Thanks a Lot NCAA! No, Really..

Last Tuesday, the NCAA announced, one year after the initial news of the “scandal” at Ohio State broke, its punishment for the football team. Most of the punishment was expected, probation, loss of scholarships, relinquishing the 2010 wins, but the one year – 2013 – bowl ban caught Buckeye Nation completely off guard. And they (Buckeye fans) made sure they voiced their disgust with the decision any way they could.

As a Buckeye fan, at first I was a little shocked, there was really no precedent that stated a bowl ban was the necessary punishment for the crime. Then I was mad, thinking we could have imposed a bowl ban for this year on ourselves and that might have been sufficient enough in the eyes of the NCAA. And then, after all of that, I sat down and realized that in reality, this might be a blessing in disguise…

Sure, it will be weird after beating Michigan in The Shoe on November 24th, to not have any bowl game to look forward to. It will be odd not pulling the old scarlet jersey out of the closet sometime around New Years 2013. And it is disappointing that Urban Meyer’s first year in Columbus he will not be allowed to possibly turn the ship around and get back to a big time bowl game. But like I said early, when I sat down and looked at things I realized that it was not necessarily all that bad.

Realistically speaking, in Myer’s inaugural season manning the ship, the Buckeyes have a lot of question marks. Most notably is the fact that sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller will be learning a new offensive system, and despite Meyer’s proven record of developing dominant dual-threat quarterbacks, it will take some time. Then there is the fact that none of our wide receivers will be older than juniors, and have a lot to prove after an awful 2011 campaign as a unit. The defense will more than likely remain just as solid as it usually is. Young linebackers who are playmakers will be asked to step up and contribute. The defensive line will be a strength, and a lot of youngsters are returning in our secondary.

When I sat down and looked at the 2012 schedule I cringed a little. It is not the most favorable schedule in the Big Ten. Sure there are the usual non-conference cupcakes that we will cut large checks to in return for an easy win. But there is also a Pac12 Cal Bears team coming to visit, regardless of whether they are a second tier Pac12 team they are still not in the MAC or some other mid-major conference. Then the Big Ten schedule is grueling; Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin and as usual Michigan. However, the MSU, PSU, and Wisconsin games are all on the road, and those are all tough places to play. Now, couple that with the paragraph preceding this one and it makes for a very tough road to hoe.

The “blessing” that I mentioned earlier comes in the form of the 2013 football schedule. Remember, 2012 will not see us in either the Big Ten Championship game, or a bowl game. But 2013 has no limitations, and our schedule certainly makes the sky that limit. An early season road trip to Berkeley to play Cal will be a nice early test. And the Buckeyes open the Big Ten with Wisconsin at home in week five. But the Big Ten scheduling rotation has us missing Michigan State, and Nebraska, and playing the likes of Northwester, Iowa, Penn State (at home), Illinois and Indiana before making the much anticipated trek up to the Big House.

Only adding to my excitement about 2013 is the fact that Braxton Miller will then be a junior. Urban Meyer will have two recruiting classes in Columbus (and this year’s already is chalked full of defensive talent). And it will be the second year of the offense running his system. Add that to the scheduling bit, and 2013 looks like the year Buckeye Nation should be salivating over.

For storied program like Ohio State being banned from a bowl game seems like one of the worst punishments it could receive. But, it takes pressure off of a new coach who came in with enormous pressure already. There is no pressure for the Buckeyes next year, but they do have time on their side. Time to develop an offense, time to develop young and talented players, and time to gain experience without having to worry about a loss here or a loss there. Meyer will obviously have to keep his group very focused, many youngsters who do not see the prize at the end of the tunnel might lose interest, but his reputation speaks for itself in that area. And it all shapes up for a BCS run in year two of Urban Meyer’s tenure.

And I am sure Buckeye Nation remembers how well year two of the last regime went…

What Really Matters

This post will be a little bit different than any of the past posts, but its more than worthy of being posted and its necessary for all to know…


This post is about a close friend to me, my best friend in fact. The one person, who keeps me sane, keeps me young, and most of all keeps me happy. She has meant more to me than any coach, any game. She stands by me, right or wrong. She can make me laugh on my worst days, and keeps me grounded on my best. She makes me better, and her smile cures all. I feel her love all around me, no matter if I am near or far. She’s truly one of a kind, and her love is no different.

