* Many of you have wondered why I haven't been so vocal about the accomplishment of the Buckeyes and their bid to the BCS Championship. Although I have been very proud of the team, I have been busy writing a final paper for a sports writing class about my trip to the OSU-Michigan game. While it may seem outdated and over-due, here is my final piece about that amazing day.

I would like to congratulate the University of Michigan football team on an excellent season, but as Urban Meyer has famously said "they got their shot." Sour grapes and all, with the current BCS system, we will never see a year without controversy. While I do believe the Wolverines to be the second best team in the country, it only seemed fair for Florida to get their chance to prove if they belong in that second slot or not. By January 9, 2007 - we'll all know who has the goods to back up their team. GO BUCKS!

     As the black BMW ripped through the stale Pennsylvania landscape at 90 mph, I desperately pointed my cell phone towards the car window, hoping to find a signal. I needed to confirm the news I heard at a Pocono rest stop: was famed Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, merely ill or was it worse? Anxious to confirm the report, I tried calling anyone near a computer who could update me on the man’s status. It was early afternoon on November 17th, the day before the biggest game of the year. With historic proportions on the line, it was inconceivable to commence the weekend with the death of an iconic archrival.

            By the time the car pulled up to the beverage depot in New Castle, Pennsylvania at 4PM, Bo Schembechler was pronounced dead. With the state line just miles away, the sun setting, and the clock ticking closer towards kickoff, it seemed inappropriate but necessary to crack open a case of Coors Light and inaugurate the colossal weekend with a beer. The death of the Michigan legend indicated that the 103rd meeting between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines would be anything but ordinary.

            This wasn’t a road trip, it was a pilgrimage; a trip made by four devoted fans-mere acquaintances when they departed earlier that morning. Desperate to witness the mêlée in person, we made the 540 mile journey from New York City to Columbus, Ohio. The ten hour expedition was punctuated by a brief stop at gas station to load up on beer and a detour to the Akron-Canton airport to pick up a late inbound passenger who couldn’t play hooky from work that morning. To any person it was ludicrous, a 48 hour road trip to witness a football game, but to us it was the only way to witness THE Game.

            For devoted fans of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, there are no limitations to THE Game. What started out as a friendly match in 1897 has turned in to a turf war that many fans of college football have called “the greatest rivalry of all time.” The match-up historically crowns champions. In recent years, the game has spawned spoilers to bowl bids, ended the careers of coaches, and produced some of the biggest talent in the NFL.

            In 2006, a first occurred in the history of THE Game. Both teams entered the final regular season game undefeated and ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Bowl Championship Series. The winner of this game would not only be the out-right Big Ten Champion; they would earn an automatic bid to play for the national championship.

            By 6PM the OSU athletic department had issued 1100 media credentials, the state of Michigan had sent 600 law enforcement agents to provide extra protection for UM fans and we were 125 miles north of Columbus. Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter were dining at popular restaurant on campus, and our car couldn’t get there fast enough to be apart of it.

            Tickets for THE Game had been on sale since early October, selling as high as $5,000 a piece on eBay. The driver of our car had scored a dandy deal, purchasing a pair for $950. Although my parents had season tickets, I didn’t expect to sit in the Horseshoe and watch the game in their seats. I had tried to buy tickets, but there was no way I could afford it. This game was a ticket-scalper’s dream; even students were making out like bandits, selling their seats for a quarter’s worth of tuition. If I couldn’t afford to go to the game, I was going to witness the atmosphere.

It was inevitable that campus would hold more fans than the stadium could seat. By 8AM on game day, parking lots as far as two miles from the stadium were filled to capacity. The 3,560 vacant parking spaces on west campus had been transformed into a nomadic camp of football fanatics in deluxe camper-trailers who had made the same pilgrimage. Their multi-million dollar vehicles would put a rock star’s tour bus to shame.

Wealthy fans had BBQ smoke-houses custom built and hitched to the back of their Gulf Stream motor homes, making the most obsessed grill-master turn green with envy. Satellite dishes dotted the horizon over the parking lot and 60” flat screen TVs were hoisted on the sides of RV’s. While most of the vehicles displayed various forms of Ohio State pride, the ride that took the prize for most imaginative was an old yellow school bus with a vintage VW bus welded on top. The entire masterpiece had been painted scarlet and grey and the ingenious vehicle barked the Buckeye Fight Song from its horn.

Walking through the endless RV lots, the smell of charcoal and lighter fluid filled the air. (It’s never too early to start grilling bratwurst.) Middle-aged men standing in scarlet and grey fatigues with Buckeye helmets on their heads, holding cans of Bud Light, were a frequent sight at 8:30AM.

