It was 46 years ago

To the day that the US won the gold this year, that the legendary Miracle on Ice took place.  I was in 7th grade when that miracle happened, and only vaguely aware that a sport called hockey existed.  This is football country after all, with the occasional nod to college basketball or baseball (see the Big Red Machine from a few years earlier).  But in February of 1980, on the 22nd, I became very aware of hockey.  

It was the Cold War.  And though you already had a significant portion of the American Left working overtime to turn as many Americans against our own country as it could, they were still a minority. Even if they enjoyed a disproportionate representation in many of our nation's elite institutions, the main gist seemed to be a desire for God Bless America to continue.  So needless to say, that underdog victory against the Soviets came as quite a patriotic boost.  Especially in the doldrums of Carter's last year as president.  

Fast forward to today.  We always try to watch the Olympics.  The first one I was aware of was the 1976 Montreal Olympics, when young Nadia Comaneci wowed the world in gymnastics.  Others would follow.  In most years it's a mix of astonishing victories and crushing disappointments.  

Perhaps the most enjoyable games as a spectacle were the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998.  Beyond the famous Hermanator's crash of the ages (He'll be back!):

it was probably the most interesting, for the media did wonders unpacking life in Japan, its history, its culture - you felt like you were there visiting in person.  

For my older boys, there will never be one like the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  You had Usain Bolt absolutely stunning the world in a track record that has yet to be beat.  Quite simply, he is bult like a distance runner but has the speed of a sprinter.  And of course, you had the aquatic phenom Michael Phelps becoming the record breaking gold medal winner in one of the most thrilling photo finishes in Olympics history: 

Phelps and Bolt would be back to do it again in the troubled, yet exciting, 2016 Rio Olympics, that also saw the rise of swimming superstar Katie Ledecky.  When the broadcast showed an animated map demonstrating how many miles she has swam and how many times that would circle the globe, the boys still chuckle thinking of it. 

So not only are there always thrill a minute moments, there's just a certain pride in seeing one's own country do well.  I know, there have been protests over the years.  In fact, my sons asked me this year if any Olympic athletes outside of the US have ever protested their own country at the Olympics like we've had happen. I told them I'm sure I don't know.  

But those are usually the exception to the rule.  And we saw it this time, as Americans couldn't help but be proud on the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice (and Washington's birthday to boot!), when the (once again) underdog USA hockey team pulled a stunner in yet another nail biter for the record books. 

We got home from Mass just in time to see the last seconds of regulation time before they went into overtime with a 1 to 1 score.  Knowing very little of hockey, I get the gist - get puck in goal.  And apparently the US goalie is legend, because through the entire Olympics I believe he allowed only two goals.  Without knowing much, I can tell that's impressive. 

But it was an exciting, nail-biting win.  And it was a good feeling, and a little bit of a return to Proud to be an American thinking.  Not a bad thing in these crazy times. 

From the man who made the winning goal

RIP Pete Rose

Never run home when you can dive - a Rose trademark

Every now and then someone whose name was practically etched into your cultural brain comes along, and Rose was one of them.  When I was a kid, and the Big Red Machine was smashing records, every third kid in my school wanted to be Pete Rose. 

I recall my mom and dad driving to Cincinnati to watch them during those crazy, wild days when the Reds were a juggernaut in the sports world.  I even went down a couple times with my dad and the family.  Once my dad and his best friend from the railroad, along with his friend's son, took me all the way down, through torrential rain squalls, to see them play.  It was a little beyond me, since I was never a huge sports fan.  History was my interest even then.  

Yet I knew there was something especial about everything happening. I knew there was something memorable about using my dad's binoculars to see fairly up close (very good binoculars) these players who were household names - Ken Griffey Sr., Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Joe Morgan, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo and - standing high above them all - Pete Rose.  I can still remember in third grade, we had to give a presentation to the class about someone we admired.  I can't even remember mine.  But I remember Cindy C., standing in her Reds jersey and proudly announcing that her hero was none other than Pete Rose.

The all time Hit Champ in baseball history (the most hits of any pro ball player ever), his reputation became marred by the scandal involving his betting on the game. In those days, there was still a residue of the old 'if you do the crime, you do the time.'   And he did it.  Even many fans in the Cincinnati area had to concede that he violated major rules and laws, and that's what happens.  It was sad, it didn't take away from his accomplishments, but he was going to pay a steep price for his violations.

The problem, of course, was continuing to punish him into the modern era, where players may or may not be punished for assault, or cheating, or getting tattoos.  Perhaps someone who sent an off color email twenty years ago will be canned, but another accused by multiple women of assaulting them might go up in the league.  And now, that sports betting is legal and college kids are becoming millionaires as amateur athletes, is this the age that can still hold ol'Pete to the fire?  

Nonetheless, before that conversation could be brought back up, time did what time does, and Pete Rose has died.  Opinions were strong with him, but his fan base and his legacy were strong.  For me, he occupies a place in my memories and my childhood.  So massive his fame that I can't recall the world without him.  But I will have to now.  And pray that he finds some peace that he lost in this life, as well as peace for his loved ones and millions of fans who are left behind. 

