The Big Game - A Dog For A Change

This Saturday in November has always filled my being with anxiety, joy, turmoil and absolute delight.  All year long I patiently wait for the arrival of this fourth Saturday in November when my Ohio State Buckeyes meet the Wolverines of Michigan for the "The Game".   Like many Buckeye fans, the evening before is a sleepless night as so much always rests on "The Game".  For seven consecutive years now, the Ohio State Buckeyes have had the upper hand.  We have won this game 9 out of last 10 times it has been played.  Today, the game is at "The Big House" in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  It is really tough to win at The Big House.

One walks through the tradition and storied past of this incredible rivalry and they will find some of the greatest college football games ever played.  They would see upset again and again where the rival Wolverines took away the Buckeyes national championship dreams.  Same goes for Michigan with Ohio State ruining more than just a few seasons for the vaulted Wolverines.  Today's game has the Wolverines significantly favored to win for the first time in years.  Ohio State has only had troubles this past year and Michigan has rebounded from three years of awful.  At the same time, the season goes out the window, favorites are cast aside, this is the "Big Game" and none of those things mean anything on this Saturday. 

Today's game is everything for these two programs.  No matter what the record, beating Michigan if you are Ohio State is the season.  It wasn't all that many years ago when Ohio State fired their head coach, John Cooper, for not being able to beat Michigan.  Cooper was able to beat everybody else and is still one of the most successful coaches in all of college football.   Wasn't good enough at Ohio State.  Rich Rodriguez was Michigan's coach for the last three years and he could not beat Ohio State even once.  He received his walking papers too.  It's just the way this game is.  You must win it and you must win it at least half of the time if not more to be considered among the greats. 

This has always been a tough day for me filling the clock until kick-off.  This year I have managed better than most as I have had other issues to contend with.  However, with only thirty minutes to kick-off, the butterflies are in full force as I prepare to take my seat and root on my Buckeyes.   It actually feels good today to be the underdog.  Maybe we will surprise everyone once again with a mighty upset and improve our recent record one more time.  If not, looks like we will have a new coach next week and I have a sneaky feeling that we won't be losing many more games to the Wolverines for years to come. 

Just received another text message from a fellow Buckeye.  He just said the same thing.  Urban Meyer is on his way to Buckeye Nation.  We just hope Luke Fickel's last game as the Ohio State Football coach is a great one.  Good Luck Luke.