 For the college crowd, the day’s events started at 5AM when Panini’s, a popular campus bar, had opened for “Kegs n’ Eggs.” For a $10 cover you could get all the eggs you could eat and dollar pre-dawn drafts. These people weren’t fans…they were cult followers. Their devotion to their team and to the traditions of football Saturday was that of a religious ritual.

At a central Ohio church earlier that week, the minister started of the service saying "Good Morning. First of all, let's say a prayer to God, that he not empower Michigan as they travel into Ohio this Saturday. Although I know that God will not empower them as he will not empower EVIL over GOOD. God Bless The Buckeyes.”

While weddings and funerals had been re-scheduled around this game, the extremes these fans take for the rivalry went beyond the pulpit. Earlier that week, an OSU fan from Dayton spray-painted his Michigan-born neighbor’s yard with a giant red “Go Bucks!” across the front lawn. Another fan ate Ohio State cereal every morning and wore OSU inspired clothing to work all week, refusing to remove his No. 7 jersey. One fan even went out of his way to have his Michigan neighbor’s car towed.

Malicious jokes and superstitious behavior aside, the measures taken to witness the game infiltrated all facets of life. High school football tournament games were rescheduled to conclude prior to the OSU-UM kickoff. Even the Ohio Board of Elections postponed the counting of provisional ballots for a hotly contested House of Representatives race until AFTER the game.

Everyone wanted to see this match-up. Like me, many had driven all night and were prepared to pay any price to get a seat. As I walked towards the Stadium, I passed a six year old boy who was dressed up like a football player and had a cardboard sign hanging around his neck that read “I want to go to my first OSU-UM game, can you spare a ticket?” Like a poor Gypsy child, he scampered through the crowd, eliciting pitiful looks from grownups who wouldn’t think of giving up their seat.

Perhaps the most poignant story was that o####entleman who gave up his ticket to the game in lieu of a plane ride to Denver, Colorado. There he planned to sit bedside with a close friend who was facing his final days of terminal cancer. The bedridden buddy’s final request was to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game with his best friend. 

By 3:30PM 105,708 fans had crowded in to Ohio Stadium. Twice as many people covered the campus and 21.8 million viewers tuned in on the television. There was no where else in the world I wanted to be at that moment than on the campus of Ohio State…and there was no way I would let any road block or natural disaster stand in my way. As a child born and raised on Ohio State football, I had watched this game since birth and never in my 25 years of football attendance have I ever witnessed something as big as the 2006 OSU-Michigan game. I’m not sure the stadium will ever be as loud, will refrain from sitting down, or see its field flooded with over 100,000 ecstatic fans again.

The car ride from New York to Columbus was well worth the white knuckles I endured as our car overtook oncoming traffic like a NASCAR contender that Friday, but I opted for a $100 return ticket on AirTran. If I had been the gambling type, I should have put a $100 bet on the game, or played the lottery immediately following the victory. For the few who chose the final score of the game as their “Pick 4” numbers that night, 4-2-3-9 turned out to be the winning combination and the Ohio Lottery paid out $2.2 million for that fortuitous combination.

     For THE Game, there is nothing too impossible to imagine, but like any miracle you can only believe it if you witness it in person. While I may never get to see Mecca, my own pilgrimage to THE Game will forever be a highlight of my religious devotion for Ohio State football.

Hey blog world!!!

I am currently in a writing class at NYU and I am writing a feature story about what people will do to watch "The Game." If you are planning on being apart of the Ohio State-Michigan(in any way), I'd love to know about it. For example, are you taking extreme measures to get to the game? Did you sell your ticket for loads of cash? Do you have any rituals for game day? If you can't be in Columbus, how are you planning on watching the game? If you don't give a load of #### about college football, your mistake! Thanks for your help, any stories or comments are appreciated!

-Belle

10) How did I manage to go 12/13 on my pro football picks this last week and 8/17 on my college picks? I am normally 90% correct on my college games and 90% wrong on my pro picks. My how the tables can turn!

9) Michigan State University is hurting…and they are hurting bad. Nothing is more dangerous than a wounded team. While John L. Smith’s world might be in a freefall, all that could change if he defeated the No. 1 team this weekend with Ohio State coming up to East Lansing. Is that too hard to imagine? It’s been done to Woody’s No. 1 OSU team in 1974 and John Cooper’s No. 1 OSU team in 1998.

8) Joe Torre is out. Joe Torre is in. Joe Torre is in a tough place. The guy has won 4 World Series titles in 11 years but his most recent assignment looked like it might be forced retirement. Is the problem really Joe? I think not…I think the problem is the mentality that just because you can afford the best players in the league doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed or entitled to anything.

