivation!
November 20th, 2012 at 1:41 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 1:45 PM ^
I hate Ohio.
November 20th, 2012 at 1:45 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 7:52 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 1:51 PM ^
This warms my maize-and-blue heart. Beat Ohio!
November 20th, 2012 at 5:14 PM ^
your cotton pickin' maize and blue heart.
November 20th, 2012 at 1:57 PM ^
I expect between now and game time there'll be a bunch of these "where to see the game in New York/Chicago/Keego Harbor" kinds of requests, but I've got to get mine out there: Zurich (Switzerland). Anyone remotely near here who's organizing a "beat ohio" gathering?
For ideas, in Zurich, there's Paddy O'Reilly's, the Lion and--of course--Hooters!
November 20th, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
I would invite you to my place here in Geneva, Switzerland... but my organized party fell through...
November 20th, 2012 at 1:59 PM ^
Yes, I'm sure he's hated Michigan since the day he was born. That's why he named us as one of the only schools he would coach if he were to come out of retirement.
November 20th, 2012 at 2:03 PM ^
Wait... that would indicate dishonesty, and we all know Urbie is a straight shooter.
November 20th, 2012 at 5:19 PM ^
Meyer's honesty. I'll bet he does love Ohio and has grown to hate us (at least a little). I would say that our coach's passion for our school and against theirs is about 100x more heartfelt.
November 20th, 2012 at 9:33 PM ^
Meyer plays to the locals with "That Team Up North" stuff. Yet we were one of the 3 schools (Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame) that he had a contract out clause for. If he wound up here instead of Ohio State, we'd be hearing about how he detests Ohio State and loves Michigan.
Brady Hoke on the other hand, refused to ever wear red, the primary color of both schools he coached at, becuase it reminded him of Ohio State. He did this back when he had no idea that he would ever coach at the University of Michigan.
You tell me which coach is authentic and which coach is just a duplicitous homer.
November 20th, 2012 at 10:13 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^
Just Beat Ohio!
November 20th, 2012 at 2:15 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 3:04 PM ^
What was he supposed to do? Forfeit the national championship game because he's an Ohio fan? Or not take any head coaching positions at all because he might actually coach against them? You do realize Hoke coached against Michigan in a game, right?
November 20th, 2012 at 3:47 PM ^
My point is that at least in the not too distant past, OSU fans hated Florida for what they did to them in the Nat. Championship game. Urban may be from Ohio but he was at the pinnacle of college coaching at somewhere else and feels more like a hired gun than a natural "OSU" guy despite growing up in Ohio. Hoke played against Michigan as he was working his way up the coaching tree.
My other point being that Urban is using a phrase that does not require him to be unique or come up with his own identity at Ohio State, whereas you could argue that Hoke brings his uniqueness to the position in "Beat Ohio". It feels more genuine from Hoke than it does from Urban from my maize and blue glasses is all.
November 20th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
Unless his team loses on Saturday, at which point he will be excoriated for not "getting it."
November 20th, 2012 at 2:26 PM ^
Jeeze with motivational tools like that, why even get on the bus to play them in Columbus?
November 20th, 2012 at 2:34 PM ^
He could always do more, of course - live re-enactments of Ohio State victories, an interpretive dance performance of Woody Hayes' career, including the 1978 Gator Bowl, and he could even have Christo wrap The Shoe in a big Michigan flag to really get people riled up. If you're going to make an over-the-top attempt to immerse people in the rivalry, you have to go for the gold here.
November 20th, 2012 at 3:08 PM ^
where is Christo when we need him?
November 20th, 2012 at 3:25 PM ^
What is this 1984? Somebody tell Wojo (aka Matthew Broderik) that the correct terminology is now Code: White. Step yo game up!
November 20th, 2012 at 3:27 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
How anyone cannot see through this contrived nonsense is beyond me. He's trying so hard it's pathetic.
November 20th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 6:04 PM ^
Urban knew as a child growing up that BYU was the...er.....that Florida State was the....er.......that Michigan is the......
Urban seems to change how he feels every few years. Weird.
November 20th, 2012 at 8:40 PM ^
Urban Meyer may change his story to fit his locale, but it has worked extremely well for him so far. Meyer is great at getting every edge he can for whatever team he is coaching. In Columbus, it could be even better for him: he won't have powerful alums telling him to ditch the spread for a "double legacy" QB.
I am very scared of what is happening there right now. It is important that Michigan beats Ohio in their transition year. If they don't, it could be another long decade.
This could be the most important game in the series for a long time. Last year stopped the bleeding, but this year could set a precedent.
November 21st, 2012 at 3:17 PM ^
November 20th, 2012 at 8:40 PM ^
Beat Ohio!
November 21st, 2012 at 3:36 PM ^