First off, I have been a Buckeye my entire life. My earliest memories with my dad were watching players like Katzenmoyer, George, Boston, and Germaine. Every Saturday before Thanksgiving, we would make the trip from our home north of Cincinnati to northern Michigan to be with my mom's family. Worse than the 8 hour drive was the constant failure in the 90's to beat Michigan. Still, Ohio State remained focused on being a top-tier program and eventually replaced Cooper largely for that one deficiency, and replaced him with the best Wolverine-beater this school has ever seen.
That brings me to an article I came across today. While a die-hard Buckeye, I have always followed Purdue closely as well. Some of my friends growing up were serious fans, and I always respected their program. Unfortunately, my first time at Ross-Ade Stadium was for the Ohio State game in 2009. It amazed me how downtrodden their fans were before the game, basically having given up before the game even started. Of course we all know how the game ended up, but the memories of the outlook of their fans has always stuck with me. Outside of Ohio State basketball pre-Matta (excluding Scoonie and Redd years), I have never come close to feeling anything like how they have been feeling for years now. A writer talked about their futility and the outlook from their President and AD. In the article, he provided the form letter sent to fans and boosters defending their futility. It outlines the "success" that they have been having in the 3 areas demanded by the Trustees of the school. None of the 3 areas even touched on being a winning program. As a Buckeye, I cannot fathom being a loyal supporter of a school where winning does not even come into play as one of the three core tenets of a program, and it really made me reflect how lucky we are, coached by Urban Meyer into the first College Football Playoff behind now a third-string quarterback.
I linked the article, which I highly suggest reading in its entirety.