The Big Red Machine

Do this

I received a notice from the local Republican party on Facebook.  I responded that before I do or support anything, I'd like to seem them, you know, do something.  I reminded them that when the Christopher Columbus statues in Columbus were Talibanned, they boldly declared that they would swoop in, grab them, and set them up around the state.  Where are they?  Right now the pro-choice machine is pushing Issue 1, which would enshrine abortion as a constitutional right in Ohio.  Already I've seen weeks of commercials, flier handouts, promotions and interviews pushing the issue.  I have yet to see anything from the opposition - either pro-life organizations or the GOP.   Our bishop is the only one I've seen pounding the table on resisting this. 

Too often that is how the resistance to what we call 'The Left' tends to be.  Always next year, then the resistance.  Someday we'll stake a stand.  We won't take much more of this.  By golly, one more and that will do it.  And yet we've gone from 'why can't a man and woman have sex outside of marriage' to 'you're damn right we'll alter the bodies of your adolescents and we'll use the State to prevent you from stopping us.'  Yet where is that fabled resistance?  What line is it we're waiting for them to cross?  Murdering our kid?  Gas chambers?  Just what are we waiting for?

This came to my mind because that particular GOP message was sent after this weekend.  If you're a college football fan, then you've probably heard about the post game interview with OSU coach Ryan Day.  Ohio State won a nailbiter of a game on Saturday.  Underdog to the Fighting Irish, it looked for most of the game like the predictions were accurate.  We would lose. So far this year our team has looked lackluster, and that included the first three quarters of the game Saturday night against Notre Dame.  We started the season with dueling quarterbacks, which is never good. And the quarterback we chose has been under-impressive, to be blunt. 

Despite Ryan Day being, in terms of percentages, one of the winningest college football coaches of all time, the big games have eluded him. True, the game against Clemson was lost on what I admit is the single worst call in football history.  But he's lost other big games as well.  And worse for any Buckeye fan, he has now lost two games in a row against Michigan.  That makes him the first OSU coach since John Cooper to do so. Therefore, no matter how pretty the stats, there has been a cloud over his tenure.  And in Ohio State Buckeye Fan parlance, that is translated as 'fire him, fire him now.'  

That wasn't helped going into this week, when most pundits and analysts concluded Ohio State didn't have a chance.  None other than legendary Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz said we weren't just going to lose, but we were going to lose because we aren't physical enough. We're soft.  Which is why we can't beat the big teams.  For OSU's fabled football program, that hurt. 

But again, most of the game looked that way.  Then, in the fourth quarter, with minutes left, down by four points, and seemingly unable to do anything well, the team hunkered down for some serious bump and grind football that would have made the late Bear Bryant proud.  Our new and sheepish quarterback completed one clutch pass after another, completing some in ways that were unbelievable.  We pushed our way down, overcoming perhaps the most convoluted Grounding call I've ever seen, and ended up on the one foot line.  Three seconds left, and we shoved our way into the end zone for a game winning touchdown. 

After the game, the obligatory interview with the winning coach took place. If we weren't ready for the heart-pounding victory that night, we were flabbergasted when coach Ryan Day responded to the reporter's question:

For context, Day has developed the reputation of being a rather 'blah' coach in interviews.  It's as if he's so scared he'll say anything, he usually ends up saying nothing.  Some reporters have called him the anti-Woody Hayes.  I'll admit, though I typically enjoy after game reporting, I've often ignored or just turned off the broadcasts because he hasn't been worth listening to.  It's all so - dull.

But my, oh my.  Naturally not everyone is happy, including detractors who have responded with the usual 'how dare you talk back to us after we called you losers.'  Some Buckeye's aren't either, but then Ohio State fans are a notoriously tough audience to please no matter what you do.  But not a few people - Ohio State fans and otherwise - have perked up and said it  was nice to see.  It was nice to see Day come out of his shell.  It was nice to see a coach be honest and passionate.  And most Ohio State fans  I know are tickled pink.  It's been since Woody Hayes that we've seen that much raw energy or intense support for the team.  

All of this came to my mind with that GOP post.  Whatever you think about Day's coaching interview above, that is exactly what people who see the crumbling of our civilization want from those who are supposed leaders of the resistance.  Whether politicians, pundits, activists, religious leaders, or whatever, that's what we're waiting for.  Why do we think so many Americans keep clinging to Trump?  

What we want is someone with the above passion, without feeling like we are compromising our values.  Someone who can clearly, honestly, bluntly and passionately rally the troops to stop what we're seeing.  We want leaders who will, like Day, stand up and defend our values, our heritage, our faith, our history, our heroes and ourselves.  Give us that, oh local GOP, and we will follow you anywhere.  The same goes for our bishops.  The same goes for anyone who will stand up to resist the madness and the coming darkness.

Take that Michigan!

After a pretty dismal season against that rival up north, we finally did something this year!  We outlasted both Michigan and Michigan State in the tournament!

I have to get this out today because OSU plays Purdue tomorrow, and that will be an ugly thing to watch.  In our best years Purdue basketball is a spoiler more often than not.  And this year, with such a miserably underperformed season, it doesn't look promising.

Still, at least we beat Michigan in something this year.  And as any Buckeye knows, a season with all losses except one against Michigan is a winning season every time.  Even if someone else has to help with the victories. 

One of Ohio's enduring characteristics

We don't like winning pro sports teams.  Absolutely not. College teams are good, especially if they're from The Ohio State University.  But winning pro franchises?  Perish the thought. 

Every now and then  something goes wrong and we end up with a winning team.  I'm looking at you Big Red Machine.  Perhaps one of the most dominating lineups in sporting history.  And what did the Reds management do to this prize winning team? Trade those bad boys away. 

