Jim Tressel - "Beating Michigan is bigger then winning the Big Ten next week"

[1OSUNUT]

That is a quote from the Jim Tressel post game press conference. He said "We all know what is at stake next week - but beating Michigan is more important then winning the Big Ten next week". That is the kind of attention "THE GAME" needs. Untill RR becomes obsessed with the game the way the State of Ohio and Tressel is - they will have a hard time winning this game.

[shirc]

If RichRod doesn't have the fire after three years, will he ever?


GO BUCKS!!!

[rickyleach]

If RichRod doesn't have the fire after three years, will he ever?


GO BUCKS!!!

shirc i think rr has the fire and his rear end is feeling it right at this moment , go blue.

[Maizer Beam]

If RichRod doesn't have the fire after three years, will he ever?


GO BUCKS!!!

No one wants to win more than RR -what do you think, he enjoys losing and having his continued employment at UM questioned every day of his life? I don't think you know very much about the mentality of coaches in general, let alone a major program college coaches.

[Downward Spiral152]

No one wants to win more than RR -what do you think, he enjoys losing and having his continued employment at UM questioned every day of his life? I don't think you know very much about the mentality of coaches in general, let alone a major program college coaches.

i do think he enjoys it... he is so good at it

[Maizer Beam]

i do think he enjoys it... he is so good at it

I do think you enjoy making stupid statements....you are so good at it.

[shirc]

No one wants to win more than RR -what do you think, he enjoys losing and having his continued employment at UM questioned every day of his life? I don't think you know very much about the mentality of coaches in general, let alone a major program college coaches.

We're talking about a fire for "The Game". John Cooper didn't fully understand it and he was a great coach. I'm not saying Rod never could get it but it might be too late by the time he does.

[Silver Bullet]

I disagree with people that say that Cooper didn't understand the importance of The Game. Come on, anybody who has spent 1 day in Columbus during OSU/Um week knows how important that game is. It's the biggest rivalry game in sports and somehow Cooper was too stupid to understand beating Um was everything? I think he did a poor job of preparing his teams for these games but I think he got the significance. I can't remember who (for some reason I think it was Eddie but I can't say for sure) talked about it one time in an interview. He said that Cooper talked up Um so much throughout the year that by the time game week rolled around the OSU players were in great awe of and almost frightened to play Um. You can almost say that Cooper over emphasized The Game.

Tressel does a great job getting OSU ready to play against Um. They practice against the Um scout teams every day and he alludes to Um just enough to keep it in the heads of his players but not to the point where they think they are playing someone unbeatable. You almost get the feeling the same could be happening with RR. You know he feels the heat to win or possibly lose his job. Maybe he has been pushing this game so hard that he's gotten into the heads of Um's players. I know at some point RR said that the OSU/Um game was just another game but I'm not naive enough to think that whatever he tells the media is the same thing he tells his players. In that case it was stupid, but it may not have any bearing on the message he's relaying to his players every day in practice.

[Maizer Beam]

We're talking about a fire for "The Game". John Cooper didn't fully understand it and he was a great coach. I'm not saying Rod never could get it but it might be too late by the time he does.

"Getting it" is much easier when you aren't in full rebuild mode. RR can "get it" all he wants, but if he doesn't have the personnel to play, and the other team "gets it" as well, the "gettings it" negate each other, and the better team wins. Carr "got it", right? He was 1-6 versus Tressel, so it takes more than just a mindset to win.

OSU is the better team - they aren't in a rebuild, they have had consistent coaching and solid recruiting for 10 years, so yeah, they should win. I think by next year UM will have a good chance to field a team that will not only "get it", but get a victory.

[Wolvrin704]

"Getting it" is much easier when you aren't in full rebuild mode. RR can "get it" all he wants, but if he doesn't have the personnel to play, and the other team "gets it" as well, the "gettings it" negate each other, and the better team wins. Carr "got it", right? He was 1-6 versus Tressel, so it takes more than just a mindset to win.

