Buckeye Nation Are they College Football's Worst Fans?

The weekend weather continued in the nice vein, the slow slide to winter has begun, let us hope it stays on the slow path. As much as I enjoy the early days of fall, is offset by the usual 5 months of Ohio winter. On Saturday and Sunday football was on the menu, Saturday a 98 point JV game at Spencerville that was decided with 18 seconds left, the home team winning 52-46 over visiting Bluffton. Yesterday not so close, one of the Celina Rec League teams won its final regular season contest 41-0 over Arcanum. The Recreational League playoffs begin this coming weekend.

OSU slips past Wisconsin 20-17.....

I've been a long time Ohio State Buckeye fan(since about 1963), rooted for them even during the John Cooper era. Rooted for the Buckeyes, even while attending other Universities and Colleges. Cooper, hired after a quality career in Arizona, had a great overall record with Ohio State over a 13 year career. The problem for Chicken Coop(er) was...he couldn't beat hated Michigan(2-10-1 career record vs "The Team Up North"), plus his Big Ten championship record and bowl record left something to be desired. Seems Coop always manged to choke a bowl game, to Michigan, or both. Sure he won a Rose Bowl and a Sugar Bowl, but he never brought home the National Championship, and after all, after a win over Michigan, that is the most important thing. Add that to the fact that John Cooper recruited "thugs", not students. So it was a rebirth of Buckeye football when JC got the axe after the embarrassing lost to South Carolina and Lou Holtz in the Outback Bowl on 1/1/2001.

Ohio State turned to clean cut former assistant Jim Tressel, aka: "The Vest". He promised pride and wins over Michigan, he has delivered even more than that. In his first 7 seasons, Tressel has a 6-1 record over the Wolverines, a National Championship win, two Fiesta Bowl wins, including one over hated Notre Dame. Only fly in the ointment has been those 2 blowout losses to Florida and LSU in the 2 latest NC Title games....and that little ass kicking by Southern Cal earlier this season. Seems "The Vest" and his play calling were suspect, and his 6th year Senior QB was part of the problem, or if you would listen to the most rabid of Buckeye fans, Todd Boeckman was the problem. JT, never one to take the blame on himself, tossed the kid, who stuck with the program for 6 years, including a grey shirt and red shirt season, overboard in favor of the highly recruited phenom from Pennsylvania, one Terrelle Pryor. Forget the fact that the main problems for OSU have been an overrated defense and the early season injury to star running back Chris "Beanie" Wells.

After the USC loss, Pryor was put out in front of fans and media alike as the savior in a 6' 6" 225 lb frame...wins over Troy, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, despite less than stellar performances by Pryor, has fueled the fire of another late season National Title shot.....Let's Hope Not, we don't need another January dissapointment.

Pryor, they say, is another Vince Young. That may be, but let's not crown him the "King of the College Football World" just yet. Ohio State fans, for the most part, me and a few others notwithstanding, are among the most rabid, hate filled, in college football. They are an embarrassment to many. The booing of Boeckman when he returned to field for a couple of token snaps vs Troy is proof in point....and if you dare say anything about Pryor or the direction of the program, you are likely to be called names that I wouldn't even post on this blog. The thing that grates, is not so much the fact that Boeckman has been benched, its the way "The Vest" did it. A area kid that played by the rules, passed his courses, didn't open his big yap to or at the press, was given the boot by a coach, who didn't even confide in his own assistants. Pryor may indeed be what the Buckeyes need, a talented, but over hyped, loud mouth 19 year old, who may, but has yet to show much progress. He can open his pie hole complaining about ESPN and their talking heads, we will see if he can back up that mouth by defeating Penn State and Illinois, then maybe Michigan, if he hasn't had his head handed to him by then.....Guess I should be from Missouri, "Show Me Terrelle, just Show Me".

Yep, I still root for the Buckeyes, but their fans, their new found star, and their coach, all need a lesson in class and humility, so far they have shown none, Todd Boeckman has. In my opinion, both fans and coach are not doing the program or the State of Ohio any favors. Especially considering almost the entire state ties their fall weekends to the doings of Buckeye football in Columbus.

Tomorrow I will head to Waldo and Millwood, to do some genealogy research/photography....in the meantime, check out the Stock Market is down below 10,000 on early losses over 300 points....that bail out seems a little slow in the making.

Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>

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The former starting QB at Ohio State, Todd Boeckman...The New "Savior" Terrelle Pryor, and the Coach known as "The Vest", straight laced Jim Tressel.