The Cleveland Browns, who fought like mad dogs to keep their franchise after the move to Baltimore, embarked on a decades long losing streak.  So bad was it that a few years ago many were contemplating an end to the Browns once and for all.  Then came Baker Mayfield.  Within a year, its fortunes turned around. In two seasons there was talk of making it to the playoffs. 

So what was the reaction from Browns fans and Ohio sports media?  They ripped into Mayfield from day one.  Almost immediately anything he did was torn to pieces, any accomplishment downplayed.  Yes, he was injured and since then his on field performance has been compromised. But before that it was clear the Browns were not going to stand for a winning franchise. 

Now we're back to the Reds.  After struggles and many ups and downs, it looked like the team might have found a decent roster of players.  They weren't ready to take down the Yankees' records, or even the Big Red Machine for that matter.  But they showed promise. 

So what did the Reds management do? Trade those bad boys away pronto, that's what.  Leading us into this season where the Reds are on track to being one of the worst teams in baseball history.  Already they've flirted with catastrophic opening stats, losses, and this gem.  You pitch a no-hitter and still lose.  Do you realize how practiced in awfulness you have to be to allow no hits from the other team and still lose the game? 

But that's Ohio sports for you.  Football, especially of the college variety, is king. College basketball can show itself, and every now and then Cleveland may show promise on the court.  But most of the time our pro teams are cause for jokes and giggles, and not much more.  It's something the various teams' management seem determined to maintain. 

The Rivalry returns

Close friends and bitter rivals: When the press named it The Game

It was late November during my freshman year of college.  The branch campus I went to had its annual Beat Michigan party.  It was cleverly named Much Fishcigan.  Get it?  Oh, they were clever weren't they?  I went because a girl I liked named Kathy was going to be there.  I was only vaguely aware of the game itself.  Turns out we lost.  Among the reasons we lost was a shock 77 yard touchdown pass by a young Michigan quarterback named Jim Harbaugh. 

Well, this year coach Jim Harbaugh was back, and he gave a dose of humiliation to the old Buckeyes juggernaut, ending an almost twenty year drought for the Maize and Blue.  For the last two decades, Michigan won only two games of the storied rivalry.  One of those years included a transition season following the great Tattoo-Gate scandal that left us without a coach and stripped of our previous year's accomplishments. 

Because of that, the 'Rivalry", once considered one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, was beginning to wane.  Many Michigan fans I knew adopted the 'we're too cool to care about football rivalries' attitude.  OSU fans were even getting a bit bored.  This was a long cry from the days of the 1970s, when coaching legends Woody Hayes and his protégé Bo Schembechler took the ages old rivalry to heights few rivalries have ever experienced.  After that, the national press nicknamed it simply "The Game." 

There is a lot to unpack in the mentality and culture behind the rivalry and why things went south for Michigan.  Perhaps some other time.  But this year, the football gods were definitely for the Blue.  Ours was a pass heavy offensive, almost unstoppable.  Then it snowed, essentially neutering the passing game.  Michigan was a run heavy offense and that worked fine snow or no snow.

Plus, we were a young team.  Last year the game was canceled.  We were coming off one of the strongest programs in the country.  Filled to the brim with veteran players, we imagined it was going to be yet one more win against that Team up North.  But Harbaugh canceled, citing Covid cases.  Most of us knew it was bunk, since the numbers before and after didn't suggest they were worse off than any other program that year.  Most of us guessed he was simply trying to avoid another loss. 

But last year did set us up for problems.  This year we began with an almost rooky lineup.  Our freshman quarterback would lead a team in which many had never played before, and few had played the big games in the big lights.  Despite this, after an embarrassing loss to Oregon, we came back and soon dominated the field.  We didn't just win against top teams, we obliterated them.  But in many cases, those games had situations that favored us:  home field advantages, the right teams at the right time.

Then came Michigan.  Harbaugh took a page from Oregon's playbook, with help from the weather.  He gave the ball to his star running back Haskins, who our defense could not stop.  He then watched us and coach Ryan Day implode.  At the end, I said Michigan didn't play at some historic level, it played like a competent late season team.  Unfortunately, OSU played like an incompetent early season team, and it cost us.  It cost us the first legitimate loss to Michigan in two decades.  It cost coach Day, a man who up until now had never lost to a Big 10 team; a string of firsts where losses are concerned.  And it handed Buckeye nation a slice of humble pie.

Mostly, however, it's given OSU a new rage induced call to beat Michigan next year.  Most Buckeyes were upset about the canceled game last year.  Some even petitioned for the game to be played at OSU this season, as it would have been last year.  That at least would have helped our novice team.  That didn't happen.  Somehow there is a feeling that Harbaugh gamed the system and came out winning.  I think a lot of us know how that feels when a system is gamed, you know it, you lose, but there's no way to really prove the charge.

Next year it should be fun.  Already Michigan is acting like the rivalry has always been the biggest thing in the world, and rightfully gloating over their earned victory.  Whatever happened last year, Michigan out played us plain and simple. But now the bitterness of the rivalry is back in a way it hasn't been for years, if not decades (for before the 00s, under coach Cooper, it was OSU who couldn't beat Michigan for over a decade).  We'll see what happens.  But in a crazy world of crazy change, it's nice to see something go back to the olden days. 

