Congratulations Ohio State

And prayers and get well to young Mr. Barrett.  One of the Cinderella stories of the year, Mr. Barrett was a 3rd stringer thrust into the spotlight when everyone's favorite quarterback Braxton Miller was injured before the season began.  After a rocky start, J.T. Barrett passed and ran himself into the record books, and took a struggling team filled with freshmen all the way to the brink of the championship series.  And all this when already the team faced difficulties with one of their own, Kosta Karageorge, is missing and hasn't been seen in days.

Then, as can happen in the game of football, disaster struck.  A bad tackle brought him down with a hurt leg, forcing him to be carted off the field.  His condition is not known, though he's likely out of the remainder of the season.  But it brought out two of the things about football that I love.

First, OSU's defense, which had been lackluster to the extreme today, rose to the occasion and mauled Michigan, almost as if in tribute to their fallen quarterback.  Second, Devin Gardner, Michigan's long suffering QB, rushed out to the field to console Barrett as he waited to be taken off the field.  That, my friends, is class.

Class

And in all fairness to those who hate football, revile it, despite it, I say it's because American football is a throwback to another age.  A sort of chivalrous time when warriors clashed on the battlefield, but saluted one another when the dust had settled.  You may go out and bash the hell out of each other during the game, but you stand next to one another when it's all said and done.

One of the sacrifices of homeschool was taking our boys out of our local school sports programs.  Even though they can be on the teams, our own life needs have made it impossible.  But I missed my third son experiencing that special camaraderie that seems to only happen with football.  It's as if the players usually know they are part of something bigger than themselves, and they are all in it together.  Perhaps that's why the modern liberal culture, and not a few in the geek/nerd culture, seem to hate it so badly.  You never know.

In any event, well done OSU, God's speed Mr. Barrett, and well played Michigan, especially Devin Gardner.