I agree. OSU has serious talent this year. I don't think Michigan compares this year. That's why the rivalry is so interesting, and illustrates the inconsistency in the game generally. There have been many years that each team will defeat the other no matter how high each team is ranked. It's an unpredictable game, because usually anything can happen.

But keep in mind that while the Buckeyes do have 2 losses, they are both to top 5 teams, so there really is no minimizing their talent this year. And both games could have swung the OSU way with one play.

Good luck Buckeyes.

Many people have asked me how I can live in / around Columbus and hate the Bucknuts. Well, when I moved here 16 years ago, I tried to embrace the OSU. Bought a Woody block O hat, season ticket, etc. But at some point, I just couldn't take it anymore. The 6 o'clock news cast here goes some thing like this......
Jim Tressel washed his car today...........................
and there's a war in Iraq.
Not a good summary, but this one I found is better.

Easier to Hate Ohio State

By Cyd Zeigler Jr.
Outsports.com

Reader Responses: Ohio State Fans No Worse Than Anyone Else - or are they?

I went to the Fiesta Bowl expecting to be an unbiased bystander. Just somebody with no tie to either school, hoping for a good game. I got the good game; and, I got a team to cheer for too, just 10 minutes after arriving at the stadium; that’s about how long it took me to see how obnoxious the Ohio State fans were going to be for the next five hours.

The night before, I had spent the evening at a party at the home of the mayor of Tempe with about 150 gay football fans in town for the game. The Ohio State fans may have been a little louder, but they all seemed nice enough – there to watch the team many of them grew up with finally back in the biggest game of them all, just happy to be there and hopeful of victory.

The next day at 5 p.m., surrounded by a horde of red and white jerseys all chanting, “it sucks to be a Miami Hurricane,” I quickly saw the other side of Buckeye fans.

To be sure, part of their obnoxiousness was that there were so many of them: they fed off of one another as about 80% of the fans in the stadium, and probably 90% of the fans lining the streets looking for tickets, were for Ohio State.

I made the mistake, during the pregame show, of saying to Bill Konigsberg that I thought the Ohio State band was boring.

“Keep it to yourself,” said Joe Buckeye fan standing next to me. “I’m trying to enjoy myself.”

This was the same guy who, an hour later, would be harassing the Miami fan in front of us when Ohio State took their first lead. I figured at that point that, as long as he had a good time, he couldn’t care less if anyone else did.

To make matters worse, the Buckeye fans didn’t seem to be the brightest bunch. This point was made in the first overtime. Ohio State had the ball down at the goal line and ran the ball up the middle. Maurice Clarett was stopped short, and the officials on either side of the field each raised one hand to mark that the runner was down. The Buckeye fans waited and, when the referees raised their single hand, they then erupted. It seemed they didn’t even know that one hand meant the ball was down; two hands signal a touchdown.

More than that, though, the Buckeye fans just seemed miserable. It seemed as though they tied their own personal worth to what their team was doing on the field. While one particular Miami fan in front of us kept saying how great of a game this was, the Buckeye fans didn’t want to hear about it.

When Miami kicked the field goal to tie the game at the end of regulation, I stood on the bench and said, “This is great. This is just awesome.” The fan next to me said, “No, this sucks.” I looked over and saw him, scowling, shaking his head.

“Dude, this game rocks. How much fun is this?” I said.

“We should have won,” was his response. “This sucks.” He kept mumbling about how the referees had screwed Ohio State the whole game, and how they clearly wanted Miami to win the game. Yeah; so much so that, when Miami had won the game, these same referees made a bogus call that kept Ohio State alive.

The worst offense of all came in the overtime.

Clarett had gone out of the game just minutes before with what looked like a bad injury to his ankle or knee. On Clarett’s first carry back, he gained very short yardage. Yet another man several rows behind us, who looked like the only exercise he gets is working the remote, stood on the bench and screamed out, “Suck it up, Clarett, this is football.”

Exactly. It’s football. Yet, many of the Ohioans seemed to make it so much more. If it was football, then why did this guy have to yell at a 21-year-old kid who just got beaten down to “suck it up.”

Was their obnoxious behavior a referendum on people in Ohio? Hardly. Just as I don’t want to be lumped in with all the knuckleheads from Boston who blindly spend their money to support the Red Sox every year, I’m not attacking everyone from Ohio; after all, two days later I was cheering on the Browns against the Steelers.

Still, at this one game, there was some class missing from the Ohio State fans. The Miami fans in front of us said they’d been to many away games, at Tennessee and Florida, and they agreed: the Ohio State fans were the least genteel they’d seen.

When I got back home, I met a guy who went to Miami, and who had a big party for all his Miami friends at his house during the game. He told me that, during halftime of the game, when they were all a little down, they were surprised by Ohio State fans (one of whom was his co-worker) who had driven to his house, run through his house, knocked books off shelves, screamed obscenities about Miami, and ran back out the door. Just obnoxious.

I'd say Ohio State fans just drink too much, this leads to loudness, brashness and pissing all over everything.

For a comparison, Michigan State fans like to destroy public and private property and get violent.

I'll take a dumb drunk over that.

U of M fans are like bratty kids, top of the world and gloating when they win, lots of primal screaming and excessive behavior follows into all hours of the night. Enough already, you won - get over it. However when they lose, they become sheepish, pout, take all their toys and go home.

