Dispatch sports writer and Dayton native will talk about The Chase, Nov. 5

By Marc Katz, Special To The Observer

Woody Hayes wrote a book more than 40 years ago called You Win With People.

The school he’s most famous for coaching, Ohio State, still does that, as Columbus Dispatch sports writer and Dayton native Bill Rabinowitz points out in his latest book, The Chase: How Ohio State Captured The First College Football Playoff Championship.

This book, like his Buckeye Rebirth — chronicling the 2012 undefeated and on-probation team — is not a rehash of old game stories. It is a background look at the players and coaches involved in Ohio State’s remarkable run to a championship.

“It’s really a story about relationships and people,” Rabinowitz said. “It’s not a football book about football. It’s a book about people who happen to be involved in football.”

Rabinowitz will tell his story and that of the storied 2014 Buckeyes on Nov. 5 as part of the JCC’s Cultural Arts & Book Fest.

Writing books about football wasn’t on Rabinowitz’s to-do list. When he took on the task of writing the book on the 2012 season, he labored for more than four months to piece together the story with fresh material, under tight deadlines.

He knew as last season progressed, another book might be in the offing. When Ohio State beat Oregon in the championship game in Arlington, Texas, he wasn’t as happy as some thought he would be on the media bus back to the hotel.

He said he was nearly moved to tears because of the book pressure approaching.

“Now, I knew what I was in for,” Rabinowitz said. “When you know you have to go back into that ‘book cave,’ it’s a bad feeling. I had no desire to do any books, and to have to do them in four months?”

Still, the story was unprecedented, even for Ohio State, which has won national championships before.

This one was different because it involved the first playoff and an early-season loss to Virginia Tech.

Also, Ohio State had to use two unproven quarterbacks to replace injured two-time Big Ten Player of the Year Braxton Miller.

J.T. Barrett did so well, Miller was hardly missed until Barrett broke his ankle in the Michigan game. Cardale Jones took over from there with even more spectacular results.

There was also the shocking disappearance and ultimate suicide of defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge surrounding the Michigan game.

It wasn’t until the 2012 season that Rabinowitz thought he was watching something interesting enough for a book. He thought that first book was it, but the publisher was watching last season, too.

“I thought there was no need for another book,” Rabinowitz said. Then the Buckeyes beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, and Ohio State was in the mix for the four-team playoff.

“Are you going to write another book?” OSU coach Urban Meyer asked Rabinowitz when he saw him after the Wisconsin game.

Rabinowitz told Meyer, “Yeah, you’re going to make me write another book, aren’t you?”

Nothing was certain, though. Rabinowitz was in close touch with Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long, in charge of the playoff selection committee. There were still some doubts Ohio State would make the cut.

For details, you’ll have to read the book, or visit with Rabinowitz on Nov. 5.

The JCC Cultural Arts & Book Fest presents Columbus Dispatch Ohio State Football writer Bill Rabinowitz on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Boonshoft Center for Jewish Culture and Education, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. Tickets are $5 in advance, $8 at the door, and are available at jewishdayton.org, by calling 610-1555, or at the Boonshoft CJCE.

To read the complete November 2015 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.