Well, if Grandpa Bob decided to sift through the remaining posts, there actually was some rational debate here. Given this, and previous banter on BP, there seems to be some genuine disagreement among Buckeye fans on one particular issue. On one hand, there are some who think tsun needs to be a good football team or at least be a consistently productive B10 performer to make the rivalry especially relevant. And there are other fans who think the significance of the rivalry cannot be diminished, even if tsun is consistently terrible.
Here's my take, GBob:
1) One of the most important goals in college athletics is to beat your rival.
Coach Tressel understood this when he took the job, and referenced this notion in his oft-quoted inaugural speech, saying, "I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field."
2) tOSU does not need tsun to be great in order to validate Buckeye greatness.
Bowden made FSU a perennial top 5 team without UF being relevant. And when the Gators became a legitimate power and the Seminoles became weak, do you really think Florida fans were disappointed?
There have been many times when Auburn and Alabama have been down at different times. Does anyone honestly think that college football fans in the state of Alabama have ever discounted the outcome of the Iron Bowl?
Ten years ago, did Oklahoma need Nebraska to be consistently good in order to get respectability?
Has Texas has ever relied on the viability of A&M or Tech to substantiate their significance?
Was USC hindered when UCLA was a lower-tier P10 team? (For that matter, USC was also a powerhouse while ND was a doormat.)
3) Embrace the rivalry. Buckeye fans are fortunate to have a clear-cut rival that they can "hate" without reservation.
What does Penn State have? Nothing. MSU? Same. Indiana-Purdue? Spare me. (And Florida? Who are they supposed to hate? They seem to have three different rivals.)
4) Cherish every victory because history does not forget.
Do tsun fans apologize for or discount their dominating wins when Teddy Roosevelt was president? A winning streak against tsun will never be too long.
5) The notion that a villain needs to be strong in order to rationalize meaningful conflict is erroneous.
Assuming you were the religious type, would you actually want satan to be a stronger adversary so you can somehow feel that much better if you happen to overcome temptation? I don't know about all of you, but I want victory every time. Therefore, I assure you, whether it's satan or tsun, I want them both to suck.
, might opine that rivalries fade in importance if one or both of the teams fails to be relevant. Once upon a time, Illinois was a major rival for OSU. USC-UCLA used to be THE game in the Pac-10. Nebraska-Oklahoma was almost on the same plane as OSU-Michigan. FSU-Miami was a playoff game on the way to the national title, and so on. Thus, to preserve the rivalry, it can be argued that it's vital for Michigan to return to their former status.
