Ohio Against the World?

 

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This past Saturday, September 23, I watched the #9 Notre Dame v #4 Ohio State game.  The game took place in South Bend in prime time.  I was looking forward to a good game and was not let down.  Both teams fought hard with Ohio State taking the lead in the waning seconds of the game to win 17-14.  Football pundits often note that close hard-fought games like this, the games are decided by a few pivotal plays.  This one certainly was.

Notre Dame held Ohio State at the goal line when they went for it on fourth down.  They held them another time in the red zone Ohio State went for it again on fourth down.  Ohio State could have had a minimum of 6 to 14 points more which would have had them winning the game handily than the nail biter it was.

On the other hand, Notre Dame had the ball with a few minutes remaining in the game and a 14-10 lead.  All they had to do was make a first down or two and the game was theirs.  Ohio State’s defense did not allow them to do that.

At the end of the game, Ohio State coach, Ryan Day, was interviewed on the field.  He basically had a meltdown.  He ranted at Lou Holtz.  Lou Holtz?  I wondered why I he was attacking the 86 year old retired football coach and googled it to find out.  It turns out that Holtz was on one of those game day shows and asked to predict who would win the Notre Dame Ohio State game.  Holtz, a stellar coach at Notre Dame, is known for being enthusiastic about Notre Dame.  He predicted Notre Dame would beat Ohio State because they were tougher than Ohio State.  Holtz said, “Everybody that beats him does so because they're more physical than Ohio State.  Just tell Ohio State this: you tell them they better bring their lunch, because it's going to be a full day's work.”

To me this was just Holz being himself.  It was normal pre-game enthusiasm and hype.

That is not how Ryan Day took it.  When doing an on field interview after the game, Day said, “I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now.  What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here.  We're proud to be from Ohio and it's always been Ohio against the world.” 

The first reaction of many was that Ryan Day was reacting to the pressure he was under with his job being on the line.  That might have been the case.  A couple of more losses to top ten teams this year or not making the playoffs could cost him his job.

But I have another interpretation.  He was just a poor winner.  The Ohio State fan base are all poor winners.  What is a poor winner?  A poor winner is a nasty, arrogant, and obnoxious fan whose team just won.  Ohio State fans are just that.  Many fans from other teams will make the pilgrimage to Columbus to see their team play the Buckeyes.  Because of the fan base and their behavior as poor winners, most never return for a second visit.  That was certainly the case for me.

Ohio against the world?  Really? 

Some say he was unhinged or made a fool of himself.  Michigan grad and current Seattle Seahawk, Mike Morris, tweeted, “Always ranked in the top 4 every year in the NCAA, always got the best receiving core, and get praised for everything yall do, and everybody against you? Delusional!”  When I first heard Day’s rant, I agreed with Morris.

But, the more I thought about, I have a theory about this phrase “Ohio against the world.”  Maybe Day wasn’t unhinged.  Maybe he was using Holtz’s comments and the win over Notre Dame as a was to galvanize his team and the fan base.  Maybe he was just giving them all a battle cry for the rest of the season.  A fellow Floyd Johnson made a hoodie for himself about ten years ago.  People in Cincinnati where he lived, liked and wanted the shirt.  He ended up starting a clothing company.  Johnson called the phrase a “battle cry for the underdog."  Day may have just become a battle cry for Ohio State Football and boost in sales for Johnson’s brand.