They still watch movies as a team the night before they play, but with technological advances, they no longer need to head out to a theater and can watch something in the team hotel.

For decades, however, that’s exactly what they’d do. One coach would be in charge of finding a movie for the players to watch, the staff would make arrangements with the theater – whether it be the State Theatre on campus or the RKO Theater in downtown Columbus – and the team would go to the movies to think about something other than football for a few hours as kickoff inched near.

In 1969, Ohio State’s “movie coach” was Earle Bruce, who also happened to be in charge of coaching the interior of the defending national champion’s offensive line. But we’re going to focus on his duties as the movie coach and one hilarious choice he made that season.

“Woody only had two rules about our movies,” star middle guard Jim Stillwagon told the Columbus Dispatch in 1996. “We weren’t supposed to see any love scenes, and we were never allowed to see any hippies. We couldn’t see any sex, but violence was okay. I think Coach Hayes thought that was something that could fire you up.”

“If you could find a John Wayne movie, you were doing pretty good,” former OSU assistant Bill Conley told the Dispatch. “He liked those shoot’em-ups. Now Earle, he was a Clint
Eastwood fan.”

In later years, Woody’s teams saw plenty of Patton, starring George C. Scott as General George Patton. But this was 1969 and Patton had not been released yet, and the team was evidently tired of seeing John Wayne movies.

Earle had to pick a movie and thought he was picking an action movie about motorcycles for the team. From Michael Rosenberg’s classic War as They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest:

Oops.

“We were sitting there watching these guys up on the screen smoking grass, and we’re saying, ‘This is great!’” Stillwagon said. “Earle was so upset. He got us out of that theater so fast you wouldn’t believe it. He about lost his job when Woody found out.”

Mind you, this is 1969. The country was involved in an unpopular war in Vietnam, and protests were gripping campuses nationwide. Woody, very much a pro-Vietnam War guy in that day, had no time for hippies or what they stood for. You can only imagine how livid he was when he found out about the team’s choice of movie ahead of that Minnesota game.

And that’s the story of how Earle Bruce’s career as the movie coach at Ohio State came to a screeching halt.

WESTFIELD CENTER — Newly turned professional Maxwell Moldovan and 11 returning champions highlight the 288-golfer field for the 103rd Ohio Open, which begins Monday at Westfield Country Club’s North and South courses. 

The 54-hole, stroke-play event, conducted by the Northern Ohio PGA, runs through Wednesday. A cut of the top 60 and ties will occur after the second round.

The 22-year-old Moldovan recently ended an outstanding four-year career at Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes to a tie for third place in the NCAA championships. A four-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time All-American, Moldovan owns the lowest career scoring average (71.25) in Ohio State history. 

The Green High School product has played two events on the PGA Americas Tour so far, missing the cut in both. He played in his third straight U.S. Open when he competed at Pinehurst No. 2 two weeks ago. 

Among the 11 returning Ohio Open champions are reigning champ Michael Balcar and Lake High School alum Jake McBride. 

Balcar, a Toledo native and Cleveland State graduate, shot a 14-under 196 last year to set a scoring record for Ohio Opens at Westfield. He was one stroke better than Cade Breitenstine, a Green High School and Kent State graduate. 

McBride, who played collegiately at North Carolina State, won the 2021 Ohio Open by beating Northwest High School and Malone University product Justin Lower on the first playoff hole. Lower, a two-time Ohio Open winner (2012, 2015), now is in his third season playing on the PGA Tour. 

Other notables in the field this year are reigning Ohio Amateur champion Andrew Bailey; three-time Ohio Open champ and five-time Ohio Senior Open winner Bob Sowards; three-time Ohio Open champ Rob Moss; and the most recent back-to-back winner, Stephen Gangluff (2018-19). 

Three women also will tee it up in the event. They are Tannenhauf Golf Club head professional Mary Suitca, Northern Kentucky head coach Melissa Yeazell and 2023 OHSAA Division I state runner-up Isabella Goyette from Highland. 

Supporters of the bill say they are trying to protect women and girls from humiliation, intimidation and violence.

The Ohio House of Representatives has passed a bill that would require schools and colleges to designate male-only and female-only bathrooms and locker rooms. 

“No school shall permit a member of the male biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the female biological sex,” the measure states, with similar language prohibiting females from using male facilities.

The proposed legislation would also prohibit males and females from sharing overnight accommodations.

But the measure would allow schools to allow students to use “single-occupancy facilities” or “faculty facilities” if a student requests to do so “due to special circumstances.”

It would also allow what it calls a “family facility” that would serve a parent, guardian or family member assisting a child under age 10.

The vote on the measure, which was tacked onto another bill late Wednesday night, was 60-31 in favor, largely along party lines, with all Democrats opposing and all but two Republicans voting in favor.

Supporters of the bill say they are trying to protect women and girls from humiliation, intimidation and violence.

“Boys and girls should not be in locker rooms together. They should not be in bathrooms together and they should not be sharing overnight accommodations,” said state Rep. Beth Lear, R-Galena, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. 

Opponents of the bill say it’s a swipe at students who identify as transgender. 

“I didn’t anticipate we would be using the power of the state to bully transgender children and individuals today. As far as protecting girls and women, I will tell you as a woman, I do not want nor need your protection,” said Ohio state Rep. Beth Liston, D-Dublin, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. 

The bill’s future is uncertain. The Ohio Senate would have to agree to the language for it to go to Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, who has not said publicly whether he would sign it. In January, the governor vetoed a law banning gender transitioning for minors. The Legislature later overrode his veto and passed the legislation.

Since the state Legislature has gone on summer recess, it’s not clear when or whether the state Senate will vote on the bill.