Eleven Warriors

I'm sure this topic has been hashed and rehased multiple times since this feature was added to this site, but with kickoff coming ever closer, and the fact that I'm new to this site, I thought I would open it back up.  So, what's your favorite Buckeye game you ever attended at the Shoe or elsewhere?  If I had to pick an easy one I would go with The Game in 2006 just for the environment and my seats (4th row 50 yard line), but if I thought a little harder it would have to be Michigan in 2004 because that was a f***** sweet upset to witness. And Teddy Ginn's punt return will forever be etched in my memory, as will jumping around chanting "OVERRATED" with my dad as loud as we could, since he is usually such a quiet guy. Oh and Brutus stomping on the roses in the fourth quarter was priceless  Your thoughts?

Sidenote: Actually I have a 3rd.  Illinois in 2002. We made the drive down from Chicago and I was young at the time, like 11 or 12 so I was literally on the verge of tears the entire game until the last play.  Then it was sheer joy.

On a cold December night, a woman is wheeled into a delivery room at St. Luke's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.  After winning the fight with the nurses, she clung to an ashtray with a grey football attached to its center like it was going to protect her from the coming pain.  As the spasms of childbirth wracked her slender frame, she refused any help that would remove her concentration.  No, this was her moment.  Her whole purpose for going through this scary and painful night was not going to be deterred by a well-meaning nurse or doctor.

Finally, as she was wracked by the spasms and the feeling she was passing a bus, there was a final push, and then the sound she was waiting to hear...the cry of a newborn.  Now!  Now was the moment she was waiting for!  And she looked at the small talisman she brought with her, and found the little lever on its side.  She moved the lever and the unmistakeable sound played out of the music box. As she sang the words to herself and the nurses cleaned up the newborn, she smiled.  Across the Field was the first sound her new son heard.  Later in her life, not only her grandchildren, but any members of the local Alumni Association would all call her Grandma Buckeye.  That woman was my Mom.  That baby boy was me.

As young children, before we could even understand why, Saturdays in the fall were important in our house.  While my friends were watching Pixie and Dixie confuse Jinx the cat, and while Sky King and Roy Rogers were rounding up the bad guys, my sister and I were listening to the early LP releases of The Ohio State University Marching Band.  My Mom played those records over and over until Marv Homan or someone came on the radio to broadcast the only football game that mattered that weekend.  To this day, the tune from Nationwide Insurance brings a smile and a memory to my face as my Mom and I sat and listened to the broadcast together.  If we were lucky, once in a great while, Ohio State would show up on TV, but I have no memory of any of those days.  I remember sitting and listening to the radio.

As my Dad's practice grew and they could afford to go, they would travel the long drive down Rt 42 from Cleveland to Columbus to see a game.  Next to Woody Hayes, the biggest thing to help Ohio State football grow into the monster it is today was the completion of Interstate 71.  A two day drive suddenly became two hours down and two hours back.  Suddenly, attending the game became something we could all do.

Our next door neighbor, who I grew up calling Uncle Bob turned out to be, along with his wife Aunt Ginny, the best friends my parents ever had.  Uncle Bob had one flaw.  Every Saturday, just to bust my Mom's chops, whether he needed it or not, Uncle Bob would cut his grass wearing an old dark blue football jersey.  You see, Uncle Bob was the blocking fullback for Tom Harmon.  

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I was doomed.  No matter where I went, Ohio State football was so ingrained into my soul by my Mom, that to this day my wife complains that while we do attend church on Sunday, the pilgrimmages I make on Saturday to whereever I have to go is my real religion.  As I have gotten older, I think I have started to find a balance that has saved my soul.  Summers like this one, might be purgutory on earth, and Ohio State football is still my number one hobby, but I have passed the torch to my children.  You see, all six times I was in the delivery room, I continued the tradition my Mom started.  I didn't have that music box.  But I did have my voice so each time the doctor handed me a new born so that I could place them in my wife's arms, I first sang a little tune to each of my children

"We don't give a damn for the whole state of michigan, the whole state of michigan, the whole state of michigan

We don't give a damn for the whole state of michigan, we're from O HI O"

My daughter claims that all 6 kids are cursed. Because it would be so easy to turn away from a program that has suffered through the In and Out Burger Bowl,  The Mad Hatter Bowl and the summer of our discontent.  But they can't.  No matter what.  Its their heritage.

As Ramzy pointed out a few days ago, Blogs With Balls has launched the Untitled Sports Media Awards Project to recognize some of the shining stars in online sports journalism.

There are literally hundreds of different awards shows in entertainment, media and sports, but none of them have acknowledged a growing list of great internet sports writers who certainly deserve the recognition.

So we thought we’d create one.

We’re not just limiting this awards show to bloggers, either. We’ve always tried to gray the line between mainstream and independent media, so it certainly made sense for us to include bloggers, mainstream media, radio and TV in one amazing event.

The winners will ultimately be determined the fans, meaning that each award is backed by what the public really thinks. Who is the best sportswriter in the country? Who is the best in-game analyst? Who is the biggest rising star in our industry?

You help decide.

Now, we're pretty biased, but we're pretty proud of the hard work we put into 11W and would tickled (sans stuffed bear) if you could help spread the good word by taking a few minutes out of your day and nominating this site and its writers where it makes sense.

To do so, please visit the ballot here: http://blogswithballs.com/bwb4/usmap/

If we may do so, we humbly submit the following categories for your consideration:

• Best Sports Site - Writing Quality: Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com / @elevenwarriors
• Best Team-Specific Site: Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com / @elevenwarriors
• Best Sportswriter: Ramzy Nasrallah / Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com / @ramzyn
• Best Sportswriter - Humor: Ramzy Nasrallah / Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com / @ramzyn
• Best Young Sportswriter (Under 25): Johnny Ginter / Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com / @johnny11w
• Best Audio/Video/Radio Podcast: Eleven Dubcast / Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com/category/podcast
• Rising Star in Media: Ramzy Nasrallah / Eleven Warriors / http://www.elevenwarriors.com / @ramzyn

Thanks again for helping to make this the best Buckeye destination on the web. 

While we load Fickell's presser to the main page, be sure to check out what the rest of coaches had to say on Day 1 of Big Ten Media Days. Click each coach's name below to see the video streaming straight from the Big Ten Network, who did a great job showing these live all day long. Be sure to check out 11W for more to come soon from today's Big Ten Media Days where Chris and Jason were hard at work.

• Ron Zook
• Bret Bielema
• Danny Hope
• Kevin Wilson
• Joe Paterno
• Pat Fitzgerald
• Brady Hoke
• Bo Pelini
• Kirk Ferentz
• Mark Dantonio
• Jerry Kill

And the best part is that it never gets old when Brady Hoke calls OSU "Ohio". NOT!

Mike Brewster and John Simon were the two Buckeyes represented on the conference's Watch List which came out this morning. See the official release below:

July 28, 2011

 

CHICAGO - The Big Ten Conference released its inaugural Legends Division and Leaders Division Players to Watch list today and two Ohio State Buckeyes are among the 12 players selected by a media panel.

Senior All-American center Michael Brewster and junior defensive lineman John Simon were named to the Leaders Division list, a list that includes tie vote totals. The pair are joined by Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, Indiana receiver Damario Belcher, Penn State linebacker Michael Mauti and Wisconsin running backs Montee Ball aned James White.

 

The Legends watch list is comprised of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins, Nebraska defensive tackle Jared Crick and linebacker Lavonte David, and Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa. 

Inspired by Ramzy and quoting him almost entirely, I took up the challege to get this done.  And apparently I've failed...here's the email I just receivd:

Thanks for your definition of Herbstreit Effect!

Editors reviewed your entry and have decided to not publish it.

To get a better idea of what editors publish and reject, sign up as an Urban Dictionary Editor here: http://editor.urbandictionary.com/

Urban Dictionary

-----

Herbstreit Effect

1. "Constantly regurgitating talking points that fulfill a boring narrative, with the sole purpose of dividing a topic into simplistic good and bad sides."

2. "Continually suffering from an acute case of message fatigue."

3. "Consistently using catch phrases such as":

Speed and confidence.

Passes the "look" test.

Creating in space.

Making all the throws.

Looks good in a uniform.

"I'm so sick of listening to the guys on the radio and tv pander to the uneducated masses. It's like they're all starting to suffer from the Herbstreit Effect."

In light of ESPN trying to sue Ohio State to get the Jim Tressel Iv been thinking of ways to hurt Espn where their pocket is & what supports their drama, its SPONSORS that keep Espn on its feet... So its time to chop the knees off of Espn,,, Write & Call Espn's SPONSORS, Threaten to boycott their products as well if they dont put pressure on Espn to drop this thuggish girl drama!!! Sponsors are as follows >

I.N.G Direct 1 South Orange Street Wilmington, DE 19801,,,

Value City Headquarters 3241 Westerville Road Columbus, OH 43224,,,

Nikon Inc. 1300 Walt Whitman Road Melville, NY 11747-3064

IBM Corporation 1 New Orchard Road Armonk, New York 10504-1722 United States 914-499-1900

Hewlett-Packard Company3000 Hanover St. Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA (650) 857-1501

K-Swiss 31248 Oak Crest Dr. Westlake Village, CA 91361,,,

Michelin Tire 2 Patewood Dr. Greenville, SC 29615 (864) 234-5000 &

The Progressive Insurance Corporation 6300 Wilson Mills Road Mayfield Village, Ohio 44143,,,

Lincoln Mercury World Headquarters 1 Glen Bell Way Irvine, CA 92618-3344 949-341-7500,,,

Miller Brewing Headquarters 3939 W Highland Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53208 414-931-2700,,,

Ando Media One Adams Place Quincy, Massachusetts 02169 847-801-2636

Pacific Life Insurance 700 Newport Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660(800) 800-7646,,,

HSBC GPO Box 64,Hong Kong,1 Queen's Road Central,Hong Kong SAR, ChinaTelephone: +852 2822 1111 Fax:+852 2810 1112,,,

Dove Headquarters 1819 Range WayFlorence, SC 29502 Customer Service and Tech Support: (800)968-6925

Research In Motion295 Phillip Street Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3W8 tel: (519) 888-7465,,,

Research In Motion122 West John Carpenter FreewaySuite 430 Irving, Texas 75038 tel: (877) 255-2377,,,

BridgeStone Tire Highland Ridge Tower at 535 Marriott Drive: CEO, President John Lampe,,,

Scottrade Corporate Headquarters PO Box 31759 Saint Louis, MO 63131314-965-1555

Joseph A Bank Clothiers Corporate Office Headquarters500 Hanover Pike Hampstead, MD 21074 (410)239-2700 ,,,

Sony Corporation of America Corporate Office Headquarters550 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10022 (212)833-6800 ,,,

Supercuts Corporate Office Headquarters7201 Metro Blvd. Edina, MN 55439 (952)947-7777

T Rowe Price Group, Inc Corporate Office Headquarters 100 E. Pratt St. Baltimore, MD 21202 (410)345-2000

General Motors Corporate Office Headquarters300 Renaissance Center Detroit, MI 48265 (313)556-5000 ,,,

Capital One Financial Corporation Corporate Office  Headquarters1680 Capital One Dr. McLean, VA 22102 (703)720-1000 ,,,

The Gatorade Company Corporate Office  Headquarters555 W. Monroe St. Chicago, IL 60661(312)821-1000

Subway Corporate Office  Headquarters 325 Bic Drive Milford, CT 06460 (203)877-4281 ,,,

Ford Motor Company Corporate Office  Headquarters1 American Rd. Dearborn, MI 48126 (313)322-3000 ,,,

Geico Corporate Office Headquarters 5260 Western Ave. Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (301)986-3000

The Walt Disney Company Corporate Office Headquarters 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521 (818)560-1000 Hershey Company Corporate Office Headquarters 100 Crystal A Dr. Hershey, PA 17003 (717)534-4200

Discover PO BOX 30943 Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0943

Discover Card Financial Services Corporate Office Headquarters PO Box 17019 Wilmington, DE 19850 (302)328-3300 Chi-fil-a 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, GA 30349 (404) 765-8000

Home Depot 2455 Paces Ferry Road Southeast Atlanta, GA 30339 1-800-654-0688.

CALL & WRITE YOUR LETTERS TO THESE SPONSORS OF ESPN BUCKEYE NATION!!!

Tired of ESPN always trying to discriminate Ohio State? Are you especially tired of hearing about the lawsuit ESP'ons have put on tOSU to try to get the Jim Tressel emails? Well I am & have came up some creative ideas we can pay back ESP'ons. First and foremost lets pay for BILLBOARDS Signs to be posted up along the highways of Interstate 70 & 77 that simple say, you guessed it, "BOYCOTT ESPN"!!!.

Well I Just got off the Phone with a Electronic Billboard Advertising Company in Columbus, the guy told me $500 for a week to a month, told him what it was about & the guy got all excited & wants to be apart of it! Simply put.... BOYCOTT ESPN!!! Who wants to be apart of it also?

Gonna set up an account with the Advertising company tomorrow,,, let me know who wants to donate money to post the Billboard > BOYCOTT ESPN < If a lot of people want to donate to the cause we can get more than one Billboard, although if 20 people each donate $20 it will supply enough $ for 1 Billboard in Columbus! Thanks & again BOYCOTT ESPN!!! Looking to also post one up in Cleveland, Cincinnati & Canton areas.

In light of ESPN trying to sue Ohio State to get the Jim Tressel Iv been thinking of ways to hurt Espn where their pocket is & what supports their drama, its SPONSORS that keep Espn on its feet... So its time to chop the knees off of Espn,,, Write & Call Espn's SPONSORS, Threaten to boycott their products as well if they dont put pressure on Espn to drop this thuggish girl drama!!! Sponsors are as follows >

I.N.G Direct 1 South Orange Street Wilmington, DE 19801,,,

Value City Headquarters 3241 Westerville Road Columbus, OH 43224,,,

Nikon Inc. 1300 Walt Whitman Road Melville, NY 11747-3064

IBM Corporation 1 New Orchard Road Armonk, New York 10504-1722 United States 914-499-1900

Hewlett-Packard Company3000 Hanover St. Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA (650) 857-1501

K-Swiss 31248 Oak Crest Dr. Westlake Village, CA 91361,,,

Michelin Tire 2 Patewood Dr. Greenville, SC 29615 (864) 234-5000 &

The Progressive Insurance Corporation 6300 Wilson Mills Road Mayfield Village, Ohio 44143,,,

Lincoln Mercury World Headquarters 1 Glen Bell Way Irvine, CA 92618-3344 949-341-7500,,,

Miller Brewing Headquarters 3939 W Highland Blvd Milwaukee, WI 53208 414-931-2700,,,

Ando Media One Adams Place Quincy, Massachusetts 02169 847-801-2636

Pacific Life Insurance 700 Newport Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660(800) 800-7646,,,

HSBC GPO Box 64,Hong Kong,1 Queen's Road Central,Hong Kong SAR, ChinaTelephone: +852 2822 1111 Fax:+852 2810 1112,,,

Dove Headquarters 1819 Range WayFlorence, SC 29502 Customer Service and Tech Support: (800)968-6925

Research In Motion295 Phillip Street Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3W8 tel: (519) 888-7465,,,

Research In Motion122 West John Carpenter FreewaySuite 430 Irving, Texas 75038 tel: (877) 255-2377,,,

BridgeStone Tire Highland Ridge Tower at 535 Marriott Drive: CEO, President John Lampe,,,

Scottrade Corporate Headquarters PO Box 31759 Saint Louis, MO 63131314-965-1555

Joseph A Bank Clothiers Corporate Office Headquarters500 Hanover Pike Hampstead, MD 21074 (410)239-2700 ,,,

Sony Corporation of America Corporate Office Headquarters550 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10022 (212)833-6800 ,,,

Supercuts Corporate Office Headquarters7201 Metro Blvd. Edina, MN 55439 (952)947-7777

T Rowe Price Group, Inc Corporate Office Headquarters 100 E. Pratt St. Baltimore, MD 21202 (410)345-2000

General Motors Corporate Office Headquarters300 Renaissance Center Detroit, MI 48265 (313)556-5000 ,,,

Capital One Financial Corporation Corporate Office  Headquarters1680 Capital One Dr. McLean, VA 22102 (703)720-1000 ,,,

The Gatorade Company Corporate Office  Headquarters555 W. Monroe St. Chicago, IL 60661(312)821-1000

Subway Corporate Office  Headquarters 325 Bic Drive Milford, CT 06460 (203)877-4281 ,,,

Ford Motor Company Corporate Office  Headquarters1 American Rd. Dearborn, MI 48126 (313)322-3000 ,,,

Geico Corporate Office Headquarters 5260 Western Ave. Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (301)986-3000

The Walt Disney Company Corporate Office Headquarters 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521 (818)560-1000 Hershey Company Corporate Office Headquarters 100 Crystal A Dr. Hershey, PA 17003 (717)534-4200

Discover PO BOX 30943 Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0943

Discover Card Financial Services Corporate Office Headquarters PO Box 17019 Wilmington, DE 19850 (302)328-3300 Chi-fil-a 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, GA 30349 (404) 765-8000

Home Depot 2455 Paces Ferry Road Southeast Atlanta, GA 30339 1-800-654-0688.

CALL & WRITE YOUR LETTERS TO THESE SPONSORS OF ESPN BUCKEYE NATION!!!

So in case you haven't heard ESPN has turned up the witch-hunt-o-meter to 11.  Yes, THE FOUR LETTER is suing Ohio State.  Stop the Presses!!! Here is a tidbit from their complaint filed in the Ohio State Supreme Court on July 11th...."In short, when times are good, Ohio State lets the world know.  When times are bad, however, not so much."  All I can say is SERIOUSLY that's legalese?

