(Note: If you really want to read anything about the BG game save yourself some time and skip this thread.)
TRESSEL ADORATION
It is as close to a bye week as we are going to see this year so I thought I would devote a portion of this week's thread to worshipping JT. (Besides, I didn't really watch this weeks game closely enough to have any meaningful observations - if I ever do.)
We love you JT.
We love the new turf upon which you walk. We adore the lint that falls from your sweater vest. We sit in awe of the paper upon which your game plans are drawn. We revel in the fair and impartial discipline which you distill. We are stunned by the brilliance of your recruiting selections. We swoon at your press conference quips. We idolize your every substitution. We are amazed at the team GPA.
Thank you for this team and its players. Thank you for the new uniforms - whether they have gray in them or not. (Who are we to say?) Thank you for the renovated WHAC and the larger stadium. Thank you for getting rid of the "Dot Race".
Thank you for choosing to coach at Ohio State. We really did want you more than Mason. We wanted you more than Stoops. And yes, we even wanted you more than Bellotti. This is true even though almost none of us had any idea who you were at the time.
We love you by day and we love you by night. We love you when you lie down and we love you when you rise up. We love you when you go out and we love you when you come in.
These are the good old days.
TODAYS MATH QUIZ
Assume that the Yankees write a check to A-Rod for 88% of next years salary. How much will the Yankees have then paid in payroll expenses since 2000 when they last won a World Series?
A SAULTE TO TECHNOLOGY
This is the first time I have watched an OSU game this season that was not in person or on HD. If you do not yet have HD quit reading this message board and go to Circuit City or Best Buy and buy one right now!
I am totally spoiled. I missed watching the secondary and I missed second guessing the refs. And I miss rating the bikini waxes on the cheerleaders. I gotta have my HD. I can't go back.
But I also like PIP. When you have the Yankees losing, Texas thumping the Okies and Florida playing LSU all at the same time you can't get by without a big screen and PIP. So hopefully you didn't quit reading when I suggested above that you do so. I would hate to see you come back with an HDTV that didn't have a good PIP.
And a DVR. You gotta have a DVR. You can't watch all this at once can you? Instead of switching between two games I record one and watch the other for about 20 minutes. Then I start recording that game and go catch up on the first one. When I am caught up there I start a new recording at that point and go back to the second game, and so on?. With timeouts and half time you can watch both games without missing a play and be done in real time.
I love technology so much I hardly miss having a real life.
I love technology and I love HD and I love PIP and I love DVRs - but not as much as I love JT. (In fact, if Al Gore hadn't invented HD I am sure JT would have.)
And to think I was born when everything was black and white (OK, it still is if you are a conservative).
"TODAY WAS WORTHWHILE, BUT NOT WONDERFUL"
This quote from JT about sums it up. After all, who could have said it better? (I love the way the emanations from his vocal chords vibrate the fluids in my cochlea.)
When I see folks like Patterson, Barton and Smith hobbling around I would almost rather have recorded 3 hours of "bye week" on my DVR so I could later watch it on my big screen HDTV in PIP side by side with Disparate Housewives.
I expected us to go back to basics. I expected us to focus on making our ground game work and making the other guy's ground game not work.
I didn't expect our running backs to be held under 100 yards. I didn't expect to start three drives in BG territory and only score on one of them. I didn't expect BG to run for 179 yards. I didn't expect BG to put together an eight and a half minute TD drive in the second half when they were supposed to have already packed their tent. I didn't expect Troy to be pressured despite our OL being called for three holding penalties and I certainly didn't expect two sacks. Nor did I expect Zwick to make me add a little prayer for Troy's health to my nightly ritual (an uncomfortable act to say the least for a reluctant nihilist).
All that said - ho hum. My heart certainly wasn't in it. The crowd wasn't in it. Don't know why we should expect the players to be any different - not that they were all that bad by any means. It just wasn't the butt kicking I was looking forward to recording on my DVR.
But this was a glorious game. It was the sixth game in a 12 game run for the NC. It was one more segment of a season to remember. It was what it was - and it was a win.
TRESSEL IS A LIAR
He can say all he wants about "One game at a time" and treating each opponent the same, but I am not buying it.
I am one of the many semi-literate football fans on this site. I don't know football like Grad and his cronies. But here is how I imagine things work.
They studied film and talked about what BG would be doing. But they went about addressing what BG did in a way that will help them down the road. Compromises were made. They cheated and when asked - they lied. They looked ahead. Specifically, they looked ahead to November 18th.
And in so doing one of the most fascinating parts of the season is ongoing and we don't get to see it. JT is carrying on a conversation with Ron English via game film. English is looking for tendencies and JT is trying to keep him from getting what he wants. JT wants to put things on film that he will not use on November 18th - or that he will use, but in a different way. Maybe a changed blocking assignment or a different rout run by a secondary receiver. (It doesn't always have to be something as dramatic as running your first option play of the season.) He will be thinking about how English and the Michigan D will defense the things OSU does on Offense and devising schemes that will exploit those moves. Of course, Michigan will be playing the same game, but they can't really play until they finish with PSU and Iowa.
