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FeedMeyer, the Man
As terribly uncool as it may be, I can’t resist the written version of an end-zone dance about our profile of coach Urban Meyer. We are beyond thrilled to bring you this story, one that we’ve pursued for months.
I wouldn’t know a spread offense if I saw one, but I can smell a good story a mile away. Meyer is one of few people whose personal story transcends his job—even people who know nothing and care nothing about Buckeyes football (we know you’re out there) will be moved by this account of redemption and redefinition. We had chills down our spines and tears in our eyes the first time we read it.
We put assistant editor John Ross on the story way back at the start of the season, and he immersed himself in the assignment with characteristic vim. He followed games, watched post-game press conferences, gobbled every storyline he could find about Meyer and the Buckeyes. We wanted to be ready to tell the story not of how the team performed on the field, but how Meyer performed on the commitments he made to himself and his family.
The Meyer we meet in the story (“Balancing Act,” page 58) glows with intensity. He’s just finished his first year at OSU, notching the team’s sixth unbeaten season. He looks and sounds healthy—neither could be said at the end of his tenure at the University of Florida, when his obsession with winning consumed him mentally and physically. In interviews with Meyer, his wife Shelley and people close to him, we learn about the strides Meyer has made in his first months back in Columbus. And we get an intimate look at what drives him to succeed.
We hope you enjoy the story as much as we have.
With equal determination—and for nearly as many months—we have stalked a package of stories helping readers connect with terrific Columbus hair salons, stylists and treatments. We timed the story (“Love Your Locks,” page 46) to the new year, when we’re most open to big changes. On the surface, 12 pages about hair seems like a lark. But digging in to the story confirmed what we suspected: Hair is a deeply personal thing, and it’s a source of perpetual dissatisfaction for both men and women.
Our stories give you the tools to stop that frustrating cycle, including advice from local pros on finally finding and keeping the right stylist. We found and tried deep-conditioning treatments, luxurious add-ons and accessories to give hair a new lease on life. We listened to the grapevine to find the stylists who get recommended by word of mouth for just about every type of hair.
And there are reader makeovers. These brave people. A few months ago, we asked for volunteers, and dozens of readers responded. Choosing just six was tough. We hope you’ll relate to one or more of the readers we selected—each of them walked in the salon ambivalent at best about their hair and walked out beaming. (And, believe me, we walked out relieved.)
We hope you find some inspiration and reach a good answer to the question Clintonville stylist Nicole Revish asks on her salon’s website: “When was the last time you loved your hair?”
Kristen Schmidt
kschmidt@columbusmonthly.com
@MonthlyEditor
