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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: OT: Don't break that oar
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Pataskala
10/20/2016 12:27 PM
Before getting throttled by WMU last Saturday, the Akron team broke an oar to show disdain for Fleck's "Row the Boat." PJ didn't like it (from AP):

*************

THAT'S NOT VERY NICE

A motivating technique for the Akron players Saturday was breaking an oar into pieces before the game - designed to make light of Fleck's "Row the Boat" mantra, which is supposed to symbolize a group of people working in unison for a common goal. Fleck, who came up with the mantra after losing an infant son shortly after birth a few years ago, didn't like it.

"It's not very classy, in my opinion," Fleck said after the game. "We're not into revenge. I do believe in righteousness....Very simple, I think it's just two different cultures."

**************

Not sure if Bowden knew the backstory of "Row the Boat."
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OU_Country
10/20/2016 4:13 PM
I never knew the story about where the Row the Boat came from. Thanks for sharing.
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GoCats105
10/20/2016 4:39 PM
Now are we completely sure Terry didn't eat the oar?
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Parkersburgwvcat
10/20/2016 9:51 PM
I am just guessing that , if there had been ketchup or mustard available, that piece of wood would have been history!
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Recovering Journalist
10/21/2016 10:07 AM
Fleck's righteous indignation is a bit much. A failed innocent motivational tactic hardly warrants a swipe at the integrity of a program.
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Deciduous Forest Cat
10/21/2016 11:11 AM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
Fleck's righteous indignation is a bit much. A failed innocent motivational tactic hardly warrants a swipe at the integrity of a program.
+1 Exactly. Sensitive much, PJ?
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
10/21/2016 11:21 AM
P.J. Fleck is a crazy person. A soon-to-be rich, crazy person.

I hope he goes to the Big Ten so we can witness a Fleck vs. Harbaugh match-up. Fist fight...before the game...at the 50...simultaneous knock-out...both wake up and share a goblet of milk and a 60-ounce steak at Ruth's Chris after the game and sing "Who rows the boat better than us...NOBODY!"

I'm also fascinated that he was born in Illinois. The state of Ohio usually creates all the unhinged, obsessive coaches.
Last Edited: 10/21/2016 11:28:26 AM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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Monroe Slavin
10/21/2016 4:48 PM
We may chide Fleck for his crazy.


But I bet we wish he had what's giving WMU.
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Ohio69
10/21/2016 5:01 PM
I think I like this. All of it. Lets mix some chippiness and bad blood in with all the MACTION.

I say tomorrow Quentin Poling runs out to the middle of the field, grabs a lighting bolt out of the sky, and eats it.... That'll show Kent....
Last Edited: 10/21/2016 5:02:21 PM by Ohio69
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MonroeClassmate
10/21/2016 10:04 PM
Ohio69 wrote:expand_more
I think I like this. All of it. Lets mix some chippiness and bad blood in with all the MACTION.

I say tomorrow Quentin Poling runs out to the middle of the field, grabs a lighting bolt out of the sky, and eats it.... That'll show Kent....
That reminded me of the OHIO cheer when playing Kent that my class of 1968 sister told me (when the brand of smokes 'Kent' were being made)

Smoke Kent; knock the Flashes on their Ashes.
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ts1227
10/22/2016 12:44 PM
MonroeClassmate wrote:expand_more
I think I like this. All of it. Lets mix some chippiness and bad blood in with all the MACTION.

I say tomorrow Quentin Poling runs out to the middle of the field, grabs a lighting bolt out of the sky, and eats it.... That'll show Kent....
That reminded me of the OHIO cheer when playing Kent that my class of 1968 sister told me (when the brand of smokes 'Kent' were being made)

Smoke Kent; knock the Flashes on their Ashes.

They still exist, they're just VERY rare now.
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Mark Lembright '85
10/22/2016 5:40 PM
Maybe EMU didn't"t get the memo but they're hanging in there with #20 WMU.
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The Pessimist
10/23/2016 10:48 PM
In an ESPN interview, Fleck explains briefly the origin and meaning of row the boat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iC6KcQxmZE

I'm curious to see if "row the boat" will follow him along his coaching career or if it is a WMU tradition now as suggested in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHyEbMQ-OE

(Don't miss 2:00 about 3rd down, the rowing between 2:30-2:40, and 3:50 "All traditions have a beginning...")
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Monroe Slavin
10/24/2016 3:06 AM
That first video--in about 30 seconds you can see the energy and magnetism of Fleck.