Word is that ESPN has had reporters in Columbus for months now turning over every stone, buckeye leaf, tattoo needle, former player, and former roommate of a former player's girlfriend in order to get more scoop on any shenanigans at Ohio State.  They ran with a story from a self described "ex-friend" of Terrelle Pryor's claiming that Pryor had sold his John Hancock for several thousands of dollars.  The number they used was seemingly pulled out of thin air by using some sort of abacus that only ESPN's math department knows exists.  That story gained as much traction as FDR on a bender trying to do ballet on a slip-n-slide covered in Astroglide.

So what does ESPN do? Well they invested all this time in finding scoop and keep coming up empty.  Of course they decided to go George Dorhmann on us.  By that I mean they are grasping at straws and appear to be extremely desperate. I mean that worked out well for Dohrmann  The guy who spent months in Columbus investigating Ohio State came up with a story about a raffle at a football camp in 1985 and then decided to smear the names of 9 student athletes based on the ramblings of an anonymous ex-con.  Solid......NOT.

ESPN thinks that they are entitled to the email communications between Jim Tressel and Ted Sarniak.  Ohio State has refused to release them because of FERPA rules that protect the behavior and or academic standing of student athletes.  The focus of these emails was in fact a student athlete.  Tressel was discussing Terrelle Pryor's involvement in the tat-for-memorabilia scandal with a man who has been described as Pryor's mentor.

Certainly the NCAA has seen these emails, and certainly they saw them prior to issuing a notice of allegations that focused on Jim Tressel alone.  The notice of allegations didn't focus on Doug Archie (the head of OSU's compliance dept), or E. Gordon Gee or Gene Smith, or anyone else in the Ohio State administration.  It focused on Tressel being the lone ranger who covered up the rules violations by his players.

This situation reminds me of a 5-year-old who is told that he can't have a new Transformer toy but doesn't like being told no.  So he throws a tantrum until he gets his way because he thinks it will work.  ESPN is the tantrum throwing 5-year-old here in case you missed that.  All they can hope to gain is more information to smear Jim Tressel's name and image.  The man has been fired and embarrassed enough hasn't he?  He isn't protecting state secrets from the CIA.  The university is citing an often used protective measure that is designed to protect students.  Perhaps the university is over-using FERPA.  However, I really fail to see why ESPN would care so deeply in this case.  What's done is done and Jim Tressel is unemployed.  Grow the heck up and move on ESPN.

Best case scenario.  Ohio State wins the lawsuit, decides to release the emails anyhow and they are primarily focused on Tressel and Sarniak sharing recipes for shish kabobs or icanhascheezburger pics.

After reading the post about ESPN's lawsuit against Ohio State, I started mulling over creative ways ESPN would be impacted by Ohio State fans being pissed off.  I read the comments after the post and have to say, simply avoiding ESPN is not the answer.  Maybe the ratings take a small blip one day, but overall they won't feel the impact at all.  Let's face it, we're pretty much all going to watch a game that is broadcast on ABC or any of ESPN's family of networks.  The way to hit ESPN where it hurts is the same way you hit anyone where it hurts, threaten their revenue. 

Ratings are important to any network to be sure, however they make their money off of advertising.  Find sponsors for certain ESPN shows and game coverage and write to them.  Tell them you will not buy any of their products as long as they continue to support ESPN and detail why.  The fan base of Ohio State is large enough that if people take this kind of action, as crack pot and hair brained as it may seem, the sponsors will have to lean on ESPN.  You can write the local ESPN radio affiliate too.  You can write the local ABC affilliate and your local cable provider. 

You don't think this can work?  Let me tell you, it will.  I used to love a show called Ed, which was on NBC.  It was on for 3 seasons and NBC basically said they were pulling the plug.  Well, there was a blog about the show, and a girl on there basically outlined this same strategy. She said everyone take the time to write a couple of letters, one to your local affiliate and one to a sponsor. Tell them how you love the show, and you tune in to their network or buy their product because you've seen on the show and you, and that if the show is gone you won't support them any longer.  It sounded really stupid to me, but the show got a 4th season. 

Buckeye fans are all over the USA and in many large markets.  There's a significant enough population that if even a fraction take this kind of action ESPN will feel some pressure.  Combine this with everyone tuning out one day and Ohio State fans can actually make ESPN feel it.  You may have to do a little homework to figure out who to send the letters too, but if enough people did this, it wouldn't just be dismissed I can guarrenttee it.