Buckeye Madness: The Glorious, Tumultuous, Behind-the-Scenes Story of Ohio State Football
by Joe Menzer
List Price:
Our Price: $1.99
You Save: $22.01 (92%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.88 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Joe MenzerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-08-02
ISBN: 074325788X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Buckeye Madness: The Glorious, Tumultuous, Behind-the-Scenes Story of Ohio State Football
Book Review: Not Great - Credibility is compromised.
Summary: 2 Stars
There are two problems with this book. First, it begins with a speech given by coach Jim Tressel on January 3, 2003, just before the 2002 National Championship game. Except it never happened. The speech was a fake, written by Ken Pryor, a fan, and e-mailed and posted across the Internet. It wasn't even meant to be a hoax, but simply something like a speech the coach might give, most sites listing Pryor as its author. Until this book, I never knew anyone had actually believed it to be anything else. It seems more than a little odd that the author didn't contact Tressel or anyone on his staff to confirm the validity of the speech. It's even more odd that the book's editor didn't either, considering that this book wasn't published until August of 2005, more than two and half years after it was already widely known to be false.
This leads into my second problem: It seems like any "fan" of Ohio State football would have known this. But to be fair, I don't doubt that Mr. Menzer is a fan. (He mentions in his "Acknowledgements" that at an early age he had an uncle and aunt that dressed him in OSU wear when he visited them Columbus.) It's just that by his reasoning, all my friends would have to be considered "fanatics." They have the football schedule months, if not a year, in advance, they have a plan for each and every game, and -to a certain degree- plan their lives around football Saturdays.
In my experience, being a Buckeye fan is something that seeps into you, like osmosis. No one dressed us up. We spoke up first, with "Where's MY Buckeye shirt?" and "Can I have an Ohio State hat for my birthday?" or "I'm saving up for a -insert OSU item here-." It's a certain level of commitment that isn't really a choice; at some point it's just ingrained in you.
But is this a bad book? I want to say, `No, not at all, except for the opening, it's a very good book.' Unfortunately, that's not true, because the opening puts you in a pall for the rest of the reading. Credibility is compromised. Is it written well? Absolutely, it is. Menzer is great with the turn of a word, but the validity of what follows is always in doubt.
When a young Earle Bruce sustains an injury and can't play football for Ohio State, Woody Hayes literally jumped into his car to stop him, and ask him to get an Ohio State education regardless? He uses the word literally. I've seen speeches by both men, and I have never heard either say Woody, not figuratively, but literally jumped into a car.
Later, defensive tackle Nick Buonamici says to coach Hayes, "Goddammit, I did it for you, Coach," and then jumped onto a table to reveal a tattoo. Really? He swore at Woody Hayes, in front of the whole team, then leaped onto a table? I didn't realize there was this much jumping in Columbus, Ohio.
And at a game, it was so cold that some people were physically unable to stand afterwards? Come on. That's way beyond even frost-bite. Hypothermia?
There are a lot of books about Ohio State football. Like this one, they all talk about the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, Archie Griffin, about the undefeated team of 1968, about the legend of Woody Hayes, and the storied history of the Ohio State-Michigan game.
When picking up a book about the Buckeyes, let's just say this would not be my first choice.
***************************
Joe Menzer is a sportswriter and contributor to NASCAR.com. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, and a graduate of Bowling Green State University, he covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA for the Willoughby/Lake County News-Herald. He has contributed articles to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Washington Post, the Sporting News, and Inside Sports, amongst others. He covered the Carolina Panthers football organization for over a decade, and is the author of several books, including Cavs from Fitch to Fratello: The Sometimes Miraculous, Often Hilarious Wild Ride of the Cleveland Cavaliers (1994), The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR (2002), and Four Corners: How UNC, N.C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe (2004).
