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By Associated Press
POSTED: 11:08 a.m. EST, Nov 21, 2008
COLUMBUS: What's brewing today with the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes ...
BUCKEYES BUZZ: One of the coolest traditions, literally, at Ohio State comes each Thursday before the Michigan game. Students go down to Mirror Lake, some fortified by strong spirits, and jump into the frigid, shallow waters.
Sometimes the ice on the surface has to be broken before the teenage polar bears can make the leap in a show of school spirit.
Sadly, the football players are usually too busy — or too afraid of incurring the wrath of a coach for catching a cold or spraining an ankle — to join in.
DL Nader Abdallah, a native of New Orleans, walked down to the lake last year.
"I had a chance to walk around and look at people doing all of that stuff," he said. "It was amazing because it was freezing cold out there and people were jumping in. People were coming together and having a great time and it shows how much it means."
PK Ryan Pretorius: "One of my ex-roommates bought a wet suit just so he could jump in, wore it, jumped in, then cleaned it off and took it back. It's nuts."
LB James Laurinaitis: "They've got a lot of liquid courage."
He said he regretted missing out on so many of the joys of college life.
"I guess you maybe find yourself wondering what it would be like to tailgate or do this and that but if you think about how lucky you are to be one of 100 guys per year that's on this team, there's nothing in the world I would trade that for," he said. "I can still jump in the lake when I'm 50, right? Get drunk and jump in there?"
Even coach Jim Tressel was asked what it would take to get him to make the leap into Mirror Lake.
"Probably have to shoot me and throw me in there in November," he cracked. "I'm not 19 anymore. We'll let the 19 year olds jump in."
GENTLE REMINDER: There's a sign in the Ohio State locker room which says, "Do you remember the score the last time Michigan beat us?"
QUOTE OF THE DAY: PK Ryan Pretorius on what he did with the gold-pants charms given to every Ohio State player after a win over Michigan: "My mom has every pair. I never wear jewelry, as it is, and she's just a fantastic mom and I couldn't ask for a better mother in the world. My dad's a dentist and the first time I gave them to her they kind of looked at them and said 'Are these molars?' because they kind of look like teeth."
THE EARLE OF BRUCE: As is typically the case, former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce spoke to the team earlier this week as a way of setting the stage for Michigan week.
Needless to say, he left quite an impression.
Coach Jim Tressel always has Bruce, who is 77, as a keynote speaker on the Sunday night before the Michigan game. It sets the tone.
"Earle has a way of helping you understand how lucky you are to be a part of that game," Tressel said.
The Buckeyes players are always a little wide-eyed because Bruce starts out slowly and builds to a rant when the subject is Michigan.
P A.J. Trapasso: "Coach Bruce genuinely dislikes Michigan. I mean full-blown hatred. Me personally, I grew up around it. I don't hate Michigan. I wish them well all season until the last game because I like having something on the game and having it mean so much. If he could, he would take it off the map, I think."
"He really gets into it," TE Rory Nicol said. "He went off last year in the team meeting room. It was pretty comical. That would probably be my highlight of Earle."
DL Nader Abdallah, on the difference between Bruce and Tressel addressing the team: "Coach Bruce will go up there and speak his mind and whatever he feels he is going to say. Coach Tress is more understanding. Coach Tressel lately has shown a lot of emotion but coach Bruce, when he goes up there, well, it's two different worlds."
"Sometimes we laugh at some of the things he says because you see this old guy and he's going off about Michigan," CB Malcolm Jenkins said. "You see he still has the same enthusiasm we have and we're 20 years old. You take what he says to heart."
LB Marcus Freeman: "When I was real young I was just like, 'Man, this guy is crazy. Who is this guy?' But the older you get the more you appreciate him and realize he has a passion for this game, a passion for this rivalry and a passion for coaching football. ... In a perfect world for him, it would be 1,000-0 (with Ohio State winning)."
Finally, LB James Laurinaitis was asked if anyone hated Michigan more than Bruce.
After thinking about it a second, he said, "Alive or dead? Because I'm sure Woody would still be classified for that."
BUT IS HE A KIPKE? Michigan has had 12 previous head football coaches. In their first meetings with Ohio State, those coaches are 10-1-1.
The only coach to lose his first game against the Buckeyes was Harry Kipke, whose team dropped a 7-0 decision to Ohio State on Oct. 19, 1929.