A new chapter in the great rivalry?  Only time will tell.

A minor correction

 

If a team took four overtimes to win a game, it didn't trounce anyone by any definition of the word trounce. 

Simone Biles and the new Gold standard for bronze medals

Jade Carey's gold medal was also mentioned in the news

If you pay attention to the news, I'm sure you heard that American Olympic gymnast Simone Biles stepped away from competition a week or so ago.  Initially citing mental health concerns and pressures, she then revealed she had what amounts to a spot of vertigo for gymnasts.  It happens because of the twisting and turning in the air that is common for the sport..  I remember vaguely hearing about such things when my third son was in gymnastics before switching to football.

Anyhoo, I was going to post on the problem with elevating having to step aside and quit as the true hero, versus merely being sympathetic and supportive for the same.  That it's the one who overcomes, even if they don't win, that is the hero.  The other is simply a brother or sister who needs our support and understanding. 

Well, Ms. Biles came back either despite or perhaps because she overcame it or something, and competed on the one remaining competition she was willing to do and won the bronze medal.  I know this because this was leading headline news on the morning news shows.  She is the winner, the GOAT (that means greatest of all time - having tied for the most medals for an American female gymnast).  She overcame, she achieved, she won. Oh, and some other girls won gold medals and things.

At the end of the day, this has just been the press keeping the narrative alive.  Going into the 2021 Olympics, the dominant narrative - beyond which American athletes or teams would take the opportunity of medaling to piss on the American flag - was that Simone Biles would be expected to walk on water and feed the multitudes upon arriving in Tokyo.  I was vaguely aware that some other people calling themselves athletes were expected to be in Tokyo during this time - aside from the US Women's Soccer team of course - but it was Simone who was going to stroll in and bring home the bucket of gold.

Well, that didn't happen.  I can't say what's in Ms. Bile's mind.  Granted, she is good.  Very, very good.  I know she was warming up to the attention going into the Olympics.  I also know she bombed in her preliminary qualifying events.  I mean, bombed.  If you told me she was a first year Olympian with no experience on the world stage, I would have believed you.  How much was simply losing that all important focus that separates the champs from the 'who?' athletes, I don't know.  

I just know the narrative didn't play out the way the American press - and, quite frankly, the American gymnastics industry - had hoped.   She was hopefully going to be the next Michael Phelps, or Usain Bolt, or anything they can cash in with and boost ratings.   

In this case, they found a clever way to cash in and boost ratings anyway, even with someone who underperformed.  It being 2021, her stepping aside and citing - initually - mental health issues pushed her to near martyrdom levels.  Oh sure, some others got some gold, and those who excelled got their time in the sun - but always under the shadow of Simone, where almost every lead in story this year began with Simone, Simone, Simone.

I sometimes think we now fear heroics

In fact so celebrated did Simone become for leaving her place in the competition, that some began to talk about previous cases of Olympic heroics as if they may have been wrong all along.  When some complained about the praise and adoration Ms. Biles was receiving for stepping aside, previous stories were brought up, such as Kerri Strug's legendary vault in the 1996 Olympics, despite the agonizing pain of a hurt ankle.  That it ended up being inconsequential to the US victory was beside the point.  It still remained an image and story that inspired a generation.  Nonetheless, in 2021 post-Biles discourse, I saw more than one individual state that perhaps Kerri Strug shouldn't have done it at all.  Maybe she should have quit as well, and then she really would have been a hero.

I think sometimes this is how the press operates.  I have no idea what was in Simone Biles' head.  Was she remembering previous media darlings who crashed and burned and became forgotten also-rans?  Was she thinking of competitors like Debi Thomas from the  '88 Olympics?  Did her less than stellar performance send shivers that she might end up the same way, and she found a way out in our day when 'mental health issues' is everyone's go to Get Out of Jail Free card?  No clue. 

Does this mean we should condemn those who give in, or have to quit, or succumb to the pressures of the world?  Of course not.  Everyone has their breaking point, no matter how it gets there.   I'm all for saying we shouldn't spit on her or anyone who needs help.  If you break under pressure or have other issues, we're here to help, support and lift up.  But that's different from saying you're the real champ for having to bow out. Though such an attitude is expected in our day and age, there's something there that grates on me.  

I dunno.  I just know the press turned on a dime and did something it's been able to do more and more in recent decades, and about stories beyond just the Olympics.  It built up Simone Biles as the next great contributor to the human story, only to watch her underperform.  Then it took her explanation as gospel truth, and spun everything we've ever come to expect about heroism, champions, and the bravery of overcoming and turned it upside down.  So much so, that people began questioning past heroism and wondering, however subtly, if it should be those who can't who become the real heroes, and those who overcome who open themselves up to scrutiny. 

Well there goes my bracket!

Oral Roberts?  We lost to Oral Roberts?   Does our team know how that makes a person of my generation feel, losing to underdog Oral Roberts at the outset?  Thanks goodness it's now I suppose.  If it was forty years ago I wouldn't be able to handle the jokes.

Ah Holtmann.  He manages to make silk purses out of sows' ears, and yet can never seem to sell those purses he made.  He will win early in the season against overwhelming odds.  And then, somewhere halfway through, the wheels start coming off and it seems as if he plays down to anyone he plays.  Put us up against a middle school team, and we'll barely scrape by.  That 'win at the edge of your teeth is sill a win' philosophy can only last so long.  Eventually it will catch up with you and that's what happened today. 