This is all semi-transparent to the players. Their job is to execute what they are asked to execute. If it gets them ready for IU, great. If it is really getting them ready for someone down the road when they will be able to run over IU no matter what they do - all the better.
Of course, coaches do this every week. But generally it starts on Sunday and has to be done a day or so later. We will be stealing time every week until the week of THE game.
It is as close to chess as you are going to get without fondling a bishop.
INJURIES
Sounds like Barton and Patterson will be back in good time. Knock on wood we have been very lucky in that area. Russell was a hit - but he wasn't as critical to OSU as a Michael Bush or a Mario Manningham (admit it, you hope he recovers, but not anytime real soon).
I can only attribute our lack of injuries to good fortune and the aura which surrounds our beloved coach.
PETEY VERSUS JT
I watched the end of the USC-Washington game (anybody seeing anything the least bit scary about USC so far this year?). On Washington's final drive Petey had his boys on the side line and was really getting after them. Jumping up and down, screaming in faces, trying to motivate them with his emotion.
Can you even imagine something like that from Jim Tressel? His entire system is about players growing as they pass through the OSU program and part of that growth is learning to motivate yourself from within. If you need a coach screaming at you in the fourth quarter his system has failed.
OK, I have admitted a slight fondness for JT and I often look at the world through scarlet glasses. But I think this is true and I think it is a measurable advantage over coaches like Petey.
TOPSY TURVY STATS
Maybe I am confused. I thought OSU was the team that had to find a way to replace nine starters on Defense and was bringing back a high powered Offense - an offense that scored over 40 points in each of four straight games last year.
But six games in we are the #1 scoring Defense in the country - allowing almost seven points per game LESS than last years D (the one with all the first round draft picks). And our Offense has yet to crack the 40 point mark - even at home against two MAC schools and Cincy.
(And please don't destroy my argument by pointing out that we haven't had to face Robinson and Young at QB and that with the new and improved clock management rules the BG game was a full 18 plays shorter than the Miami game last season.)
ANSWER TO TODAYS MATH QUIZ
One Billion Dollars. Say it with me. One BILLION dollars.
The Yankees have spent one billion dollars trying to win the World Series and they don't even realize that the players don't care. Johnny Damon wasn't lying when he told everyone he loved the Red Sox and hated the Yankees. But he didn't go to New York to win the World Series for the Yankees. He went for the money. Just ask A-Rod. He knows how it is.
I know, it's not football, but I still love it.
But not one billionth as much as I love JT.
TRESSEL ADORATION
It is as close to a bye week as we are going to see this year so I thought I would devote a portion of this week's thread to worshipping JT. (Besides, I didn't really watch this weeks game closely enough to have any meaningful observations - if I ever do.)
We love you JT.
We love the new turf upon which you walk. We adore the lint that falls from your sweater vest. We sit in awe of the paper upon which your game plans are drawn. We revel in the fair and impartial discipline which you distill. We are stunned by the brilliance of your recruiting selections. We swoon at your press conference quips. We idolize your every substitution. We are amazed at the team GPA.
Thank you for this team and its players. Thank you for the new uniforms - whether they have gray in them or not. (Who are we to say?) Thank you for the renovated WHAC and the larger stadium. Thank you for getting rid of the "Dot Race".
Thank you for choosing to coach at Ohio State. We really did want you more than Mason. We wanted you more than Stoops. And yes, we even wanted you more than Bellotti. This is true even though almost none of us had any idea who you were at the time.
We love you by day and we love you by night. We love you when you lie down and we love you when you rise up. We love you when you go out and we love you when you come in.
These are the good old days.
TODAYS MATH QUIZ
Assume that the Yankees write a check to A-Rod for 88% of next years salary. How much will the Yankees have then paid in payroll expenses since 2000 when they last won a World Series?
A SAULTE TO TECHNOLOGY
This is the first time I have watched an OSU game this season that was not in person or on HD. If you do not yet have HD quit reading this message board and go to Circuit City or Best Buy and buy one right now!
I am totally spoiled. I missed watching the secondary and I missed second guessing the refs. And I miss rating the bikini waxes on the cheerleaders. I gotta have my HD. I can't go back.
But I also like PIP. When you have the Yankees losing, Texas thumping the Okies and Florida playing LSU all at the same time you can't get by without a big screen and PIP. So hopefully you didn't quit reading when I suggested above that you do so. I would hate to see you come back with an HDTV that didn't have a good PIP.
And a DVR. You gotta have a DVR. You can't watch all this at once can you? Instead of switching between two games I record one and watch the other for about 20 minutes. Then I start recording that game and go catch up on the first one. When I am caught up there I start a new recording at that point and go back to the second game, and so on?. With timeouts and half time you can watch both games without missing a play and be done in real time.
I love technology so much I hardly miss having a real life.
I love technology and I love HD and I love PIP and I love DVRs - but not as much as I love JT. (In fact, if Al Gore hadn't invented HD I am sure JT would have.)
