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As I watched John Harbaugh yell at the refs in the Ravens-Dolphins game on Sunday for calling offensive pass interference on a shady play he loves to run that could have been flagged many more times, and then as I read on ESPN on Monday about how much Jim Harbaugh loves courting controversy and confrontation, I couldn't help but wonder — are John and Jim Harbaugh the real-life “O'Doyle Rules” brothers of football?
I'm referring of course to the series of increasingly annoying grade-school bullies faced by Adam Sandler in the 1995 comedy classic Billy Madison, all of whom hail from the O'Doyle family and love proclaiming “O'Doyle Rules!” after any act of bullying.
The Harbaughs similarly love bullying their way to the top of the NCAA and NFL, rules and ethics be damned. And they have their own obnoxious family slogan “Who's got it better than us? No-body!” (which is basically the same message as “Harbaughs rule!” if you think about it).
As Jim Harbaugh now rather blatantly prepares to ditch the Michigan job he says he loves so dearly to bolt back to the NFL (emphasis on the bolt, as it's rumored he wants to coach the Chargers), we are faced with the prospect of more noxious matchups between the brothers.
Although the thinly veiled hostility Jim Harbaugh displayed for his brother after the Ravens victory over his 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII was pretty priceless. Remember all the love and good vibes surrounding the Kelce Bowl last year between Jason and Travis Kelce? Well the Harbaughs' rivalry is like that — except the exact opposite.
As John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens continue to stuff other contenders into trash cans each week and spill soup on the heads of the competition, Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines have been busy throwing dodgeballs at NCAA investigators with their “us against the world” mentality.
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Maybe this metaphor is getting messy, but if the Harbaughs are the O'Doyle brothers then there must be a Billy Madison-esque hero left to root for against them, right?
If Michigan does manage to win in their playoff matchup against Alabama, then our best hope is to see Harbaugh matched up against the scrappy, Sandler-esque under-estimated bunch of upstarts from the University of Washington in the national championship.
As for a team to take down John Harbaugh's Ravens in the NFL, the late season rally of the Buffalo Bills — who still aren't guaranteed a playoff spot unless they beat the Dolphins on Sunday — sure feels like Billy Madison having to pass that one last test at the end of the movie to earn his father's company (and respect).
So for those who don't feel the need to tout their family's alleged superiority over others — like John and Jim Harbaugh and the O'Doyle brothers — let's try out a new chant to embrace the rest of the NCAA and NFL football seasons: Go Huskies and Buffalo Billy Madisons!