Oral Roberts beats OSU in overtime (and an overtime we had to catch up to and tie to get to).  Geeesh.  I suppose at least I don't have to sweat the rest of my bracket.  Warren Buffett can rest easy where I'm concerned.  

For all you Cleveland Browns fans out there

If anyone ever defined bulldog tenacity, it is Cleveland Browns fans.  One of the most storied and celebrated sports franchises ever, sporting some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game of football, the Browns ran into, shall we say, rough times.  Well, rough years.  OK, rough decades.  Over more than a half century of rough.  In fact, my wife wasn't born the last time they looked this good.

That's been tough for some of the craziest fans this side of Liverpool.  True, there have been times when the Browns almost looked like they might recaptures some of their ancient glories.  Nonetheless, the Browns had an almost divine ability to make sow's ears out of silk purses.  From unimaginable fumbles to blown leads, losing became as much a tradition for Cleveland as tailgating. 

This culminated in the great sell out in 1995, in which Art Modell became the most hated man in Cleveland by selling the franchise to Baltimore.  Normally, that's that.  If the city gets another franchise to replace a lost one, it usually gets another franchise.  But the fans would have none of it.  Against all odds, they pushed, pulled, prodded, bit, scratched and kicked to not only get another football franchise in the city, but to make sure it was the Cleveland Browns, part deux. 

I won't kid and pretend it has been wonderful.  In fact, Cleveland Browns and hopeless losers had almost become synonymous in the sports world.  If you wanted an analogy for someone destined to lose because they wouldn't do what it took to win, you used Cleveland.  Season after season the owners, staff and coaches almost seemed hell-bent on losing.  Fans began to wonder if there wasn't money under the table or some desire to pack up and leave.  Nobody could be this bad.  

And then they pulled the Baker Mayfield card.  Mayfield was a hotshot, and I won't say he's the most personable figure in sports.  He is, after all, the one who arrogantly planted a flag in the middle of OSU's famed Horseshoe Stadium after a stunning victory over the Buckeyes.  But he's good.  He's clever, quick and commands a certain level of leadership that has been missing in Cleveland for many years.  

Then Cleveland fired its coach, Hue Jackson - a regular occurrence.  Despite charges of racism, it likely had more to do with his 3 and 36 record.  That Mayfield was rumored to be behind the push to get a more capable coach might have caused enough controversy to derail his career.  But that hasn't happened.  Stacking the team with even more offensive talent, particularly running back phenom Nick Chubb, the Browns have done what nobody imagined possible only a few years ago.  

Remember, just a couple years back before Mayfield, many were saying it was time to put the franchise out of tis misery.  Talk was circulating of the Browns leaving Cleveland for good.  One more failed season, and locals felt it was inevitable that their beloved team would finally be a thing of the past.  So that we now sit in the playoffs, heading into the  second round, is as unlikely as, well, 2020.  We know Cleveland, and we know our ability to squander the greatest chances, but we're still hoping. 

So in tribute to the many times Cleveland looked like it might be on the move, only to pull a Browns and lose it all, here's one of the all time best novelty songs from back in the day.  It was written by a songwriter who did little novelty songs, often parodies of songs before Weird Al did it better.  But in the Christmas season of 1980, when the Brown's earned the moniker 'the Kardiac Kids' due to a string of last second, impossible wins, it was the song everyone was requesting.  

May these things bring us a little happiness and togetherness in these troubled times.  After all, pundits were assuring us in December of 1980 that America's great blunder in electing a half-baked, monkey movie, war mongering cowboy was going to plunge us into nuclear annihilation as sure as Norman Lear was liberal, so it was a breath of fresh air back then, too: 

A Buckeye loss and a lesson about fair play

So last night was the inevitable close to a crazy season for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.  We knew we were going to lose.  Alabama's coach Nick Saban, already one of the most successful coaches in sporting history, had fielded one of his best teams ever.  Unlike so many other programs, his team made it through 2020 largely unscathed.

While other teams had games cancelled, practices cancelled, and a constant upheaval on their starting lineups, Alabama played together and stayed together and grew through the complete season.  Many teams had practices cut short, resulting in a lack of toning, conditioning and growing as a team.  Injuries were off the scale as the players weren't prepared for the rigors of football.  Teams had trouble hitting their stride since, on any given week, the same players might not be present to jell as a cohesive unit.  But Alabama made it through almost entirely intact.

This helped them even more since most teams Alabama played were already weakened due to faltering and floundering.  Typically with college football, there is a sort of bell curve in efficiency.  You start each season with a new lineup.  At first things are rocky as players learn to depend on each other and find the best way to be a well oiled machine.  By mid-season, they're hitting their peak and doing their best.  By the end, however, injuries, hits and players gone for the season begin to take a toll and it becomes almost a matter or attrition.  For Alabama this year, since so many opponents were struggling on one leg at best, its already crack team had all the benefits of a full season together, while not getting hit nearly as hard by opponents and therefore not suffering the same losses one might otherwise expect by end of season playoffs.  

