The Victors: Wistful Before the War
This was supposed to be our year. Henne & Hart were going to be seniors at the height of their prowess, Ohio State was going to be mired in a rebuilding year. I'm reminded of the opening of the Holy Redeemer youth group's annual Passion Play, "What a week it was to be for Jesus." What a charmed year this was supposed to be. But the majesty of sport is that any given team can beat any other given team on any given day and our years of slow starts and wasted spring and summer practices finally caught up with us in the historic lose to Appalachian State. The loss to Oregon is not the black mark it once was, now that they may well be headed to the B.S. B.C.S. championship game. We got healthy against Notre Dame, but it is entirely possible that a girls' middle school volleyball team might be able to beat Notre Dame this season. And then we entered the fray of Big Ten play and acquitted ourselves well at times, but very poorly at others. Still, an eight-game win streak was just what the doctor ordered after the opening fortnight's trauma, and all was again well. Perhaps too well, as we then shamed ourselves with an somnambulant lose to boorish Wisconsin. This year's has been a heartbreaking campaign and given recent history we face the very real possibility of our second five-loss season in three years. What finer time to muster our strength and pit it against that of the ancient enemy, the hated Buckeyes? And what greater stakes than redemption itself?

For all our staggering ineptitude (Mr. DeBord, I'm looking in your direction), the hated Buckeyes may be had. They are all too mortal. All we need do is keep our wits and remember that there is not a single day on God's green earth when it is not great to be a Michigan Wolverine. Let us show them why we are the stuff of their very nightmares, the bane of seemingly the entire State of Ohio. Let us be their terror made flesh.

Go Blue!