EDDIE GGGG27
Muck Fichigan
Did anyone catch this epic fail by Jay Mariotti Pre-Rose bowl?? What a fucking idiot. Be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the article.
Tressel Plays It Too Close to the (Sweater) Vest -- FanHouse
LOS ANGELES -- In a Hollywood context, it's the equivalent of carving out one of the biggest budgets in show business, only to crash every time. Ohio State playing in a major bowl game approximates the sick, nauseous sensation you had watching "Gigli," "Ishtar" and "Waterworld," even bordering at times on "From Justin to Kelly" and "Big Momma's House 2." I laugh when the ubiquitous, red-smothered Buckeyes fans insist that their school be called THE Ohio State University.
No superlatives possibly can apply when you're 0-3 in your last three Bowl Championship Series appearances, losing consecutive title games by a combined 79-38 score to Florida and LSU and then losing last year to Texas. Rarely has such a massive, bloated football factory encountered a more dubious big-game rut, to the point that the dapper CEO of this multi-million-dollar corporation, Jim Tressel, constantly must defend himself against the reality that Ohio State is the wounded symbol of a waning, increasingly irrelevant Big Ten Conference.
Hearing him Thursday, on the eve of a Rose Bowl assignment against a favored and sleeker Oregon team, Tressel sounded like a leader in denial. All week, his players have talked passionately about not wanting to lose a fourth staight BCS game, about breaking the Big Ten's six-game losing streak in Pasadena. Coach Sweater Vest?
"I haven't been disappointed," he said. "I mean, I thought our guys did a terrific job getting ready to play a year ago. Their bowl preparation again this year I thought was excellent. That's the beauty of the game of football; it's really what happens that day, not what you're capable of or not what you could have done but what happens that day at 2 o'clock Pacific time that's going to determine how successful we are. But there's no way at 6 o'clock Pacific time will I tell you that I was disappointed with the way that our guys prepared, because coaches and players alike, they prepared very hard. You have to be excited about the fact that so many people in these times were able to find their way out here to cheer on their beloved Buckeyes.''
So that's what it's about -- preparing well and making sure folks from Ohio make their way to southern California. I hate to inform Tressel that the urgency to win is more pronounced than he thinks. He should listen to his players. They get it.
"We didn't come here to get away from the snow," defensive tackle and senior captain Doug Worthington said. "We came here to put Ohio State back on the map."
Not that Tressel, who has three years left on his contract, is going to be fired anytime soon. But the natives were starting to grumble in September when the Buckeyes lost a home game to USC, which went on to have its worst season in years. Tressel was too old-school, they said. His offense was stale, stodgy and predictable, they said. He had no idea how to groom and cultivate his supremely talented quarterback, Terrell Pryor, who has the running abilities of Michael Vick in his pre-dog-murdering prime yet hasn't been used as a runner nearly enough. Ohio State rallied to win the Big Ten championship, yet these days, that's not unlike being the tallest building in Toledo. If the Buckeyes lose No. 4, trust me when I say Tressel's seat will be warmer than ever next season.
When a program oozes of tradition, resources and prominence, settling for a spot in the second tier nationally isn't part of the grand plan. This is a program that is supposed to contend annually for BCS titles, winning one as recently as 2002. This is a program that has produced seven Heisman Trophies and plays in an iconic stadium that looks like a cathedral and is shaped like a horseshoe. This is the program of Woody Hayes, Archie Griffin and too many NFL players to count. So why do the Buckeyes lose so often at the start of every new year?
One answer is that elite high-school players aren't dreaming of playing at Ohio State anymore, even those in the Midwest. The hottest datelines of college football are Gainesville, Austin, Baton Rouge, L.A. and other warm-weather locales. Those programs have speed and athleticism that Ohio State can't match -- or, in Pryor's case, that Tressel doesn't use properly. Just as Notre Dame and Michigan have lost much cachet through the years, so has Ohio State, though Tressel has been able to win five straight league titles by continuing to corral enough in-state talent. For the supporters pleased with his championships in a diluted Big Ten, Tressel is viewed as a huge success, having won 93 of 114 games in Columbus, including eight of nine against the crisis-ridden rivals at Michigan. But those who want the ultimate prize are hypercritical of his flaws and wouldn't mind if the university administration started easing him out.
