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The University of Michigan
and The Ohio State University have a football rivalry from which
legends are made. This author goes back to the Woody/Bo days. For
intensity one only had to look at the coaches. With the passing of
these two coaches the rivalry has certainly survived, but has just not
been the same. John Cooper couldn’t beat Lloyd Carr and Lloyd Carr
couldn’t beat Jim Tressel.

Fans are fans, but some
us take fandom to the next level and are fanatics. A good clue as to
whether or not you have moved from fan to fanatic is whether or not you
live and breathe the second season which is recruiting. If you follow
recruiting you have already realized that for years OSU and Michigan
have not only battled on the gridiron, but also battled for some of the
same prep stars. Over the years the makeup’s of these two teams has
been very similar.

Recent developments for
the Buckeyes hint to us of an interesting new twist to this historic
rivalry. Justin Boren from outside of Columbus, Ohio played football for the Wolverines. Justin’s father played for Michigan and Bo. Justin followed in his father’s footsteps to Michigan.  Justin’s
younger brother Zach will be playing his final year of high school ball
this year. Zach Boren is a division 1 football prospect. Until recently
Zach had not been offered a scholarship to play for the Buckeyes. Of
course, if you have a pulse, you are aware Justin has left the Michigan
football team and the University. Justin will attend OSU and play
football for the Buckeyes. Justin’s brother Zach has recently issued
his verbal commitment to also play for the Buckeyes.

Obviously it is a "twist" and is "interesting" that a Michigan
football family would now switch sides and become Buckeyes, but this is
not the point of this article. We see the Boren boys as an example or a
portrait of the different directions these two storied football
programs are going.

First let’s look at the
Buckeyes. Jim Tressel, from all appearances, seems to be a gentleman.
He is a Christian man and wears that on his sleeve. He wears a sweater
vest for Gods sake. To a degree his team has assumed his demeanor. If
you listen to the Coaches interviews, he says nothing and his manner of
speaking has been coined "Tressel speak". Most of the players when
interviewed sound like the coach. They say nothing also. For all we
know if you peel away the top Tressel layer you my find a corrupt
cheat, but that is certainly not the surface appearance. We would
accept as true that in the State of Ohio Jim Tressel could be the governor. The man is loved and respected and seems to have earned the same.

Now let’s take a look at Michigan
today under Coach Rich Rodriquez. Rodriquez has yet to coach his first
game for the Blue and Joe Tiller of Purdue has called him a "snake oil
salesman". The coach is of course embroiled in a breach of contract
suit with the University of West Virginia
that by all appearances is an ugly divorce. Allegations of dishonesty
are flying the Coaches direction. Reports coming from the Michigan camp indicate the Fbomb is coach speak at the new Michigan.
What type of players will ultimately suit up for the Rodriguez Michigan
is unknown, but certainly Rodriguez has built a reputation with some
"colorful" characters at West Virginia.
Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis was recently quoted as saying "I could
get hoodlum’s and thugs and win tomorrow, I won’t do it that way". It
could be argued that Coach Weiss would have been referring to a
Rodriguez/West Virginia type program. Justin Boren left the Michigan
program citing an erosion of family values. Since he will be suiting up
for the Buckeyes one can assume "family values" are alive and well in Columbus.

We
write this article not knowing either Rich Rodriguez or Jim Tressel.
With that as a caveat, and as we have set forth above, it could now be
argued this epic rivalry has taken on the dimension of the guys in the
white hats vs the guys in the black hats. Good vs. evil. With that said
we see, as Emeril would say, this rivalry has been "kicked up a notch".
It should be a hoot to watch develop over the years. Whether or not
this will ultimately be good for the respective universities, the Big
Ten, or college football is debatable, but believe it. Jim Tressel
believes in his way of doing business and Rich Rodriguez is a man who
is driven. Two teams that will take different roads set to collide each
November. Another day, another age, and one very interesting twist to
what we fans refer to as "The game".