There have been reports of an incident between Ohio State players/staff and some NFL scouts who were attending a Buckeyes practice. According to FOX Sports Ohio:
Proper colors required at Ohio State: No one can wear blue at Ohio State practices. Not even NFL scouts. http://t.co/r1Bj3aVBSG
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) August 23, 2013
One of the words used to describe the incident was "embarrassing". What?! Players and coaches in Columbus acting like d-bags isn't surprising, and I'm loving every minute of it.
This is just another sign that the rivalry, although never dead, is actually starting to get even livelier. Brady Hoke famously refuses to wear the color red (of course, Hoke can be excused for wearing a tiny drop of red while coaching two schools with red as a primary color) and had his QBs wear orange during the spring game. So it isn't really a big deal that Urb doesn't want the color blue at his practices. Of course, he and his staff don't have to be dicks about it. Allegedly. Man, does that word get used a lot in reference to the Buckeyes.
Is there any doubt that, in Hoke and Urb, these are two intense men who take the rivalry very seriously? Is some of it theatrics? Sure. But, I don't doubt either guy's distaste for the other team. The rest of it is for the players and the fan base...and it works. After reading about the behavior in Columbus, I got angry. "What an asshole", I thought to myself. Then I realized the brilliance (the only time I'll use that word in association with OSU, by the way) of Urb's move; it's actually a non-move that will still work both fan bases into apoplectic fits of team pride. See, I'm even posting an article about the damn thing! No matter which side of this story you're on, I bet you're even more fired up for 11/30/13. Yeah, it's a small thing, this color brouhaha, but it's the little things that sports fans grab on to and fester over. Someone doesn't like "our" color, the team can't be referred to by name, or someone says something stupid that goes on the bulletin board. It's all stuff that we irrationally love to hate about the other guy. And you wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm old enough to remember watching Bo on the sidelines, but never got to see him coach against Woody. Since Bo, the rivalry has still been intense, but there has been something missing. The coaches. Moeller and Carr for Michigan, Bruce, Cooper, and Tressel for OSU were at the head of some great match-ups, but pick any two of the opposing coaches' names since Bo and Woody, and none of them really have a good ring to 'em. However, throw Hoke & Urb into the mix and I think these are names that could be attached to each other for decades to come, and in a revitalized era of Michigan and Ohio State being the greatest rivalry in sports.
I hate you, Ohio State. Go Blue!