COLUMBUS: What's brewing today with the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes ...
BUCKEYES BUZZ: One of the coolest traditions, literally, at Ohio State comes each Thursday before the Michigan game. Students go down to Mirror Lake, some fortified by strong spirits, and jump into the frigid, shallow waters.
Sometimes the ice on the surface has to be broken before the teenage polar bears can make the leap in a show of school spirit.
Sadly, the football players are usually too busy — or too afraid of incurring the wrath of a coach for catching a cold or spraining an ankle — to join in.
DL Nader Abdallah, a native of New Orleans, walked down to the lake last year.
"I had a chance to walk around and look at people doing all of that stuff," he said. "It was amazing because it was freezing cold out there and people were jumping in. People were coming together and having a great time and it shows how much it means."
PK Ryan Pretorius: "One of my ex-roommates bought a wet suit just so he could jump in, wore it, jumped in, then cleaned it off and took it back. It's nuts."
LB James Laurinaitis: "They've got a lot of liquid courage."
He said he regretted missing out on so many of the joys of college life.
"I guess you maybe find yourself wondering what it would be like to tailgate or do this and that but if you think about how lucky you are to be one of 100 guys per year that's on this team, there's nothing in the world I would trade that for," he said. "I can still jump in the lake when I'm 50, right? Get drunk and jump in there?"
Even coach Jim Tressel was asked what it would take to get him to make the leap into Mirror Lake.
"Probably have to shoot me and throw me in there in November," he cracked. "I'm not 19 anymore. We'll let the 19 year olds jump in."
GENTLE REMINDER: There's a sign in the Ohio State locker room which says, "Do you remember the score the last time Michigan beat us?"
QUOTE OF THE DAY: PK Ryan Pretorius on what he did with the gold-pants charms given to every Ohio State player after a win over Michigan: "My mom has every pair. I never wear jewelry, as it is, and she's just a fantastic mom and I couldn't ask for a better mother in the world. My dad's a dentist and the first time I gave them to her they kind of looked at them and said 'Are these molars?' because they kind of look like teeth."
THE EARLE OF BRUCE: As is typically the case, former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce spoke to the team earlier this week as a way of setting the stage for Michigan week.
Needless to say, he left quite an impression.
Coach Jim Tressel always has Bruce, who is 77, as a keynote speaker on the Sunday night before the Michigan game. It sets the tone.
"Earle has a way of helping you understand how lucky you are to be a part of that game," Tressel said.
The Buckeyes players are always a little wide-eyed because Bruce starts out slowly and builds to a rant when the subject is Michigan.
P A.J. Trapasso: "Coach Bruce genuinely dislikes Michigan. I mean full-blown hatred. Me personally, I grew up around it. I don't hate Michigan. I wish them well all season until the last game because I like having something on the game and having it mean so much. If he could, he would take it off the map, I think."
"He really gets into it," TE Rory Nicol said. "He went off last year in the team meeting room. It was pretty comical. That would probably be my highlight of Earle."
DL Nader Abdallah, on the difference between Bruce and Tressel addressing the team: "Coach Bruce will go up there and speak his mind and whatever he feels he is going to say. Coach Tress is more understanding. Coach Tressel lately has shown a lot of emotion but coach Bruce, when he goes up there, well, it's two different worlds."
"Sometimes we laugh at some of the things he says because you see this old guy and he's going off about Michigan," CB Malcolm Jenkins said. "You see he still has the same enthusiasm we have and we're 20 years old. You take what he says to heart."
LB Marcus Freeman: "When I was real young I was just like, 'Man, this guy is crazy. Who is this guy?' But the older you get the more you appreciate him and realize he has a passion for this game, a passion for this rivalry and a passion for coaching football. ... In a perfect world for him, it would be 1,000-0 (with Ohio State winning)."
Finally, LB James Laurinaitis was asked if anyone hated Michigan more than Bruce.
After thinking about it a second, he said, "Alive or dead? Because I'm sure Woody would still be classified for that."
BUT IS HE A KIPKE? Michigan has had 12 previous head football coaches. In their first meetings with Ohio State, those coaches are 10-1-1.
The only coach to lose his first game against the Buckeyes was Harry Kipke, whose team dropped a 7-0 decision to Ohio State on Oct. 19, 1929.
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