OSU's dog search has Carr howling
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Bruce Hooley
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- It's gained acclaim as the greatest rivalry in all of college football because of things like the Snow Bowl and the Ten-Year War.
Now Ohio State-Michigan has added another chapter to its history.
Call the 2004 installment: Search and Sniff.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is upset that OSU subjected the Wolverines' players and coaches to the once-over by bomb-sniffing dogs upon their arrival at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.
Carr spent 10 minutes venting about the surprise search at his Monday press luncheon, lamenting the treatment as a low-rent move that subjected his players to harassment by OSU fans who watched police dogs taking a whiff of every player and their personal belongings.
"If it's going to be the greatest rivalry in college athletics, which so many of us believe it is, then I don't think it is too much to say, 'Let's have great respect for each other. Let's treat each other like we would want to be treated,' " Carr said. "I guarantee you that the athletic director at Ohio State doesn't want his son treated the way that they treated our players.
". . .We had people in our travelling party who took bags in that weren't coaches. [Ohio State] didn't ask them for their bags. They just walked in right behind us with their bags and nobody said a word to them. It was just the players and the coaches."
OSU Athletic Director Andy Geiger and OSU assistant chief of police Richard Amweg both contend Michigan was subjected to the same search as other opponents who played in Ohio Stadium this year.
The other five opponents who played in the Horseshoe earlier this season, however, all said Tuesday they weren't given the smell test upon exiting their team bus.
Marshall University said its locker room was sniffed by dogs after being set up on Friday.
But the Thundering Herd, like the other schools contacted, said they breezed right into Ohio Stadium on game day without so much as a whiff.
Geiger - who was quick to point out, "I own no dogs" - said other schools' players and coaches were searched.
"They just didn't know it," Geiger said. "They were searched at their hotel. What happened in this case was, Michigan was late, and therefore it was sniffed and searched at the stadium."
Carr wasn't buying the idea that other players and coaches were sniffed by dogs without knowing about it. Nor was he sold on the idea that OSU's athletic department had nothing to do with the search.
"I was told as I walked down to the field prior to the game, I asked the police officer from Ohio State that took me down," Carr said. "He said, 'Coach, I want you to know that we were only following orders and they were not the orders given us by our superiors.' I said, 'Well, who decided it then?' He said, 'The athletic department.'
"I don't know what their reasoning was. You would have to ask them. But to say publicly that it has been done to all of the other schools, that raises a serious issue of credibility. I resented it and just don't understand anything about what happened there."
Carr called for Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to investigate the matter.
Geiger said Delany and OSU may be issuing a joint statement next week explaining what happened.
By then, Amweg said OSU Police will have double-checked how and where other opponents' bags were searched so Carr won't feel as if the Wolverines were singled out.
"The decision to search bags was one made by the Ohio State Department of Public Safety," Amweg said. "It was not a mandate of either state or federal homeland security."
Carr made clear that Michigan's loss had nothing to do with the pregame search.
Still, he wasn't happy about the latest inconvenience to befall the Wolverines in Columbus.
Back when Carr was an assistant to Bo Schembechler, the water main supplying water to their team hotel broke the morning of kickoff on consecutive trips.
And earlier in Carr's career as Michigan's head coach, the helmets of several Wolverines players were stolen from the locker room after the equipment staff set up the area on Friday night.
For that reason, Michigan kept its equipment out of Ohio Stadium on this trip until Saturday morning.
When the truck arrived, Carr said the bomb-sniffing dogs were waiting.
"[Equipment manager] John Faulk had to take all of the equipment in," Carr said. "He has thousands of pounds of equipment, helmets, shoulder pads and jerseys. They at first were going to make him open every bag, which would have taken hours. All of these people, fans standing around harassing him as he brought it through the gate.
"Everybody was agitated because if you're going to do something like that to your guests, wouldn't it be appropriate to let them know? I just don't understand that."
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Bruce Hooley
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- It's gained acclaim as the greatest rivalry in all of college football because of things like the Snow Bowl and the Ten-Year War.
Now Ohio State-Michigan has added another chapter to its history.
Call the 2004 installment: Search and Sniff.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is upset that OSU subjected the Wolverines' players and coaches to the once-over by bomb-sniffing dogs upon their arrival at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.
Carr spent 10 minutes venting about the surprise search at his Monday press luncheon, lamenting the treatment as a low-rent move that subjected his players to harassment by OSU fans who watched police dogs taking a whiff of every player and their personal belongings.
"If it's going to be the greatest rivalry in college athletics, which so many of us believe it is, then I don't think it is too much to say, 'Let's have great respect for each other. Let's treat each other like we would want to be treated,' " Carr said. "I guarantee you that the athletic director at Ohio State doesn't want his son treated the way that they treated our players.
". . .We had people in our travelling party who took bags in that weren't coaches. [Ohio State] didn't ask them for their bags. They just walked in right behind us with their bags and nobody said a word to them. It was just the players and the coaches."
OSU Athletic Director Andy Geiger and OSU assistant chief of police Richard Amweg both contend Michigan was subjected to the same search as other opponents who played in Ohio Stadium this year.
The other five opponents who played in the Horseshoe earlier this season, however, all said Tuesday they weren't given the smell test upon exiting their team bus.
Marshall University said its locker room was sniffed by dogs after being set up on Friday.
But the Thundering Herd, like the other schools contacted, said they breezed right into Ohio Stadium on game day without so much as a whiff.
Geiger - who was quick to point out, "I own no dogs" - said other schools' players and coaches were searched.
"They just didn't know it," Geiger said. "They were searched at their hotel. What happened in this case was, Michigan was late, and therefore it was sniffed and searched at the stadium."
Carr wasn't buying the idea that other players and coaches were sniffed by dogs without knowing about it. Nor was he sold on the idea that OSU's athletic department had nothing to do with the search.
"I was told as I walked down to the field prior to the game, I asked the police officer from Ohio State that took me down," Carr said. "He said, 'Coach, I want you to know that we were only following orders and they were not the orders given us by our superiors.' I said, 'Well, who decided it then?' He said, 'The athletic department.'
"I don't know what their reasoning was. You would have to ask them. But to say publicly that it has been done to all of the other schools, that raises a serious issue of credibility. I resented it and just don't understand anything about what happened there."
Carr called for Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to investigate the matter.
Geiger said Delany and OSU may be issuing a joint statement next week explaining what happened.
By then, Amweg said OSU Police will have double-checked how and where other opponents' bags were searched so Carr won't feel as if the Wolverines were singled out.
"The decision to search bags was one made by the Ohio State Department of Public Safety," Amweg said. "It was not a mandate of either state or federal homeland security."
Carr made clear that Michigan's loss had nothing to do with the pregame search.
Still, he wasn't happy about the latest inconvenience to befall the Wolverines in Columbus.
Back when Carr was an assistant to Bo Schembechler, the water main supplying water to their team hotel broke the morning of kickoff on consecutive trips.
And earlier in Carr's career as Michigan's head coach, the helmets of several Wolverines players were stolen from the locker room after the equipment staff set up the area on Friday night.
For that reason, Michigan kept its equipment out of Ohio Stadium on this trip until Saturday morning.
When the truck arrived, Carr said the bomb-sniffing dogs were waiting.
"[Equipment manager] John Faulk had to take all of the equipment in," Carr said. "He has thousands of pounds of equipment, helmets, shoulder pads and jerseys. They at first were going to make him open every bag, which would have taken hours. All of these people, fans standing around harassing him as he brought it through the gate.
"Everybody was agitated because if you're going to do something like that to your guests, wouldn't it be appropriate to let them know? I just don't understand that."