OSU, on the other hand, was a dumpster fire from the beginning.  Since the Big 10 initially decided to cancel fall sports, OSU missed the crucial pre-season practices and conditioning that lays the groundwork for the season.  When the seasons was brought back, all Big 10 teams were already at a deficit.  Then because of strict Covid regulations, OSU (like so many others) had several games cancelled, including one it had to cancel.  This made it so a special dispensation had to be given by the NCAA just for OSU to get into the playoffs - something that was controversial.  After all, we were undefeated but didn't have enough victories to qualify for playoffs!  In the meantime, the lack of training and conditioning took its toll as OSU, again like most teams, suffered unusually high levels of injuries with each game.  Therefore, at no point was the same OSU team on the field more than once, with each game seeing different lineups forced to fumble about to find a stride. 

Add to this a relatively new (though surprising clever and effective) coach, and the controversies surrounding us just being in the playoffs, and it didn't look good.  Especially when we found out we first would be put against our old nemeses Clemson.  Clemson was that Achilles' Heel for us.  We had never beaten Clemson before. Clemson cost us our legendary coach Woody Hayes.  Clemson served us one of our most - one of the most - humiliating defeats in college football only a few years ago.   Clemson was definitely in our heads.  Though Clemson had also struggling due to 2020 issues, we were sure we were the underdogs going against them in the first round. 

But something happened last year that changed things.  Last year, we played Clemson in the same playoff round.  Fielding a powerhouse team along with a rookie coach that shocked all of football, we had mopped the floor with every team sent our way.  Despite that, we were still the underdogs against Clemson when we met them in early 2020.  

What happened next has become the stuff of infamy in Ohio.  We played Clemson that night as well as any game we had played.  We held them off, kept them from pulling ahead, and heading into late fourth quarter, it looked like we might just pull off a stunning upset victory.  And then - one of the worst calls in the history of any sport ever.  Even detractors of OSU later admitted it was horrible.

If you don't know football, I won't go into the history of replays and overturned calls.  Suffice it to say it stunned everyone.  Clemson fumbled the ball and OSU recovered the fumble and ran it down for what could have been a game winning touchdown.  But the play was challenged by the officials. Slow motion replay confirmed the Clemson player had complete control of the ball, had fumbled, and the OSU player had recovered.  And then, for reasons nobody understands, the officials reversed the play, removing OSU's touchdown with only moments left in the game.  It would be like standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and saying, "Sure, but I don't see a hole in the ground."

Granted, the old rule is that if you lose because of one bad call, you deserve to lose.  That's typically the case.  But there have been some calls so awful that even skeptics have had to admit the game was lost because of that single call.  This was one of those cases.  Months later and few denied that had it not been for that clearly wrong call, OSU would have won.  

That went down hard, and was a motivating factor for us taking the field this year against Clemson, once again as the underdogs.  But we were driven this time. Why?  Because we felt cheated.  The whole program felt cheated.  That Clemson's coach decided to dig at us and mock us, rather than being contrite, only made it easier to want a pound of flesh.  And a pound is what we got.  In a shocking upset, we beat Clemson and beat them badly.   If nothing else happened this year, we got what we wanted and that was giving Clemson its comeuppance for having won through such dubious means the year earlier.  That, to most, made it a winning season if nothing else did. 

Of course that meant we were then up against the beast that is Alabama in the championship game.  Sporting one of the best defenses in college football, the best offense, one of the best receiving squads in college football, and a Heisman trophy winning wide receiver considered one of the best to have played in many a year, Alabama was a juggernaut.  We knew we had little hope.

Alabama arrived last night almost refreshed.  It had barely been touched all season.  Its team had been together from the beginning.  They were tight, efficient, like that proverbial well oiled machine.  Compared to them, OSU was a mess.  Half of our few remaining defensive starters were out from injury or Covid.  We had lost some of our best offensive players.  Our quarterback had received a massive hit to his ribs last week and was clearly not up to par.  And on the first play, we lost the running back who had emerged in the last weeks of the season and who had been the major reason for our previous two victories.  It went down from there.

Despite it all, we put up a decent fight.  In fact, our score - three touchdowns and a field goal - from such a broken and shattered team shows how pro-offense the game of football has become (hence the staggering stats attributed to players like Tom Brady).  That's the result of so many safeguards and limitations placed on defenders over the years.  But our attempts simply couldn't match Alabama's talent and near flawless execution.  It looked every bit the team with everything going for it, and we looked every bit the team with all cards stacked against us.

But you know what?  That's OK.  We lost.  Most fans this morning tipped a hat to Saban, who pulled his foot off the gas by the fourth quarter, not wanting to humiliate us or our coach.  People do that when they respect each other.  Alabama had at least three more touchdowns in its arsenal, but that wouldn't do.  Saban was as good as pulling his punches, and we all knew it.  And we admire Saban and Alabama all the more for it.

So you see, it's not that people can't lose, or are always pissed when they lose, or get outraged at losing or not getting what they want.  I'm sure there are a few crazies out there this morning in Buckeye land with the conspiracy theories.  But everyone I've seen, from news to online to friends and acquaintances, are content.  Sad of course.  Nobody likes to lose.  But it isn't the rage and blood boiling of last year when we felt we had been cheated.  People being cheated will eventually find a way to retaliate because nobody likes to be cheated.  We prefer to win of course, but if we lose fair and square, we'll take that, too.  

I just thought I'd throw that out there.  People don't always get mad just because they're not getting their way.  They may resolve to work harder, play harder and practice harder next time.  But people often can accept defeat and even admire those who defeat them for a job well done - when it's fair and square.  It's when they feel cheated, when they feel they were playing a rigged system, that sets them off.  Especially if they feel cheated all the time, and feel those who could do something to change the system and make it fairer are refusing to do so.   

