I'm definitely not a fan of the University of Michigan, nor am I a fan of Ohio State University. As a college football fan, though, I can't help but grudgingly respect the success the two schools have had for so many years. The architects of this football success, at least in the last half of the twentieth century, were Woody Hayes at Ohio State and Bo Schembechler at Michigan.
As a died-in-the-wool Spartan, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I picked up this book (and for any Spartan fans out there who think I've completely lost my mind, I assure you that I checked the book out of the library and did not purchase it--so no Green-and-White money was exchanged for a Maize-and-Blue/Scarlet-and-Grey book). I had heard enough good buzz about the book from reliable sources, and had listened to an interview with Michael Rosenberg on the "Huge" radio show out of Grand Rapids. This, of course, meant that I had to suffer through Bill "Huge" Simonson, but Rosenberg was quite interesting.
Without further adieu, Was As They Knew It is one of the best sports-related books I have read in years. It's compulsively readable, and extremely well-written. To prove my point, I actually stayed up until 4:00 AM Friday and 1:30 AM Saturday because I didn't want to put it down. The book is much more than simply the story of the Bo/Woody rivalry, it's really a social history of the American Midwest from the late sixties through the late seventies. Of particular interest is the portrait of the radical leftist Ann Arbor of the late sixties, and how football at U of M had become an afterthought. There were far more important events occurring in the world, namely the Vietnam War. Some Michigan football players actually didn't wear their letter jackets on campus for fear of the mockery they'd receive from fellow students. Michigan Stadium was lucky to get over 60,000 people for home games. The situation was so dire that athletic director Don Canham heavily advertised the '69 Michigan/Ohio State game in the state of Ohio, resulting in most of the spectators wearing Scarlet and Grey (and witnessing the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes in what was then dubbed as the "Upset of the Century").
Rosenberg does a great job fleshing out the complex personality of Woody Hayes. I have not changed my mind that the guy was a sore loser and a bit of a nutcase. Rosenberg argues that Woody's diabetic condition, which often resulted in a blood/sugar imbalance, may have been the cause of his most famous tirades, but I'm not completely sold. Still, despite his potty-mouth language (a character flaw of which Hayes was aware and not proud), his crazy temper tantrums, and right-wing political bent, the man was an outstanding football coach. I was not aware that he was quite a student of history, and a voracious reader of history books. In fact, his office at OSU was lined with historical tomes. Hayes was also a great admirer of Emerson, and lived an incredibly frugal life. He continually turned down salary raises and left many uncashed checks from various speaking engagements. This side of Woody Hayes was completely unknown to me, and I certainly respect his more admirable qualities. (One of the clever things Rosenberg does in the book is sprinkle various Emerson quotes throughout. Each quote highlighting or reinforcing some aspect of Woody's character or personality).
Throughout the portrayal of Woody Hayes, I detected an underlying current, not explicitly stated, of class consciousness in Woody's immense dislike of the University of Michigan. Woody's roots were in rural Ohio, and he ruled the roost at the school I sometimes refer to as "the cow college with pretensions"--Ohio State. OSU (although it did have some student unrest in 1970) reflected Woody's conservatism and football fanaticism. It's obvious that Hayes couldn't stand Michigan's liberal attitudes and was probably irked by what he viewed as U of M's elitism.
As far as Bo goes, his personality was not nearly as complex or volatile as Woody's. He was one of those men who lived and breathed football. When Bo was coach at Michigan, I personally couldn't stand the guy. I'll always picture him on the sideline with that damned blue "M" cap perched on his lantern-jawed noggin, wearing those dark aviator sunglasses. I'm sure most of my hatred was due to the fact that he beat MSU almost every damned year. My favorite memory of Bo is watching him blow his stack several times during Michigan's 17-11 loss to MSU in 1987. As the years have gone by, however, I've grown to respect the man's integrity and outstanding coaching ability (and I'm sure Michigan fans will long for the Bo era much more if they continue to suffer under Rich Rodriguez).
As I stated earlier, the book is much more than a sports book. Rosenberg does a brilliant job of placing Bo, Woody, Don Canham, and football in the context of the times. There's lots about such disparate characters as Bill Ayers (had no idea that the future Weather Underground radical had tried out for the Michigan football team), John Sinclair, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and many others.
One area I'd wished Rosenberg had explored a little further (but understand that it was not really the thrust of the book) was how it felt to be on the "Little Eight" side of the "Big Two, Little Eight" 1970s Big Ten paradigm. How did these football programs deal with the fact that, year-in and year-out, they essentially had no chance at winning the Big Ten title? How did they view Bo and Woody? Did it make them angry? Jealous? Let's face it, for anyone who is/was a fan of any Big Ten school besides Michigan or Ohio State, the period from 1969-1978 was one of the most Godawful boring ever.
As a Spartan fan, I wish that Rosenberg had given some props to Darryl Rogers for, first of all, becoming the only Big Ten coach not named Bo or Woody to win a share of the Big Ten title between '69 and '78 and for, secondly, introducing the passing game to the Big Ten. In 1978, the year the Spartans shared the Big Ten crown with That School in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines had no idea how to stop MSU's passing attack in State's 24-15 win. I have no doubt that, had the Spartans played the Buckeyes that year, MSU would have shredded OSU's secondary even worse than it did Michigan's...but I digress.
Anyway, quibbling aside, I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of Big Ten football and/or 1960s/1970s social history. If you lived in Michigan or Ohio in the late during this time period, and have any interest in college football, you'll find the book a wonderfully enjoyable and informative read.
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