The Game is still The Game. It just doesn't feel much like a rivalry anymore.With Ohio State's 37-7 spanking of Michigan this afternoon in The 'Shoe, the Buckeyes notched their seventh straight win over the Wolverines -- a streak unmatched in the 107-game series. OSU coach Jim Tressel has bested U-M nine times in his ten seasons.
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, who abandoned Morgantown for Ann Arbor, runs his record against Ohio State to 0-3. His teams have been outscored 100 to 24.
All of which makes my wife giddy beyond belief. (She's a lifelong Mountaineers fan.)
"I'm ticked," a shell-shocked Rodriguez said during his post-game press conference. "Whaddaya want me to do? Hold hands with all the Buckeye fans and sing 'Kumbaya'?"
Mrs. KintlaLake predicts that U-M will fire Rodriguez. I disagree with her about that, but maybe that's my cockeyed optimism. As far as I'm concerned he can stay as long as he likes.
Whatever. On a cold and windy late-November day when The Ohio State University plays the University of Michigan in football, there's no place I'd rather be than in the stands -- and that's where I was today, reveling in tradition, savoring another victory.
Let someone else gauge lust and luster. It's still The Game.
P.S. to the kill-joy Big Ten officiating crew: I've got your "unsportsmanlike conduct" right here.