I'm of two minds about this

So it's the day of The Game.  Nonetheless, I'm on the fence about it.  Sure I want Ohio State to win.  Naturally. The problem?  The 'rivalry' has become so lopsided that, for many, it's starting to lose it's luster.

Ryan Day has been a phenom.   He was offensive coordinator for two years under Urban Meyer, and was hired to replace him last year.  Many were willing to give him that obligatory 'rebuilding' year.  This was especially true since he was taking most of the team from last year that Meyer had.

Meyer is like LeBron James.  Or the Patriots.  He's proof that there's more to athletics than stats.  On paper, he's simply one of the best coaches of all time.  Period.  His win percentages, his national championship, his record against Michigan (7-0) - he's one of the best. 

But there was always something 'off'.  When we lost during his run, it was often in terrible, humiliating upsets or thrashings.  Some of our worst losses in a century happened under him.  Plus we often seemed to 'under-perform.'  The team he had after the National Championship was pretty much the same team.  In such cases, that should have put us right back into contention for the title. Instead it was a botched, sloppy, barely squeak by year with controversy and chaos.

Meyer showed that in the modern media era, you can amass a great statistical record and still leave people thinking something is missing.  Enter Day.  A man who doesn't look like a multi-millionaire college football coach, he is quiet, soft spoken, and unassuming. Because of that, fans were willing to let him have that rebuilding year and weren't expecting much.  Our hope was that he wouldn't lose too many games.

And then?  Wow.  One of the most dominating seasons in many a decade.  Ohio State hasn't just won, it's trounced.  From throwaway teams to top ten contenders, the Buckeyes this year have all but obliterated the opposition.  Even teams - like Wisconsin - we were supposed to struggle against were manhandled and beaten down.  In most games the opponents have been held to a few scores while our offense have wracked up dozens and dozens of points, often being able to put the game in the hands of the second and third string by the third quarter.

So now we're heading into The Game, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.  That Michigan is not the team it used to be is one problem.  Not since the 90s has Michigan really been what it used to be.  Plus both Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer had Michigan's number.  After John Cooper when over a decade and lost to Michigan almost every year, those coaches realized that if you lose every other game, make sure you beat Michigan.  And it worked.

But the downer is that many are beginning to see other teams as our emerging rivalries: Penn State and Wisconsin, while Michigan in many ways insists it has moved on to Michigan State or Notre Dame.  In fact, that could be a problem.  As culture warriors will tell you, if you insist there is no culture war, you'll lose to those still fighting it.  And just because Michigan has chosen to insist the game is no big deal doesn't mean OSU followed their lead.  Hence the lopsided record.  But when  OSU has won all but twice (and once was our broken season under penalty from the NCAA with a temp coach and a crippled program) in two decades, it is hard to maintain the excitement. 

So it's tough.  Michigan has got to win to keep the rivalry meaning something.  But this season Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have so exceeded expectations, being called by many in sports media the most solid and formidable team in the country, do we want it to be today?  Perhaps the greedy thing is that we win today, and lose next year.  But then, that's what we've been saying for over a decade.  We'll see.

In the end, we all want a good game, a safe game, and a fair game.  I think with that, if nothing else, we'll be happy.  Go Bucks!

Hey Cleveland, it's real simple

Just because I can be a jerk sometimes

To all the Michigan fans out there, a memory:

That was after Ohio State was humiliated by future Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer in the previous season's championship game.  That followed the place game dubbed 'the game of the century' in which Ohio State and Michigan collided n one of the biggest rivalries in sports, the two being ranked the top two teams in the nation. 

Ohio State went into halftime with a resounding lead against Michigan and victory all but certain.  Quarterback Troy Smith had already been assured the Heisman if he took OSU to victory against Michigan.  All I can guess is that they spent the entire halftime celebrating instead of preparing.  By the last seconds of the game, it looked as if Michigan would win.  Only a last minute miracle play saved us, and then barely.  That set up the stage for Ohio State's devastating loss against Florida, and the beginning of the end of the Jim Tressel years.

When Michigan lost, however, it set the stage for one of the weirdest college football seasons ever.  The flawed BCS system left obscure teams with a loss poised for the championship while top teams wavered and under a system that MIT grads couldn't have figured out. It also led to Ohio State going to its second devastating championship loss against LSU that year.  By then it was mental.  As soon as Ohio State gave up its first touchdown to LSU, fans looked like they had lost.  The team did, too. 

But it all went crazy when the news broke that, against all odds, Michigan, favored to win the championship and with a team made up of NFL picks who came back to beat OSU, lost to Appalachian State.  After that, it was one nutty football season.

The Kardiac Kids are back

In a year that will go down as the year in which Nick Saban of Alabama threw his headset when he was 21 points ahead, there has been quite a sleeper emerging in the old, broken down town of Cleveland.

While the press continued to prop up LeBron James no matter what his record, and continued to beat the drums for the much hated New England Patriots; in a year where a sub-par quarterback embraced the Social Warrior Left and then fizzled into obscurity, a franchise that last year many were thinking might be ready to fold just lost it's last game of the season.

What's so big about this?  It's Cleveland.  The long-suffering Browns.  When its owners moved to Baltimore in the 1990s, Cleveland fans did the unthinkable and fought to keep the  name Browns in Cleveland.  A new team was formed.  But forming new NFL teams from scratch isn't easy.  And it has struggled for years, leading up to the last two years that saw wins going the way of the dodo bird. 