People express it in different ways, and many like to shout it from a mountaintop to let the whole world know. Well, this is my proverbial mountaintop:

MJ Lawson…you are amazing, you are my everything, and you are that exciting influence and that calm soothing touch. You are the coke to my Makers, salsa to my LP spesh, the potato pancakes to my Noshville breakfast! But more than any of that, you are my best friend, and the truest love I have ever known. I love you with every ounce of love I have to give, and always will.

Weekend Rants

Brown and Out…

Another weekend, and yes, another Browns rant coming at you…
It is absolutely astonishing to me that our coaching staff cannot seem to find any continuity in our offense. You do not have to be an NFL expert to realize the Browns lack “playmaking” talent on offense, nor do you have to be an NFL expert to realize that Josh Cribbs is easily the best playmaker on our team. Which, makes it befuddling when you look back and realize he only touched the ball on Sunday during kick or punt returns. Mindboggling.

At this rate, the Brownies are headed towards another top ten draft pick, and unless their offense miraculously wakes up, more likely a top 5 draft pick (here’s hoping Atlanta continues to lose so we end up with two first round draft picks in the top 15-20)…Here is what the Browns should do with both of those picks; draft the best player available. I am not bemoaning the front office, yet, I understand they have only had two drafts, and both classes have produced very solid results. However, they cannot continue to trade down, stockpile draft picks, and take offensive lineman. Nor, should they package those two first round picks we do have, for the number one overall pick to take Andrew Luck. It is so clearly obvious that it would not matter if the Browns had Aaron Rogers at quarterback; we lack playmakers at skill positions which are what teams like Green Bay, and New England, and Pittsburgh have.

With that said, here is my Browns 2013 draft wish-list: 1) Justin Blackmon – he won the Belitnikoff as a sophomore, and has been nothing short of a beast for the #3 Oklahoma State team that should be playing for the national championship (more on that to come). 2) Trent Richardson – look I know we have Hillis, and Hardesty, but Richardson is one of those freak, once in a lifetime, Adrian Peterson type running backs that do not come along every year. 3) Morris Claiborne – LSU has a tremendously deep talent pool at defensive back, and Claiborne is only a junior, but he is a ball hawk, and putting him next to Joe Haden would be a lethal tandem for a long time. 4) Dont’a Hightower – it is grossly obvious that we lack linebackers that can make plays (proven by our awful rush defense) and Hightower can play any of the linebacker spots with his athleticism. 5) BJ Cunningham – here is a guy who probably will not go in the first round, but the WR from Michigan State proved all year why he will make his living on Sunday afternoons. Buckeye fans probably remember the torching he put on us: 9 catches for 154 yards and the Spartans only touchdown.

Chop It Up…

It is clear that we have a flawed system. We know this, and have for years, but this year might be one of the worst whack jobs the BCS has laid on us ever. We can start in the BCS National Championship game; clearly LSU deserved to be there, but how a team that finished second in its own division, and did not even play for its conference championship, and lost to LSU at home, makes it into the game is tough to explain. In my mind, if Alabama does win this game, there should be a split national champion because LSU proved through its body of work that it was the best team in college football. Oh by the way, Alabama did not beat a top ten team this year, while LSU beat three top five teams.

But wait, there is more! The biggest snub has to be Boise State. The #7 team got hosed so bad they are playing in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl. Maybe MAACO can paint over the car wreck that is the BCS. Even worse, two teams ranked lower than Boise State, and outside of the top ten (Va Tech #11, and Michigan #13) will face off in the BCS Sugar Bowl yet Boise State, South Carolina, Kansas State, and Arkansas who are all ranked higher than Virginia Tech and Michigan failed to receive a BCS bowl invite. And two teams ranked outside of the top 14 will play in the Orange Bowl thanks to the automatic tie ins, which means we get to see #15 Clemson, losers of 2 of their final 3 games, play #23 West Virginia who won the highly touted Big East. Hope you sense the sarcasm.

