Thank You Coach

Memorial Day is supposed to be a time when we give thanks to and remember those who have served our country.  It is a weekend of relaxing, forgetting about the everyday grind and the biggest decision on anyone’s mind should be between burger or brat.  For me it was going to be a day where I caught up on some unfinished blogs and finally gave my own personal opinion summary of the all the allegations facing Ohio State and what the future might hold for the program.  I had been really busy with work the past few months and it seemed like something new was coming out every few days which added a new dimension to the matter.  I had almost finished it up yesterday and planned on wrapping it up and posting it today when the proverbial bomb was dropped on me at 6:30 AM PST by an email from a friend.  So instead of having to guess what the future of the Vest might be I am typing a sentence that no Buckeye fan ever wanted to type.  After ten years the head football coach at the Ohio State University is no longer Jim Tressel.  His letter of resignation was received and accepted by Gene Smith today citing doing what is best for the university and not wanting to be a further distraction to the team.

Even though it doesn’t come as a complete surprise – everyone knew that something like this was going to happen eventually.  Nonetheless – it wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Tressel had brought back the pride of program from day one with his famous “our young men will make you proud” moment at the basketball game.  When he took over the program had become too accustomed to seasons that started strong and faded late with disappointment against TSUN and often a shortcoming in bowl games.  Cooper delivered a single win against TSUN, one Rose Bowl title, and a Heisman trophy – not to say he didn’t have talented teams, recruit well and all that – but his tenure was one of frustration.  Tressel changed that – he awakened the sleeping giant of Buckeye tradition which had withered during Cooper, delivered a National Championship, a Rose Bowl Championship, Heisman trophy, two additional Fiesta Bowl wins, beat TSUN 9 out of 10 years and even vanquished the SEC monkey off our back this past year.  The stat lines of his career speak for themselves – 106-22 overall record,  a winning percentage of .828, which is better than Woody’s .761 and the second best of any Buckeye coach (Carroll Widdoes’ .889 only coached two seasons)   Along with the first NC since 1968 are seven Big Ten titles, 9-1 against arch rival Michigan, sending teams to bowl games each year of his tenure going 6-4 overall in the postseason, 5-3 in BCS games and three NC game appearances.   And that was just on the field.

Off the field he was just as amazing a man as he was a coach.  He embraced everything that was the Ohio State community.  He donated several thousands upon thousands to various causes including education and cancer research.  Was constantly visiting schools, hospitals, attending benefits and of course is well known for his appreciation of the US Armed Forces (giving them an open invitation to any practice).   Stories abound of Tressel and his players visiting those in need and pitching in.  Current and former players talk about how much of a mentor he is/was,  that he is a great maker of men, and that all these events will only make the team stronger.  Obviously he cares about his players, sometimes to a fault – in the end it was probably his care for his players that ended up being his undoing.    We were truly blessed to have Jim Tressel associated with the Ohio State University.

At the end of the day as tough as these past few months have been on the legacy of the Vest it will not tarnish it forever.   The comparisons to Woody are easily made, the irony that such a successful career as Buckeye head coach was incinerated with one instance of poor judgment.  But today Woody is remembered as a legend, and this will undeniably be the same case with Tressel.

Someday without a doubt Tressel’s name will hang in THE SHOE and he will dot tie I in script Ohio.  I am just glad that this time around I was able to live the making of the legend.

Now time to get back to honoring those in uniform who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we enjoy with the freedoms we have.

Coach Tressel would want it this way.

Party in the O-S-U. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

It has been a while since I have blogged anything which has felt weird and is funny considering the awesomeness level of the Buckeye hoops season.  I mean we had a 24 game undefeated streak, witnessed the domination of Sullinger and the emergence of Craft, Diebler is a three away from breaking the Big Ten all time record for career threes, Buford, Lighty and Lauderdale have all been having great years, even Thomas has shown up and contributed in between his off target bombs, and who can ignore the entertainment value of stuff like this, this and of course this.  This team is very well balanced in the seven players that actually play and look very much poised to make a run in the tournament.

Sure last weekend hurt with the collapse at the Kohl Center against Wisconsin to knock us out of the undefeated category and off the #1 ranking.  But seriously going undefeated was incredibly unlikely (Indiana was last to do it 30 years ago) especially considering that we would be coming up against teams like Wisconsin, on the road in an arena where they win 98% of the time.  Not an easy task and it took #11 Taylor turning into a flamethrower from being the arc to get them back in the game and a miracle three from the carrot top ginger dude to end it.  And we only lost by 4.  The worst thing about the entire process was all the video montage crap about being #1 in 1950 and Wisconsin knocking us off and in football being #1 until we came to Camp Randall.  Seriously spare me – let’s talk about that shotgun formation pass against TCU and how awesome that worked.  We will see them at the end of the season on March 6^th and in the Big Ten tourney.  You know Sully will be ready for them considering the fuel to the fire was added when Badger fans spit on him.  Stay classy Grateful Red.

