Observations of THE Rivalry about OUR Rivalry

I'm sure today many folks in Ohio and Michigan will be posting endless opinions about how one-sided HBO's Ohio State-Michigan: The Rivalry was. Film critics will comment on the first third of the doc and how many of the sound bites were poorly edited together or even that the final fifteen minutes seemed unbalanced as Lloyd Carr was nowhere to be seen. In an era where everyone is a critic, I'm going on record as saying I thought it was fantastic.

I'm a bit of a history buff and I applaud them for integrating the full architecture of the rivalry without falling prey to the usual, predictable chronological conventions. They took you on some detours and even though technically it was chronological, it didn't feel like it. Plus, the amazing footage they acquired truly made the film. What the hell does this have to do with Northwestern?

Two things. First, we should be naming a portion of our stadium after Tim Biakabutuka. I thought I remembered every single detail of 1995, but even I forgot how much of an upset Michigan beating Ohio State was to propel us to the Rose Bowl. I definitely did not remember Biakabutuka blitzed the Buckeyes for 313 rushing yards. You've forever got a spot at Northwestern reserved for you.

Second, and more importantly I was struck by the passion. Yes, we all know its a big game. But the emotion and passion connected to this rivalry plays to another level beyond football. The borderline cheesy prose, struck a chord with me toward the end when they referenced fans, players and everyone connected feel a sense of being part of something that stretched before them and will linger long after they're gone. They marvelously tied this in to "the third Saturday in November" really underscoring the tradition. That's it (no crap!). The tradition. Why on God's green earth did it take until 1999 to figure out that Northwestern and Illinois should be playing on the same third Saturday in November every year?

Such a simple concept - tradition - and yet it took nearly 100 years to even make the damn game on the same day? Saturday marks the first time that both Northwestern and Illinois are playing each other with above .500 records in 43 years - not exactly the type of tradition that has Hollywood knocking. However, and bear with me, 50 years from now, every kid that grows up in the state of Illinois may one day not be able to conceive that this game was not a BIG deal.

Hell, take my high school for example. I went to a podunk high school in Rhode Island, which is about as far from a football state as you can be and still be considered American. Our high school was started in 1969. Yet, as a 1991 graduate, the annual Thanksgiving Day football game was a huge deal. A school that maybe average attendance of 500, got 2,000 or so fans. Every team in RI plays the same high school on Thanksgiving Day and has been in many cases for more than 100 years. What's the point? I never considered the fact that it ever WASN'T a big deal, yet the tradition was just over 20 years old. The same thing can happen with NU and Illinois if the parties involved start treating it with the respect and attention it should hopefully soon deserve. It can happen. I don't have delusions of Michigan - Ohio State or Alabama - Auburn. But I do have delusions of relevance which is what made the documentary so powerful. Regardless of records, regardless of year, the game was relevant and to many became a New Year's Day of entering winter - a rite of passage that makes each subsequent year even more special.

It really hit me yesterday morning when I was listening to the 400th presser sound of Zook talking about the Ohio State game only to have the ESPN radio announcer rejoin the sports news with "Zook will have the tall task of figuring out how to get his team up for Northwestern". Huh? I guess we're at ground zero of the rivalry, AFTER 100+ years of playing a nearly even intrastate game and the Northwestern game is an afterthought in the minds of even the local media. Fine, folks have short memories and if Zook is about to transform this team into a perennial BCS contender for infinity and beyond, which the media have already assumed is a foregone conclusion, then he'll be responsible for lifting this tradition up to a level that will only enhance Northwestern as well. If that's what it takes, begrudgingly, I'm in. Way in.

I want the pain and anguish of a loss to sting so bad like it did for Ohio State in 1969 that they were out for blood in 1970. Northwestern has won four straight, but any player of relevance on the Illini wasn't even there for the first of these two. I'll be there are several freshman who couldn't find NU on a map. That's why this weekend has the makings of the start of something special. A Northwestern win in the wake of the biggest Illinois win arguably since the Mike White era Rose Bowl team, would shake the foundation of the rehabbed Memorial Stadium. Perhaps spoiling a New Year's Day bowl game - at worst - would send the Illini seething into next year's battle at Ryan Field, where a senior laden NU team will be hopefully trying to play THEIR way into a New Year's Day bowl game. Now we're talking. That is why I contend this is the biggest game we've had since the Michigan game in 2000. Possibly even bigger. Melodrama, you say? You don't think every sports outlet in America will be updating you on Illinois in the wake of last week's upset? And if they lose? Folks will be playing CFB transitive property more than they play poker on ESPN.

Ironically, OUR game is up against THE game on ABC. I have no delusions of stealing fans from the biggest rivalry in sport. I'm only hoping we can garner the extra attention Land of Lincolners will be bestowing, at least during commercial breaks on ABC, and we can wind them into our seductive web with our Cardiac Cat-ness. Much like the random blogger I recently stumbled upon...

Many of us have beat the jump on the Northwestern bandwagon attendance drum all year long. Perhaps it is because our drums are faint compared to other Big Ten bands, or we've just canceled each other out with screaming in the proverbial forest, but I stumbled across this Washington University students VERY detailed description of his maiden voyage to Ryan Field last week. It is fascinating. Much like a science experiment, it is rare we get to see such a truly objective perspective of someone coming into our beloved "home" and getting an unbiased opinion. I feel like if we could take someone like this kid to a game, in particular the NU-Illinois game next year, we'd be well on our way to making the tradition get underway. Here's to the next 100 years of tradition and being relevant. And be sure to catch the HBO doc in one of its 100 reruns.