The Ohio State-Michigan football game was Nov. 26 and the Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes, 40-34, to end their seven-year losing streak.
We’re guessing this story is the first time that most of you have heard about this game. This is a disturbing fact.
Growing up, we remember this famed game as one of the biggest games of the year for any sports fan. Everybody watched the game, whether they went to the schools involved or not.
But for the past few years, most people have neither watched nor cared about this historic faceoff. This attitude is increasingly prevalent in all sports; people are no longer as attached to the big games.
There are multiple reasons for this drop in enthusiasm. Thanks to sports recap shows like SportsCenter, people just watch the highlights the next morning and don’t bother to watch the actual game.
But another factor that relates directly to the Ohio State-Michigan game is that all the scandals that have rocked college football over the past few years have turned college football’s image of a game of integrity into a game of money.
Whatever the cause, big games like Ohio State-Michigan and Army-Navy have lost their luster in the past few years and it’s a trend we hope ends soon.
Why does it matter • Dec 12, 2011 at 5:25 pm
so what?
loyal fan • Dec 2, 2011 at 12:05 pm
what a great rivalry! really makes me tickle inside and out
average student • Dec 2, 2011 at 7:51 am
the real reason these ‘big’ games have dropped in popularity is bc michigan and ohio state arnt the perennial contenders they used to be and army and navy are afterthoughts. Rivalry game between good teams (games between top teams in the big 12, sec, and pac 12)
Jeremy Steinberg • Nov 30, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Why do we hope that the trend ends soon? Doesn’t most high-level college football violate the principles of higher education in that many players at schools like Ohio State and Michigan aren’t actually there for an education? I think these players should just jump straight to the NFL and leave college football for dedicated college students whose principal target is an education and for whom football is simply an enjoyable (and competitive) extracurricular. That would make the football games more reflective of the schools.