Tressels, Fickells and Urbans,
Personally, I needed time. I'm glad we had a bye week to find our way again. I decided to pull back out handwritten letter and revisit lessons learned last year.
Just like last season, we experienced another game of unwatchable fourth quarter football. Unfortunately, Purdue 2018 was a replay of Iowa 2017. However, it gave me a chance to revisit valuable lessons learned on two fronts.
The first - it provided a chance to draw upon a hard-earned teaching moment for my now third grade son, Jake, who is an extremely knowledgeable and passionate Ohio State football fan. This year, I could tell Jake learned about dealing with disappointment from Iowa 2017. Again, he's not the type of kid to cry...he's kind of a tough kiddo, typically. But last season, once Iowa scored at the very start of the fourth quarter to go up by 28 points, the tears started flowing...and we stopped watching the game altogether. I can't say he didn't cry a little bit for Purdue 2018, but he pulled it together pretty quickly and we watched until the end this time. He already understood that sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to...sometimes tough things happen that are hard to explain...and sometimes things just go sideways when you don't expect it. Jake knew it was OK to be disappointed.
The second lesson I revisited with Purdue 2018 -- I confirmed I'm still not inherently a masochist - it's very unnatural for me to root for a team that appears uninterested in competing, plays uninspired, looks listless and makes my child cry.
...but after pulling out the letter Jake received last year just days after the Iowa loss, I know I'll reconsider for Ohio State football. It was just the reminder I needed.
The letter was from Jake's Great Uncle Rick on Shannon's side of the family...it was neatly handwritten on yellow legal pad paper, cut in half and fold over once. Rick is not on social media or mobile device text chains, so news of Jake's disappointment after the Iowa loss last season reached him the old-fashioned way - actual human connection. The letter read:
"Dear Jake,
I recently learned that you were upset over the Buckeye's loss to Iowa. Well, I can tell you, so was I! Buckeye fans don't lose a game like that very often.
I know we have two very tough games coming up with Michigan State and Michigan. Whoever wins will have a chance to win the Big 10 championship. All we can do is cheer like crazy for the Buckeyes to win! Go Bucks! Love, Uncle Rick"
...and, that's exactly what we are going to do.
Touchdowns: Dobbins, Dixon, Weber, Campbell
OSU 31 Nebraska 17
Go Bucks! Beat Nebraska! BB Landers for Heisman!
Large Father
