1. I LOVE FOOTBALL.
We are into the 7th week of the season. At this point the good teams should be starting to separate from the pack. Teams that win, in general, can be expected to continue to win. Yet going into this week we had 11 undefeated teams in Div 1A - and the ten who played Saturday went 5-5. That's coin flip probability.
Also, I will admit to drinking a cup or two of the SEC kool aid myself - and would still argue they are the toughest conference around. But after yesterday they have no undefeated teams and only three one loss teams. Two of those teams are South Carolina and Kentucky who have yet to play Tennessee or Florida. And the third (LSU) still has to win out and play an SEC title match.
Overall teams in the top five have now lost seven times. Oh how the mighty are falling.
That said, watching LSU and Cal lose back-to-back may be the most fun I have had since they screwed up January 1st by moving bowl games to St Patrick's Day and Easter.
This is what makes CFB great.
Cal-OSU in particular was just a fun game to watch. One of the best goal line stands I have ever seen - at least by a team wearing uniforms from Goodwill - followed later by some of the most incompetent D on record. And then to watch the Cal QB throw it all away by doing something heroic - and inane. Baseball went a long time between the Merkle play and the Buckner boot. CFB does it almost every week.
And my hat is off to Kentucky. I absolutely did not believe they had the athletes to stay with LSU - but they sure had the heart.
There are so many dimensions to CFB. You don't come close to this in the NFL - or any other sport.
2. THE NEW NUMBER ONE!!!
Only one team in CFB has stayed undefeated and had the sort of signature wins to lay claim to the number one spot. But since the pollsters won't give it to South Florida I will gladly parade around in my Buckeye gear - one finger in the air - till the BCS tells me different. (Although if I had a vote I would still give it to a healthy LSU team.)
3. RADIO BROADCAST
I took my little FM radio to the game with me Saturday to keep up on scores and get the scoop on injuries. Turns out it was one of those games where the radio broadcast was a few seconds ahead. While it was nice to know what was coming I always find it a bit disconcerting when that happens.
4. DECEIVING STATS
At one point in the game OSU had 49 more total yards than Kent St - and 35 more points.
5. SCHEDULE IMPLOSION
While the SEC may look bad on paper, I can no longer defend the big ten as a conference. We have only one team with less than two losses - and if we win out there will almost certainly be no other big ten teams with fewer than three losses at the end of the regular season. While it is good to be the king, it would be nice to have some worthwhile subjects (when is the last time there was only one Big Ten team in the top 20?). Every team we have played so far lost this week except for Youngstown St and Northwestern (now 7-0 in Big Ten OT games). Illinois and Wisconsin exposed themselves and we now need the PSU and Michigan teams - who came into this week unranked - to keep winning for any bragging rights at all. Otherwise we best rename the Notre Dame SOS thread to avoid shame by comparison.
And it is a shame. We have a wonderful football team. To reuse an analogy, it is a well maintained, high horsepower Ferrari. Wouldn't it be nice to take it for a lap or two at LeMans? Or run it at Indy or Daytona? Instead, we are looking at residential streets and a few back roads.
Week after week I keep thinking how good it will be to see the Buckeyes step up to a challenge. And week after week I realize it won't be happening yet.
Not that the schedule isn't littered with landmines. And not that the game at Happy Valley shouldn't be circled and underscored. But IF we should lose I would rather it be a spin out on a hair pin turn - not a flat tire at a stop light
And if we do make it through those games unscathed we still can't look back the way South Florida can at their wins over Auburn and West Virginia. .
Nothing we can do about it. But if this is how it is going to be JT could have put together a Prius instead of a Ferrari and saved on gas.
6. SPEAKING OF FERRARIS
The more I watch the remarkable speed of this team the more I wonder how much is recruiting and how much is Butch Reynolds.
7. BIMBOS
Begin rant.
I don't recall her name, but the on-field-Bimbo in the LSU game asked Miles a question during the half that got a bit under his skin. Fine.
But a few minutes later one of the talking heads commented on her getting Miles riled up and then said "Good job Bimbo" (insert her actual name here) as though getting under the skin of the coach was her actual role.
If this is what TV is looking for - and I believe it is - then these women need to be standing on the sidelines with their knickers down and their hands around their ankles providing the service God intended instead of bothering men while they are trying to get some work done.