After a season without a single win, Cleveland earned the right for top pick in the draft and decided on dark horse breakout star Baker Mayfield.  Mayfield himself fought his way to the top, being overlooked by colleges and having to be a walk-on and prove himself as he went.  This put a massive chip on his shoulder, one that he demonstrated in full when Oklahoma beat Ohio State in the Horseshoe, and Mayfield gleefully planted a symbolic spear in the middle of OSU's field.

At first, it looked as bleak as ever.  Cleveland's coach, Hue Jackson, declared that Mayfield would not start this year, come hell or high water.  He was going to stick with their quarterback Tyrod Taylor no matter what.   That no matter what saw the usual Cleveland tendency to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory every week.   No matter how strong the lead, we knew that by the time it was over, Cleveland would lose.  And lose they did.

Then came an unfortunate turn of events.  Taylor was injured, and there was no capable backup ready, so Jackson begrudgingly put Mayfield out on the field.  He swore it was temporary, and Mayfield would be back on the bench where he belonged.  And at first, it didn't seem as if Mayfield had much of a chance.  Then something strange began to happen.  Yes, they continued to lose, but for the first time in years, we were giving teams a run for their money.  Games were tied, or almost won.  Games were down to the wire or going into Overtime.  And apart from obvious coaching decisions, it looked as if the team was coalescing around Mayfield.

Then the Brown's management did something it hasn't in years: it made a smart decision.  After losing games through obvious bad coaching that Mayfield could have won, Jackson was fired and replaced by assistant coach Greg Williams.   And then, magic.  Cleveland began to win.  And win decisively.  When they lost, they often gave teams a run for their money.  When they won, they did it decisively.  And it was all due to Mayfield.  Not since Joe 'Cool' Montana controlled the field in the 80s at San Francisco has a quarterback seemed so much in control of a game.

In the game tonight, against Baltimore (Cleveland's nemeses deluxe), things looked ugly at first.  Baltimore was ahead by 20, and it didn't look like Cleveland could beat its defense, or stop its unbeatable run.  But then, it did what it's done since Mayfield took over and Williams stepped into the coaching stand.  Cleveland came back.  Mayfield made one impossible pass after another, becoming the all time record holder for Rookie touchdown passes, despite being at a three game handicap. 

Yes, they lost.  Yes, it ended with a Mayfield interception.  Yes, Baltimore still had that terrifying offense.  But Cleveland, with Mayfield and Williams, made it a game to remember.  And they showed, after a year of ups and downs, bad coaching at first, bad decisions at first, and general chaos, that next year they will be the team to watch.  So much so, if you type Kardiac Kids in Google today, the first thing up wasn't Cleveland's famous 1980s season, but the game against Baltimore today.

So in tribute to the possibility that Cleveland is back, the edge of your seat thrills, and the thought that we might be looking at the beginning of one of the great ones in the finest tradition of Montana, or Manning or Drew Brees, I thought I would link to this blast from the past.  The first 'sports novelty song' of that era and one that foresaw the fusion of sports and celebrity culture that would hit its high point with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods (something the sports media has been lusting for all these years):

Also, since it's Christmastime and the timing itself just couldn't be better, I couldn't resist.

That about sums it up

The long suffering Dog Pound.  It's worth noting that, with tying their season opener, it's officially their best start in 14 years. 

Who knows?  Perhaps things are about to change.

Nike to conservative Americans

Screw you!   Yep. I have a feeling that Nike, like most corporations, would fly China's communist flag if they thought it would increase their bottom line.  There are hundreds of NFL players, or other athletes, Nike could choose.  Nike chose this as a statement every bit as much as Kaepernick's statement. It reflects Nike's attitudes about the US, and those who don't subscribe to the Kaepernick perspective.  Note well, Nike did not - repeat, not - choose Tim Tebow, despite how popular or 'inspirational' he was to some.

UPDATE: I realize that Tebow had signed a deal with Nike. My point is that it never elevated Tebow to that level, despite the fact that Tebow was a bona fide cultural phenomenon who inspired millions and had a passionate following. 

Just don't watch the NFL

That's easy enough.

Fear the Nun

March Madness has lived up to the name.  I lost my bracket in the ancient days.  And if people have managed to limp along with their brackets, it's no thanks to Loyala.  That school has a ringer.  And the ringer is Sister Jean.  Bob Kurland has the scoop.  Having watched some of Loyala's victories, I'm beginning to think she's convinced the Almighty to root for a particular team.

And the rest of America's brackets join my bracket

Wow.  As one announcer said, a victory of biblical proportions.  Maybe not that, but possibly the most stunning upset since the Miracle on Ice.  The first time a 16 Seed ever beat a 1 Seed.  That's why I'm up at midnight posting this.  It was an afterthought game, scheduled at the end on Friday night.  This was the step that Virginia had to walk over to get to the meat and bones of the tournament. 

A shame.  Coach Bennett is a fine coach and much respected, and Virginia is a good team.  But that's what happens in sports.  You don't let failure define you.  You celebrate one week, undisputedly the best team in the nation.  The next week you're making history by being the first 1 Seed ever to lose to a 16 Seed.  That's  life, as Frankie would say.

At least Kentucky is happy.