He claims not to hear the rip jobs. But then, that's Tressel, the closest thing to a politician that the college game offers. "One thing you know about coaches, we're in these little cocoons, in the office night and day" he said. "You deal with things in the moment. You don't have the luxury or hardship of keeping up with day-to-day thoughts that people have. There are lots of people interested in Ohio State football. I don't remember the (criticism) being any more or less than what we've had before."
You'd love for Tressel to have a little more fun, to adopt some of Chip Kelly's creativity at Oregon, to jazz up those dull, gray uniform pants with some of Nike's clothing dazzle adopted by the Ducks. How about ditching the sweater vest, just once? "I'm afraid Nike would shoot me if I took off my sweater vest now," he said.
Mr. Conservative could have been a better sport last week. Seems Pryor, Worthington and defensive end Thaddeus Gibson didn't have dress pants to wear to Lawry's, the prime-rib emporium that hosts the annual Beef Bowl for the Rose Bowl teams. When they showed up for the bus ride in nicer jeans, Tressel ordered them to stay at the hotel, where the three players had dinner without their teammates. Because Pryor is the marquee name in this year's game, the Ohio media played up the story.
"I just didn't think it should have been a big deal about it," said Pryor, who also made news by revealing he still has a partially torn knee ligament that hasn't slowed him much. "Some of my teammates said (the event) wasn't as classy as it was supposed to be. But Coach Tress is a classy guy, and what he wants we have to do. We just forgot our pants. Nothing against the team or anything like that. I apologize to the team. I'm kind of mad we missed a good meal, a free meal at that. I'm a team guy and I love to be with my team wherever they go."
On the day of Bobby Bowden's final game at Florida State, Tressel finds himself 165 victories behind college football's all-time wins leader, Penn State's Joe Paterno. He is realistic when asked if he ever could envision himself chasing Paterno's record. "Chasing him? We chase him once a year," he said, showing spurts of humor. "That's the beauty of being in our conference. It's a thrill to have him in our conference. It's a thrill to have him in our conference meetings because they're not boring. He never hesitates to let us know what he's thinking. At each conference meeting there's a designated chairman, and it goes alphabetically, and whoever's name is up there, they're the chairman of the meeting that week. Regardless, Joe is the chairman. Every letter begins with P or whatever."
Tressel grew serious. "Will I be coaching in my 40th-something season as a head coach at Ohio State?" he said. "Probably not."
For now, he just wants one victory on New Year's Day. If he prefers an easier life for the next eight months, and beyond, he'll win.
Tressel Plays It Too Close to the (Sweater) Vest -- FanHouse
LOS ANGELES -- In a Hollywood context, it's the equivalent of carving out one of the biggest budgets in show business, only to crash every time. Ohio State playing in a major bowl game approximates the sick, nauseous sensation you had watching "Gigli," "Ishtar" and "Waterworld," even bordering at times on "From Justin to Kelly" and "Big Momma's House 2." I laugh when the ubiquitous, red-smothered Buckeyes fans insist that their school be called THE Ohio State University.
No superlatives possibly can apply when you're 0-3 in your last three Bowl Championship Series appearances, losing consecutive title games by a combined 79-38 score to Florida and LSU and then losing last year to Texas. Rarely has such a massive, bloated football factory encountered a more dubious big-game rut, to the point that the dapper CEO of this multi-million-dollar corporation, Jim Tressel, constantly must defend himself against the reality that Ohio State is the wounded symbol of a waning, increasingly irrelevant Big Ten Conference.
Hearing him Thursday, on the eve of a Rose Bowl assignment against a favored and sleeker Oregon team, Tressel sounded like a leader in denial. All week, his players have talked passionately about not wanting to lose a fourth staight BCS game, about breaking the Big Ten's six-game losing streak in Pasadena. Coach Sweater Vest?
"I haven't been disappointed," he said. "I mean, I thought our guys did a terrific job getting ready to play a year ago. Their bowl preparation again this year I thought was excellent. That's the beauty of the game of football; it's really what happens that day, not what you're capable of or not what you could have done but what happens that day at 2 o'clock Pacific time that's going to determine how successful we are. But there's no way at 6 o'clock Pacific time will I tell you that I was disappointed with the way that our guys prepared, because coaches and players alike, they prepared very hard. You have to be excited about the fact that so many people in these times were able to find their way out here to cheer on their beloved Buckeyes.''
