HINYG8
You never come back from Copperhead Road
Woody did this to us...he made us this way.
He was an amazing man..but perhaps his greatest skill is the one I've never heard him lauded for. He was a master at marketing. I mean an all time great.
From tearing hats to smashing blackboards and ripping officials (and their yard markers) into tiny pieces..the man was always pushing the university's brand to the center of the ring.
He gave us terms like 'that team up north' and told us stories about not spending his money up there. He talked about those somsabitches and lit the crowd with expressions like "They wouldn't let us go for three."
He talked about this great university and made it good vs. evil.
We didn't know it...but this was his greatest gift to us. He gave us something to war against and brought us together. He told us we win with people and he taught us to pay it forward..all the good... all the opportunity...all the privilege our association with Ohio State university provides us should be paid forward without expectation of 'getting it back' or to earn good karma that would benefit us in return..but instead to do it because we have the ability and are in a position to do so; and it is right.
He fought for it tooth and nail...and it was always a hell of a show. A sound bite here....an angry stare...a demonstrative temper...and always about Ohio State. Always marketing us toward THE GAME.
Coca cola changes Santa's robes from green to red. And Woody changed Ohio State vs Michigan from a game to a way of life. He built this. He made that team up north the evil empire..and he made them despise us. He rallied us against the maize and blue...and in so doing awoke a passion that pushed OSU to new heights..and it brought out the equal but opposite reaction from TTUN..and helped propel them to the forefront of college football..all through the designs and marketing of the rivalry.
Oh it was there before Woody...but he was the master. He grew it....maintained it..and made it nation wide. Just as no one player or coach is bigger than the program, OSU and UM became bigger than their own thanks to the spark that Woody used to start a raging fire that still burns wild today.
He knew..and he made it. He marketed it. He designed it. And we all owe him for it...as it literally shaped our view in many ways of the world. We are rabid by mid November.... and here it is again.
I hear it should be easy..and hell, maybe it will be. But I am having a hard time believing that and I have a good reason for those doubts. You know why?
Because Woody told me anything easy ain't worth a damn.
And THIS, my Buckeye friends, is worth more than a sports highlight. THIS means the good guys win. THIS means the hard work paid off. THIS means the stress and excitement we have all invested in this team, the patience afforded us from our families as the world must stop on Saturdays in the fall when the Buckeyes are playing ball has been accepted by the players and now it will be paid forward. Paid forward by the players to the entire Buckeye nation..and paid back to one man: to Woody.
So as we sail toward THE GAME..I can hear Woody telling us that in ALLLLLLL his years...this is what Ohio State football is all about. It's about playing hard. It's about winning. It's about Perry Como...because if your a Michigan fan Perry is singing to you that you'll be home for the holidays...
And I hear Urban telling his team you've got 4 to 6 seconds..point A to point B...and everything you've got. Get from A to B..and when you get there be in a bad mood. He also told them it's easy to be average but it takes a little something to be special. Why be around average? Did you push yourself to be special today? If you didn't we lost a day. And we don't have many days. We're going to push you because imagine if there is something special in there..how cool would that be? And as he pushed his team..we all push the entire program and the entire university forward. He also gave us these words: Let's beat the shit out of Michigan.
They may have lost some spark and don't have the fight up north right now...I hear them...and it is unsettling. It has me wondering it is a trick. Like a bank robber who planned long and hard to pull off the heist..got his courage up..and then we got there the police met him at the door and handed him the cash. His first thought would be: What's the catch..is this a trick? They are down right now and not feeling the fight? Good. Bury them. Don't let them get off that mat..no quarter. Urban sees it, we feel it..and Woody said it:
"This ball game will boil down to three things. Three things. Number one, the team that hits the hardest and the longest, the team that starts the fastest, and the team that's too damn smart to make mistakes."
We are strong, we start fast...and if we avoid mistakes this could be historic. Point A is the opening kick. Point B should be the record books. Largest margin in the big house in decades....perhaps ever. Maybe an offensive yardage record. Maybe a scoring record. Maybe we hold them to negative rushing yards.
Maybe we will just blow them right the hell out.
THAT is point B.
It takes a little something to be special..but Woody made that little something more than special..he made it THE GAME. He paid this forward to us. Now this team has a chance to pay it forward by beating TTUN and perhaps rewriting the record books as they go from point A to point B.
This is Woody's gift to us..this team has the means and the ability to pay that gift forward. So let's do that by kicking the living shit out of that team up north!
LET'S GO BUCKS! M*CH*GAN SUCKS!!!!!!
He was an amazing man..but perhaps his greatest skill is the one I've never heard him lauded for. He was a master at marketing. I mean an all time great.
From tearing hats to smashing blackboards and ripping officials (and their yard markers) into tiny pieces..the man was always pushing the university's brand to the center of the ring.
He gave us terms like 'that team up north' and told us stories about not spending his money up there. He talked about those somsabitches and lit the crowd with expressions like "They wouldn't let us go for three."
He talked about this great university and made it good vs. evil.
We didn't know it...but this was his greatest gift to us. He gave us something to war against and brought us together. He told us we win with people and he taught us to pay it forward..all the good... all the opportunity...all the privilege our association with Ohio State university provides us should be paid forward without expectation of 'getting it back' or to earn good karma that would benefit us in return..but instead to do it because we have the ability and are in a position to do so; and it is right.
He fought for it tooth and nail...and it was always a hell of a show. A sound bite here....an angry stare...a demonstrative temper...and always about Ohio State. Always marketing us toward THE GAME.
Coca cola changes Santa's robes from green to red. And Woody changed Ohio State vs Michigan from a game to a way of life. He built this. He made that team up north the evil empire..and he made them despise us. He rallied us against the maize and blue...and in so doing awoke a passion that pushed OSU to new heights..and it brought out the equal but opposite reaction from TTUN..and helped propel them to the forefront of college football..all through the designs and marketing of the rivalry.
Oh it was there before Woody...but he was the master. He grew it....maintained it..and made it nation wide. Just as no one player or coach is bigger than the program, OSU and UM became bigger than their own thanks to the spark that Woody used to start a raging fire that still burns wild today.
He knew..and he made it. He marketed it. He designed it. And we all owe him for it...as it literally shaped our view in many ways of the world. We are rabid by mid November.... and here it is again.
I hear it should be easy..and hell, maybe it will be. But I am having a hard time believing that and I have a good reason for those doubts. You know why?
Because Woody told me anything easy ain't worth a damn.
And THIS, my Buckeye friends, is worth more than a sports highlight. THIS means the good guys win. THIS means the hard work paid off. THIS means the stress and excitement we have all invested in this team, the patience afforded us from our families as the world must stop on Saturdays in the fall when the Buckeyes are playing ball has been accepted by the players and now it will be paid forward. Paid forward by the players to the entire Buckeye nation..and paid back to one man: to Woody.
So as we sail toward THE GAME..I can hear Woody telling us that in ALLLLLLL his years...this is what Ohio State football is all about. It's about playing hard. It's about winning. It's about Perry Como...because if your a Michigan fan Perry is singing to you that you'll be home for the holidays...
And I hear Urban telling his team you've got 4 to 6 seconds..point A to point B...and everything you've got. Get from A to B..and when you get there be in a bad mood. He also told them it's easy to be average but it takes a little something to be special. Why be around average? Did you push yourself to be special today? If you didn't we lost a day. And we don't have many days. We're going to push you because imagine if there is something special in there..how cool would that be? And as he pushed his team..we all push the entire program and the entire university forward. He also gave us these words: Let's beat the shit out of Michigan.
They may have lost some spark and don't have the fight up north right now...I hear them...and it is unsettling. It has me wondering it is a trick. Like a bank robber who planned long and hard to pull off the heist..got his courage up..and then we got there the police met him at the door and handed him the cash. His first thought would be: What's the catch..is this a trick? They are down right now and not feeling the fight? Good. Bury them. Don't let them get off that mat..no quarter. Urban sees it, we feel it..and Woody said it:
"This ball game will boil down to three things. Three things. Number one, the team that hits the hardest and the longest, the team that starts the fastest, and the team that's too damn smart to make mistakes."
We are strong, we start fast...and if we avoid mistakes this could be historic. Point A is the opening kick. Point B should be the record books. Largest margin in the big house in decades....perhaps ever. Maybe an offensive yardage record. Maybe a scoring record. Maybe we hold them to negative rushing yards.
Maybe we will just blow them right the hell out.
THAT is point B.
It takes a little something to be special..but Woody made that little something more than special..he made it THE GAME. He paid this forward to us. Now this team has a chance to pay it forward by beating TTUN and perhaps rewriting the record books as they go from point A to point B.
This is Woody's gift to us..this team has the means and the ability to pay that gift forward. So let's do that by kicking the living shit out of that team up north!
LET'S GO BUCKS! M*CH*GAN SUCKS!!!!!!
