Buckeye Madness

May 30, 2005
This history of the Ohio State Buckeyes opens with their national championship in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, then backtracks to the glory days of the team's greatest leader, Woody Hayes. With the volatile, demanding coach front and center, the story has its strongest momentum—but Menzer is careful to show that it wasn't all upbeat. The legendary undefeated team of 1968 and the consecutive Heisman trophies of running back Archie Griffin in '74 and '75 are matched by Hayes's physical abuse of his players during practice and encouragement of the dangerous "chop-block" tackling technique. Hayes was eventually fired for attacking an opposing player during a game, and his successors found it hard to live up to his reputation or his skills, especially when it came to the school's rivalry with the Michigan Wolverines. Though Menzer, a sportswriter (The Wildest Ride
) and Ohio native, tries his best, the second half of his chronicle falls just short of the standard set by the first. Recruiting scandals and boorish behavior by star athletes, even when well reported, just don't have the same dramatic impact as Hayes's obsessive discipline of his players. Buckeyes fans, however, will likely be satisfied just to relive that era. B&w photos. Agent, Shari Wenk.