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By George Thomas
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
Montagues vs. Capulets. Hatfields vs. McCoys. Bugs vs. Daffy.
All worthy rivalries, but none compare to that of the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. the Michigan Wolverines, and finally someone on a national level gets that fact.
In Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry, an HBO Sports documentary, filmmakers clearly understand the nuances and history of one of sports' premier annual events. It airs at 10:30 tonight on the cable channel.
Ross Greenberg and Rick Bernstein are executive producers, but the credit for this enjoyable trip through Buckeye-Wolverine lore goes to editor George Roy and writer Erik Kesten, who take compelling footage and blend it together to create a documentary that elicits reactions ranging from laughter to tears.
If you don't think that any one piece of filmmaking could do justice to this rivalry, which began before the first World Series and predates the NFL by 25 years, think again. Roy packs a comprehensive history (How did those ugly helmets come to be? Where did the tradition of handing out golden pants come from?) into 60 minutes of entertainment.
Kesten digs deep to find fascinating pieces of information that might open the eyes of more than a few Buckeyes fans. Case in point: For the first 15 years of the alleged rivalry, it wasn't one. The Wolverines regularly kicked OSU's butts and regarded the Buckeyes as inferior.
The filmmakers take that opportunity to explore the socioeconomic differences of the two college towns where the rivalry burns 365 days a year.
Near Detroit, Ann Arbor is rooted in the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the auto industry. It's educated and its academic excellence is unparalleled in the Midwest.
Columbus, on the other hand, sat firmly in the middle of nowhere, a largely agrarian community with the Buckeyes at the center of its universe. You want cosmopolitan? You had to go to Cleveland.
It took the Buckeyes' Chic Harley, a three-time all-American, to turn the series into something competitive. From 1917 to 1919, the tone of the series changed. Many credit Harley's play on the field for getting Ohio Stadium built.
Where The Rivalry truly excels, however, is its exploration of the Ten-Year War between teams coached by OSU legend Woody Hayes and his former protege and Barberton native Bo Schembechler, from 1969 to 1978. It's during this period that the flags of discontent and the rabid nature of the rivalry really come to light.
The filmmakers explore how the game became an obsession of Hayes' after, in one of the greatest college football upsets of
all time, the Wolverines beat a Buckeyes team believed to be untouchable by anyone in the country. Michigan won 24-12 in that 1969 game.
Before that, the Wolverine program was in disarray, facilities were run down and interest in the program, once one of the nation's strongest and proudest, was at an all-time low.
The arrival of Schembechler and his subsequent success in the Ten-Year War (5-4-1 record), resurrected the moribund program and a rivalry that had taken on the staleness of moldy bread.
You can't look at that footage, consider the time and not draw parallels to recent history and current events. Kesten displays a keen awareness of the series' history in that respect. Just eight years ago, unable to beat Michigan, OSU coach John Cooper found himself on the outs with the OSU community, despite having a sparkling record. Enter coach Jim Tressel, who not only gets the importance of beating Michigan but also had proven himself a winner, albeit at the Division 1-AA level.
New blood.
New life.
New intensity.
At least on the Buckeyes' end.
Ironic, considering that current Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr finds himself in a similar predicament. In meetings against Tressel, Carr owns a 1-5 record. Buckeye fans are never hesitant in displaying their glee at their team's annual spanking of Michigan, but it's evolved into an expectation. It's no longer a rivalry when it's taken for granted.
It's in this moment of the documentary that the filmmakers note that, just as the series appears comatose, a new coach arrives to resuscitate it. So it was with Schembechler. So it was with Tressel and so it shall be with whoever replaces Carr should he retire at the end of this season.
The filmmakers understand the fact that this is as much about people as it is about the game itself. There are few moments as touching in any football documentary as Columbus Dispatch columnist Mike Hardin talking about how football and this particular game became Hayes' personal Moby Dick and undoing.
That is when documentaries work best — when they can lay out the facts and weave them together with human elements to create something wholly compelling.
In that respect, The Rivalry: Michigan vs. Ohio State scores.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/.
Montagues vs. Capulets. Hatfields vs. McCoys. Bugs vs. Daffy.
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