Posts Tagged Buckeyes

Big 10 expansion — why stop at 12?

Dec 16

Posted by john in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Blogs and tweets galore today about Big 10 expansion — the discussion all centering on who should be the 12th team, particularly if not ND?

I’m not in love with the idea of expansion, but if it is going to happen…it is all about money. If ND won’t join in, no single other school will make a real contribution to TV viewership. So why stop at 12 teams? Pick up 3 or 5 and really increase TV footprint. Again assuming ND won’t play:
  • If 3, go after Rutgers, BC, Syracuse. Good schools, pick up major East Coast interest. BC can’t be that committed to the ACC. Syracuse is a great bball program and can be a great football program. Rutgers is the weakest but the potential TV market is huge. And this expansion would be big big news and would drive interest.
  • If 5, add in Pitt for sure. Not thrilled about WVU as the last add, no population base for TV or recruiting. What about UConn?
These would be dramatic moves but if the Big10 wants to grab the spotlight again, a one team expansion of someone besides ND is just not going to do it. It is a “me too” move and pretty boring. OK two more crazy ideas, but in the vein of “let’s get the spotlight of football back on the Big 1o”:
  • A 2 weekend playoff at end of season. Trim off one game from 12-game schedule, have two play-in games from the top 4 teams. Pair up everyone else in seed order for a final 12th game.
  • Heck with eastern expansion, merge with the Pac-10. The Pac-10 tv offering sucks, the BTEN network could pick up all the Pac-10 content and Pac-10 footprint.
Point being, if you can’t get ND, don’t screw around with half-measures. Go big or go home.

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Rose Bowl Tickets confirmed

Dec 9

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Hurray, got the mail from the ticket office today, we’ll be there. Not like it was hard to get them — apparently the alums didn’t snap up all the tix as there will be a public sale.

As Rose Bowl prep, some reading:

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Great Buckeye season but screwed on awards

Nov 24

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All Big 10 honors announced — only 2 Bucks on first team, Tressel passed over yet again for coach of the year. What does the guy have to do?

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Another great Buckeye season

Nov 23

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While this weekend’s victory over Michigan was not one for the ages, it does cap another great Buckeye season. Undisputed Big10 champs, 5 straight Big10 titles, Rose Bowl trip, 5th straight BCS bowl, 6th straight victory over Michigan, undefeated November including wins over other title contenders. It is a good era to be a Buckeye fan. Tresselball is alive and well despite opinions to the contrary — I am very happy winning games with a tough defense, special teams play (tho this has not been as strong this year), and mistake-free offense. Some writers want to see a lot of “style” points, but that is not football. If you value style points, go watch ice dancing or diving — fine sports, nothing wrong with them. I don’t watch football for style points.

The throwback unis looked good and it is super to commemorate the ‘54 team — congrats Dad.

For Michigan, wow, another terrible season. The fan base is failing as well — the amount of scarlet in the Big House was astounding. Real Michigan fans are pissed about.  For the sake of the rivalry, I hope that Michigan starts to be relevant and credible again. I admit to having the thought that, if there was any year in which the pain of losing to Michigan would be small, this might have been it, and it would have been good for the rivalry. The wolverines weren’t up to it.

Also watched a lot of PAC 10 action. With USC caught up in its own undershorts, the Pac-10 is a mess. Stanford opted out this weekend. Arizona opted out. Oregon-Oregon State for all the marbles? When has that ever been the case in the past? The collapse of USC is like the death of Tito, with the Pac-10 fracturing like Yugoslavia into a bunch of warring factions, none dominant.

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Your Iowa Pre-reading

Nov 12

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Still enjoying afterglow of OSU’s win

Nov 8

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I could take the high road here and talk about the great character of the Ohio State team or the great athleticism they displayed…

…but it is way more fun to enjoy the misery of the PSU crowd –
  • teeth gnashing over at Black Shoe Diaries — “Sifting through the rubble this morning, and nothing has changed. Yesterday’s game was an absolute owning of the home team — coaches, players, fans, offense, defense, special teams — from beginning to end.”
  • declaring the season a total loss over at CentreDaily — “It probably took Ohio State’s Cameron Heyward, who had both Buckeye sacks, an extra 15 minutes in the showers to wash off the chunks of Clark left on his body from Saturday’s game.”
This victory and our enjoyment of it will sow years of hatred for OSU in the PSU fanbase, which is of course one of the great things about college football.

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Perfect Day Pictures

Nov 7

Posted by john in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Nice collection of pictures summarizing the day at Buckeye Battle Cry. And USC wins tonight so that is good as well. Nice to see the Buckeyes play well in an important game, good to start getting that monkey off their back.

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I don't get the USC community analysis of the UW loss

Sep 20

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Here’s a typical blog posting from the USC community. Whacking on Corp for Saturday’s loss. All the blogs repeat this theme as do the press like the OC Register. And I saw quotes from Pete basically throwing Corp under the bus.

Seems to me tho that Corp was no better or worse than Barkley before him. When you change QBs and results are the same, perhaps it is the other variables — receivers or coaching. And as I watched the game, the poor ball handling by Havili and McKnight, who both gave up unforced fumbles to kill scoring drives, seemed like the greater issue.

Of course as a Buckeye fan, this all just reaggravates the wound.

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Post USC loss reading

Sep 14

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It was a great great game and I enjoyed the evening thoroughly up til the last minute. And man our team played hard and the fans gave it their all, so proud to be a part of the community. But I sure hope Tressel is learning from this and getting better, as he often talks about his teams needing to do.

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Great things about Central Ohio

Sep 14

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  • L&P Cake and Candy Shoppe. Seriously maybe the best frosted sugar cookie ever.
  • Crum Strawberry Farm. After eating their strawberries, I resolve to never buy grocery story strawberries again.
  • The entire scene Saturday night at the Horseshoe. The tailgating, the friends and family, the stadium, the game. Tough ending but what a night. I thought last year’s Penn State game was the craziest ever but this was over the top. We sat down for maybe 5 minutes the entire game, the south stands were hopping all night long

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