It felt good to see them get back to the winning ways with a the victory over Sparty at home on Tuesday, but it was far from as dominating as a performance as we have sometimes enjoyed this season.  Granted Kalin Lucas definitely looked like he was back to form, the team played scrappy  and Izzo has figured out the roll Craft with Sullinger’s man creates some easy buckets play that we need to figure out defensively – so it was no gimme game to begin with.  But I can’t imagine any easier task awaits us as we head to West Lafayette to take on a Boilermaker team we completely embarrassed when they came to the Schott.  One of the coolest parts about college hoops (as well as football) is the distinctive advantage playing at home brings to a team.  So going to their house to play a team with payback on their mind will be more than a tough test.

I would love to give some in depth breakdown about how the matchups will play out but to be brutally honest hoops is not my game.  Outside of E’Twuan Moore and JaJuan Johnson I really can’t tell you who the talent is on Purdue but that doesn’t mean that the #11 team in the country only has two players that can ball.  For a point of reference other than Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer I really didn’t know anyone from Wisconsin – to be honest they all look like buzzcut clones anyway, except for carrot top that is.  I really only have so much time to devote to college hoops and at the end of the day it really is about tournament time anyway.

I will say this much – if the Buckeye can go on the road and take down Purdue it will for sure mean that they are still red hot heading into the final three weeks of the season and beyond.   I personally like the Buckeye’s this weekend – I don’t think Purdue has the number of bigs to bother Sullinger like the Badgers and Sparty did.   There is also the stepping up of Buford in the past two games with 44 points which has me somewhat giddy that the veteran scorer is getting hot at a time that couldn’t be better.

In the long run the only thing that is somewhat concerning is the lack of bench experience.  I have as much trouble debating Matta’s philosophy as I do debating Tressel’s play calling.  I may not like it at times but of the most part it works.  I did hear something the other night – I can remember where – but someone saying that the Buckeyes actually have more depth this year than last with Craft and Thomas getting regular minutes.  The insane thing to me is that the remaining four guys on the bench (Eddie Days, Lenzelle Smith Jr, J.D. Weatherspoon, and Jordan Siebert) combined have not played for as many minutes as any of the seven that play.  So past two deep on the bench are basically the best seats in the house to watch the game and a nice per diem check for road trips.  The important thing is that no matter what show you are watching and whichever alleged expert you are listening  to they are still talking about the Buckeyes when the speak of the top teams in the country.  Are we #1?  Who knows with #1 Kansas going down to Kansas State and #2 Texas falling today.  A win at #11 Purdue could go a long way to proving we belong there as much as anyone.

Heyward goes out the hero. Photo by Columbus Dispatch

Even though the hoops team is straight blowing up and one could really devote several blogs to them alone I still have to say that even after two weeks I still  can’t get enough talk, videos, write ups, replays and reminiscing about the Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas and vanquishing of the SEC curse.

This win was especially sweet.  Taking down an SEC team in New Orleans, after a week of being inundated with talk of Tat5 and the streak of 9 the Buckeyes pulled together and those five delivered in big ways on an instant classic victory over the Razorbacks 31-26.

In true Tresselball fashion it was a victory that was not pretty all the time and that included a variety of emotions which in my case came in the following order – uncertainty, anxiety, shock, elation, excitement, reality, concern, excitement, disbelief, and euphoria.  I started the day very unsure of how the team would play.  I knew we had the talent to win, but that it would take the very best game we had – and after the weeks of scrutiny, debate and judgment for the off the field stuff and the giant egg the other Big Ten members laid in bowl games I just was not sure how close we would be able to get to the best game the Buckeyes could play.  I watched the Rose Bowl replay just before kickoff and it helped.  I just was not sure if Tressel would come out and be as aggressive, I wasn’t sure how our secondary would far against a passer as polished as Mallett – I wanted this win for the five , the team, and for all the fans so we could finally shut up any SEC fan at least for a while but the entire day of the game the nerves were getting the best of my excitement.

After a game opening drive from Arkansas ended in a punt due to some stiff Buckeye D and because their receivers conveniently decided to drop two passes the Buckeye offense took the field and after moving the ball well for a half dozen plays Pryor broke loose on a scramble for 34 yards that was awesome until he was stripped of the ball.  After two Razorback players who were right there whiffed on the recovery Sanzenbacher (how he will be missed next year) pounced on the ball in the end zone – touchdown good guys.  I was blown away.  Even more blown away after Tressel follows up the score with an onside kick.  Seriously.  I thought that maybe he, Bollman and Hazell had all been swigging absinthe pregame.  The aggressiveness backfired with Arkansas recovering and getting a short field to even the score after a nice play by DJ Williams was overturned but they ended up scoring on the next play anyway.  At the time it was 7-7 but the rest of the first half would be an Ohio State offensive explosion while the Bullets stymied and frustrated Mallett and the Hog offense.  I mean in addition to scores from Boom through a huge hole up the middle and on nice catches from Sanzenbacher and Posey there were also a couple really nifty designed plays to Fragel and Stoneburner….really there were multiple plays to the tight end….it made the game plan from the Rose Bowl seem boring.  A Razorback field goal at the end of the first half gave them some momentum going into the break but outside of that the first half was all scarlet and gray.

The second half was as nerve wrecking and uncomfortable as the first half was fun and exciting.  The Vest buttoned up the potent offense game plan and the defense managed to hold on for most of the time despite having a secondary that had lost Chekwa in the first half to a wrist injury.  Bryant and Howard came in and played aggressive and fast – they did make a few mistakes but managed to hang tough for freshman on a big stage and not give up the big play.  The real story was up front though where Heyward was playing out of his mind.  Simon, Larimore and Williams got in on the action too and were simply all over Mallett for the majority of the game.  Eventually Knile Davis got going a little and Mallet found his groove and the Razorbacks managed 10 points to just a Barclay field goal for the Buckeyes.  So at 31-21 the Buckeyes got the ball on their own 4 after another great Arkansas punt (dude killed it three times inside the 5).  A couple plays later Boom was initially stopped outside the end zone but driven back before being drug down – it ended up being called a safety.  So at 31-23 the Razorbacks got the ball back and ended up with another field goal to pull within five points.  The Buckeye offense would move the chains once thanks to an amazing scramble on 3^rd and nine from Pryor.  The next series was more of the same with a penalty sprinkled in.  Pryor couldn’t work his magic on 3^rd and 15 so on 4^th and 1 Tressel went for it and everything looked great as Boom leaped ahead for an apparent first down.  Only thing was that he fumbled….the first of his career as a Buckeye.  The Bullets would rise again and force a punt.  Once again the Buckeye offense started from the four yard line.  Boom had a nice run on first down but after that the Hog defense was able to stop the Buckeyes forcing a punt.  Then it happened – Buchanan was bum rushed and the punt was blocked.  With 1:09 left on the clock Mallett would get another chance from  the Ohio State 18.  And that was the moment that every Buckeye fan alive had their hard stabbed out – after all the crazy plays, the great first half, the great defensive play and surviving injuries during the game it was going to end like this.  Then on second down the Bullets were in a stunt where the defensive end drops back into coverage, Mallett did not read the defense and Solomon Thomas who was one of the five who endured the week the spotlight for all the wrong reasons stepped in front of the pass.  Game over, streak broken.  Buckeye win.  I was in shock of the moment followed by the euphoria of knowing that the Buckeye team and entire Buckeye Nation had just been vindicated from so much.  Sugar never tasted so sweet.

Pryor may have won the Sugar Bowl MVP but the player of the game in my book had to be Heyward.  After a season where it could be argued that he did not live up to the hype he delivered and then some in his last game as  Buckeye.  As a freshman on the same field he showed his youth and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  As a senior he completely dominated the game and no doubt increased his draft stock.

How interesting/crazy that EVERY one of the suspended players (other than Whiting) ended up contributing in a big way?  Even Solomon Thomas.   The others were expected Posey got a score on a nice grab, Boom ran tough and got a score,  Adams had a strong game, and Pryor well everyone should have known that Pryor was going to put up a big game from the start with the look he had on his face.  He wanted redemption and he did everything he could to get it – long runs, big throws, timely scrambles to extend drives by converting on third and even getting injured in the process – he played his heart out and then stepped up that podium and apologized to the fans again.  The group is definitely back for next season with the deadline to declare for the NFL already passed.  Looks like Tressel’s promise thing actually worked.

Remember 0-9?  Not anymore.  This win was much more than just a bowl win, the hex that the SEC had on the Buckeyes is no longer.  Erased.  Broken.  Over.  Last year Tressel notched his first Rose Bowl and got the bowl funk monkey off his back.  This year he shook free from the SEC gorilla.  I may be still just feeling the euphoria but I put this win as the second biggest of Tressel’s tenure right after the 2002 NC.  Yes, bigger than the Rose Bowl last year because of the streak against the SEC.

Thanks to the Seniors – Justin Boren. Bryant Browning. Chimdi Chekwa. Ricky Crawford. Aaron Gant. Cam Heyward. Jermale Hines. Ross Homan. Garrett Hummel. Josh Kerr. Dexter Larimore. Chris Malone. Don Matheney. Jake McQuaide. Andy Miller. Brian Rolle. Brandon Saine. Dane Sanzenbacher. Grant Schwartz. Scott Sika. Connor Smith. Devon Torrence. Taurian Washington – forever Buckeyes you will be.  How firm thy friendship indeed.

We shall see what next year will bring once spring ball starts, there will be much talk of who starts for Pryor the first five games, there will be spots to fill on defense, there will be new faces – but as Thomas himself said -

“You always hear stories about adversity and how, if you push through, lessons lie at the end.  This has really taught me how to deal with adversity next season.”

Sounds a like a good start on 2011.

For pigs or people? Or both?

Happy New Year to all.  It was interesting reflecting on the first day of 2010 during this January 1, 2011.  Last year I watched first hand in the Rose Bowl when the Buckeyes removed the BCS Bowl monkey from the back of the program with an upset Rose Bowl win against favored Oregon.   This year I got to watch the entire Big Ten go down in flames.  How much can change in a year.

Not too surprised with Sparty, I knew the Tide would roll them up even though 49-7 is pretty bad.  TSUN got smoked too.  Penn State let one get away against Florida and Northwestern almost came back against Texas Tech.  But I am still shaking my head that the Badgers fell to TCU in the Rose Bowl 21-19.  Missed field goal and a strange shotgun pass call for the two point that would have tied it jump out as the most likely culprits – but still – I thought they would run at will on TCU.  I guess as a conference we can still look at Iowa’s defeat of Missouri and Illinois beating Baylor as positives.  But at 2-5 the conference looks less than encouraging heading into the Buckeyes matchup against Arkansas on tomorrow night.