So that's what it's about -- preparing well and making sure folks from Ohio make their way to southern California. I hate to inform Tressel that the urgency to win is more pronounced than he thinks. He should listen to his players. They get it.
"We didn't come here to get away from the snow," defensive tackle and senior captain Doug Worthington said. "We came here to put Ohio State back on the map."
Not that Tressel, who has three years left on his contract, is going to be fired anytime soon. But the natives were starting to grumble in September when the Buckeyes lost a home game to USC, which went on to have its worst season in years. Tressel was too old-school, they said. His offense was stale, stodgy and predictable, they said. He had no idea how to groom and cultivate his supremely talented quarterback, Terrell Pryor, who has the running abilities of Michael Vick in his pre-dog-murdering prime yet hasn't been used as a runner nearly enough. Ohio State rallied to win the Big Ten championship, yet these days, that's not unlike being the tallest building in Toledo. If the Buckeyes lose No. 4, trust me when I say Tressel's seat will be warmer than ever next season.
When a program oozes of tradition, resources and prominence, settling for a spot in the second tier nationally isn't part of the grand plan. This is a program that is supposed to contend annually for BCS titles, winning one as recently as 2002. This is a program that has produced seven Heisman Trophies and plays in an iconic stadium that looks like a cathedral and is shaped like a horseshoe. This is the program of Woody Hayes, Archie Griffin and too many NFL players to count. So why do the Buckeyes lose so often at the start of every new year?
One answer is that elite high-school players aren't dreaming of playing at Ohio State anymore, even those in the Midwest. The hottest datelines of college football are Gainesville, Austin, Baton Rouge, L.A. and other warm-weather locales. Those programs have speed and athleticism that Ohio State can't match -- or, in Pryor's case, that Tressel doesn't use properly. Just as Notre Dame and Michigan have lost much cachet through the years, so has Ohio State, though Tressel has been able to win five straight league titles by continuing to corral enough in-state talent. For the supporters pleased with his championships in a diluted Big Ten, Tressel is viewed as a huge success, having won 93 of 114 games in Columbus, including eight of nine against the crisis-ridden rivals at Michigan. But those who want the ultimate prize are hypercritical of his flaws and wouldn't mind if the university administration started easing him out.
He claims not to hear the rip jobs. But then, that's Tressel, the closest thing to a politician that the college game offers. "One thing you know about coaches, we're in these little cocoons, in the office night and day" he said. "You deal with things in the moment. You don't have the luxury or hardship of keeping up with day-to-day thoughts that people have. There are lots of people interested in Ohio State football. I don't remember the (criticism) being any more or less than what we've had before."
You'd love for Tressel to have a little more fun, to adopt some of Chip Kelly's creativity at Oregon, to jazz up those dull, gray uniform pants with some of Nike's clothing dazzle adopted by the Ducks. How about ditching the sweater vest, just once? "I'm afraid Nike would shoot me if I took off my sweater vest now," he said.
"I just didn't think it should have been a big deal about it," said Pryor, who also made news by revealing he still has a partially torn knee ligament that hasn't slowed him much. "Some of my teammates said (the event) wasn't as classy as it was supposed to be. But Coach Tress is a classy guy, and what he wants we have to do. We just forgot our pants. Nothing against the team or anything like that. I apologize to the team. I'm kind of mad we missed a good meal, a free meal at that. I'm a team guy and I love to be with my team wherever they go."
On the day of Bobby Bowden's final game at Florida State, Tressel finds himself 165 victories behind college football's all-time wins leader, Penn State's Joe Paterno. He is realistic when asked if he ever could envision himself chasing Paterno's record. "Chasing him? We chase him once a year," he said, showing spurts of humor. "That's the beauty of being in our conference. It's a thrill to have him in our conference. It's a thrill to have him in our conference meetings because they're not boring. He never hesitates to let us know what he's thinking. At each conference meeting there's a designated chairman, and it goes alphabetically, and whoever's name is up there, they're the chairman of the meeting that week. Regardless, Joe is the chairman. Every letter begins with P or whatever."
Tressel grew serious. "Will I be coaching in my 40th-something season as a head coach at Ohio State?" he said. "Probably not."
For now, he just wants one victory on New Year's Day. If he prefers an easier life for the next eight months, and beyond, he'll win.
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