7) Choking. The Yankees choked. Auburn choked. I choked on a huge audition this past Monday that was money in the bank. Why is it when we think we have all the ducks in a row, somehow they manage to slip between our fingers? 

6) The Maize and Blue should be number two!

5) WARNING: The new film, School for Scoundrels, is horrible! I know it is Billy Bob Thornton and John Heder (that cool dude from Napoleon Dynamite) but the movie is horrible and a waste of 2 hours of your Saturday night. Why the Weinstein brothers decided to produce that movie is beyond me. They should go back to their Miramax roots and bet on the arty projects. 

4) How funny would it be if the latest Big 12 tour-de-force, Baylor, beat Texas by 1 point?! Isn’t it ironic, don’t ya think?

3) Graduate school applications are looming over my head. I’m not sure what I feel guiltier about, neglecting my blog or neglecting my essays for school.

2) You heard it here first: in the next three years, Northwestern will be a big dog in the Big Ten. Pat Fitzgerald has the ability to continue the work that Randy Walker left behind. They might not have been able to turn water in to wine this season, but as Tyrell Sutton said, they’ve hit rock bottom and the only way to go is up.

1) It would be awesome on November 18 if Ohio State and Michigan met in the ‘Shoe as No. 1 versus No. 2, but what does it really matter? Whoever looses still looses, regardless of rank and that would screw any hope for the BCS Championship.

I have two tickets to that game, and while I could sell them on eBay for $1000 a ticket, there is no way I’d sell out to a rich yuppie who wouldn’t value the tradition of the greatest college rivalry in football.

Bonus: The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the greatest player in college football for that year. While Troy Smith has been a front-runner all season, Garrett Wolfe is the true candidate who has run all over his competition. Unfortunately, is it possible to give the Heisman Trophy to a player who has no impact on the national title picture? Some would argue that the trophy should go to a player who contributes to his team winning a major title. While I might agree with that opinion, is it appropriate to overlook a true player who has succeeded to the greatest of his ability in his conference that might be of lack-luster value? I mean, he did gain 200+ offensive yards against the number one team in the country…on his first game of the season.

I love the way marketing think-tanks comes up with catchy titles like “Separation Saturday.” Ironically, while the alliteration gives such a title its cohesiveness, the idea of one whole violently tearing in to two separate parts is really what characterized Saturday’s college football action. It wasn’t two teams breaking up; it was one team being severed from the dream of the BCS championship.

Perhaps a new title should be added to the roster of football Saturdays, that being “Out With the Old, In With the New.” The dominate teams of yesterday (Florida State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and, Miami) have their swan song on repeat. Even teams like Tennessee, who look poised to have a comeback season, misfired in a deadly way yesterday. A few of those classics like USC and Ohio State still remain dominate in their quest for the national championship, but a few newbies have emerged on the radar to really shake up the national picture.

 To further prove how misguided the entire BCS championship is, teams like TCU, Louisville, and even Rutgers are starting to show that the little man can triumph among the larger programs that barely keep their heads above water. Louisville manhandled Miami (see, I can make up catchy alliterations too, ESPN) and with Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia rolling to 3-0 starts in the Big East, that comedic conference isn’t looking like such a joke.

To be fair, I visited the land of the Scarlet Knights in New Brunswick, New Jersey on Saturday to see if Rutgers was the real deal. While they do have one great running back in Ray Rice, it was only thanks to the drunken mistakes of Frank Solich’s Ohio University football team that made the 24-7 score possible. The entire second half of the football game was scoreless, and if it wasn’t for the four forced turnovers and blocked punt, this game would have been a sleeper.

Honestly, on Thursday night I turned off the West Virginia game after the first quarter and went to see Invincible. Steve Slaton’s 195 yards was enough for me to know I didn’t need to worry about Maryland staging a comeback. (Besides, it was a little more entertaining watching Mark Walberg run up and down the field on the big screen.) Is anyone else as terrified as me that Slaton is only a sophomore? Hopefully he won’t fall victim to the Adrian Peterson disease and be a minor blip on the radar screen for the rest of his career.

I felt like a proud mother watching her kid’s first piano recital when I caught the Louisville-Miami score, 31-7. (Thank god I listened to my gut when I picked Louisville to win that game!) But then that gushing parent glow quickly drained from my face when news that QB Brian Brohm dislocated his right thumb and will be out for the next four to six weeks. I suppose the good news is that Louisville still managed to maintain Miami for the last quarter, but what does this mean for the big picture? It means Hunter Cantwell, backup QB, will have to continue playing like a beast and prove that Louisville has the depth in their roster to play for the big game. Next week the Cardinals will be flying in to Kansas State, who is also 3-0 and Manhattan, Kansas is no prairie town. If the Cards can get the “W” on the road…be prepared to TiVo the Big East season for October and November.