***************************
More Buckeye Madness: The Glorious, Tumultuous, Behind-the-Scenes Story of Ohio State Football reviews:
1 2
1 2
Summary of Buckeye Madness: The Glorious, Tumultuous, Behind-the-Scenes Story of Ohio State Football
The Ohio State Buckeyes, one of the most storied college football programs in the nation, have a rich and colorful history that spans more than a century. In Buckeye Madness Ohio native Joe Menzer tells the exhilarating story of the Scarlet and Gray from the days of Woody Hayes in the late 1960s to Jim Tressel and OSU's recent national championship.In the fall of 1968, Hayes's Buckeyes went 10-0 and won the national championship -- a feat that the Buckeyes wouldn't repeat until January 2003, when an underdog OSU team upset the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes in an epic double-overtime national title game. In between those championships, scores of outstanding players took the field in Ohio Stadium, such as the legendary Archie Griffin, the last (and likely the only) player to win the Heisman Trophy twice. Ohio State fans will enjoy Menzer's descriptions of such Buckeye greats as Rex Kern, Chris Spielman, and Heisman winner Eddie George, among many others, along with his accounts of some great, and not-so-great, Ohio State teams in recent decades. Menzer explains how the game has changed in the years since Woody Hayes called the plays, and especially how the coaches themselves have had to change as concerns about off-the-field activities grew in importance. Hayes's immediate successors -- Earle Bruce and John Cooper -- were very different personalities from the incendiary Hayes; Tressel is a throwback to the Hayes era in many ways, yet he must deal with different issues as dictated by the changing times.
But as Buckeye Madness makes clear in some unforgettable anecdotes, one thing will never change: the Ohio State-Michigan game remains the greatest rivalry in college football, a date circled months in advance on calendars in Columbus and Ann Arbor.
Ohio Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Ohio State Buckeyes Football
Ohio St. Football: "Woody Still Hates Michigan!" Smack T-ShirtSmack Apparel; Apparel
The Buckeyes: A Story of Ohio State Footballby Wilbur Snypp
Strode Pub; Published: 1973-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $29.95
An Ohio State Man: Coach Esco Sarkkinen Remembers OSU Footballby William H. Harper
Enthea Press; Published: 2000-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.41
Price in other shops:
Touchdown Buckeyes: My days with the Ohio State Buckeyesby Howard E Wentz
S/B Publications; Published: 1984; Unknown Binding; Book
Earle: A Coach's Lifeby Earle Bruce, George Lehner, Darcy Lehner
Orange Frazer Press; Published: 2000-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.48
Price in other shops:
Buckeye Wisdom: Insight and Inspiration from Coach Earle Bruceby Earle Bruce
Triumph Books; Published: 1999-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.29
Price in other shops:
The Buckeyes: Ohio State Footballby Bob Hunter
Circle Book Service; Published: 1988-04; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
A Shot at a Rose, to the Bite of a Gator: The '75-'78 Ohio State Football Sagaby Todd W. Skipton
Brawny Pug Pub. Co.; Published: 1993-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
A Buckeye Season: The Inside Story of the Glory and Heartbreak of Ohio State's 1995 Seasonby Jeff Snook
Masters Pr; Published: 1996-02; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Three yards and a cloud of dust: The Ohio State football storyby William V Levy
World Pub. Co; Published: 1966; Unknown Binding; Book
Similar Books and other products
Then Tress Said to Troy: The Best Ohio State Football Stories Ever Told with CDby Jeff Snook
Triumph Books; Published: 2007-09-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops:
A Season to Remember: Ohio State's 2002 National ChampionshipSports Publishing LLC; Published: 2003-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Game Day Ohio State Football: The Greatest Games, Players, Coaches, And Teams in the Glorious Tradition of Buckeye Football (Game Day)by Athlon Sports
Triumph Books (IL); Published: 2006-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.90
Price in other shops:
Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs Ohio StateRelease date: 2004-08-17; DVD
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
Stadium Stories: Ohio State Buckeyes: Colorful Tales of the Scarlet and Grayby Jeffrey W. Rapp
Globe Pequot; Published: 2003-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.54
Price in other shops:
What It Means to Be a Buckeye: Jim Tressel and Ohio State's Greatest Players (What It Means to Be ...)Triumph Books (IL); Published: 2003-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.03
Price in other shops:
Ohio State - The History of Buckeye FootballTeam Marketing; Release date: 2005-12-13; DVD
Best price: $9.83
Price in other shops:
Buckeye Glory Days: The Most Memorable Games of Ohio State Footballby Eric Kaelin
Sports Publishing LLC; Published: 2004-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.10
Price in other shops:
The 100-Yard War: Inside the 100-Year-Old Michigan-Ohio State Football Rivalryby Greg Emmanuel
Wiley; Published: 2005-08-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.35
Price in other shops:
A Fire to Win: The Life and Times of Woody Hayesby John Lombardo
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2006-09-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops: