Eleven Warriors

I don't have any problem with Ohio State coaches not being honored in this way very often.  The other B1G coaches see Ohio State as always being the biggest school with the most money, the best facilities, and the best recruiting footprint in the whole region.  Ohio State recruits itself, and they probably don't see it as a very big challenge for anyone of mediocre competence to win big at Ohio State.  In fact, I bet most of the coaches took a look at Tressel's teams over the years with a certain jealous disdain, because they would often win games on talent alone, as opposed to effort or gameplan (coughwalrusball).  He may have gotten the shaft in 2002, but it could be argued that those teams went into several games not prepared to play, and still won (partly because they were admittedly talented and partly because of a little luck).  One way to interpret Tressel's use of his own top talent was to put them in positions to do the minimum and still win.  Does that make a great coach?  I bet guys like Danny Hope or Glen Mason or Bret Bielema would spend some time as Jabba the Hutt's slave girl just to sniff the talent of those Ohio State teams.

So, yes, Urban Meyer deserved coach-of-the-year honors from his peers in the conference over Bill O'Brien.  It was a masterful navigation of a season with a team full of young talent that he didn't recruit and disenfranchised veterans that he needed to inspire to play big boy football for once in their lives.  And what happened?  Ohio State is 12-0, and just starting to rock 'n roll underneath him.  They're about to make a killing in merchandise sales this Christmas.  At this point, one could suggest that Urban Meyer could probably go pick out some funeral plots for he and his wife in Columbus because no one is expecting him to go anywhere any time soon.

Life is good in Buckeye nation.  Don't need the validation from the rest of the slackjawed B1G coaches that Urban Meyer is one of the greatest coaches of the past decade and made them all look silly on Saturdays in 2012.  But he'll never get that anyway.  He isn't here to make friends.  He's here to lay waste to everyone who dares challenge him. 

If he's anything like us (and he is), I bet he watched Wisconsin players chomping on roses after that game and wanted to hurl the Leaders trophy through the f'ing wall.  If the thought of Wisconsin once again representing the B1G in Pasadena for the third year in a row doesn't turn your knuckles white, then just give up.  Give up now, the door's over there, and have a nice life.  Meyer's validation will likely be garnished in rose petals or crystal footballs.  That's how we should see it, too, probably.

Jeez, could Bo Pelini be more of a debbie downer when it comes to coaching in the Big Ten or his homecoming to Columbus this weekend?  Pelini was a starting free safety for a number of years at Ohio State, as many of us know, and was a captain his senior year.  Yet, pretty much from the get-go, it has seemed that Bo Pelini doesn't really give a flying cornhusker that he's now coaching a storied program against the conference he used to beat up each week when he was in college.  His demeanor seems very stand-offish, and his words seem to indicate that Ohio State has absolutely zero special meaning to him.

That was the Nebraska coach's message Monday when he was asked if taking his No. 21 Huskers (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) into the "Horseshoe" to play the 12th-ranked Buckeyes (5-0, 1-0) made him feel nostalgic.

"Why would it?" he said.

Why would it?  Oh, I don't know, Bo.  Maybe the fact that you were a captain?  At Ohio State?

"I'm at a different time in my life, a different place," he said. "I mean, I have a job to do. That's all I'm concerned with."

Ooookay.  So are you some sort of robot?  Was college that awful for you?  Do you hold some sort of animosity towards Ohio State for how Earle got canned, or maybe you had some friction with John Cooper?  I mean, Chris Spielman was there at the same time, and he doesn't feel that way.  Hell, Earle was the one who was shat on, and he's still hanging around practice!

"I do have pride in where I went to school and my career there," Pelini said. "That has nothing to do with Saturday. It doesn't really make any difference what happened back in '86 to '90. That's a different time in my life."

Sheesh.  Way to go out of your way to passive-aggressively dissociate from Ohio State.  I mean, I get it.  You're trying to fire up your team, trying to look at your opponent as the enemy that you must crush to win your conference...that's all well and good, and I guess I can laud you for it.  But, c'mon, man.  I guess I just find it a little odd that he'd be so cold-blooded about it.  Absolutely no acknowledgement that this would be an extra special win to stick it to his alma mater, or have excitement about returning to the Horseshoe.

Pelini said he didn't know when he last was in the "Horseshoe."

"A long, long time ago," he said.

Really, Bo?  You don't remember the last time you set foot in the Horseshoe?  I find that very hard to believe unless you're some sort of Cromagdon, half-braindead fool.  Or maybe a bitter old coot.  

Or maybe it really isn't that special for him.

Which is a bummer.  Because it's sort of a big deal to be coaching anywhere.  Let alone being serendipitously dropped into the B1G and into Ohio Stadium...something that 3 years ago would not have crossed anyone's mind.

Oh well.  I guess it'll be extra non-special for him when he gets his doors blown off by B-rax and Company.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8451944/nebraska-cornhusk...

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/daugherty/2012/03/23/the-mourning-line-323/

Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati Enquirer, was catching a lot of flack here on 11W this morning for that piece he posted.  However, he also wrote this where he gives a lot of credit to how OSU played point by point.

At the end of the day, it was a lot of fun discussing Cincinnati culture, issues, and sports with many of you this week.  I know there are vast differences of opinions out there, but that's okay.  Congratulations to the Bucks, they played great and have way more NBA talent than the Bearcats do at this stage.  However, it was a far more entertaining game than the last time UC and OSU took to the court.  I hope that the next time the two schools play basketball it won't be when I'll have to miss Wednesday bingo or shuffleboard to catch it.

College Football News this morning has about 3 or 4 articles reminiscing about just how f'ing awesome the Miami Hurricanes football program was over the last 30 years.  My question is, WTF?!  Did Ohio State get the red carpet treatment for its transgression??  No.  Did they get the sympathy from the guys at CFN?  No.  I don't understand the college football world at all anymore.  Ohio State is one of the most historically clean, most historically relevant, most successful programs of all time.  It seems that the more serious the crime, the more everyone looks the other way.  It is making me, let me choose my words carefully, EXTREMELY P*SSED OFF.  I know it's just college football, but the chip on this fan's shoulder is about 40 pounds large and growing.

F-the-world.

This is garbage.

cfn.scout.com

I have a story for this week.  I'm in grad school on the west coast, and took a class last Spring on drug development.  We had a guest speaker who is a venture capitalist and is the head of a local company that funds start-up biotech.  Neat guy, but led his presentation with the fact that he went to Penn State and is a huge Penn State supporter, and has season tickets to all the games, and flies back for all of them.  At one point during the talk he posed this question to the class:

"Who's the most powerful man on the planet?"

There was a pause as people tried to come up with an answer.

Since no one said anything right away, and armed with a block-O hat that day, I raised my hand:

"Jim Tressel, head coach, Ohio State."  The class erupts in laughter, and the guy tried to save face by saying JoePa was.

Never graduate, baby!  GO BUCKEYES!  Send those puddy tats back to the hills!

P.S., I was ultimately invited to check out their facility, and the guy has a full-sized Penn State helmet signed by Joe Paterno in his office.

Alright, it must be that time of year where the weather turns sour, daylight starts to wane, and I turn into a major grouch, because I'm about to get into some of the headache-inducing, blackboard-scratching, O'Donnel-style assanine phrases that continually spring up during sports analysis in the WWL.  Okay, I'll admit, ESPN has generally p*ssed me off lately with their constant questioning of Ohio State's legitimacy atop the rankings, their Boston/LA/Dallas-only website lauches, Mark May/Reece Davis, sweeping the Favre genetalia photo situation under the rug, how they handled The Decision, and how they were 100% spot on with predicting the NLDS outcome (sigh for my Reds).

But there are a few things that come up in pretty much every sporting discussion that have me teetering on whether or not I should renew my cable package to include any sports networks at all or just jump off a bridge and end it.  Cliches and worthlessness abound...Here they are, and call me crazy if you wish:

1) Something to the effect of: "If you look at [insert athlete name, team, side of the ball, etc.]..."

What does this mean?  You know you've heard it.  John Gruden says it pretty much every other sentence during MNF.  "When you look at LaDanian Tomlinson/'this guy,' there's a true running back, ain't going down, running hard, just a great football player."  Or, "If you look at Ohio State's defense, they are close to tops in the nation in takeaways...."  What does this stupid phrase mean?  Of course we're looking at them, or, well, we're discussing them.  Technically, or literally, we're not looking at them if Todd McShay is just describing what they do with his words.  I hate it.  It's nonsensical and unnecessary.  "If you look at so-and-so, you'll see that..." is alright, but still awful.  And now, it is going to annoy you.

2) The word "command" when describing anything.

This is most commonly used when we're talking about what a pitcher does on the mound, or more recently what Brad Childress used in describing what Brett Favre doesn't have.  "Roy Halladay had great command."  I understand what these former jocks/nerdy analysts are trying to do - they're trying to sound like they're smart.  I guess it sounds stronger than "control," but not really.  But is it necessary? No one ever says, "he had great command of his tackling."  No one says, "he had great command of his jump shot."  I think it actually has started to creep into golf (command of his wedges, for example) and it must be stopped at all costs.

3) "It will be interesting to see..."

Oh my God, the mother of all redundant and unnecessary phrases in the world of sports.  "It's going to be really interesting to see how this defense matches up with this offense."  "I'm interested to see how Terrelle Pryor throws the ball."  "It will be very interesting to watch Roy Halladay pitch against Tim Lincecum."  No!  You're EXCITED to see what happens, not "interested."  "Interest" is already implied in the very fact that we're talking about it.  If you didn't have an interest in the sport, athlete, or team you are discussing, then you wouldn't have a job discussing sports.  And if I didn't have an interest, I wouldn't have turned the channel long ago.  I absolutly abhor this phrase.

Alright...that's my rant for today.  I hope it finds all of you in good spirits, because you'll probably hear each of these phrases every 3.333-repeating, of course, seconds when you turn on SportsCenter or College Gameday in the morning.

GO BUCKEYES!!! IF YOU LOOK AT TERRELLE PRYOR, I'M INTERESTED TO WATCH HIS COMMAND BEAT WISCONSIN!!!!  WOO-HOO!!! O-H!

Immediately after today's game, John Saunders said something to the effect of, "Ohio State did not look like the #2 team in the nation today."  This is the same man who not 5 seconds after the clock hit 0:00 on the 50 yard line in the Rose Bowl asked Jim Tressel if this 2010 team would be taking aim a little higher than the Rose Bowl.  Today's game featured a 31-0 halftime lead, with a final 334 yards passing from a much-maligned Terrelle Pryor, and another 2 takeaways for this defense.  Yet, they don't look like #2.

Alabama fans boo louder when they mention Ohio State during College GameDay (by Home Depot) than they do when they mention Florida or Tennessee.

Mark May.

Here's the reality.  Jim Tressel became the 3rd fastest coach in Big Ten history to hit 100 wins.  He has won 4 BCS games, including a national championship, and a Rose Bowl as an underdog.  He has an unprecedented record against Michigan and 6 Big Ten titles.  His team this year is 6-0, with a win over a good (despite tonight's performance against FSU) Miami team.  His athletes are of good character, and are in the top-10 of the NCAA's APR.

Consider this an open forum to vent as to why the national media from ESPN on down does not want to see the 3rd most successful program of the decade anywhere near the national championship game.  Is it the 2006/2007 national title games...still?  Is it the Big Ten's defection from ESPN to their own network?  Is it the insanely high camera angles in Ohio Stadium that make everyone look like they are tiny ants running really slowly?

It's getting hard to follow college football when it's this drastically biased.

A lot's been made of Buckeye Special Teams through the first 3 games.  Despite the risk of coming off as condescending, I think Buckeye fans are too spoiled for their own good, and would bitch about the sky being blue if it were sunny and 60 degrees during a 70-0 route of Michigan in late November.

So, let's try some objectivity, shall we?

First game - Marshall.  In the same game where Marshall blocked a FG, and took it for a TD, the Ohio State kick-off coverage unit forced a fumble on the very first play of the season, which set up an early red zone TD (anyone forget that already).  FG's being blocked from long range is one thing, having the ball bounce a certain way off the block that leads to a TD is just bad luck - barely ever happens to anyone.

Second game - Miami.  Miami is Miami, and they have immense speed.  Maybe their returners are just that good.  Yes, it kept the game close.  Despite the Hurricanes' ridiculously fast and furious offense, stout defensive line, and cellophane pass coverage, Ohio State pretty much had their way with them on both sides of the ball (offense and defense).  Where the coverage unit gave up 14 points on 2 returns, the Buckeye kicking game got 15 points back on field goals.  So, from that perspective the special teams ultimately broke even and kept the game out of reach.

Third game - Ohio.  Wow, people's reactions to this one has me shocked the most.  Pointing to a kickoff return that was called back for a penalty is beyond reactionary - it's stupid.  It wasn't a kick return...it was called back.  That means it didn't happen.

So, since the bad things aren't really all that bad, let's talk about the good things that have been FANTASTIC:

Devin Barclay - 8 for 9 on the year in FG's, 14 for 14 on XP's.

Jamaal Berry - 5 returns for 140 yards, avg. 28 yards/return, incl. a 45 yd return.

Jordan Hall - 3 kick returns for 85 yards, including a 47 yd return.

Ben Buchanan - 12 punts, 49yd average.

Special teams also includes our own returns, FGs, and punts, guys.  In fact, this returning tandem is better than anything we've seen since Ginn-Holmes, the punts are covering half the field, and Barclay's accuracy is more Nugent-like than, well, say any other non-descript kicker that didn't win us a national title or a game over Iowa to secure a trip to Pasadena.

Kick coverage is one of the most fixable parts of the game.  With an offense that bringing in over 30 points into half time, and a defense that's ripping people off worse than that-other-guy-who's-not-Billy-Mays, the return woes are simply not a threat to cost Ohio State any games that they deserved to win in the first place.  The strongest team on the schedule - Miami - already proved that.  In this fan's opinion, the "special team problems" are inordinately overblown all things considered.

The Jim Tressel Cocktail:

2 oz Dry Gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
SHAKE with ice
...POUR all into a glass
Add Grenedine (sinks to bottom)
Fill with Club Soda
Add one marachino cherry.
 

Doesn't quite come across in the picture here, but the drink looks scarlet on bottom, gray on top, it's delicious, mix it with your finger if you like.  I made it for some friends and it was a BIG hit.  If you don't like gin (like my wife), the vodka version works just as well!  Haven't tried it with white rum, but hell, give it a go!
(Aka. New York Style Tom Collins, something a guy in a sweater vest might order...but who gives a shit 45-7!)