I pride myself on being the eternal optimist when it comes to the Buckeyes chances in games.  I made the switch several years ago from the cynical sky is falling type Buckeye fan to one that always tries to see the positive angles to the matchup.  But I have to be honest – after all the Tatgate crap and the dismal performance of the conference – it will take the absolute best game that our team can muster to take down Mallet and the Razorbacks.   The main point I am basing this opinion on is this – you are the company you keep.

Wisconsin was the one team that beat us and the “potent” offense that manhandled our defense was held to 19 points by TCU.  Sure – TCU may be a undefeated team but they are from the Mountain West.  The Big Ten teams that played the SEC (like we are) got beat and in some cases smoked like a MAC team.  Our and the out of conference “big win” we got over Miami?  They got beat down by Notre Dame.  The only other remotely talented team we played was Iowa, who beat a mid level Big 12 school, and we had to come from behind to beat them.

As for Arkansas…..

The Razorbacks defeated four teams that were ranked in the top 25 of the final BCS standings — No. 11 LSU, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 20 South Carolina and No. 21 Mississippi State — and finished in second place in the country’s toughest division. Only Auburn, which will play No. 2 Oregon in the Jan. 10 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game, defeated more Top 25 opponents this season.

And that is just talking conference and strength of schedule, as for the Razorback team:

-          So there is this guy named Mallett at QB.  Everyone knows the story of the TSUN transfer finally getting his shot at the      Buckeyes blah blah blah.  The real deal is that he has a strong arm and is had an amazing season going for 3500 yards and 30 TDs.  He spreads the ball around a lot and has lots of weapons to play with.  Chekwa and Torrence have to be on, as do Hines, Johnson, Bryant, Howard and whoever else is playing in the secondary.

-          Much like Boom for the Buckeyes.  #7 Knile Davis took over the second half of the season and has shown to be a solid back that does much more than just keep an opposing teams defense honest going for 1200 yards on the season and earning all SEC honors.  The front seven has to shut this man down to win.   Plain and simple.

-          Catching the are a set of three receivers and a tight end that all have at least 500 yards receiving on the year.  This will be the most talented group that the Buckeye secondary has ever faced.  The receiving corps never missed a beat after an injury to the 2009 leading receiver Childs.  Now our secondary will have to track down #4 Wright a burner, #11 Hamilton a bigger target at 6’ 209, and #3 Adams.  At TE is Mackey Award winner Williams – which basically means the unanimous SEC first teamer is the best TE in the country.  Would be nice to have Moeller healthy to help cover him, but Hines, Bryant, and Sweat are going to have to share the job of handling him.

-          The Razorback offensive line is described as big and physical and averages 6’5” 315.  Sounds like the Wisconsin line and we know how that went.  Our front four must play better, big Hankins might need to come in earlier to help clog the middle.

-          Defensively the Arkansas team has not been nearly as dominant as the offense.  They normally run a 4-2-5 but will also spend time in a 4-3.  Led up front by #92 Jones at DT, leading tackler #34 Franklin at linebacker and senior cornerback #26 Broadway.  They are not known as  a run stopping force and have not forced that many turnovers.  If the Buckeye offense can attack this unit they have been known to give up points in big ways.

There is hope that we can deliver another complete game during BCS Bowl like Tressel and the boys did last year in Pasadena.   For the Buckeyes to shake loose the SEC monkey from their back this year and give the fan base something positive to end the season then the team must be ready to play and bring their very best.  That starts with the senior led Silver Bullets shutting down Knile Davis completely.  The Hogs go nowhere on the ground.  Pressure Mallett into some of those turnovers he is prone to making when the heat is turned up.   Defensively up front Heyward, Williams, Larimore, Simon and Hankins have to play huge.  Offensively – if we can get Boom going early – great.  If not then we have to open it up quick, we can’t screw around for half a game against this team.  Last year we turned TP loose and he had a bum knee, with him at full strength and a year older I hope we do the same or more.  It seems like he hasn’t been able to do anything right since he got off the field after Michigan, let him get back on field and prove himself again.  I see Sanzenbacher having a big game knowing it is his last in scarlet and gray, hopefully Stoneburner can prove as hard a matchup for them as Williams will be for us.  I would also like to see a token Saine wheel route or two.  We have the fire power but will need more TDs than FGs to beat pig sooie.  Much like any other game this one will be won in the trenches.  The Brew Crew must  get it done – either on the ground or with pass blocking.

To be quite honest I am glad I am not a betting man on this one.  A betting man would look at what happened to the conference members in bowl games, look at the schedules and look at 0-9 – it does paint a strong picture.  No too many outside the Buckeye Nation give us a chance and Tressel has been sending that message to the team.  Hopefully it puts a chip on all their shoulders, hopefully Pryor can use all the noise from the past two weeks to channel his game into another MVP performance, hopefully the defense loaded with seniors can rise up to the challenge, and hopefully our offensive line can be the story of the game in a good way.

