I am tired of reading all the woe is us negative posts regarding the probable outcome of Saturday's game - my own included. (Per today's Dispatch It is even getting through to the players.)
Sure, mighty USC is coming to town. But they are coming to OUR town. This is Columbus G.D. Ohio - the center of the football universe and home of THE Ohio State Buckeyes. So let's play the game!
And it isn't just about blind loyalty. We are not chopped liver. We are not Sisters of the Poor. We are not even Michigan.
Did they whip us 35-3 last year? Sure. Then again - no. Not THIS team. They didn't whip THIS team. And "they" are a different they.
The team they beat was minus its star running back. Instead we went with a redshirt freshman and a dinged up soph. We also went with a dual QB approach that - and don't kid yourself about this - created undercurrents of mutiny within THAT team - not THIS team.
Sure we got sacked five times. But don't listen to Mark May on this. It only happened to Pryor once. One time when a true freshman turned into the pressure. They not only show it over and over again on ESPN - they do it from different angles to make it look like different sacks. But it happened once.
But sure. We stunk up the place. Yet that same team - albeit it with one quarterback and that one merely a more experienced true frosh - gave Texas all they could handle just three months later. A Texas team that had a case to be playing for the NC themselves. OK, we lost. But that describes the outcome of the game. Not the quality of the teams that played in it. And we were right there with the best of them.
And the team that beat us in Los Angeles last year did so with a QB who is now starting for the New York Jets. Barkley is gonna do the same some day. But not yet. For now he is one of those true Frosh with one game under his belt. They are replacing most of the D that dominated us. Replacing them with more studs to be sure, but replacing them with a new cast nonetheless.
Did we struggle against Navy? You bet. But was our entire fan base born after 2002? Have we forgotten Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Penn St, Purdue, Illinois, and Michigan? Six games decided by a total of 31 points - all in our favor. All on the way to winning the National Championship.
Are we the dogs? Sure. And we should be. But let's play the game.
I was in attendance for the NC game in January of 2003. It was hard to convince myself that it was worth the time and money to make that trip when I, the media, and most other fans, were so pessimistic. But then we played the game.
This is our house. Our crowd. Our team.
Let's play the game!
And another thing. Let me tell you about my nuts.
I wouldn't bring this up except that I made such an issue of the failed buckeye harvest in Observations (my fungus has been noted as far away as San Antonio) I felt that if a change occurred I should report on it.
That happened yesterday afternoon. I normally check my nuts each morning - before the squirrels have a chance at them. But today I was busy and it was only when I went out to fill the bird feeders that I saw (and this is the God's truth - cause I do make a lot of shit up) ... BUCKEYES EVERYWHERE. The greatest one day take I have ever had - by almost double! Fungus free, properly formed and appropriately hued. A regular nut bonanza.
No, I am not suggesting that this harvest as a predictor is enough to overcome USC's superiority in talent, speed, depth, experience, coaching, assistant coaching, class, looks, intelligence, mean income, media hype, and fashion sense.
But let's play the game.
Don't hang your head until you have a reason to do so. Keep your chest out and wear that Buckcye gear as proudly as you did Monday when you walked into Chik-fil-A.
And as for me - I have yet to see the Trojan that is a match for my nuts.
Sure, mighty USC is coming to town. But they are coming to OUR town. This is Columbus G.D. Ohio - the center of the football universe and home of THE Ohio State Buckeyes. So let's play the game!
And it isn't just about blind loyalty. We are not chopped liver. We are not Sisters of the Poor. We are not even Michigan.
Did they whip us 35-3 last year? Sure. Then again - no. Not THIS team. They didn't whip THIS team. And "they" are a different they.
The team they beat was minus its star running back. Instead we went with a redshirt freshman and a dinged up soph. We also went with a dual QB approach that - and don't kid yourself about this - created undercurrents of mutiny within THAT team - not THIS team.
Sure we got sacked five times. But don't listen to Mark May on this. It only happened to Pryor once. One time when a true freshman turned into the pressure. They not only show it over and over again on ESPN - they do it from different angles to make it look like different sacks. But it happened once.
But sure. We stunk up the place. Yet that same team - albeit it with one quarterback and that one merely a more experienced true frosh - gave Texas all they could handle just three months later. A Texas team that had a case to be playing for the NC themselves. OK, we lost. But that describes the outcome of the game. Not the quality of the teams that played in it. And we were right there with the best of them.
And the team that beat us in Los Angeles last year did so with a QB who is now starting for the New York Jets. Barkley is gonna do the same some day. But not yet. For now he is one of those true Frosh with one game under his belt. They are replacing most of the D that dominated us. Replacing them with more studs to be sure, but replacing them with a new cast nonetheless.
Did we struggle against Navy? You bet. But was our entire fan base born after 2002? Have we forgotten Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Penn St, Purdue, Illinois, and Michigan? Six games decided by a total of 31 points - all in our favor. All on the way to winning the National Championship.
Are we the dogs? Sure. And we should be. But let's play the game.
I was in attendance for the NC game in January of 2003. It was hard to convince myself that it was worth the time and money to make that trip when I, the media, and most other fans, were so pessimistic. But then we played the game.
This is our house. Our crowd. Our team.
Let's play the game!
And another thing. Let me tell you about my nuts.
I wouldn't bring this up except that I made such an issue of the failed buckeye harvest in Observations (my fungus has been noted as far away as San Antonio) I felt that if a change occurred I should report on it.
That happened yesterday afternoon. I normally check my nuts each morning - before the squirrels have a chance at them. But today I was busy and it was only when I went out to fill the bird feeders that I saw (and this is the God's truth - cause I do make a lot of shit up) ... BUCKEYES EVERYWHERE. The greatest one day take I have ever had - by almost double! Fungus free, properly formed and appropriately hued. A regular nut bonanza.
No, I am not suggesting that this harvest as a predictor is enough to overcome USC's superiority in talent, speed, depth, experience, coaching, assistant coaching, class, looks, intelligence, mean income, media hype, and fashion sense.
But let's play the game.
Don't hang your head until you have a reason to do so. Keep your chest out and wear that Buckcye gear as proudly as you did Monday when you walked into Chik-fil-A.
And as for me - I have yet to see the Trojan that is a match for my nuts.
