Buckeyes 14 - Michigan 3. Life is good.

For the past few years, life as I know it comes to a halt for a few hours on the third Saturday in November as I take in The Football Game. Not just any football game, but a battle between good and evil. The most storied rivalry in the history of sports - my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes go up against the Michigan Wolverines.


Michigan didn't have a good year this year. They started their season with what was supposed to be a walkaway game against Appalachian State, a small double A school no one had ever heard of prior to this year. The Appalachian State Whatever They Are Called dug down and pulled off a 34 - 32 win over the Wolverines, bringing down the Big House. Buckeyes everywhere giggled and guffawed at the fortunes of Michigan. How many batteries does it take to shock a Michigan fan? 1-AA.

Buckeyes spent much of this year as a BCS number 1 team. I'm not sure that standing was deserved. They have a stellar defense, but their offense struggled to put together a solid game from time to time. Ron Zook and his Fighting Illini found the key to the Buckeyes and beat them for our only loss of the year, but it was enough to drop us to seventh place. By winning the Big Ten championship, it looks like the Buckeyes will get a respectable trip to the Rose Bowl.

Wolverine fans responded to the Appalachian State loss by demanding the head of coach Lloyd Carr. At The Game, it was rumored Carr would announce his resignation. In sports, coaches always take the blame when players don't perform. But one incident at the very end of the game was cause for much meditation.

Five seconds left in the game, Buckeyes up 14 - 3, ball on the Michigan 5. The Bucks had been running it up the middle for 4 or 5 yards for most of the second half, so fans were gleefully looking forward to one last dance over the goal line. Instead, Coach Tressel instructed the quarterback to ground the ball and run out the clock. The media was effusive in their praise for the gentlemanly conduct of Coach Tressel.

Woody Hayes wouldn't ground the ball! In fact, Woody would not only go for the touchdown, he would have then gone for the 2 point conversion. When he had the opportunity to do that after a lopsided win over Michigan, the media asked Woody why he ran up the score. Why go for the 2 pointer, Coach? Woody's answer: "Because they won't let me go for three."

This isn't Pop Warner football. This wasn't a rout over the Little Sisters of the Poor, where mercy might be appropriate. This is Big Ten football, and it's Michigan for crying out loud. If the cleat was on the other foot, Lloyd Carr would have been dancing in the end zone. Are you feeling sorry for Lloyd Carr? There's no feeling sorry in football! Especially The Game.

This has an interesting corollary in business. At what point do we back off of a competitive endeavor? In sports, you only have to have one more point than the other team to win. Winning by 1 point or 30 points gives the same result. But in business, the score is measured in profits, dollars, customer satisfaction, quality... and at what point do we say "enough"?

I doubt if there is a Board of Directors anywhere that would smile warmly upon a president who decided that they had enough market share, or that sales had reached a level that was "good enough". They would question the sense of a leader who told his team to back off, because they didn't want to embarrass their competition. The boundaries are drawn by ethical considerations. When the rules are bent to gain market share or to increase profits, then that's plainly going too far. Can you say "Enron"?

The story is told that Mrs. Carr put Lloyd's breakfast cereal on a plate and placed it in front of him one morning. "Lovie," Lloyd asked. "Why is my cereal not in a bowl?" Mrs. Carr patted Lloyd kindly on the shoulder and said "If I put it in a bowl, you'd lose it."

Sports are often used as a metaphor for business. Maybe I'll post more on that later. Meanwhile, another college football season draws to a close, and my Buckeyes can chalk up another win over Michigan. Life is good.