"Nothing is f***ed here, Dude. Come on, you're being very un-Dude"
First, I agree that having The Game in October is not as good as having it as the last game of the year. I'm on your side here. But if it moves to October, it's really not the end of the world. Really. Please don't jump off a bridge.
There are many great rivalry games that occur in the middle of the year. Maybe those games are not "The Game," but they never were anyway. If we played OSU in October, we wouldn't have any idea whether there'd be a rematch or not. The Game on that day would still mean everything. We'd want to beat them (and they'd want to beat us) just as bad on the first game of the year as the last game.
I know it sounds bad right now, but there is not one among us who will not get chills when the maize and blue run out onto the field to face their archrival of 100+ years, no matter what day it happens.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^
Maybe.
But you're definitely wrong on one point. Nemesis doesn't mean rival. A nemesis is something you just can't beat. So I won't stand for you calling OSU our nemesis for 100+ years. :) For the last 6 years, sadly, fine. But last I checked, we're still up, all-time: 57–43–6.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:09 PM ^
I went with "archrival," which sounds cooler than rival.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:59 PM ^
"Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by a 'orrible cunt... me"
-In our case the 'orrible steroids taking cunt would be ohio state and not brick top
August 20th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^
Everyone is forgetting the more important aspect of Michigan and OSU being in separate divisions. Yes, it will suck not playing in November on the last game of the season, with everything on the line (hopefully). However, the more important thing to consider is the protected cross-divisional game being against OSU. This gives us a more difficult schedule, on average, most years than our fellow divisional brethren. Not to shy away from tough schedules, but when the divisional slate becomes unbalanced, it will put us on a much tougher road than the teams we need to beat out, who's cross divisional protected game is Minnesota or Purdue.
Same division, please.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:14 PM ^
I agree that is an important aspect, but let's see what the divisions look like first. Hopefully, they take into consideration keeping a balanced difficulty of schedule like they said they would. Worst case scenario, we're just going to have to be that much better. And I think we can. "Leaders and best" and all...
August 20th, 2010 at 2:24 PM ^
Walter Sobchak: [shouting] You think I'm fucking around here? Mark it zero!
Smokey: All right, it's fucking zero. Are you happy, you crazy fuck?
Walter Sobchak: ...It's a league game(THE GAME), Smokey.
Summery: last game.
August 20th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^
This is not 'Nam Smokey. There are rules*.
*Rules being defined as the Big 10 Network foaming at the mouth when they consider the prospect of a Big 10 Championship Game featuring Michigan and Ohio State.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:12 PM ^
game of the regular season.
The End.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
I like the point about not knowing if there will be a re-match. The game will still mean everything on that Saturday in October.
August 20th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
And... a heckuva lot more the year(s) we play them again the first weekend in December!
August 20th, 2010 at 2:46 PM ^
I will hate them in October, I will hate them in November
I will hate them in my car, I will hate them in a bar
I will hate them here, there or anywhere
I just Hate Ohio State, man, and not a hater I usually am
August 20th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^
I get the longing for tradition. BUT, we now live in a world where Nebraska is a conference game, the Big Ten has 12 teams, the Big 12 has ten teams, the Pac-10 has twelve teams and we've played Texas in the Rose Bowl. I would love to go back to the old days, but I have given up. It is a brave new world. Money talks, tradition walks.
Also, it strikes me as odd that people on this site kill Notre Dame for clinging to their tradition of being indepedent, but are ready to freak out when The Game is moved a few weeks.
August 20th, 2010 at 3:06 PM ^
There are many great rivalry games that occur in the middle of the year. Maybe those games are not "The Game," but they never were anyway.
Sorry, I'm not following your logic.
Let's try this: Having U of M play OSU at the end of the schedule provides a real climax to the season -- the whole season is building up to this point -- this singular game. And now our grand finale to the regular season is, what exactly. Illinois? Purdue? Northwestern?
Look, if it's a break before the conference championship you want, move the game up to the next-to-last week in November (where it has almost always been anyway) and set up a bye-week before the league championship.
And if that's not fair enough for you, put Nebraska and PSU in the other division and have them meet on the same weekend. Now all four teams have big rivalries. I'll bet that doubleheader would get pretty good ratings too.
August 20th, 2010 at 3:35 PM ^
Some thoughts on what to say to the Athletic Department. By all means feel free to add your own observations -- this is just to help people get organized.
1. Tradition -- moving the OSU game will water down the greatest rivalry in sports. That much is hard to deny.
2. Timing -- for decades the OSU game has been the highlight of the season and having it as the last game meant our season (and OSU's) always had a potentially tremendous finale -- even in the years when one of the teams was so-so.
3. The Program -- It's no secret that the program has been down. Is this the time to water down one of the hallmarks of Michigan football?
4. Money -- Supposed to be what this is all about, but it's hard to see what the conference gains from this. Maybe a 1 out of 10 chance that U of M will meet OSU in the conference championship. But will that boost ratings? That's doubtful. A conference chamionship should sell itself, even if a topsy-turvey season that results in an Indiana-Illinois title matchup. At most you're looking at a 2-3 point ratings bump every ten years or so.
5. Fairness -- This is not needed to ensure fairness. Since geography is not supposed to be an important factor in setting divisions, there is no reason why we cannot have Michigan and OSU in one division, and put PSU and Nebraska in the other.
6. Scheduling -- if your concern is having such a big rivalry before the conference championship, why not make the last weekend in November a league-wide bye week? Now the Big Ten still has a big game in December so it won't be passed over in the BCS rankings. And you can have PSU play Nebraska on the same day as the U of M-OSU game. I'll bet the league could make some money off that doubleheader.
Simply put, the league is watering down one of its greatest assets for no good purpose. In the process they are ruining one of the traditions that makes Michigan Michigan. This is a monumentally stupid move that will be compared to New Coke. If they go ahead with this, one can only hope that the Big Ten brass will have the brains to undo this decision before permanent damage is done.