End rant.
8. JARVIS
I love to watch kids like this. Wish he could have played more to see if we could adjust better. He is just small enough and quick enough to keep people missing - mainly because they haven't seen anyone like him.
Makes me miss the old no limit scholarship days where we could afford to roll the dice on a mighty midget or two ourselves. But not every undersized player turns into a Garrett Wolfe and few can take the pounding of the big ten.
9. PLAY OF THE GAME
The record setting (time to retire my Robert Demmel jersey) 90 yard punt return.
But my favorite part wasn't Robiske (make that Hartline) - though he was awesome - but rather Gholston blocking the punter backwards from at least the 35 all the way into the end zone.
10. BRIAN ROLLE
If you aren't watching Brian Rolle it is time to start. I don't mean following what he does - I mean watching him from snap to whistle. If you look up "kids whose motors are always running" in the dictionary it is his picture you will see.* When you see a kid his size get a sack by grabbing the back of the QBs jersey and not letting go you know you have something special. Seven tackles - all in the last 24 minutes of the game.
It would have been fun to see him play when Jarvis was in. I think he would have been a good match for his quickness.
It took a long time, but maybe we landed Buster Davis after all.
*Actually, you will just find a definition of "kids" because the dictionary isn't organized that way. But if you Google "kids whose motors are always running" you can find these images:
http://www.echonyc.com/~ngraham/uploads/ClosetKids.jpg
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/v3/02-12-2006.nsl_12rawbeets.G221QD18P.1.jpg
- the first of which has nothing to do with Brian Rolle but it is kinda cute if you like kids. The second just has me scratching my head.
11. SHUT OUT?
A safety, a TD in trash time with 10 seconds left, and a bad punt because JT wanted to give a kid a live rep. Easily could have been three goose eggs.
Only one game where our opponent has scored more than seven points all year and even that because Willingham was playing like he was within seconds of winning the NC rather than getting blown out at home.
And for all these lame scores we still lead the nation in scoring D.
12. NACHO REPORT
Well, after three weeks the cheese bitch was sure happy to see me. Loaded both wells and just poured cheese everywhere. Then winked and said there was a little "something extra".
Halfway through my nachos I bite into a piece of paper. On it - amid the greasy yellow stains - is her phone number and a suggestion that we meet.
Let me tell you - this is not my style. I have been faithful to my wife for 20+ years.
Well except for the Bangor incident. And the Halifax hooker.
And of course, there is the "270 rule" (guys know this one - what happens outside 270 doesn't count).
And occasionally I bend that a little to make it the "Rt 665 over to Rt 3 and up to 104 rule". And in a pinch I might go with a three block radius of home.
But other than that I like to think of myself as being faithful. And I am not about to sacrifice that for a little extra cheese on my nachos (no euphemism intended).
So a big NO to any sort of rendezvous with the Cheese Bitch.
(Well, make that a qualified NO until I find out where she lives and if she falls under one of the existing exceptions.)
13. INJURY REPORT
I don't want to sound callous, and I hate to see a kid like Russell go down, but Amos came back yesterday. When healthy Andre was making a case as the #2 DB on this team (behind Jenkins). It is simply an example of the unprecedented depth we have on D.
(And yes, I know we are talking about safeties and corners - but if we can get away with playing Dustin Fox out of position for four years we can make this work too.)
And although things sound positive on Laurinaitis - and God forbid he misses some time - this D can survive his going out. Not the same Defense - but still perhaps the best in the nation. They are that good and that deep.
14. RUNNING BACKS
I am struggling, but still hanging on to my assertion that - when healthy - Beanie is the best RB on this team. But he is not the best weapon.
Saine played the sixth game of his college career yesterday and led the team in both rushing and receiving. And he only touched the ball once in the first half - and never ran behind the first team OL.
And BTW - this was the year OSU was going to ride Beanie's back because we were breaking in a new QB. Through 7 games Beanie is averaging less than 17 carries. Mo Wells - who considered a transfer due to lack of PT - is averaging over 10 carries and one reception per game. And after Christian carried the ball four times in the second half does anybody think Boom just might redshirt?