13 years living a block from the Big House - I get to see it all.


SmileWavy

I had to laugh when I read that. Those kinds of fans are everywhere. If you wantto see something really scary, go to a Oakland Raider/KC Chief game. Its like a contained riot.

Most of the overly passionate LSU fans that Ive met never even went to LSU. During gametime, the attitude of the fans differs greatly depending on which section of Tiger Stadium you are in. It rains bourbon and coke from the student section when LSU scores as full 32oz plastic cups are hurled at any opposing teams fans that have ventured in there. Outside the student section, LSU fans are more likely to share a bourbon and coke with an opposing teams fans when we score. A lot of other places, like the Horseshoe, dont separate the students from the general population so you probably see a mix of behavior like this throughout the whole stadium.

Back on the subject of what happens between the lines....

I wont try to take anything away from OSU. They showed everyone how to beat Texas earlier this year, they just didnt execute at the end of the game. There other loss was to a very solid team as well. I think the Big Ten is a pretty strong conference this year and they are definitely a solid team.

Yeah, thats a hilarious story.
Lets see. How does it go....... at a Championship game where 80% of the fans are for one team, they mysteriously seem more obnoixious than the other team? Hmmmmmm.

Fat guys in the stands yell at the players......certainly that only happens in Ohio. :rolleyes:

OSU fans are dumber than the rest since they didnt recognize the refs hand signal. Wonderful stereotype there. Obviously a very qualified journalist at work.

He speaks of the guy that ran through a house knocking books off the shelf. Hmmmm, Im guessing that this guy is an idiot with or without OSU football. .

On top of that, he then speaks about going to a Cleveland Browns game and fails to mention the "Dogpound" a fan group who is renowned for being obnoxious. LOL

It is obvious that this guy has a personal beef. The story is filled with exaggerations and stereotypes and as such should never have been printed anywhere. Hopefully it is simply an internet article as I would hate to think that a newspaper would ever print garbage like that. His argument sounds just like the argument that you would get from many Europeans when describing Americans in general. Funny how that works, huh?

Football fans are obnoxious.....everywhere! Now, it is a fact that Ohio is a huge football state and the fans tend to be more passionate and a lot more come out to the games. Still, lets be realistic. Go to any game anywhere and you will see people drinking, getting loud and having fun at the opposing teams expense.

Id take any of Michigans first 4 Running Backs over the guy OSU had in there. Henne would compare favourably against OSUs guy if the coaching and play calling was there. Michigan has better wide receivers. OSU has a better Offensive line. Michigan has more talent on the D Line, OSU has more talent at LB...teams appeared to be split at DB and in the punting and kicking areas. Its all about coaching.

by the way, Ted Ginn is inconsistant and overrated. Very similar to Steve Breaston, who turns it on big time every few games or so...

You may have had some credibility untl you said that Mich has a better D Line. Surely you are joking. OSU's defensive line is unstopable. Mangold at centeris a monster. One of the reason Smith looks as good at QB as he does is because he has tremendous protection.

AJ Hawk at LB will most likely win the Butkis award this season.

I agree that Ginn is inconsistant. Overated will have to wait for his Junior year. A lot of people forget that the kid is still a sophmore.

Running back is very arguable. OSU's running back is VERY quick and reliable. And once again, he is only a Soph. Tons of talent there.

And sorry, but I dont think very many people in the nation are as consistant as Santonio Holmes in wide receiver.

Both are terrific organizations. Im not a Carr fan, so I agree that he probably needs to be replaced. But for now, OSU clearly has the upper hand. We will see what happens next season when we lose a large senior class.

FYI, the Dawgpound is now tame if not sterile. It truly is a shame. As a kid I remember at least 3 games where the referees moved the game to the closed end of the stadium to avoid all the lunacy of the pound. Ahhhh the good old days.

c-man...NFL scouts will tell you that Michigan has 2 first rounders at Defensive Tackle: Alan Branch and Gabe Watson. All Im saying is that the talent is there...but they dont play well, mostly due to Jim Hermann's lack of schemes and general maliase in technique all around. OSU has a better defensive line as a unit, but all around M can match their talent if not more...which leads to coaching man...Tressel is a hell of a coach.

I live in Ann Arbor and HATE UofM ... glad they lost to OSU.

I really hated 10/15 ... but I knew it was going to happen with a minute left.

Very happy with the outcome of every other game :D

Not thrilled with 'sharing' the Big10 title ... but I'll live.

Why? ----> PSU '93

935,

Not to worry, as a Buckeye, I don't really consider the team as "champs" of the conference. Your club has had an outstanding year, and I'm glad for Joe Pa. He's a gentleman. Stats wise, we are tied, that's it. You won't see either school selling "BIG 10 CHAMPS" as they normally would. Must upset the marketers, huh?

Good luck at your Bowl. If we're lucky, I'd love the change to crush Notre Dame (no flaming intended!!).

Best,

Project935....

them are fightin' words.

Saw OSU Big Ten (11) Champ hats, t-shirts, and sweatshirts available at the Kroger today right next to the beer and wine.
I think that marketers saw an opportunity to double their $$ by sharing.

My wife is a native Ann Arborite ... so you know now well we get along during the season.

I've seen a lot of PSU 'Big 10' champs stuff online too - marketers won't care.

Is that slant nose a RUF steel nose by any chance?

You should cruise with us sometime.

http://rsp.pca.org/