OK, here's what I hate and it's not really a "team" but rather the whole Big Ten entitlement to the Rose Bowl - that is no different than Yankee Dame's entitlement (I'd say it's a Northern thing but then I look at some of the hypocritical justification for past titles from Tide fans and.....).
They hold that damned Rose Bowl up like it's the Holy Grail or something. And I guess if you're Indiana or Purdue, it is. But Ohio State and Michigan have been to the game THIRTY-FOUR FRIGGIN' TIMES. They've won 15 (which means they've lost 19 since they have no ties) between them. The Rose Bowl NOW is not the Rose Bowl of 1965, folks.
I was more than a little put out when Michigan lost to Notre Dame in 1993 and they came off the field in what is touted as a big rivalry thing as though it was "no big deal." Why? They asked one of them and the gist of his answer was that the loss wasn't a big thing because they could still go to the Rose Bowl. (In 1992, in fact, Gary Moeller pulled an Ara Parseghian and had his kicker launch a 40-year field goal to tie 5-4 Illinois. Michigan was ranked NUMBER THREE in the nation behind Miami and Alabama (Michigan had a tie with N Dame). They were still in the running for the national title. His players celebrating because "they're going to the Rose Bowl." Their fans in the Big House - so named because it's packed with those who are a danger to society - booed. Beano Cook unloaded on Corso that night, too; I need to upload that video, but he snorted that that choice by Michigan is exactly "why the Big Ten is a mediocre conference" because "they think the Rose Bowl is the Holy Grail" - he even insulted Corso by saying he could see a team like Indiana, who never goes to the Rose Bowl, doing that but Michigan was still alive and well in the title hunt).
That's my thing. You line every fan base in the Big Ten up - except for some informed Ohio St partisans (in my experience) - and every single one of them would take an 8-3 season with a trip to the Rose Bowl over a national title that does NOT include the Rose Bowl. And I'm sorry, I just don't get that mentality at all.
I get the whole money thing, I even understand part of why the Rose Bowl wants a Big Ten school (let's face it - they're the biggest schools out there for the most part......and some poor bozo in the Midwest suffering from cabin fever in his snow bank is far more likely to travel to southern Cal for New Year's than a Southerner is - at least where the weather is concerned).
But this whole "we gotta protect the Rose Bowl" nonsense makes me feel the same way Lt Caffey did about the Marine "code of honor" nonsense when Col Jessup ordered the Code Red. What you have to protect is the egos of your (mostly mid-level) conference.
As I said - and not just because B1G is here - Ohio St appears to be the exception in the conference. You get the idea that Wisconsin could get blown out in the Big Ten title game and they wouldn't care......all they'd ask (if the victor was in the playoff) was, "Do we get to go to the Rose Bowl? Yay!"
Just as a competitor to say nothing of my Southern heritage, I DO NOT understand that brain damaged mentality. I just don't.
(Woody Hayes was one of the few to back Ara in 1966. Go figure).
They hold that damned Rose Bowl up like it's the Holy Grail or something. And I guess if you're Indiana or Purdue, it is. But Ohio State and Michigan have been to the game THIRTY-FOUR FRIGGIN' TIMES. They've won 15 (which means they've lost 19 since they have no ties) between them. The Rose Bowl NOW is not the Rose Bowl of 1965, folks.
I was more than a little put out when Michigan lost to Notre Dame in 1993 and they came off the field in what is touted as a big rivalry thing as though it was "no big deal." Why? They asked one of them and the gist of his answer was that the loss wasn't a big thing because they could still go to the Rose Bowl. (In 1992, in fact, Gary Moeller pulled an Ara Parseghian and had his kicker launch a 40-year field goal to tie 5-4 Illinois. Michigan was ranked NUMBER THREE in the nation behind Miami and Alabama (Michigan had a tie with N Dame). They were still in the running for the national title. His players celebrating because "they're going to the Rose Bowl." Their fans in the Big House - so named because it's packed with those who are a danger to society - booed. Beano Cook unloaded on Corso that night, too; I need to upload that video, but he snorted that that choice by Michigan is exactly "why the Big Ten is a mediocre conference" because "they think the Rose Bowl is the Holy Grail" - he even insulted Corso by saying he could see a team like Indiana, who never goes to the Rose Bowl, doing that but Michigan was still alive and well in the title hunt).
That's my thing. You line every fan base in the Big Ten up - except for some informed Ohio St partisans (in my experience) - and every single one of them would take an 8-3 season with a trip to the Rose Bowl over a national title that does NOT include the Rose Bowl. And I'm sorry, I just don't get that mentality at all.
I get the whole money thing, I even understand part of why the Rose Bowl wants a Big Ten school (let's face it - they're the biggest schools out there for the most part......and some poor bozo in the Midwest suffering from cabin fever in his snow bank is far more likely to travel to southern Cal for New Year's than a Southerner is - at least where the weather is concerned).
But this whole "we gotta protect the Rose Bowl" nonsense makes me feel the same way Lt Caffey did about the Marine "code of honor" nonsense when Col Jessup ordered the Code Red. What you have to protect is the egos of your (mostly mid-level) conference.
As I said - and not just because B1G is here - Ohio St appears to be the exception in the conference. You get the idea that Wisconsin could get blown out in the Big Ten title game and they wouldn't care......all they'd ask (if the victor was in the playoff) was, "Do we get to go to the Rose Bowl? Yay!"
Just as a competitor to say nothing of my Southern heritage, I DO NOT understand that brain damaged mentality. I just don't.
(Woody Hayes was one of the few to back Ara in 1966. Go figure).
.
