I haven't really posted anything of significance since the end of the regular 2014 football season. Being a life-time resident of NW Ohio, (born and raised in the Defiance area, '72 graduate of Tinora HS), I have been a Buckeye fan since I can remember. More so the past 20? years since Modell took the Browns to Baltimore; the NFL just doesn't carry "that" importance factor with me like it used to. I believe I stated in one of my earlier posts to 11W that I had to draw the line, even with my beloved Buckeyes!, back around 1997...1998?, when MSU came into the 'Shoe and beat us on Homecoming when we were ranked in the top 5... I was absolutely devastated...demoralized to the point that on the following Wednesday, I was still having trouble believing we got beat. My digestive tract was so screwed up I ended up getting 'roids trying to drop a deuce...it was pathetic. So I had a "come-to-Jesus" moment with myself, and realized life will go on, regardless of what happens every Saturday, during the fall, in Columbus or other associated stadiums in the Big 10 area.
The NC game of 2002 was one of pure delight and enjoyment. To shut up the doubters and critics was a year-long period of contentment. On the flip side, the 2006 and 2007 NC affairs were a severe kick-in-the-gut, that self-induced feeling that we are no longer relevant on the national stage, that this game has passed us by, and that maybe I am going to have to be content with an occasional bowl victory to go with our current domination of TTUN. Would this suffice ? Could I live with this, year after year ? O-K, I guess, to a point...Beating the Maize and Blew Chunks is always special, always will be. And knocking off an Arkansas and Oregon in Sugar and Rose Bowls capped a couple of good years. But...still...there is something missing...sort of like the seven-course meal, and not getting that slice of Chocolate Decadence to wash it all down...or drinking a bottle of tequila all night long, then passing out before you have the opportunity to drain the agave worm...
This football season started off in a very negative sense with Brax going down. My 25-year old comments to me, "Well, there goes the season, Dad." No, Son, we need to see what JT can do. I repeated to him ALL the things I have read and heard about this kid from Texas, and told him to stay positive. Navy was tough, I knew they would be. Then the Saturday night of September 6th, and maybe the Son's projection would be correct....why couldn't our offense adjust to what VT was doing to us defensively ? Where is Carlos' replacement ? Come ON, Warriner, this is what we got ? This is what you COACH ? Holy shit !! By the 3rd quarter (or was it the 4th?), I knew it was not our night when we scored to tie it, then let them drive down the field and go ahead...I recall hating the thought of what the sports analysts and critics were going to say once this was all said and done...and yet, I drew a tiny smidgeon of hope from the fact that it was only the 2nd game, and who knows, maybe these kids will get better as the schedule plays on....being who I am, I prayed about it... about all I could do at that moment...
Sorry Kent State, somebody had to pay, you just happened to be the next opponent. The three Kiel bombs had my sphincters puckering two weeks later, but the way we flew around that field, I knew we were heading in the right direction. Hi Maryland, Hello Rutgers, welcome to B1G football...Happy Valley was a 3-hour journey of extreme ecstasy and now-its-time-to-grow-some-cahone's...Thanks, JT, Thanks, Joey...Someday, you'll be a force, oh Fighting Illini, but it won't this first day of November in our state capital....MSU in East Lansing...our biggest game of the year, that was all I was reading, that's what all the people-in-the-know were saying. Around Wednesday of that week, I read somewhere on 11W that coming out of the normal meeting or workout, UFM had a slight smile...kind of like a cat-eating-shit grin...and I recall thinking, Wow, he's smiling ? What does he know that I'm not aware of ? And then for some mysterious reason, I began to feel a strange sense of calm regarding this game. Gone were those nervous insects that invade my mid-section once a week in the fall of the year, and I even went one step further and, as usual, watched the game all by myself, but actually broke one of my superstitions, and actually sat in the recliner for the first time all year...I wanted to be comfortable for a change, instead of throwing my back out on that piece-of-shit, fake leather couch...and besides, I had this confidence that before this night was out, MSU was going to know they were in for a slugfest, and I would live with the consequences...Thanks, Coaches, and Team...what a statement you gave that night...#63, good to see you back... wide receivers, Wow...O-Line, Double Wow...
On to Minnetonka....I have always loved games played in the snow...Jalin, your 4- scores more than made up for Minnetonka when you personally filleted the Hoosiers. The Game...why do these guys play us like it was 2006 at the Shoe ? When will I be able to relax ? I assumed it would be over by halftime....Shit...DammitToHell...ouch, JT...now what ? Thanks Zeke, way to go Forty-Three. Finally. This is what we wanted, the B1G championship.
Urban said # 12 is ready, if you say so, Coach...what a stomping !! Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine this. I have always loved Devin's potential, and what a time to display all of it ! Melvin, 4 days after this utter ass-whipping, you said you wished you could have a do-over? Really ? So you could show your All American talents with 61 yards in 30 carries ? What would you do different this time ? I see nothing but the same results....Oh Man, the discussions and verbiage after this game....LoveItLoveIt LoveIt...Twelve hours later, we're in...Alabama ? I wouldn't want anybody else...ESPN pooled, like 38 writers, and only one, ONE, picked us to win it ? If I was a betting man, I should put my life $avings on my team, but I'm not...not a soul I spoke with thinks we'll have a chance, no one...especially my co-worker, who thinks the SEC is the premier conference in America, even if he is a TTUN fan..."in fact, Mike, I can see a blow out loss for tOSU"...hmmm....it is hard to explain to people about this team, IF they haven't watched practically every single play the whole year... I know how good they are...Buckeye fans have saw the tremendous developments of every facet of their game...I think we'll give the Tide a good game...the coaches feel they're ready...I can't see HOW we fall apart after the progress made in the past 3-4 months...
