Buckeye Madness
To paraphrase our president: If Brutus Buckeye shot https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3b/ed/5d/3bed5dbfe98ea75d5b08b93308ba9879.gif
someone on Fifth Avenue, I would still be an Ohio State football fan.
In my case, however, love is not blind.
Not quite, anyway.
As a kid, I picked out teams from each region of the country as my football favorites: USC in the Far West, UNM in the Rockies, Texas in the Southwest, Georgia Tech in the South and Navy in the East.
And Ohio State in the Midwest.
Over the years, my rooting interest in USC and Texas — for no particular reason — waned. My chosen line of work as a sports writer, covering the Lobos has prevented me from rooting for UNM. How much that will change in my retirement is yet to be seen.
My love for the Yellow Jackets, the Midshipmen and the Buckeyes, however, has flowed unabated.
Not that, in the case of Ohio State, it has been easy.
There was the Woody Hayes slugging incident. The Art Schlichter gambling scandals. Jim Tressel’s looking the other way. Other stuff. I won’t bother with the details here; it’s all there for the Googling.
Now, there’s coach Urban Meyer’s Tressel-like behavior in dealing, or not dealing, with the domestic abuse accusations leveled at now-former Buckeyes assistant coach Zach Smith.
Oh, man ...
I’ve never really been a Meyer fan, given all the trouble his players at Florida got into during his tenure there. But he’s a really, really good college football coach, and my Buckeyes are virtually sure to flourish on the field as long as he’s the guy with the cap and whistle.
Still, I want justice to be done. Until we get to the bottom of what he knew and didn’t know and did and didn’t do, it’s not clear what that justice should entail.
Even if he winds up keeping his job, though, based on what we do know — that he lied about his knowledge of the original accusations against Smith — I believe a suspension without pay is in order.
It has been reported that nine North Carolina football players have been suspended for four games for the heinous crime of selling team-issued Nike Jordan shoes.
Given that, I’m wondering what the over-under is on a suspension for Meyer.
In my case, however, love is not blind.
Not quite, anyway.
As a kid, I picked out teams from each region of the country as my football favorites: USC in the Far West, UNM in the Rockies, Texas in the Southwest, Georgia Tech in the South and Navy in the East.
And Ohio State in the Midwest.
Over the years, my rooting interest in USC and Texas — for no particular reason — waned. My chosen line of work as a sports writer, covering the Lobos has prevented me from rooting for UNM. How much that will change in my retirement is yet to be seen.
My love for the Yellow Jackets, the Midshipmen and the Buckeyes, however, has flowed unabated.
Not that, in the case of Ohio State, it has been easy.
There was the Woody Hayes slugging incident. The Art Schlichter gambling scandals. Jim Tressel’s looking the other way. Other stuff. I won’t bother with the details here; it’s all there for the Googling.
Now, there’s coach Urban Meyer’s Tressel-like behavior in dealing, or not dealing, with the domestic abuse accusations leveled at now-former Buckeyes assistant coach Zach Smith.
Oh, man ...
I’ve never really been a Meyer fan, given all the trouble his players at Florida got into during his tenure there. But he’s a really, really good college football coach, and my Buckeyes are virtually sure to flourish on the field as long as he’s the guy with the cap and whistle.
Still, I want justice to be done. Until we get to the bottom of what he knew and didn’t know and did and didn’t do, it’s not clear what that justice should entail.
Even if he winds up keeping his job, though, based on what we do know — that he lied about his knowledge of the original accusations against Smith — I believe a suspension without pay is in order.
It has been reported that nine North Carolina football players have been suspended for four games for the heinous crime of selling team-issued Nike Jordan shoes.
Given that, I’m wondering what the over-under is on a suspension for Meyer.
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