Hoke's Ohio Gambit

Soon after Brady Hoke took over at Michigan, Ohio State fans started to realize that he wouldn't call the school as Ohio State, THE Ohio State University, or OSU but simply called the school Ohio.  This ploy is reminiscent of Woody Hayes habit of refusing to address Michigan other than as "That School Up North" or as Buckeye fans have grown accustomed, TSUN.  My particular favorite when referring to that school is scUM but most rabid fans have variations on that theme.  In the past I've heard Michigan fans refer to the Buckeyes as O$U or Suckeyes but none of that has raised an eyebrow until Brady started referring to the school as simply Ohio.

In the past 12 months this practice has caused more angst than the actual loss a month ago.  Of course the loss was tempered by the fact that Urban Meyer was hired 3 days later but it continues to amaze me how much this bothers people.

The most ironic thing about this is it was common early in the 20th century to refer to Ohio State as simply Ohio.  If you listen to a radio broadcast from the 60s the announcer doesn't call the school Ohio State but rather Ohio.  Merchandise in that era also typically only used those 4 letters.  Even today if you call out to any Buckeye fan - O-H! and you will almost certainly get an enthusiastic I-O! in return with nary a word about S-T-A-T-E.  The most famous Buckeye tradition is when the band spells out the team name but no one is upset that we only spell out O-h-i-o in script instead of adding the superfluous State.  Everyone knows that when you talk about football in Ohio, you are talking about Ohio State.  In fact, the university would most likely still be referring to themselves by that 4 letter designation if not for a lawsuit brought against them by Ohio Univeristy in the late 20th century as they felt the Buckeyes singular use of the word OHIO was an infringement of their team's copyright.  They won the case and Ohio State could no longer sell merchandise with only those 4 letters.  That infuriated some at the university and that is the reason we now refer to ourselves as THE Ohio State University.  That's because when it comes to most collegiate things in Ohio, it is THE State University.  This was a way to tweak Ohio for their silly lawsuit and it is a tradition that has stuck.  Which is why I find it odd that Buckeye fans are so upset about Hoke's description of the school as simply Ohio.  When he was growing up the school was known as Ohio and he is just returning to the past.

In that way Brady Hoke is a genius and Buckeye fans who dismiss him as a joke are kidding themselves.  He understands the rivalry and what will play to the Wolverine faithful much more than RichRod ever did.  Considering that Rodriguez got 3 years in Ann Arbor, Hoke is setting himself up for a lifetime appointment by playing to the Michigan fans.  The fact that he's a solid recruiter and has surrounded himself with outstanding football minds is icing on the cake.

The golden era of the Ohio State - Michigan rivalry will forever be linked with Woody and Bo but I have a feeling that Hoke and Meyer are about to bring about a 2nd golden age.  The rest of the Big Ten Conference should be worried as I see an era of Big 2, Little 10 on the horizon.