HINYG8
You never come back from Copperhead Road
This is the first time in years that we have been a bit under the radar heading into camp. I have to say: I like it. It reminds me of 2002 when no one saw us coming.
Gone are the constant questions...the 24 hour hype cycle...the endless challenges from outsiders and the F-5 media shitstorm. We are on the down low as the team heads into camp. It's kinda nice, right? We've settled in as a top program and it seems the rest of the CF world has interpreted that media indifference and lack of off the field headlines to mean we are slipping.
I see OSU picked to fade. I see MSU getting what little love the press affords the Big Ten..and it seems just about everyone has forgotten about Braxton, Meyer, and the talent that is in place at Ohio State. There are even calls for PSU to beat us....has there really been a 7 TD swing between Columbus and Happy Valley?
Those folks have a reckoning coming.
Don't Talk. Act.
We have a new found luxury heading into this season. It isn't about tats and NCAA investigations. It isn't about a new head coach and replacing Tressel. It isn't about Urban moving in and turning the program back around. It isn't about off field nonsense. It's finally just about football again in Columbus. No talk..just work. No pressure to beat our drum or defend our own...just heads down, shoulder to the wheel and the playbook. It's one issue..one topic for discussion: improve. Beyond that..it's simply about the work. Nothing else to talk about.
Don't Say. Show.
E+R=O. I dig it. The events in front of this team are practice reps, new plays, new schemes and the battle for spots on the depth chart. The outcome will be determined by their reaction to FOOTBALL events..not by their reaction to press coverage and news items that are occurring outside the locker room and off the field. When many of the (E)vents the team is confronted with aren't about football...no matter how well we (R)eact..it is tough to make the (O)utcome about winning football games.
It's remarkable how well Urban and the team have done to translate the circus into wins. Certainly some of the events the team was processing were about football..but it has been years since they were ALL about football. Now we don't have to say anything about the NCAA, about our President's poor soundbites, about new coaches, about limitations and extreme expectations. Many are expecting OSU to fall into the Big Ten pack..assuming the conference is weak and it's flag bearer is finally giving in to that gravitational pull toward average.
But we don't tolerate average in Columbus. Nature hates a vacuum, Meyer hates average.
Only SEC teams can sustain quality, right? Surely OSU has had their time and can't stay good, right?
Wrong.
But no one is asking us this time around, the media trucks and hype wagons passed us by in search of comments from Bama, Florida State, Oregon, Auburn, Stanford..even MSU, UCLA and Oklahoma. We are a bit off the radar for the first time since...perhaps..2002.
It's been a bit of a zoo ever since Cie Grant forced that final errant pass in the desert. We don't have to answer those questions about the pressure to win them all or how hard will it be to take all comers seriously since we are so much better than everyone on our schedule. What about Mo C's eligibility? What about the NCAA? How hard is it to start the year ranked #1? Oh hai, NCAA again. Can you win them all? Did everyone pay for their cars? Can Fickell keep the wheels turning? Can Urban fix it? Will Hyde play?
For Ohio State this year it's not what we say...it's what we do, because no one is asking us to say a thing. And since there isn't a lot of talk coming from within or around the program right now..that tells me a lot of work is being done. We are focused on showing them Ohio is here, not stopping the work to take questions and tell them.
Don't Promise. Prove.
Surprise bitches....scoreboard!
Let's Ride.
Gone are the constant questions...the 24 hour hype cycle...the endless challenges from outsiders and the F-5 media shitstorm. We are on the down low as the team heads into camp. It's kinda nice, right? We've settled in as a top program and it seems the rest of the CF world has interpreted that media indifference and lack of off the field headlines to mean we are slipping.
I see OSU picked to fade. I see MSU getting what little love the press affords the Big Ten..and it seems just about everyone has forgotten about Braxton, Meyer, and the talent that is in place at Ohio State. There are even calls for PSU to beat us....has there really been a 7 TD swing between Columbus and Happy Valley?
Those folks have a reckoning coming.
Don't Talk. Act.
We have a new found luxury heading into this season. It isn't about tats and NCAA investigations. It isn't about a new head coach and replacing Tressel. It isn't about Urban moving in and turning the program back around. It isn't about off field nonsense. It's finally just about football again in Columbus. No talk..just work. No pressure to beat our drum or defend our own...just heads down, shoulder to the wheel and the playbook. It's one issue..one topic for discussion: improve. Beyond that..it's simply about the work. Nothing else to talk about.
Don't Say. Show.
E+R=O. I dig it. The events in front of this team are practice reps, new plays, new schemes and the battle for spots on the depth chart. The outcome will be determined by their reaction to FOOTBALL events..not by their reaction to press coverage and news items that are occurring outside the locker room and off the field. When many of the (E)vents the team is confronted with aren't about football...no matter how well we (R)eact..it is tough to make the (O)utcome about winning football games.
It's remarkable how well Urban and the team have done to translate the circus into wins. Certainly some of the events the team was processing were about football..but it has been years since they were ALL about football. Now we don't have to say anything about the NCAA, about our President's poor soundbites, about new coaches, about limitations and extreme expectations. Many are expecting OSU to fall into the Big Ten pack..assuming the conference is weak and it's flag bearer is finally giving in to that gravitational pull toward average.
But we don't tolerate average in Columbus. Nature hates a vacuum, Meyer hates average.
Only SEC teams can sustain quality, right? Surely OSU has had their time and can't stay good, right?
Wrong.
But no one is asking us this time around, the media trucks and hype wagons passed us by in search of comments from Bama, Florida State, Oregon, Auburn, Stanford..even MSU, UCLA and Oklahoma. We are a bit off the radar for the first time since...perhaps..2002.
It's been a bit of a zoo ever since Cie Grant forced that final errant pass in the desert. We don't have to answer those questions about the pressure to win them all or how hard will it be to take all comers seriously since we are so much better than everyone on our schedule. What about Mo C's eligibility? What about the NCAA? How hard is it to start the year ranked #1? Oh hai, NCAA again. Can you win them all? Did everyone pay for their cars? Can Fickell keep the wheels turning? Can Urban fix it? Will Hyde play?
For Ohio State this year it's not what we say...it's what we do, because no one is asking us to say a thing. And since there isn't a lot of talk coming from within or around the program right now..that tells me a lot of work is being done. We are focused on showing them Ohio is here, not stopping the work to take questions and tell them.
Don't Promise. Prove.
Surprise bitches....scoreboard!
Let's Ride.