I like seeing the little guy win, but I was more than happy to see fellow Big East member Cincinnati stumble against Ohio State. Yea, OSU is my team, and I’m biased, but I would have been one cranky mother-mucker if OSU fell against a mediocre team one week after defeating Texas and one week before taking on Penn State.

Speaking of Penn State, after getting spanked by Notre Dame one week and then watching the Irish get punched in the stomach by Michigan, what does it all mean? Is Michigan finally back from their 7-5 2005 season or is Penn State really not good? The Big Ten is finicky like that, and when they open up their season next week with Penn State at Ohio State, Notre Dame at Michigan State, and Wisconsin at Michigan, I guess we’ll all see what the Big Ten is made of.

 Big Ten? Big East? It’s all a bunch of BIG QUESTION MARKS!

FLASH!

It’s all over; a photo finish burned in your memory that will either haunt you forever, or one you’ll clip out of the morning paper and cherish for a lifetime. Those nail-biting finishes are what we talk about over cups of coffee the next morning, or blog about for the following week and keep us glued to the television, begging for more.

October 15, 2005/ USC vs. Notre Dame-“The Bush Push”

The last three meetings of USC and Notre Dame were 31 point victories by the Trojans and Southern Cal was on a 27 game winning streak, yet all Charlie Weis wanted to do was reclaim Irish pride by flashing green jerseys and declaring a victory. As Irish quarterback Brady Quinn ran in a five-yard touchdown to take the lead, 31-28 in the last two minutes of the game, little did Touchdown Jesus know the world was about to witness a historic college football moment.

Continuing the fabled battle, USC faced fourth-and-nine in the final minute of the game, but a 67 yard reception pulled the team within the 10 yard line. After several failed attempts to break the goal line, USC QB Matt Leinart tried to dive for the end zone. He collided with a Notre Dame linebacker who jarred the ball loose. Thinking the game was over, Notre Dame rejoiced, only to have that folly spoiled when game officials said Leinart fumbled the ball out of bounds and USC had seven seconds left to make one final play.

Seven seconds is a long time…in this case, a historic amount of time. At fourth and goal, USC went for the jugular by opting for a touchdown instead of tying the game with a field goal. Going with the quarterback sneak, Leinart was denied the goal line by the Notre Dame defense, so he rolled left and with a friendly “push” by his man Bush, Leinart scored the game winning goal. Final: USC 34 ND 31

November 27, 2005/ Japan Cup – by a nose

The Preakness, the Bellmont, the Kentucky Derby…the Japan Cup? Each year two teams from the US, England, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Japan are invited to race in the second richest horse race in the world. (The first is the Dubai World Cup.)  

Considering that first place takes home a purse of $2.38 million, it’s surprising the name “Alkaased” doesn’t sound as familiar as “Barbaro.” During the final stretch of the 2400 meter race, Alkaased (USA), Heart’s Cry (Japan) and Zenno Rob Roy (Japan) were all in a dead heat. Crossing the finish line at 2:22.1, 2:22.1 and 2:22.4, it literally was a “nose” that won the race for Alkaased, determined only by the photo at the finish line. 

November 28, 2005/ NYC Marathon – by a foot

Five boroughs, 26.2 miles, and 35,000 people comprise the annual running of the New York City Marathon. Only 172 people ran the first marathon in 1970, but its popularity burgeoned to a point where a lottery system had to be installed to choose who could run the race. Perhaps Paul Tergat of Kenya was wishing his competition, Hendrick Ramaala, had lost the lottery when the two of them came running across the finish line in Central Park last autumn. Hendrick, of South Africa, was the defending champion and Paul was making his rookie debut in the race. With a time of 2:09:30, Paul’s single step in front of Hendrick garnered him the win and made it the closest finish in the marathon’s history.

December 28, 2005/ Alamo Bowl: Michigan vs. Nebraska- the play that got away

The Michigan Wolverines are one of the most successful football programs in the country. They hold the record for the most undefeated seasons in D-I football at 25 with 11 national titles. They have one of the highest winning percentages (.74421) and hold the record for the most total wins in college football history (849), but none of those numbers could help their final play in the 2006 Alamo bowl against Nebraska.

Figuring the Maize and Blue would ravage Big Red, Michigan was stunned when Nebraska overcame a nine-point deficit and claimed the lead, 32-28, in the final four minutes of the game. Literally scrambling to make something happen, the final play of the game had all of the antics to overtake the infamous “1982 Stanford/Cal game” as one of the most unbelievable plays in college football…the only problem was Michigan failed to score.