15. SPEAKING OF THE OL
We played the entire second half with the 2's. Granted, it was only Kent State. But I have stuck around for a lot of routs in my day and things always get very, very ugly when you start running in a full complement of second team big uglies. And those games are generally against the Kent States of the world.
It wasn't like that Saturday.
16. EARLY WORD FROM BBALL
I heard from an inside source that Matta is taking a few notes from JT's spread offense and will be running something he has dubbed "Basketball on Hardwood".
17. QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSEY REVISITED
Nothing made me happier than to see Schoenhoft put in a credible performance - Kent St or not.
And not to keep hammering on Boeckman, but a quick reminder to those who didn't see it that against Purdue he was instructed NOT to overthrow his long passes - putting responsibility for two of those interceptions in the hands of the receivers. Again this week I heard nearby fans grumbling about Boeckman throwing a jump ball on one of his few incompletions. If JTs wants to use his taller and more talented WRs to go after jump balls let's not hang that on Todd.
If we lose this year it may very well be because of the things that Todd Boeckman can't do. But this O is designed around the things he can do.
For those who aren't on board the Boeckman bandwagon as yet I challenge you to watch your next non-OSU game a little differently. Follow one of the teams as though they were the Buckeyes. Apply the same standard of perfection to their QB that you do to Boeckman. You will find that they all make you want to bounce a brick off the screen. They all make errors in judgment and throw the occasional pass that makes you ask how they ever got out of pee wee football. The QB of the number one team in the nation completed less than half his passes Saturday. And the QB of the team that could have been #1 made an error in judgment that is unthinkable on a JT coached team.
Judge Boeckman based on the role is being asked to play and you will find an exemplary QB. This is NOT the best offense in the world - so don't expect that. It IS the best Defense in the world and sometimes looks like the best special teams in the world.
The O is simply very good - as is Boeckman.
And what a shame Henton wasn't available to get a few of those reps.
18. RANT APOLOGIES
I apologize if I offended Sushi, Deety or any of the other ladies on the board with my earlier rant.
Truth is I don't think of you as women. I think of you as men with breasts.
Especially late at night - when I am having trouble falling asleep.
We are into the 7th week of the season. At this point the good teams should be starting to separate from the pack. Teams that win, in general, can be expected to continue to win. Yet going into this week we had 11 undefeated teams in Div 1A - and the ten who played Saturday went 5-5. That's coin flip probability.
Also, I will admit to drinking a cup or two of the SEC kool aid myself - and would still argue they are the toughest conference around. But after yesterday they have no undefeated teams and only three one loss teams. Two of those teams are South Carolina and Kentucky who have yet to play Tennessee or Florida. And the third (LSU) still has to win out and play an SEC title match.
Overall teams in the top five have now lost seven times. Oh how the mighty are falling.
That said, watching LSU and Cal lose back-to-back may be the most fun I have had since they screwed up January 1st by moving bowl games to St Patrick's Day and Easter.
This is what makes CFB great.
Cal-OSU in particular was just a fun game to watch. One of the best goal line stands I have ever seen - at least by a team wearing uniforms from Goodwill - followed later by some of the most incompetent D on record. And then to watch the Cal QB throw it all away by doing something heroic - and inane. Baseball went a long time between the Merkle play and the Buckner boot. CFB does it almost every week.
And my hat is off to Kentucky. I absolutely did not believe they had the athletes to stay with LSU - but they sure had the heart.
There are so many dimensions to CFB. You don't come close to this in the NFL - or any other sport.
2. THE NEW NUMBER ONE!!!
Only one team in CFB has stayed undefeated and had the sort of signature wins to lay claim to the number one spot. But since the pollsters won't give it to South Florida I will gladly parade around in my Buckeye gear - one finger in the air - till the BCS tells me different. (Although if I had a vote I would still give it to a healthy LSU team.)
3. RADIO BROADCAST
I took my little FM radio to the game with me Saturday to keep up on scores and get the scoop on injuries. Turns out it was one of those games where the radio broadcast was a few seconds ahead. While it was nice to know what was coming I always find it a bit disconcerting when that happens.
4. DECEIVING STATS
At one point in the game OSU had 49 more total yards than Kent St - and 35 more points.