Here is to hope wearing scarlet glasses.

Prediction:

Ohio State – 34

Arkansas – 31

*Barclay saves the day ala Iowa 2009 with a game winner.

Strange on several levels

So the Buckeyes landed in the Big Easy today and it felt as though a weight had been lifted off of me.  Ever since Tatgate broke on the 23^rd it has been a nonstop flow of crap.  I mean the speculation and venting among the fan base of what should be done.  Believe me I am nowhere near understanding how you could sell gold pants but I also understand that at nineteen stuff meant different things to me, there were different priorities and I used bad judgment and made mistakes at times.

The past week was even more insane with the player apology and then Tressel saying that all the players vowed to come back next year or they wouldn’t have made the trip.  The apology was somewhat strange.  It was good to hear the words from them but it was hard to determine how much was a prepared statement and how much was really them.  Surprisingly Solomon Thomas seemed to be the most sincere, Posey and Adams were also believable.    Boom and Pryor looked to be a combination of annoyed and disinterested.  The thing is I don’t blame them for feeling this way.  I still think the rule that you can’t sell your own possessions is dumb, I don’t think the punishment fits the infraction, and it happened almost two years ago.  I am somewhat annoyed that the entire thing has been talked about more than the actual Sugar Bowl game itself.  My personal opinion is to roll with what the NCAA said, appeal the suspensions and let them play in the Sugar Bowl.  Move on already.  After all we do have a game to play, against a good Arkansas team.

The vow/pledge to come back thing is even weirder.  Most of the time I have the upmost confidence in Tressel to do and say the right thing.  This was just odd.  The whole thing is odd.  I mean in Tressel’s words he didn’t want the players to “skirt the consequences” by getting an opportunity to participate the Sugar Bowl and not sit out next year by going pro.  Sounds more like an ultimatum/blackmail than I am comfortable with.  Similarly what effect does it have on the players?  If it makes the most sense for them (and their families)  to go pro they have to break a pledge to the Vest and incur his eternal scorn?  Not to mention that if these players felt so little towards the program to sell that merchandise does Tressel think these guys just won’t “promise” to get in the game?  It is just all kinds of weird.

It will be interesting to see how the team handles the elephant in the room that Tatgate has become regardless of Tressel telling them not to speak of the “incident” to the media.  Of course we are now starting to hear the 0-9 clamor on overwhelming fashion.  As a Buckeye fan it is difficult to have any backup of merit to support the “why we will win” cause and why we will end up 1-9 come January 4^th.   Kyler at 11w said it very well:

Players, coaches, fans and the media have all their theories on why Ohio State can’t beat SEC schools. If you go back and look at the seasons and games, though, it isn’t that much of a revelation to say the better team won. A nine-game sample size is extremely big when it comes to football. When you lose nine times to teams from a certain conference, it isn’t a coincidence. The losses have come under legends such as Woody Hayes and Jim Tressel and also under the often scrutinized John Cooper. Ohio State has lost in national championship games to SEC teams and in middle-tier bowls such as the Outback.

I really have no idea how things have gone this way against the SEC.  There have been years where I thought we had really great teams, like 2006 when we had so much talent and ended up getting whooped.  There have been close games like 2001 where Bellasari almost led us on a comeback only to lose on a last second field goal.  We are headed back the Sugar Bowl where Woody first met the SEC in a bowl and Alabama won.   How awesome would it be to end the run in the same place?

It may sound very cliché but we really just need to focus on this game.  It is the first time we have ever played the Razorbacks and the first BCS Bowl that Arkansas has ever been to.  And the craziest thing about all the distractions of Tatgate, the apology and the pledge is that it all involved the junior starters on the Buckeye offense.  It overlooks the truly important matchup in this game.  The high powered Arkansas let by former Wolverine Ryan Mallet against the stout Buckeye defense led by seniors Rolle, Heyward, Homan, Hines, Chekwa and Larimore.  The Silver Bullets are a force to be reckoned with and this is the last game in a Buckeye uniform for those seniors – you know they want to go out a winner.

It is fixing to be quite a week for sure.

The new logo for the NCAA

Tis the day after Christmas and pretty much all the Buckeye Nation still is talking about the suspensions coming down from the NCAA for the tattoos for autographs and cash for memorabilia that as of now has Pryor, Boom, Adams, Posey and Thomas out the first five games of 2011.  Of course that is dependent upon the appeal process that the University is pursuing to see if the suspension can be reduced.  There are so many angles of this that it can be talked about for hours, and it has.  Seemingly every hour on the hour, on every website and blog – it has somewhat hijacked the holiday spirit of the Buckeye Nation.  I mean even Mark May has had his moment in the sun bashing the NCAA and of course the Big Ten while simultaneously singing his ever so predictable song about how this would be different if it were the SEC (I guess he must have conveniently forgotten about the whole Cam Newton thing).

Granted even I see the hypocrisy of the NCAA in this one.  Dealing out a severe punishment but also reinstating the group for the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas doesn’t do anything except highlight the fact that basically they are putting a big giant neon light around the work EXPLOITATION.  Just so I get this straight – the guys violated rules but because of “non sufficient education” from university compliance and the fact that the infractions occurred over a year ago then the powers that be have seen it fit to let them play in a game that the NCAA stands to make a bundle on.

