Gene Woj article on The Game- Urbz lol

Submitted by ATLalumni on

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." 

Ray

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!

M-Dog

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.

 

2Blue4You

November 20th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^

I know he grew up in Ohio but it seems a bit contrived. He coached against osu in a national championship game and "that school up north" meme is not at all original. Seems like he knows what to say and is just regurgitating what the buckeye lowlife fan base wants to hear.



Just Beat Ohio!

2Blue4You

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. 

LSAClassOf2000

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.

 

Generic MGoBlogger

November 20th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^

If you guys have read the Three and Out book highlighting RR's failure at Michigan you will remember Rodriguez trying the same kind of crap Meyer's doing now... I understand that these are two totally different situations, but it's not hard to figure out whether these emotions toward one team are genuine. In this case, it's excessive and unneeded. Can't wait to see his facial expressions after we hand Ohio's asses to them... GO BLUE

jsquigg

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.

Tater

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.

gte896u

November 21st, 2012 at 3:17 PM ^

Brantley played because that was the best they had. Trey Burton wasn't the guy for them to bet the farm on but they did anyways. I saw Burton's Venice (FL) team play a few times and Dri Archer, now a dynamo at Kent St., opened up a LOT of room for Burton to look like a star. In reality tho, it was Archer's show.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 21st, 2012 at 3:36 PM ^

Urb occupies a very low rung on my ladder given his ethics (malevolent narcissist per my 2 friends from his FL ath dept) and win-at-all-cost program management (no concern for the kids or lack of character).

However, he can drill a team into fighting shape and Hoke will give extra focus on winning key recruiting battles. So I think his presence is good for The Game and even UM.

He'll be hard to beat for 3-4 years but our wins will ready us for Rose Bowls and SEC battles.