Upon initially hearing the names of the two Big Ten divisions, I supposed I was probably not unlike most of you when I thought, “What”? Yes, Leaders and Legends brought the words ‘what’, ‘corny’ and ‘arrogant’ to the forefront of my mind. It’s definitely a queer choice that didn’t sit well with me.
The news of the divisional names broke over 24 hours ago, and I’m sure most of you have taken the time to process this information and form your opinions. Maybe your initial thoughts were similar to mine, and then you spoke to some of your friends who also believed the names were not the correct choice, and thus your thoughts were cemented that the Divisional names were garbage and the Big Ten had failed. And now, you’re here searching for a little more affirmation. Based on my opening paragraph, you’ll surely get it, right? No, after spending a little more time thinking about the names, I like them. Here are my thoughts.
First off, it is incredibly easy to hear the names and immediately be displeased. It’s also easy to be cynical and think, “that’s the best these powerful, probably overpaid officials could come up with?” I touched on this line of thinking in my last blog and called it unproductive. I still believe this to be true. Instead of remaining negative about the names, I quickly thought to myself, “well, they probably could have done worse.” I then spent about 3 minutes trying to come up with better names for the divisions. I appreciated Leaders and Legends more after my 3 minutes had elapsed. My best idea was ‘Silver’ and ‘Gold’, which is terrible. This idea is obviously flawed because it implies one division is superior to the other. Thanks a lot, Olympics.
Secondly, I think the names will create great awareness for the Big Ten since it is, in fact, a business. Creating recognition for your conference will only serve to increase visits and applications from incoming college freshmen, which is the ultimate goal. Just ask Gonzaga how business was before it had a basketball team that created national recognition and by what percentage their applications have risen now that everyone knows who they are.
These two names will undoubtedly leave the door open for ridicule during down years of Big Ten football, but that’s going to happen anyway and truthfully, that’s the kind of stuff that really doesn’t bother me. If SEC fans want to make remarks about the Big Ten and their views of the ridiculousness of the divisional names, I think that just speaks to their character. The truth is the Big Ten is first and foremost, an organization of outstanding Academic Institutions and as an OSU grad; I will never be embarrassed about that. The Big Ten is not simply 12 separate football entities; it is so much more. The SEC is the king of football, and that’s okay because I’m not going pro in football.
To revisit something I sort of brushed past earlier, and mentioned in a previous blog, I’m not a fan of hearing complaints from someone who has no idea how to fix said problem. So I ask: What should the Big Ten have named its divisions? Should it have given the divisions directional names because that’s what the SEC and Big-12 did? I think I would have been most upset if the Big Ten had done this. How can the Big Ten expect to be exceptional if it just follows a template everyone else has already laid out? Won’t other institutions deserve the credit then? Sure, the Big Ten could have given the divisions directional names and it wouldn’t have drawn much scrutiny, but that sounds boring to me. Personally, I recognize that the Big Ten represents more than football, and I applaud its willingness to experiment and take the chances that can draw criticism. In the end, isn’t taking chances and experimentation what college is all about?
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Sports
Woah. There’s been a lot of news on the sports front this week. I don’t even know where to begin. Luckily, there’s no right or wrong answer for that sort of thing.
If you cut off Urban Meyer’s left leg and looked inside, you’d only see 46 rings, and at the age of 46, Urban has resigned from his job as Head Coach for the Florida Gators. If I were a Florida fan though, I wouldn’t panic. I think the 2010 campaign will likely be the worst for Florida because they’ve had to experience the growing pains of replacing a great Quarterback. Just ask Texas how easy that is. I’m not sure how the top 3 high school football states shake out exactly, but certainly, Florida is right there with the likes of Texas and California, so Florida will always have plus athletes. Let’s not forget that Urban has also turned the Florida job into one of the top 5 jobs in the sport. Florida will get a big-name hire, and the short-lived turmoil will be just that. Don’t fret, Florida fan.