This is not to say that I completely agree with what the players did.  I mean by now they should know by now that taking money for anything other than a job they are performing is a no-no.  Autographs, jerseys, pictures, events – all of that is off limits.  Is it absolutely complete bullshit that they can make a university and conference millions of dollars and not be able to profit from their own actions – yes.  But much like there are rules to the game of football there are rules to the games of the NCAA.  And not to sound cold or callous to the athletes themselves – if you don’t like those rules go play in Canada, the arena league or don’t play football at all for two years and then go on to the NFL.  But if you want to play big time college football you have to play by the rules – and right now that means taking the big hard shaft from the NCAA when it comes to making money off yourself.  Yes, it sucks and is unfair.  So are a lot of things in life.  They broke the rules and have to pay the piper to the tune of a five game suspension should they come back for next season.

I have to admit when the rumblings of this started out I thought it was all about free tattoos for autographs.  Which I thought was somewhat irresponsible and immature.  Then the story actually broke and the talk was selling memorabilia like B10 championship rings, and gold pants for tattoos – and I was livid.  Since the details didn’t come out until later in the day during workday it was hard to know exactly who and what went down until I finally listened to the press conference of tOSU AD Smith and Tressel.  The end result was that supposedly the merchandise was sold for money that was used by the players to benefit their families in time of need and the discount on tattoos was a very small part of the issue.  Basically the tattoo shop owner who gave them discounted tattoos also paid the players cash for a variety of stuff like their 2008 Big 10 Championship rings (Pryor, Posey, Adams, Thomas) and in some cases gold pants from TSUN victories (Pryor, Thomas).  In Herron’s case it was a jersey, pants and shoes.

Even though I am skeptical of the whole benefit of the families thing it could be true.  If it is I feel even more sympathy to the guys that are suspended – you have to put family first and it sucks that it may have cost them 5 games.  Even if it is not is seems ridiculous that an individual is unable to sell their own personal property even though Universities and the NCAA make millions  off the jerseys and merchandise that the same athletes make popular.  The system is definitely broken.   Think about how funny it would be is the way the players paid back the money would be to auction of their Sugar Bowl game gear.  Then the hypocrisy circle would be complete.

Then there is the newly developing undertone where the Buckeye Nation is divided among if Tressel should suspend the players for the Sugar Bowl as a matter of principle to the university and program.  I am a diehard Buckeye fan and I think that this is a colossally bad idea, and that any fan thinking this should be done needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they would be prepared to give back the National Championship (Clarett eligibility) and 96 Rose Bowl (Katzenmoyer eligibility) – no way you would.  So now even a more flimsy case of eligibility presents itself and you pull the “good of the program’ card?  Please.  Since the NCAA has seen it fitting to let them play for their motives, Tressel has to let them play because it gives us the best chance to win the game.  Bauserman would be a disaster, and Kenny G, all the backs, Sanzenbacher and great defense might hang around but would not be enough to prevent 0-10.  The entire thing has been completely blown out of proportion by everyone and most likely will result in some or all of the players making the jump to the NFL.  The punishment is already severe, adding to it is just plain silly and only creates more misery for Buckeyes everywhere.

As for the players themselves debating whether they should go pro or not really depends on if the NFL has a lockout or not.  If there is a lockout and therefore no draft then they all come back.  If there is a draft -  I really thought Boom was primed for the jump anyway.  Next year if he comes back he as a lot of talent behind him getting carries and he would be out of the mix for five games and in the doghouse with Tressel.  Thomas really has no choice but to come back, Adams and Posey both I see as a tossup – neither has shown consistency enough to be taken early in the draft but both have potential to be solid players.  Similarly it would be great to have them back and they would be missed next year even if it were for only a partial season, but the Buckeyes would also be fine if they were to make the jump.  When it comes to Pryor it is complicated.  Making the jump now means it is highly likely that it won’t be as  a QB.  But the dreams of winning a Heisman, winning a NC and becoming a Buckeye legend with their jersey number in the ring of honor are completely gone.  The team will not go 5-0 next year and seamlessly integrate the five starters back in flawlessly.  Not to mention that the legacy he now leaves is now tainted.  I have always been a fan of TP’s and I still am.  I would be lying though if I said that the selling of gold pants didn’t bother me.  All the other stuff I can accept completely and understand how a college student needs money.  Call me over dramatic but those are part of tradition.  I have only had the pleasure to holding gold pants once in my life.  A friend of mine made the team as a long snapper in the mid 90’s and was on the Cooper team that got a W.  I remember getting to hold the medallion vividly to this day.  A true Buckeye knows that that they are part of everything it means to be a Buckeye.  I thought Pryor knew that too.

