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OSU-Michigan rivalry captured in film
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Friday, November 02, 2007
You will laugh, you will cry, you will cheer.
Before HBO's epic, Michigan vs. Ohio State, The Rivalry is finished, you might even want to pound your chest and throw your shoe through the TV screen — not because you don't like the production, but because you get so close to the temperament of Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler, you begin to act like them.
Extras
Whew, at the end, you kind of feel like you've just played in a game yourself.
"This is a natural," HBO producer and President Ross Greenburg said. "This is a national game. All the other rivalries we looked at were mostly regional."
HBO's first public airing of the show will be Nov. 13, at 10:30 p.m.
Earlier this week, the HBO folks held a private screening for Ohio State types, and next week they will do the same in Ann Arbor, where the other half lives. I'm guessing they won't be playing an OSU band rendition of "Buckeye Battle Cry" there as a lead-in to the film as they did in Columbus.
Oh, and the producers said they wouldn't be wearing their red ties up north.
Dayton's Ohio State fans will be doubly impressed with several references to our city. Hayes is seen giving his final personal appearance at the Dayton Agonis Club the night before he died, and Daytonian Ben Sproat — a Michigan grad — is prominent with his spate of bad OSU jokes. The film is spliced with several fans telling their side of the rivalry, giving it an of-the-people feel, much of it not politically correct.
You may also notice a photo of Schembechler wearing a Bogie Busters shirt from the former golf outings here.
Eerily, there is a defining interview with Schembechler at Michigan Stadium the day before he died. Part of that interview deals with the gold charm pants given to each OSU player and coach every time they beat Michigan. Schembechler, of course, spent five years on Hayes' staff at OSU after playing for him at Miami.
"I have several of those pants myself," Schembechler said, glancing around the stadium. "Of course, I don't mention it around here."
That drew a laugh from the OSU-skewed crowd.
Chic Harley, Tom Harmon, extensive footage of the ill-fated 1950 Snow Bowl, Fielding Yost, Earle Bruce and many of Hayes' tantrums are all there.
Not that you needed a boost for this year's game Nov. 17, but this is it.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157
or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Comments
By james
November 2, 2007 5:48 PM | Link to this
Does anyone know where to get the Meatchicken parody that talked about how good it is to beat michigan…
By sanebuck
November 2, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this
Hey Patrick Get a life!
By Tom
November 2, 2007 10:09 AM | Link to this
I….O….
By patrick
November 2, 2007 9:42 AM | Link to this
All I can say is that this is the best rivalry in sports. I was recently on a trip up to Canada not realizing I would have to go through the state up north. I refused to step out of the van when we stopped for coffee I wouldn’t get out of the car. The bad part is that i am a smoker and i hadn’t been able to smoke for 2hrs, but there was now way i was going to let my feet touch the soil up there.
By Doco
November 2, 2007 9:19 AM | Link to this
I live in Toledo and went to college here. There is a store that is half Michigan, half Ohio State. In the dorms you would hear equal cheering for both teams. I listen to Mich talk radio. UM fans HATE OSU fans and MSU fans love us! I went to OSU at MSU last year and it was like a huge frat party. Everybody high fiving because we all hate Michigan. No other rivalry comes close! O…..H….!