The reason for these choices and snubs is simple. To the BCS it is all about selling tickets, hotel rooms, merchandise, and plane tickets rather than putting the teams that deserve it in these games. Did Michigan and Virginia Tech have good years? Yes. Will they have large fan bases that travel well? Sure. But that should not be the reason the #7 team in the nation has to go play a pre-Christmas bowl game.

Let us hope that this will be the year that brings the BCS to its knees. I would not even care if players from Boise State, Arkansas, South Carolina, or Kansas State sold all of their stuff and pocketed some extra money. It would just be the money their schools are being swindled out of by the BCS’s gluttonous system.

Urban Era

It seems like it happened eight years ago. I know that it only happened a week ago, but the events of
this last week have all but put it out of sight in the rear view mirror. I used to get utterly mad when the men of scarlet and gray lost to that team up north. Believe me; the times have been good in the past decade, not a whole lot to be upset about. But the decade before that, the years of my youth, prime years to be molded, were trying ones.

The two most polarizing images of my early pre-teen years are ones that I want to, but never will forget. Both of them resulted in Buckeye losses, both at the Big House, and both times the Buckeyes were done in by the eventual Heisman Trophy winner. The first image is of the punt return, and that idiot doing the Heisman pose in the end zone. The second, the fighting nuts were done in by a defensive back, an Ohio kid, another punt return, and an interception and just that picture of Charles Woodson with the rose in his mouth is enough to make me want to gouge my eyes out. (I still take joy in the fact that on Sunday Night Football he states his school as Freemont Ross HS, as if it is some plea to OSU fans he was sorry, but I digress)

Then came the golden years, the ten years where “the Vest” absolutely owned that state up north.
His record speaks for itself, 9-1* (technically we vacated the last win, but we all know who won
the game, that won’t change.) Tressel just got it, he understood what it was about, he understood
what “the game” meant, and he didn’t hide it, which is why his players flourished in it. He (Tressel)
also understood what it mean to the fans, to the students, to the alumni before he had even coached a
game, while being introduced as the new coach at halftime of a home basketball game he knew exactly what to say to inject energy and life into a fan base that was desperate for something, anything when it came to the game.

Last Saturday’s version of the game was one I had never witnessed before. I didn’t know how to
approach it. My disgust for that school remained at the levels it had always been at, but my attitude
towards what this game meant was distorted. The 2011 version of the Ohio State Buckeyes was
probably the worst in my lifetime; torn apart by controversy, an interim head coach, no senior
leadership, terrible tackling, and offensive offense, but that didn’t stop me from donning my scarlet
jersey every Saturday, or watching every game up until the last ticks came off the clock, but for the first time in a decade I was actually nervous about the game.

And, exactly what I thought would happen in the game, happened. Our team tackling was just a notch
above non-existent all year, and their scrambling quarterback gave us fits, just like I figured he would.
But, for a flittering moment after they scored what looked like the clinching touchdown I regained hope. Two flags on the same play, negating the touchdown, resulting in a field goal and a six point lead had me hoping that maybe their run of misery had one more chapter to be added. After being dominated most of the game, we had the ball with a chance to score a touchdown and win the game. It didn’t pan out the way I had wanted it to, but the game finally had that feel to it that it had lacked for the last ten years. It had that knock-down, drag out, brawl feeling that was a staple of this rivalry for over a century.

This year has been dubbed “the most trying year” of football at Ohio State. And with everything (off the field, and on) it probably was. A ceremonial bowl game with very little meaning is not something that Buckeye fans of my generation are used to, but it is the reality. But, there is new hope on the horizon. We got our new coach, and we have a quarterback, which is the one thing our new coach thrives at producing.

The loss in the 2011 edition of the game stung, no doubt, but it has been less than a week and it is
practically forgotten. Just days after “the most trying season” we are already headed towards “the
longest off season” in the history of Buckeye football, mostly because we can’t wait to see what’s in
store. In 274 days the next act in the long and storied history of Ohio State Football opens and it is
entangled with optimism, freshness, and renewal…Urban renewal.