So onward we must go. The Sugar Bowl awaits and Arkansas has to be loving all these distractions for the Buckeyes.  The team gets back together this week and we will see what happens.  Either this galvanizes and unites them into a force to be reckoned with – I mean a motivated Pryor and Boom would be a very good thing.  Or the distractions become too much and the Nation has to get ready for a beginning to 2011 that is nowhere near as sweet at the kickoff to 2010.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Buckeye hoops are rolling. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Getting started with the basketball season while simultaneously submerging oneself into the entire bowl fanfare hubbub of football season is a tough thing to do.   It really is too bad considering the job that Matta has been doing with the program.  It deserves to be hyped and followed as much as the football team, they are undefeated and ranked #2 in the country after all.  They have beaten ranked teams already this year with a beat down of Florida a couple weeks ago, also taken down an athletic Florida State team and dropped a serious 79-57 beatdown on 7-1 South Carolina on Saturday.  People are talking about potentially a 19-0 start and being undefeated until the end of January.

I have only been able to catch a couple of games to start this season so that has not helped the ability to follow the specifics of the season, but after the performance against South Carolina, Diebler blowing up for 29 and a second monster day for Sullinger I am definitely paying attention now.  We still need to work on some bench play, after all six players are not going to win a NC on their own but being undefeated going into conference is almost a lock considering the remaining games are UNC Asheville, Oakland, and Tennessee-Martin.

The current version of sensational Buckeye freshman Sullinger has been ridiculous.  Today it was just a 30 pt 18 board dominating day against an athletic long team and last week he decided to up and drop 40, setting a new Buckeye record for points in a game.  I knew Sullinger was going to be good and was impressed with his play even against the better competition like Florida and Florida State – but stepping up and dropping a score like that is a man size task, even if it is against IUPUI (really this is a school?).  Today we got a look at what he can do against a legit team and he left no doubt who the best freshman in the country – he had a double double in the first half and was a complete beast that took his game directly at the Gamecocks.

It hasn’t all been about Sully though – Buford has been his smooth self chipping in double digits and serving as the floor leader,  Diebler had his big night when he tied Jay Burson’s record for threes in a game and also have taken over AJ Guyton’s spot on the Big Ten’s all time three pointer list.  Lighty and Lauderdale have been consistent at their game and the newbie Aaron Craft has been impressive in the way he can get in the shorts of opposing point guards and plays with a high level of composure for a freshman.  But outside of Craft the bench has been virtually invisible.  DeShaun Thomas is talented but has yet to figure out that he is not a consistent enough shooter to shoot every shot he wants and he is really the only other bench player getting minutes.  Jordan Siebert, JD Weatherspoon, Lenzelle Smith Jr. and Eddie Days combined don’t have as many minutes as either Craft or Thomas do by themselves.

Matta needs to figure out his bench soon because the competition will get tougher once Big 10 play starts.   As kind as the schedule has been at the beginning of the season it is equally as tough at the end.  After the Buckeyes to take on Illinois and Purdue back to back in January they then have to play currently ranked Minnesota, Sparty, Purdue and Illinois over a two week stretch in February – the only non ranked opponent over that stretch is a game at Wisconsin where Matta’s boys have not won in seemingly forever.  We will find out just what this team is made of but one thing is for sure – the team is loaded with young talent with a couple veterans to provide leadership so it is looking like a hell of a season coming up.

McQuaide provides an appropriate pose for the title. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Week two of no Buckeye football.  It is like a boring dull pain has taken over my Saturdays.  The Army/Navy game isn’t getting it done and even though Sullinger is making me start to pay attention to hoops by dropping 40 on IUPUI it is still tough for me to think about anything other than the season we just went through the upcoming Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.

One thing I still really find interesting is the broad disparity of opinion of Pryor among Buckeye fans.  I was home visiting family over Thanksgiving in Columbus, was home for The Game – and so naturally Buckeye football was the majority of the conversation.  It is crazy to me how varied the responses people have of a guy that is 30-4 as starter.  Sure – I totally understand that when you arrive on campus as the #1 recruit in the country, after a rather long and drawn out decision process that the expectations are going to be high and the microscope is going to be part of the gig.  But more and more I think that for a lot of the Buckeye Nation the bar may be set higher than normal.  I can see where the some of the argument is founded as it relates to his play on the field – no NC as of yet, a couple really bad performances, and a lack of eye popping stats that we as a fan base think that a player of that physical ability should have.   All of which are true to a point.  Another one that I heard is that there is just not a level of confidence in Pryor to bring us back from down to a big win.  This one I can understand as well somewhat – although in the Rose Bowl we were down for a time it is more a feeling of explosive potential instead of cool confidence that you get when Pryor is running the offense.  I guess where my level of understanding seems to fall apart with the critique of Pryor is when it comes to what he says, tweets or otherwise expresses himself.  For real – outside of the untimely Michael Vick eye stickers and  “everyone kills people” comments when has Pryor done anything really bad?  Never had any grade issues, never any off the field issues, got a block O tattooed on his arm, says how great it is to be a Buckeye all the time, defers praise to teammates and has stepped up and owned most (if not all) of his poor performances and any losses.  So what more does anyone want?  I mean these last comments that came out last week -

“I’ll put it like this: You put me in any of their offenses — any of them — and I’d dominate,” Pryor said, when asked about the attention afforded the likes of Newton, Robinson and Persa. “I’d dominate the nation. What those guys do, that’s what they’re supposed to do in their offense.