As the clock ticked down the final seconds, Michigan QB Chad Henne threw the ball to a teammate who then tossed it to another player, who frantically threw it to another Wolverine, who pitched it to someone else, who fumbled the ball, picked it up, and chucked it to another player. Eight lateral passes later, Tyler Ecker caught the ball and sprinted down to the goal line only to get bumped out of bounds to end the game. You have to see it to believe it! 

January 4, 2006/ Rose Bowl: Texas vs. USC – who needs a Heisman?

Texas quarterback, Vince Young, had barely dried his eyes from his Heisman loss when he orchestrated one of the biggest coming out parties of the 2005-2006 college football season. Overshadowed by Trojan boy Reggie Bush, Young’s heroics on the field in Pasadena garnered his team a national title, and him a MVP trophy and a one-way ticket to the NFL.

Hailed as the most impressive single-game performance by one player in the 137 year history of college football, Vince Young tallied 467 yards of total offense. Although he ran for over 200 yards, perhaps it was the final nine yards of his collegiate career Vince will cherish the most. After the Texas defense stuffed USC on fourth and short with 2:09 remaining, the Longhorns took over the line of scrimmage and set up the final drive of the game. Everyone knew Vince would run, but the USC defense wasn’t sharp enough to derail the train Vince was riding. With 19 seconds remaining in regulation, fourth down, and his team one touchdown shy of winning, Vince Young trotted nine yards to the end zone, ending USC’s 35 game winning streak and bringing Texas its first national championship since 1969. FINAL: Texas 41 USC 38

February 21, 2006/ Olympic Winter Games- The bitter 1500m

God bless the pomp and circumstance of the Olympics, but what would the winter games mean if there wasn’t a controversy involved? In 1994 it was Tonya and Nancy, followed by the French judging scandal in 2002, and in 2006, it was men’s speed skating stars Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick.

Davis had faced his own setbacks in the 2002 games and came to Torino focused solely on his three events, thus refusing to join his colleagues in the men’s team pursuit. His reclusive nature sparked a maelstrom with fellow teammate, Chad Hedrick, who needed Davis’s participation in the team event to help win. Without Davis, Hedrick knew the men stood a small chance at medaling. The rift between Davis and Hedrick quickly caught the eye of the media, who elevated the bitter battle to new levels by building up Davis and Hedrick’s hot rivalry in the 1500m. Both skaters had already won medals in separate events, with Davis making history by becoming the first African American to earn a medal in an individual event at the Winter Games.  Now facing each other for the same gold, the 1500m claimed the limelight as one of the most talked about races of the 2006 games. After an extremely tight race, neither American claimed first; it was an Italian who took the gold with a time of 1:45.96 while Davis came in second at 1:46.13 and Hedrick in third at 1:46.22.

April 28, 2006/ Lakers vs. Suns- Who’s Your MVP?

If there was a moment when Kobe Bryant wanted to prove that he should be the NBA MVP, it was when two-time MVP Steve Nash turned the ball over in the final seconds of the fourth game between the Lakers and Suns in the NBA Playoffs. With eight seconds remaining in regulation, Nash lost control of the ball and the Lakers recovered, giving the ball to Kobe who tied the game with seven-tenths of a second remaining. Again, in overtime, a costly mistake by Nash turned the ball over to the Lakers, providing the pivotal moment for Kobe to hit a buzzer-beating shot to win the game, 99-98. Not only did Kobe’s gorgeous jumper provide a victory, it was the knell Phoenix was dreading. With the Lakers storybook triumph, they took a 3-1 lead over the Suns in the playoff picture.

May 27, 2006/ Indy 500-Two Andrettis with a dash by Hornish

Last weekend, the largest single-day sporting event worldwide was held for the 90th time. With roughly 320 million spectators tuning in, the Indianapolis 500 witnessed its second closest victory in the history of the race. The scene was set for the royal family of formula driving, the Andrettis, to win the race. Mario Andretti’s son, Michael, emerged from retirement to make one final attempt at the race, while his son, Marco, made his Indy debut. Michael led the race during laps 194-197, but on lap 198, Marco overtook his dad and grabbed the lead. As the final lap approached, the 300,000+ spectators were poised to see the Andretti family claim first and second place, but blazing from the pack was Penske driver, Sam Hornish, Jr.. Hornish came charging up the lane and passed Marco to steal the lead by less then the length of his car. With a winning margin of 0.0635-seconds, Hornish barely managed to defeat the 19 year old rookie and his father.