I got up this early this morning to get the turkey and fixings in the oven (I learned many years ago that if I didn't want turkey jerky on Thanksgiving, someone beside my wife was going to need to cook it). After finishing the 1st wave of tasks, I looked outside to see an overcast day that allows me at least in my mind to think is 35 degrees with a brisk wind, just like the many Thanksgivings I spent in Columbus (if I can block out the Palm tress). I have some time before starting the second wave of task, so I decide to check the Buckeye blogs and I can only say
What the hell is wrong with some of you? Your expecting a 20 point loss to TTUN? In the Shoe?
I try not to be a blind homer as much as possible. I like to bring reason to the discussion. So for those of you that seem to have misplaced your any depressants, consider the following.
1) Our head coach is still Urban Meyer. Yes, I know he has headaches. But for his career he is 23-3 in rivalry games (and no that doesn't not include games against Penn State because they are NOT OUR RIVAL). If anyone knows how to get a team up for 1 game it's Urban.
2) We still are more talented overall then TTUN. I agree we haven't played like it, but refer to point 1 above.
3) 2 of TTUN's best defensive players are injured. WOTS is the Winowich has bruised ribs. If you ever had bruised ribs, breathing can be painful. Contact would be agony. Even if he plays he will not be as effective. Lost in all this is Gray has been playing with a bum shoulder. I watched him in the Indiana game. You could tell it was bothering him and while still good, he is not as disruptive as normal.
4) TTUN's has not faced a passing attack that is even close to OSU's. When they played ND, Wimbush was the QB and he was awful.
5) TTUN has been a different team on the road. They needed a 99 yard kickoff return for a TD to be in the game at ND. They barely beat Northwestern. They did beat MSU, but MSU was dealing with massive injuries on offense (worse then when we faced them). And Rutgers is so bad it isn't even a data point. If the home crowd brings their A game Saturday, it could be a difference maker.
6) The offenses that really give our defense problems are the ones with lots of pre snap movement. That is not TTUN's offense. This TTUN team is a more grind it out running team. They may may try to move over a tackle to go unbalanced, but we seen that before.
7) The pressure is all on TTUN. For the first time in 18 years everybody (and I mean everybody) expects them to win.
So please stop all the angst and go into the game knowing if we come out with the win, it will be so soul crushing that we will be one step closer to TTUN quitting the game, forever.
Fuck Xichigan
I un-liked this so I could like it twice
#7 is of special import imo. It could absolutely be their undoing in this game.
I would also submit;
8) They are making guarantees and handing out free tickets to the Big Ten Championship game up in AA. They haven't won anything in a decade and a half and are acting as though this is over before it's even played. Their entitlement and arrogance being shown full frontal if it's ever been shown at all.
I call this one out because it speaks to why, as a reasonably sane adult, I get so into Buckeye football;
It has nothing to do with the results of games validating my existence. My family, the work I do for my organization and the work I do in my community accomplish that for me.
I stay away from using "we" when discussing the Ohio State football team but when it comes to the eternal struggle with tsun, the eternal struggle between good and evil, the eternal struggle between the positive values I was taught as a youth and the wanton arrogance and entitlement I was taught to revile, then I feel absolutely justified in using "we" because The Ohio State University is the school that represents where I am from. What I was taught. Who I am and, more importantly, the people who raised and taught me. It doesn't matter if you went to school at OSU, if you were born in Ohio or have become a fan through marriage or some other circumstance. We are all Buckeyes.
So, when I see these bastards flaunt their arrogance they are disrespecting the state of Ohio, The Ohio State University, my family, my ancestors and my heritage. It isn't about what happens on a football field, this is about the fields our families worked in the boiling heat and freezing cold to put food on their own table and many others. Those fields are where they taught us a work ethic and right from wrong. Be humble, work hard, serve others.
Those fields of the past are where I picture some arrogant, entitled punk from the "Harvard of the West" spitting on my ancestor because they were born into more wealth. Be an entitled douche, do nothing, the world is here to serve you.
I, for one, shall be damned if I ever let that happen without a fight. I don't care if the sports teams at Ohio State lose 1000 times in a row. I will never give up the fight. If you love The Ohio State University for the same reasons, if you know it or not, these bastards are doing the same to you.
So then, the question becomes are you going to join the fight or are you going to sit there with your arms crossed in the corner pouting and bitching about the things that aren't perfect?
If it's the former, then show up and cheer your lungs out. Watch it from wherever you can and do the same. Don't quit if it goes against the team for stretches of the game. Stay in it, cheer them and give them every ounce of positive energy you have until the end. If you choose the latter then I pity you but I don't have time for you.
Go Bucks!!
Fuck *ichigan!