5. SCHEDULE IMPLOSION
While the SEC may look bad on paper, I can no longer defend the big ten as a conference. We have only one team with less than two losses - and if we win out there will almost certainly be no other big ten teams with fewer than three losses at the end of the regular season. While it is good to be the king, it would be nice to have some worthwhile subjects (when is the last time there was only one Big Ten team in the top 20?). Every team we have played so far lost this week except for Youngstown St and Northwestern (now 7-0 in Big Ten OT games). Illinois and Wisconsin exposed themselves and we now need the PSU and Michigan teams - who came into this week unranked - to keep winning for any bragging rights at all. Otherwise we best rename the Notre Dame SOS thread to avoid shame by comparison.
And it is a shame. We have a wonderful football team. To reuse an analogy, it is a well maintained, high horsepower Ferrari. Wouldn't it be nice to take it for a lap or two at LeMans? Or run it at Indy or Daytona? Instead, we are looking at residential streets and a few back roads.
Week after week I keep thinking how good it will be to see the Buckeyes step up to a challenge. And week after week I realize it won't be happening yet.
Not that the schedule isn't littered with landmines. And not that the game at Happy Valley shouldn't be circled and underscored. But IF we should lose I would rather it be a spin out on a hair pin turn - not a flat tire at a stop light
And if we do make it through those games unscathed we still can't look back the way South Florida can at their wins over Auburn and West Virginia. .
Nothing we can do about it. But if this is how it is going to be JT could have put together a Prius instead of a Ferrari and saved on gas.
6. SPEAKING OF FERRARIS
The more I watch the remarkable speed of this team the more I wonder how much is recruiting and how much is Butch Reynolds.
7. BIMBOS
Begin rant.
I don't recall her name, but the on-field-Bimbo in the LSU game asked Miles a question during the half that got a bit under his skin. Fine.
But a few minutes later one of the talking heads commented on her getting Miles riled up and then said "Good job Bimbo" (insert her actual name here) as though getting under the skin of the coach was her actual role.
If this is what TV is looking for - and I believe it is - then these women need to be standing on the sidelines with their knickers down and their hands around their ankles providing the service God intended instead of bothering men while they are trying to get some work done.
End rant.
8. JARVIS
I love to watch kids like this. Wish he could have played more to see if we could adjust better. He is just small enough and quick enough to keep people missing - mainly because they haven't seen anyone like him.
Makes me miss the old no limit scholarship days where we could afford to roll the dice on a mighty midget or two ourselves. But not every undersized player turns into a Garrett Wolfe and few can take the pounding of the big ten.
9. PLAY OF THE GAME
The record setting (time to retire my Robert Demmel jersey) 90 yard punt return.
But my favorite part wasn't Robiske (make that Hartline) - though he was awesome - but rather Gholston blocking the punter backwards from at least the 35 all the way into the end zone.
10. BRIAN ROLLE
If you aren't watching Brian Rolle it is time to start. I don't mean following what he does - I mean watching him from snap to whistle. If you look up "kids whose motors are always running" in the dictionary it is his picture you will see.* When you see a kid his size get a sack by grabbing the back of the QBs jersey and not letting go you know you have something special. Seven tackles - all in the last 24 minutes of the game.
It would have been fun to see him play when Jarvis was in. I think he would have been a good match for his quickness.
It took a long time, but maybe we landed Buster Davis after all.
*Actually, you will just find a definition of "kids" because the dictionary isn't organized that way. But if you Google "kids whose motors are always running" you can find these images:
http://www.echonyc.com/~ngraham/uploads/ClosetKids.jpg
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/v3/02-12-2006.nsl_12rawbeets.G221QD18P.1.jpg
- the first of which has nothing to do with Brian Rolle but it is kinda cute if you like kids. The second just has me scratching my head.
11. SHUT OUT?
A safety, a TD in trash time with 10 seconds left, and a bad punt because JT wanted to give a kid a live rep. Easily could have been three goose eggs.
Only one game where our opponent has scored more than seven points all year and even that because Willingham was playing like he was within seconds of winning the NC rather than getting blown out at home.
And for all these lame scores we still lead the nation in scoring D.
