Well, It Was the Height of Disco
The Quad has a fascinating interview with Michael Rosenberg, author of the new book War as They Knew It, a look at Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler in the turbulent years of Woody’s final decade on the sidelines.
While most books on this topic focus solely on the football rivalry between the two, Rosenberg gathers “quite a bit of social history” in the book as well. Woody’s friendship with Nixon is explored as are his visits to Vietnam in support of the war. On Woody’s use of war metaphors*:
Woody did make that comparison almost every day of his coaching career. These days, whenever somebody compares football to war, the media erupts –- the basic assumption is that the athlete or coach does not appreciate the gravity of real warfare. But Woody certainly appreciated it. He was a Navy captain and military history buff. He never made the comparison lightly, but he did make it constantly.
The rest of the interview is pretty meaty and definitely worth a read. As for the book — I haven’t read it yet, but will be doing so with a quickness after this tantalizing passage:
Q: If you could have interviewed Woody Hayes, what would you have asked him about?
A: My questions would probably be pretty specific: How much did Nixon’s resignation influence his view on quitting his own job? Did he have any idea one of his quarterbacks was doing cocaine in the huddle? How much did his diabetes influence his temper? Then we would just see where the conversation took us.
Believe me, I wish I had the chance to talk to Woody Hayes. As a sportswriter, I’ve had a chance to cover some unusual people, but Woody Hayes is the most fascinating person I have ever covered, and I never even got to talk to him.
I have a pretty good guess who it might have been blowing down in the huddle, but I’m withholding judgement until I find out myself or someone that has read the book or knows of this story fills us in.
* I’ve often felt nervous putting out the war photoshops on game day because of this potential for criticism, but vets or current members of the military, please know that we don’t in any way think the game of football is anywhere near as serious as something like combat. Oh, and many thanks for your service.
Am I missing something? Who the heck did cocaine in the huddle, supposedly?
The rumor was that it was Corny Green doing coke….but I don’t know for a fact about that.
Come on, its gotta be Schlict-dog doin’ blow in the huddle, foreshadowing his heroic demise
I don’t think it was Schlichter. I’ve read the same rumor about C. Green somewhere that MikeLew mentioned above.
Lieutenant Commander
Rod Gerald was a self scknowledged coke-head. I have never heard the implication that he did it IN the huddle. I have heard that he played buzzin.
Rod claimed a few years ago that he hid coke under his wristbands and hit it throughout the game.
So what your saying is that everyone in the huddle was just hoping they could ‘blow’ the play too?
One of my favorite memories of my childhood is turning on WBNS-TV on December 7 and June 6. The movies “Tora! Tora! Tora!” or “Midway” would be shown on their respective anniversary dates, and Coach Hayes would do little talks about the history of the events before and after the movie, and during the commercial breaks. Coach Hayes had an insatiable love of history. I’ve always admired him for that.
Whatever one thinks of Nixon, Woody was loyal. He never publicly berated Nixon, or turned his friendship away from him. Remember when Woody’s funeral was held? Both Nixon and Ford showed up. First rate.
LCDR but the Captain of a ship.
To all, you are welcome. (US Navy here)
That someone was doing coke? That blows!
RIP Woody. If I ever have a son…Tressel Hayes or Woodrow as his name.
How long until an SEC troll shows up and starts saying “Yeah, but General Neyland outranked him” or “You all know if the ship Woody was the Captain of would have fought a Confederate ship the SEC would’ve won”. (yes I know, WWII vs. the Civil War…I am thninking like an SEC Fan)
Civil war in the SEC is when two brothers argue over who get their sister from behind and which one gets her mouth
LMAO. By the way i had a few random thoughts.
1. We may not be able to beat FLA, Bama, UGA, but I would give my left nut to win out and beat LSU in a bowl game. Their QB is worse than our O line. We would destroy them.
2. Remember when Bollman got hired as the O coordinator? Everyone was pumped because he had that pro-style zone blocking scheme, and we where going to be great. Joke’s on us.
I am am military vet who served in the gulf. I love the war pictures you do on game day. Keep up the good work. The military took me out of Ohio, but because of sites like yours, you keep us in touch.
I tell everyone(especially my military buddies) about this site. You have no idea how homesick you can actually get in 120 degree weather. Buckeye web sites gave me a taste of home everyday. I really looked forward to reading the latest Buckeye news.
Keep up the good work, whether you know it or not, sites like this help the morale and keep the spirits up.
I am no longer in the military, but as a vet I would like to thank you for helping myself and other displaced Buckeye servicemen and women.
Robb, appreciate the kind words and glad to hear that we can help deliver a little bit of the Buckeye state to our service folk overseas.
Robb
Thank you for your service
Woody had his faults, like we all do, and the ‘Shoe might be the house that Harley built, but it was Woody that turned it into Ohio’s Saturday afternoon cathedral.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lvopIQNHkQ&eurl=http://bucknuts.com/