OSU is the better team - they aren't in a rebuild, they have had consistent coaching and solid recruiting for 10 years, so yeah, they should win. I think by next year UM will have a good chance to field a team that will not only "get it", but get a victory.

Post of the month IMO. Couldn't have said it even close to better than this. Just because a coach doesn't win doesn't mean he doesn't get it. Its all about talent, experience, matchups and exploiting them. Adrenelaine and being "fired up for a game" only lasts so long.

[Plus 1]

That's not exactly what Tressel said, when someone asked him about possibly winning a 6th straight shared or outright BT title, tying a record set by Ohio State back in the 1970s".... He said- QUOTE: "I think everyone in here knows what's important next week... it's Ohio State-Michigan, it's not the Big Ten thing." UNQUOTE

The point is that Tressel , like Woody Hayes, holds the OSU - Michigan game in the highest regard. If someone could tell Woody that HE could be 8-1 vs Michigan in only 9 seasons Woody would dig his way out of the ground to go do it.
Woody was 16-11-1 vs Michigan in 28 seasons. Tressel already has half of those wins in only 9 seasons vs Michigan.
YES "THE GAME" is IMPORTANT to Tressel.:cool:

[NCBLUE]

Not being part of the game meant he has some catching up to do. For him there has been so many "other distractions" that divert his attention from the greatest rivarly in all of sports. I think he needs to embrace it more adn hopefully he will.

Maizer - Carr was 6-7 vs oSU (I am not certain why people forget that)

[The Michigan Man]

Not being part of the game meant he has some catching up to do. For him there has been so many "other distractions" that divert his attention from the greatest rivarly in all of sports. I think he needs to embrace it more adn hopefully he will.

Maizer - Carr was 6-7 vs oSU (I am not certain why people forget that)

Yes he was - but 1-6 against Tressel. He was part of the UM program for 27 years - did he suddently forget how to "get it"? Nobody understood the rivalry more than Carr, but the coaching, talent, and motivation have to be there, and at the end, it wasn't there for him, no matter how much he "got it"

[shirc]

I disagree with people that say that Cooper didn't understand the importance of The Game. Come on, anybody who has spent 1 day in Columbus during OSU/Um week knows how important that game is. It's the biggest rivalry game in sports and somehow Cooper was too stupid to understand beating Um was everything? I think he did a poor job of preparing his teams for these games but I think he got the significance. I can't remember who (for some reason I think it was Eddie but I can't say for sure) talked about it one time in an interview. He said that Cooper talked up Um so much throughout the year that by the time game week rolled around the OSU players were in great awe of and almost frightened to play Um. You can almost say that Cooper over emphasized The Game.

Tressel does a great job getting OSU ready to play against Um. They practice against the Um scout teams every day and he alludes to Um just enough to keep it in the heads of his players but not to the point where they think they are playing someone unbeatable. You almost get the feeling the same could be happening with RR. You know he feels the heat to win or possibly lose his job. Maybe he has been pushing this game so hard that he's gotten into the heads of Um's players. I know at some point RR said that the OSU/Um game was just another game but I'm not naive enough to think that whatever he tells the media is the same thing he tells his players. In that case it was stupid, but it may not have any bearing on the message he's relaying to his players every day in practice.

I never questioned Cooper's intelligence or coaching ability. But the proof is in the pudding- in his 13 years, I'd say that it is a safe assumption that Ohio State had as good or significantly better teams than Michigan half the time and he could only muster 2 victories and a tie in that time. Again, I think that he is a great coach (one of Ohio State's best) but didn't quite get it at first. You probably can't fully understand unless you grow up around it.

[Downward Spiral152]

Yes he was - but 1-6 against Tressel. He was part of the UM program for 27 years - did he suddently forget how to "get it"? Nobody understood the rivalry more than Carr, but the coaching, talent, and motivation have to be there, and at the end, it wasn't there for him, no matter how much he "got it"

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