We will win exactly zero recruiting battles against that guy.


Our next coach needs to have some of that aggro. It's attractive.
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L.C.
10/24/2016 12:48 PM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
...We will win exactly zero recruiting battles against that guy. ...

Zach Murdock, Durrell Wood, Casey Sayles, Joe Lowery, Joey Duckworth, Kyle Kuhar, Maxwell Howell, Elijah Ball, Xavior Motley, and Ilyaas Motley all chose Ohio over offers from WMU.
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
10/24/2016 3:29 PM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
...We will win exactly zero recruiting battles against that guy. ...

Zach Murdock, Durrell Wood, Casey Sayles, Joe Lowery, Joey Duckworth, Kyle Kuhar, Maxwell Howell, Elijah Ball, Xavior Motley, and Ilyaas Motley all chose Ohio over offers from WMU.
Me as a professional wrestling announcer in giant cowboy hat and 1970s powder blue leisure suit: "He would've been fine — and likely correct — working in generalities about Fleck outrecruiting us, but he used the term 'exactly zero' and that just set him up for the finishing move."

[LC swoops down from the turnbuckle]
Last Edited: 10/24/2016 3:30:34 PM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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Monroe Slavin
10/24/2016 3:32 PM
I stand by my statement.
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OhioCatFan
10/24/2016 3:44 PM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
I stand by my statement.
Me thought you were Mr. Fact-Based Analysis. Me wrong.
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Monroe Slavin
10/24/2016 3:56 PM
Now, to answer more seriously. Off a very, very quick review:

Wood and Sayles enrolled 2013
Lowery, Duckworth, Kuhar,2014
Maxwell, Ball, 2015
Motley & Motley 2016


Fleck's first year was 2013 in which he went 1-11. 2014 he began to turn it around, going 8-5.

So, his personality and record (with turnaround evidence) really started after 2014. So,'forget' the guys before the class of 2015.

Then, of the players which he offered after 2014, I wonder how high the guys who came our way were on his list, how much he really sought them.

Really think our staff can hold a candle to Fleck as recruit-bait?
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colobobcat66
10/24/2016 4:09 PM
Monroe Slavin wrote:expand_more
Now, to answer more seriously. Off a very, very quick review:

Wood and Sayles enrolled 2013
Lowery, Duckworth, Kuhar,2014
Maxwell, Ball, 2015
Motley & Motley 2016


Fleck's first year was 2013 in which he went 1-11. 2014 he began to turn it around, going 8-5.

So, his personality and record (with turnaround evidence) really started after 2014. So,'forget' the guys before the class of 2015.

Then, of the players which he offered after 2014, I wonder how high the guys who came our way were on his list, how much he really sought them.

Really think our staff can hold a candle to Fleck as recruit-bait?
A great weasel job, Monroe.

Maybe every recruit doesn't like all the hype. Interesting that Fleck lost 6 of this years recruits before the opening game kickoff.

Don't get me wrong, Fleck can recruit. He is gone after this season, and I wish him well in his future endeavors.
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Brian Smith (No, not that one)
10/24/2016 4:20 PM
Guys, this really has nothing to do with anything, but I'd like to just point to Holly Anderson's wonderful visit to K-Zoo in 2013 and relive some of my favorite moments:

— "He gestures at a vinyl decal of a human heart on his office wall, and one of a raw steak, and between them the word FAMILY."

— "We have what we call Bronconese."

— "That’s why they named the game football. It’s after the ball."

— "My dad kills bugs for a living."

— "Right now the itching is Western Michigan, and I’m scratching like crazy, because it’s a lot of itches."

— "Because I’m not me. I’m a culmination of a lot of people."

He's a treasure. He's if Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles had a baby.
Last Edited: 10/24/2016 4:21:58 PM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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