An observation on The Rivalry and recruiting

Submitted by PackardChug on
So two things are playing into this observation here: 1) I had three uncles that were very successful athletes Michigan, one football, one track, and one swimming. So as you can imagine, I said "GO BLUE!" Before I said "Mom." I've been bred to hate everything about Ohio and Ohio State (oh and that sh*t school in Indiana). 2) The recruits I'm talking about here are usually from Michigan or Ohio and have also grown up following the rivalry and is a huge fan of either Michigan or Ohio State It seems to me that you get a lot of these kids who are big time recruits that Michigan and Ohio State battle over in recruiting, and, more frequently than one would think, the kid ends up choosing the school he grew up hating. I'm just thinking of a list of recent recruits, please comment to add on: Elliot Mealer Chris "Beanie" Wells James Jackson The Judas Brothers (Borens) I'm pretty sure Charles Woodson and Desmond Howard fill this category but correct me if wrong. I know there's more kids like this. Anyways, this got me to thinking. Say my knees didn't go my frosh year and I became a national recruit QB like I dreamed about. Obviously there's a 95% chance I go to Michigan. However, having grown up in the rivalry and knowing just how good and storied a program OSU is, I feel as though I'd be a fool to not at least listen to them. I remember Herbstreit told the story of his recruitment of how he listened to Schembechler and Bo asked him, "Kirk, why are you even listening to me, I know you want to go to OSU" and kirk replied along the lines of, "I've grown up in this rivalry and respect you so much, that I want to be recruited by you" Anyways, your guy's thoughts on this observation
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tn wolverine

February 26th, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^

I rem hearing an interview with Chris Speilman. He visited Bo or Bo came for an in home and he loved him. He was telling his dad how much he liked him and how he was really confused and that Michigan was a great school. His dad looked at him and said you're going to Ohio State and that was that.

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PackardChug

February 26th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^

I feel like when it comes down to it. There's so much respect there. I mean, in order to be a REAL rivalry, there has to be a deep hidden mutual respect, that's why you want to beat them and place meaning on the game. Three years at this school, and 18 years before that rooting for UM and I still don't consider MSU a rival- there is absolutely nothing to be gained for us when we beat them.

Joined: 02/08/2010

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bouje

February 26th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^

In any other sport Michigan State is IMO our biggest Rival. It is just in football that OSU is our biggest rival. Hockey=MSU Football=OSU Basketball=MSU (I think that it's mostly because MSU is better as an overall athletic department than OSU although that is just me speculating).

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ameed

February 26th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^

OSU is hands down a better athlectic department than MSU. Check the directors cup year in and year out: http://www.nacda.com/directorscup/nacda-directorscup-previous-scoring.h… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directors_Cup (FWIW Michigan is usually above OSU as an overall athlectic department, if you use Directors cup as a proxy). However, I do agree that MSU is the biggest rival in most sports, outside Football.

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bouje

February 26th, 2010 at 1:09 PM ^

I just always assumed that MSU was better overall. But yes IMO it still goes OSU for football and MSU for everything else (ESPECIALLY hockey and basketball). (Whoever is negging me for this opinion is well dumb because basketball MSU is by far our biggest rival, ditto in hockey how you can deny that is crazy)

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Baldbill

February 26th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^

I saw that speilman was told by his Dad that if he went to Michigan he would never be allowed to come into his home again. Speilman said he was originally going to go to Michigan but the threat from his Dad made it so he couldn't go there. Compare that to Gonzales a few years ago whose Dad is a Michigan alum and said go play for the team that you think will help you the most and where you feel like going. Yes Speilmans Dad was a Woody lover and drank the Kool-aid.

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mongoose0614

February 26th, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^

so much more to the story. I have heard it first hand. He was going to COMMIT to UM (actually told Bo yes). When he told his dad that he was going to UM his pops grabbed him by the shirt and threw him onto the table and told him he was not his son if he went north to play football. ...................... Rest is history. Chris said the hardest phone call he made was when he called Bo back and told him he could not come to UM

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jam706

February 26th, 2010 at 1:17 PM ^

I had never heard Speilman was ready to commit to UM (not to say it isn't true). But in Bo's book, Speilman came into Bo's office dressed poorly, kicked his feet up, and told Bo that OSU promised to start him all 4 years. Bo got pissed off, and told him to go to OSU then, and we'd beat him all 4 of those years. Final record was 2-2, and Bo admits Speilman turned out to be a pretty good guy, and a hell of a football player

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jabberwock

February 26th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^

The difference a little punctuation makes: Dear John: I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours? Gloria Dear John: I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Gloria

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mikefromaa

February 26th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^

Honestly, I think growing up an OSU fan is a bit of a red flag. In recruiting a kid like that, you'd be worried about character issues as well as autosomal recessive disorders. I'm not saying Michigan shouldn't be recruiting these kids, but Rodriguez should do so with caution.

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ChitownWolverine82

February 26th, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^

I totally understand what "red flag" means.....what part of my post do you not grasp? I put "Red Flag?" as the title because I find it ironic that the poster thinks that anyone who grew up a fan of OSU has problems and should be considered a red flag, when in fact our most prized recruit did indeed grow up an OSU fan.

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bouje

February 26th, 2010 at 12:20 PM ^

I completely forgot about Notre Dame. I was strictly thinking of Big Ten schools. But come on Notre Dame is not a shit school they are actually pretty good. IMO if you rip Notre Dame you are ripping Michigan because the only difference is that we are public and they are private.

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WichitanWolverine

February 26th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

it is a very difficult school to get into, due in part to the fact that nearly every Catholic kid in the US at least considers applying there at some point in their life. However, being an engineer, I know their engineering school is mediocre at best, and I don't think their law, medicine, or business programs are anything to write home about. I'm guessing they have reputable polisci and religion programs, but come on... Yes, Notre Dame has a very low acceptance rate, but I think for the most part that's about it.

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2 Walter Smith

February 26th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

when Bo came to our school to recruit Kirk Herbstreit. Everyone knew Kirk was a big OSU fan (his Dad was an OSU captain). He named his dog Woody for crying out loud. Well, you can imagine the shock that went through the gym when he walked into our varsity basketball game wearing a block M hat Bo had given him earlier that day. I was playing in the basketball game and I remember doing a double-take during a timeout.

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