“They carry the ball 30 times a game. I carry the ball maybe five times. There are times I didn’t even run the ball in a game. You put me in any of their offenses, where I can run the ball and have a choice to throw, I would dominate college football.”

It was funny how these comments were interpreted – some forum members actually took this as some type of dissention in the ranks.  Which is completely absurd.  Some people are on the Pryor being overrated train.  Which I think is just the sky falling Buckeye fan mentality that seeps throughout the Buckeye Nation.  Personally I agree with him to an extent, if got more touches running the ball he would put up bigger numbers.  But his durability would also be a factor, he was less than full strength for a couple weeks with the carpet monster quad strain and had a shoulder ding after that Iowa safety popped him.  You don’t see Newton getting those.  Also – Newton is much more a polished passer at this time, you don’t often find him pulling a “screw it, I am going deep into double coverage” – which is one of the small things that Pryor needs to work out of his game before he can get into that “best in the country” talk.  I guess what the main point I am making as it relates to Pryor is that I can’t understand why the entire Buckeye Nation is not completely behind the kid, he is a top fifteen QB in the country, three time Big Ten Champ, Rose Bowl MVP, and undefeated against TSUN.  As for leading us to a NC game, he has one more season to get us there.  This year he has the chance to rid us of the pesky SEC monkey from our backs.  If you want stats check out how awesome a record TSUN ended up with even with Nard Rob rewriting the books.  At the end of the day TP has done what has been asked of him from Tressel, and the stat that matters is W’s.

“I want nothing else but to win. If I was having a lot of stats and I was losing, I would really be kind of mad. My competitive nature wants just to win, by any means. By any means, win. That’s all I really care about, to tell you the truth, man.”

Looks like he gets it, maybe we everyone give him a break and start backing the guy.  All the time, not just when he plays good.  We only get him for one more year.  Let’s enjoy it.  Hell the kid is even trying to give away Sugar Bowl tickets.

Some other key individual seasons of note in 2010 were that of Cameron Heyward and Boom Herron.  In almost a role reversal the standout defensive end had a statistically less than spectacular season whereas Boom exploded mid season to settle the number one back discussion once and for all.  Going into the season Heyward was expected to dominate and be in the running for post season accolades, Boom was thought to be fighting for second guy carries with Hall and Berry.  Some of the lack of success for Heyward was due to being a focal point on the line that was breaking in three new starters Williams, Larimore, Simon after losing Gibson, Denlinger, Wilson and Worthington – it was great to have him back as a leader and he made his fair share of plays.  He will leave tOSU with his degree and the love of the entire Buckeye Nation – even if his draft stock may be less this year than after last season – it was a privilege to have him in scarlet and gray all four years.  With Boom some of his success can be attributed to the awakening of Big Mike Adams at left tackle.  Coupled with Brewster and Boren that left side became consistently productive throughout the course of the season.  Boom’s downhill running style and vision saved our bacon in Illinois, showed up in Wisconsin, went for close to 200 yards against Penn State, and tied the school record (should have broken it) for longest play with the 89 yarder against TSUN.   Doing work son.   The  line loses Browning and Boren at the guards, hopefully hangs on to Brewster, and most likely Adams and Shugarts will be back – all signs point to Boom being back as well for a senior year.  Very nice.

Special mention reflections on the season – Sanzenbacher delivering a senior season that will forever emblazon his name into Buckeye lore, Moeller coming back from his injury only to be injured again – see you next year,  Rolle and Homan have quiet but solid seasons to lead another conference best defense against the run and a unit that ranks #2 in total defense in the country.

A final reflection is on the Nike Pro Combat uniforms.  The red helmets were god awful.  Gloves are sweet other than the fact they seem to be the proverbial red cape to the flag throwing referee bulls.   Other than that the uniforms were okay and I am fine with Nike and the university capitalizing on the Buckeye Nation with these type things.  I even think that we go the route of “throwback” to honor past teams is much better than trying to do some space age crap like Boise State or Oregon.  However – no more can this new uniform game be The Game.  Any other game.  Do it alumni weekend – alumni weekend, alumni band, throwback uniforms – kind of fits.  But repeatedly doing this type of crap during The Game doesn’t help the rivalry, and it more or less quite annoying.

As for the projections – the Sugar Bowl and Arkansas awaits on January 4^th.  It is an interesting matchup – the Mallet led offense normally goes for over 300 yards a game and has three WR with over 500 yards receiving on the year.  Our secondary will have to be ready to go and the men up front will have to be able to get pressure.  Not to be overlooked is Knile Davis the Razorback running back that cannot be allowed to get going, the Bullets will need to tackle well and shut him down early to make Arkansas one dimensional.  Offensively we just will have to score touchdowns, I don’t think field goals will win this game.  The more we can control the ball the better so hopefully Boom can continue is tear and Newton also had a big day on the ground against Pig Sooie so maybe TP coming in with a little chip on his shoulder to show that he can put up numbers is a good thing.

2010 was a great season that continued the decade of dominance and success that we have become accustomed to under Tressel.  As Buckeye fans it is important to soak up these seasons and make sure to appreciate them, things were not always this way and won’t stay this way forever.

Now let’s whip some SEC ass.