New Year's Day....again, I'm alone to watch this...in the recliner...21-6, 'Bama....Boys, it is time to score a red-zone TD AGAINST them...Thanks...there is some serious hitting going on out there...and we don't back away one iota...Spencer, I'm a serious heterosexual male, but I would live to plant a kiss on your cheek right NOW !...and M.Thomas, I'm thinking the redshirt year helped you more than you'll ever know...their punter...is that the best punting performance I have ever witnessed in 50 years ? Kid, get a grip, you're 19 years old !! Devin, I hope this one is another good omen...Miller, I believe your dream just came true on the biggest stage of your career....Hey Reggie Ragland, 3rd quarter, you just tackled Zeke on about a 3-yard gain, and you're kneeling on the field with three Tide people kneeling with you...the one pulls your mouthpiece out...your eyes, Reggie, there is something wrong with them...Oh, I get it now, you are NOT in N'awlins, are you ? Hello ? anybody in there ? What a !@#$%& slobberknocker this game is...Zeke, you and those Slobs....Son of a bitch, you guys didn't care if they substituted 4 guys every play, you did your jobs and opened holes and showed WHO had the !@#$%&* stamina to play 60 minutes and kick SEC ass...the monkey has slid off the back, the rabbit's dead, the anvil has been buried...and I had this feeling....just had this feeling because I've watched you guys grow all year long...Blackledge and Nesser even agree...the dream continues, yes it does....
Surprise, Oregon favored by a TD...figures...O-K by me, we thrive in the underdog status. Beating 'Bama was so huge, one of the best victories I can ever remember, but I hate the thought of being able to conquer that demon, and then to not be able to finish The Chase...it would be an empty feeling. Again, not a soul I speak with gives us a chance...I hear we're going to give up over 600 yards and close to 50 on the scoreboard...hmmm....I don't know, got "that" MSU feeling again...quietly confident... but also well aware that MM could stitch us up, although, as the week progresses, I get more and more confident. My silly superstitions just won't allow me to be vocal about it...and that's O-K. Every time I've ever bragged about something, I always get bit HARD right on the nutsack...no use pushing the envelope...You did WHAT, dearest Wife, who doesn't have a clue about college football and actually said she is rooting for 'Bama because the young couple in our Bible group is from Talladega ? You invited TTUN rooting, son-in-law and daughter and grandbaby, Maizy Bleu, to watch the game WITH ME ? We're done-kaput-close the barn door....Honey, do you have any idea the superstitions I possess ? Do you realize that you have just pushed me into a no-fly zone ? I am NOW beyond the karma thing...I don't have any "markers" to call in...this is bad news, Honey, REAL BAD ! So she replies, Oh Mike, you and your superstitions, they're silly....stupid, even. You know superstitions are the work of the devil don't you ? You know that, don't you ?.....Oh...well, that's another topic for a different forum, but in the meantime, my ego and confidence have been dealt a serious blow to the head with a two by four....nothing else to do by gametime, but say a prayer (I did...knowing that my Pastor is a huge Bucks fan, and...well, not much else to add here coz' Pastor Lee has an "inside track", if you catch my drift...) and OU goes right down the field, assumed that would happen. But then the D starts playing well, and forcing them into 3rd and longs, and denying them 1st downs, and Shotgun and Zeke and the Slobs continue what they've been accomplishing for the past month, and this un-believable dream of a season begins to look like what I have been hoping for since January of 2003...and we start to absolutely dominate both lines of scrimmage, and we don't let up until the final second ticks off...superstitions be damned, we are the College Football National Champions, and the pride I felt (and still feel, and will always FEEL !!) for the Buckeyes and, especially this team and set of coaches, is beyond belief. This has been an extraordinary year in so many ways. Lots of changes at work, a new computer system that drives our daily business, a couple of employees who left us, seven weddings, a family member who finally revealed a two-year addiction to pain killers, and who threatened to do the absolute worst thing in the eyes of remaining family members, before finally seeking help, the loss of a cousin, an aunt, and a ex-brother-in-law, who was a Vietnam vet who bravely fought three battles in his life; the trauma of that war and what it did to him, alcoholism, and the third, Agent Orange, which finally killed him, a person in a supervisory position who questioned my integrity as a person and a valuable employee, and made me realize, that Yes, the days of loyalty and gold wrist watches are long gone, no matter if you have given 28+ years of dedicated work to this business... the fact that this team, coached by an Ohio boy, believed in what they were teaching and being taught, and fulfilled the ultimate dream and why you play this game; to say you are The Best In The Land. To the Buckeyes, I say Thanks, Thanks for letting me get away from the day-to-day bullshit that clouded many of my days. I also want to thank 11W, for the countless articles and dedication involved in putting forth daily and relevant topics that appeal to the thousands of OSU fans, like me. The personalities of the people who read and comment on this site, are truly a slice of Americana, and I am grateful to be associated with it.
Like I told my son soon after the NCG, Enjoy it Luke. I've been on Mother Earth for 60 years, and this is the 3rd Championship I've been a part of. One never gets tired of it, but you also have to realize how hard it is to accomplish. But Man, I am going to enjoy this one.....
I hope this doesn't come across as maudlin, that is not my intent. I only wanted to share what this season meant to me. Thanks...