And to think I was born when everything was black and white (OK, it still is if you are a conservative).
"TODAY WAS WORTHWHILE, BUT NOT WONDERFUL"
This quote from JT about sums it up. After all, who could have said it better? (I love the way the emanations from his vocal chords vibrate the fluids in my cochlea.)
When I see folks like Patterson, Barton and Smith hobbling around I would almost rather have recorded 3 hours of "bye week" on my DVR so I could later watch it on my big screen HDTV in PIP side by side with Disparate Housewives.
I expected us to go back to basics. I expected us to focus on making our ground game work and making the other guy's ground game not work.
I didn't expect our running backs to be held under 100 yards. I didn't expect to start three drives in BG territory and only score on one of them. I didn't expect BG to run for 179 yards. I didn't expect BG to put together an eight and a half minute TD drive in the second half when they were supposed to have already packed their tent. I didn't expect Troy to be pressured despite our OL being called for three holding penalties and I certainly didn't expect two sacks. Nor did I expect Zwick to make me add a little prayer for Troy's health to my nightly ritual (an uncomfortable act to say the least for a reluctant nihilist).
All that said - ho hum. My heart certainly wasn't in it. The crowd wasn't in it. Don't know why we should expect the players to be any different - not that they were all that bad by any means. It just wasn't the butt kicking I was looking forward to recording on my DVR.
But this was a glorious game. It was the sixth game in a 12 game run for the NC. It was one more segment of a season to remember. It was what it was - and it was a win.
TRESSEL IS A LIAR
He can say all he wants about "One game at a time" and treating each opponent the same, but I am not buying it.
I am one of the many semi-literate football fans on this site. I don't know football like Grad and his cronies. But here is how I imagine things work.
They studied film and talked about what BG would be doing. But they went about addressing what BG did in a way that will help them down the road. Compromises were made. They cheated and when asked - they lied. They looked ahead. Specifically, they looked ahead to November 18th.
And in so doing one of the most fascinating parts of the season is ongoing and we don't get to see it. JT is carrying on a conversation with Ron English via game film. English is looking for tendencies and JT is trying to keep him from getting what he wants. JT wants to put things on film that he will not use on November 18th - or that he will use, but in a different way. Maybe a changed blocking assignment or a different rout run by a secondary receiver. (It doesn't always have to be something as dramatic as running your first option play of the season.) He will be thinking about how English and the Michigan D will defense the things OSU does on Offense and devising schemes that will exploit those moves. Of course, Michigan will be playing the same game, but they can't really play until they finish with PSU and Iowa.
This is all semi-transparent to the players. Their job is to execute what they are asked to execute. If it gets them ready for IU, great. If it is really getting them ready for someone down the road when they will be able to run over IU no matter what they do - all the better.
Of course, coaches do this every week. But generally it starts on Sunday and has to be done a day or so later. We will be stealing time every week until the week of THE game.
It is as close to chess as you are going to get without fondling a bishop.
INJURIES
Sounds like Barton and Patterson will be back in good time. Knock on wood we have been very lucky in that area. Russell was a hit - but he wasn't as critical to OSU as a Michael Bush or a Mario Manningham (admit it, you hope he recovers, but not anytime real soon).
I can only attribute our lack of injuries to good fortune and the aura which surrounds our beloved coach.
PETEY VERSUS JT
I watched the end of the USC-Washington game (anybody seeing anything the least bit scary about USC so far this year?). On Washington's final drive Petey had his boys on the side line and was really getting after them. Jumping up and down, screaming in faces, trying to motivate them with his emotion.
Can you even imagine something like that from Jim Tressel? His entire system is about players growing as they pass through the OSU program and part of that growth is learning to motivate yourself from within. If you need a coach screaming at you in the fourth quarter his system has failed.
OK, I have admitted a slight fondness for JT and I often look at the world through scarlet glasses. But I think this is true and I think it is a measurable advantage over coaches like Petey.
TOPSY TURVY STATS
Maybe I am confused. I thought OSU was the team that had to find a way to replace nine starters on Defense and was bringing back a high powered Offense - an offense that scored over 40 points in each of four straight games last year.
But six games in we are the #1 scoring Defense in the country - allowing almost seven points per game LESS than last years D (the one with all the first round draft picks). And our Offense has yet to crack the 40 point mark - even at home against two MAC schools and Cincy.
(And please don't destroy my argument by pointing out that we haven't had to face Robinson and Young at QB and that with the new and improved clock management rules the BG game was a full 18 plays shorter than the Miami game last season.)
ANSWER TO TODAYS MATH QUIZ
One Billion Dollars. Say it with me. One BILLION dollars.
The Yankees have spent one billion dollars trying to win the World Series and they don't even realize that the players don't care. Johnny Damon wasn't lying when he told everyone he loved the Red Sox and hated the Yankees. But he didn't go to New York to win the World Series for the Yankees. He went for the money. Just ask A-Rod. He knows how it is.
I know, it's not football, but I still love it.
But not one billionth as much as I love JT.
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