An ode to the man that has haunted my Michigan fandom for the better part of the last decade and turned a fun dislike into a true disdain.
With the news that Urban Meyer would be stepping down after Ohio State’s Rose Bowl matchup against Washington, I wanted to give a quick ode to the man that haunted and terrified me for the better half of my life as Michigan fan.
To be honest I really liked Urban as an adversary for the better part of his tenure at Ohio State. I respected him from his days at Florida, I liked that he took time off to care for his health in between jobs, and I enjoyed his temperament. He was so good at his job that it made it hard for me to really dislike him.
He beat Michigan like a drum over the years. Unless my searching skills have seriously waned over time or I want to be in denial that it wasn’t more, Meyer beat Michigan a clean seven times without a loss while at OSU.
Now there was a time in the mid-’80s through late ’90s when Michigan dominated Ohio State as badly as OSU is dominating Michigan now, but I wasn’t alive for that. So while my dad assures me the reign of dominance that has taken place this century isn’t entirely foreign to the rivalry, it’s really all I’ve ever known. I grew up despising the sweater-vested Jim Tressel
Sweatervest was easy to dislike, he was a slimy looking guy who won a ton. That’s pretty much all I had. He looked like a human version of Randal from Monsters Inc.
Meyer was different in my eyes. I grew to respect him at Florida, so when OSU hired him I had to make a strange transition to learn to despise him. At first, it was mostly a forced dislike. I had to want him to lose in humilating fashion because he was the Ohio State head coach. Of course, as time went on the that became easier and easier with each heartbreaking win over Michigan.
Then this year happened. When it was first reported that Meyer knew of Zach Smith’s domestic abuse allegations, it was easy to make up excuses for him. Then he lied about it and more proof came about, then it was easy to find Meyer despicable. It went from a silly sports dislike that was mostly for fun, to a real human disdain. How could someone let that happen?
So as Meyer plans to step down after Ohio State’s Rose Bowl I have to say its mostly a relief. With all of the weight that modern football carries on its own, having the head coach of your rival be scum in real life just isn’t all that enjoyable.
Good riddance Urban. I look forward to the next Ohio State head coach I can root against in an actual fun way again.
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