12. NACHO REPORT
Well, after three weeks the cheese bitch was sure happy to see me. Loaded both wells and just poured cheese everywhere. Then winked and said there was a little "something extra".
Halfway through my nachos I bite into a piece of paper. On it - amid the greasy yellow stains - is her phone number and a suggestion that we meet.
Let me tell you - this is not my style. I have been faithful to my wife for 20+ years.
Well except for the Bangor incident. And the Halifax hooker.
And of course, there is the "270 rule" (guys know this one - what happens outside 270 doesn't count).
And occasionally I bend that a little to make it the "Rt 665 over to Rt 3 and up to 104 rule". And in a pinch I might go with a three block radius of home.
But other than that I like to think of myself as being faithful. And I am not about to sacrifice that for a little extra cheese on my nachos (no euphemism intended).
So a big NO to any sort of rendezvous with the Cheese Bitch.
(Well, make that a qualified NO until I find out where she lives and if she falls under one of the existing exceptions.)
13. INJURY REPORT
I don't want to sound callous, and I hate to see a kid like Russell go down, but Amos came back yesterday. When healthy Andre was making a case as the #2 DB on this team (behind Jenkins). It is simply an example of the unprecedented depth we have on D.
(And yes, I know we are talking about safeties and corners - but if we can get away with playing Dustin Fox out of position for four years we can make this work too.)
And although things sound positive on Laurinaitis - and God forbid he misses some time - this D can survive his going out. Not the same Defense - but still perhaps the best in the nation. They are that good and that deep.
14. RUNNING BACKS
I am struggling, but still hanging on to my assertion that - when healthy - Beanie is the best RB on this team. But he is not the best weapon.
Saine played the sixth game of his college career yesterday and led the team in both rushing and receiving. And he only touched the ball once in the first half - and never ran behind the first team OL.
And BTW - this was the year OSU was going to ride Beanie's back because we were breaking in a new QB. Through 7 games Beanie is averaging less than 17 carries. Mo Wells - who considered a transfer due to lack of PT - is averaging over 10 carries and one reception per game. And after Christian carried the ball four times in the second half does anybody think Boom just might redshirt?
15. SPEAKING OF THE OL
We played the entire second half with the 2's. Granted, it was only Kent State. But I have stuck around for a lot of routs in my day and things always get very, very ugly when you start running in a full complement of second team big uglies. And those games are generally against the Kent States of the world.
It wasn't like that Saturday.
16. EARLY WORD FROM BBALL
I heard from an inside source that Matta is taking a few notes from JT's spread offense and will be running something he has dubbed "Basketball on Hardwood".
17. QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSEY REVISITED
Nothing made me happier than to see Schoenhoft put in a credible performance - Kent St or not.
And not to keep hammering on Boeckman, but a quick reminder to those who didn't see it that against Purdue he was instructed NOT to overthrow his long passes - putting responsibility for two of those interceptions in the hands of the receivers. Again this week I heard nearby fans grumbling about Boeckman throwing a jump ball on one of his few incompletions. If JTs wants to use his taller and more talented WRs to go after jump balls let's not hang that on Todd.
If we lose this year it may very well be because of the things that Todd Boeckman can't do. But this O is designed around the things he can do.
For those who aren't on board the Boeckman bandwagon as yet I challenge you to watch your next non-OSU game a little differently. Follow one of the teams as though they were the Buckeyes. Apply the same standard of perfection to their QB that you do to Boeckman. You will find that they all make you want to bounce a brick off the screen. They all make errors in judgment and throw the occasional pass that makes you ask how they ever got out of pee wee football. The QB of the number one team in the nation completed less than half his passes Saturday. And the QB of the team that could have been #1 made an error in judgment that is unthinkable on a JT coached team.
Judge Boeckman based on the role is being asked to play and you will find an exemplary QB. This is NOT the best offense in the world - so don't expect that. It IS the best Defense in the world and sometimes looks like the best special teams in the world.
The O is simply very good - as is Boeckman.
And what a shame Henton wasn't available to get a few of those reps.
18. RANT APOLOGIES
I apologize if I offended Sushi, Deety or any of the other ladies on the board with my earlier rant.
Truth is I don't think of you as women. I think of you as men with breasts.
Especially late at night - when I am having trouble falling asleep.
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