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Never Forget 31-0
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Scarlet and Gray, inside
Kirk Herbstreit cried before his last game as a Buckeye, but he will be an impartial observer Saturday.
Friday, November 17, 2006
It's hard to find someone raised in Buckeye tradition any more than Kirk Herbstreit -- a former quarterback and captain at Ohio State whose father was a captain for the Buckeyes as well.
Herbstreit was the kind of kid who would go out in the back yard after the Ohio State-Michigan game and re-enact what just happened on the field. But his father, Jim Herbstreit, after he had coached for Woody Hayes with the Buckeyes, went on to coach under Bo Schembechler at Miami University. So Kirk, who graduated from Ohio State in 1992, relates to both sides of college football's greatest rivalry.
Herbstreit, though, wasn't very successful in it, the Buckeyes going 0-4-1 in his time there, including a 13-13 tie his senior season.
He still lives in the Columbus area and hosts a radio show in town, but he is known around the country as a national college football analyst. An ESPN commentator for 11 years, Herbstreit will be part of the broadcast team for the Ohio State-Michigan game for the first time Saturday, joining Brent Musburger and Bob Davie for the call of the game. He spoke on a conference call with reporters earlier this week.
Q: How big is this game to you?
"Not only did I play in it, I've been part of the rivalry my entire life, since I was breathing. It sounds sick, but it's all I've loved for my entire life. And to watch this season come down to this, the winner's going to the championship game, is beyond exciting.
"I used to go to bed at night when I was in high school, when I started to realize I was going to play at a pretty high level in college -- and this was in the middle of the Cold War when nuclear bombs were a serious threat -- and I used to go to bed and pray that they could hold off on a nuclear bomb until I got to play in the Ohio State-Michigan game, because I followed it my entire life and I wanted to see my dream of being involved in it."
Q: As a former Ohio State player, will this be a difficult game for you to do in the booth?
"Not for me. I think that it's natural for people to wonder that. I've been doing this with College GameDay for 11 years and doing games for six or seven years, and to me when I get up in the booth, I evaluate a game. I'm not looking at what school I happened to attend. I look at the two teams analytically and who's trying to move the ball down the field. And I will have no problem saying whatever is happening and why it's happening.
"That's my job, to tell why things are unfolding the way they are. That's my style and the way I've done it for a number of years, and that's the way I'll continue to do it Saturday."
Q: Do you get feedback from Michigan fans who don#=cm EQ=#t believe you can be impartial? #=EP=# #=cm DSQ=#Most often when Michigan fans come up to me, they say, #=cm SQ=#For an Ohio State guy, I can#=cm EQ=#t believe how fair you are.#=cm EQ=# And hopefully they#=cm EQ=#ll listen and realize again that I don#=cm EQ=#t really have any hidden agenda. I take my job a little bit more seriously than I take the fact that I went to a certain school. #=EP=# #=cm DSQ=#My job is to analyze the game. If this would have been my second or third year at ESPN, I could understand [that thinking]. But I#=cm EQ=#ve been removed from Ohio State for a long time, I#=cm EQ=#ve been on national TV for a long time, I#=cm EQ=#ve done pretty significant games, and all I can say is I#=cm EQ=#ll analyze the game and I hope Ohio State fans will see I#=cm EQ=#m doing a fair job and Michigan fans and any other fans. I#=cm EQ=#ll just do what I do.#=cm DEQ=# #=EP=#-RD%>
Q: Would you say this game is based on history and tradition and not bitterness?
A: "I would agree 100 percent with that. The fans hate each other's guts, they're not hiding that. Some real nastiness is surfacing on both sides this weekend, and that's the passion the fans have. You'll see former players having fun talking a little bit of trash, but it's a respectful approach. I've talked with players from both sides, and as much as they want to win the game, they talk about how it's the hardest-hitting game they play in but the least trash-talking game they play in all year.
Q: Could you imagine playing for Michigan?
"My dad played at Ohio State and he was a captain at Ohio State, and he went on to coach for Woody Hayes and then he followed Bo to Miami of Ohio and was Bo's defensive coordinator for a while. So my dad was an Ohio State captain and coach, but I had a great respect for Bo, who was a family friend, and I was always raised to respect Michigan. I was not one of those guys raised to want to see Michigan lose 11 games. I wanted to see them win 10 games and lose one, and that's the way I continue to be."
Q: What's your lasting memory of playing in the game?
"I had lived a lifelong dream of playing at a school like Ohio State and to come out for Senior Day for the last time and to run on the field at the Horseshoe . . . I was a captain that year and they introduced me at the end, and to run on the field, I had tears streaming down my face. You remember the camaraderie and how special the relationships were that you built there over time, and the fact it was coming to an end after that game, that stands out to me."
-- Doug Lesmerises
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