And I can’t believe how interested I am in baseball right now. Through the glorious, instant obsession that is twitter, I’ve been on the pulse of all the offseason, free-agent moves, and I gotta say; I think it’s exciting. Without question the team making the biggest waves right now is the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have signed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to huge deals. Carl Crawford’s deal of 7 years, 142 MM dollars is pretty fat, unfortunately I don’t have Gonzalez’s figures in front of me, but best believe it’s also over 100MM; that’s a lot of Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers. Oh yeah, let’s not understate the fact that Adrian Gonzalez has put up incredible offensive statistics in what might be the most pitcher-friendly park in all of baseball located in San Diego.
The most exciting thing for Red Sox fans is Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis all missed the bulk of the previous season due to injury. They’ll be returning/added to a team that won 89 games last season. In affect, the Red Sox are gaining 5 superstars this season! If they stay healthy, the Red Sox will be a monster. In my opinion, there isn’t another MLB roster even CLOSE to what the Red Sox have on paper right now. Stay tuned though, because Cliff Lee may come to terms with a club today or tomorrow.
The 2nd most coveted outfield free agent (Carl Crawford) this season was Jayson Werth, and the Phillies loss, was the rest of the National League’s gain. I’m excited to watch Jayson Werth, Steven Strasburg and Bryce Harper all in the same lineup in the future, but that IS still a few years away, and the Washington Nationals won’t contend this season. As a Reds fan, whose team is primarily looking to sure up its future with players it already has, as opposed to signing free agents, I’m thrilled to see the Phillies lose a piece of their puzzle. The only downside is Jayson Werth had nothing to do with the Reds being shut out in 2 of its 3 playoff games against the Phillies; so maybe the Reds haven’t really gained all that much.
If you cut off Urban Meyer’s left leg and looked inside, you’d only see 46 rings, and at the age of 46, Urban has resigned from his job as Head Coach for the Florida Gators. If I were a Florida fan though, I wouldn’t panic. I think the 2010 campaign will likely be the worst for Florida because they’ve had to experience the growing pains of replacing a great Quarterback. Just ask Texas how easy that is. I’m not sure how the top 3 high school football states shake out exactly, but certainly, Florida is right there with the likes of Texas and California, so Florida will always have plus athletes. Let’s not forget that Urban has also turned the Florida job into one of the top 5 jobs in the sport. Florida will get a big-name hire, and the short-lived turmoil will be just that. Don’t fret, Florida fan.
And I can’t believe how interested I am in baseball right now. Through the glorious, instant obsession that is twitter, I’ve been on the pulse of all the offseason, free-agent moves, and I gotta say; I think it’s exciting. Without question the team making the biggest waves right now is the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have signed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to huge deals. Carl Crawford’s deal of 7 years, 142 MM dollars is pretty fat, unfortunately I don’t have Gonzalez’s figures in front of me, but best believe it’s also over 100MM; that’s a lot of Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers. Oh yeah, let’s not understate the fact that Adrian Gonzalez has put up incredible offensive statistics in what might be the most pitcher-friendly park in all of baseball located in San Diego.
The most exciting thing for Red Sox fans is Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis all missed the bulk of the previous season due to injury. They’ll be returning/added to a team that won 89 games last season. In affect, the Red Sox are gaining 5 superstars this season! If they stay healthy, the Red Sox will be a monster. In my opinion, there isn’t another MLB roster even CLOSE to what the Red Sox have on paper right now. Stay tuned though, because Cliff Lee may come to terms with a club today or tomorrow.
The 2nd most coveted outfield free agent (Carl Crawford) this season was Jayson Werth, and the Phillies loss, was the rest of the National League’s gain. I’m excited to watch Jayson Werth, Steven Strasburg and Bryce Harper all in the same lineup in the future, but that IS still a few years away, and the Washington Nationals won’t contend this season. As a Reds fan, whose team is primarily looking to sure up its future with players it already has, as opposed to signing free agents, I’m thrilled to see the Phillies lose a piece of their puzzle. The only downside is Jayson Werth had nothing to do with the Reds being shut out in 2 of its 3 playoff games against the Phillies; so maybe the Reds haven’t really gained all that much.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Get Your Tickets!
Housekeeping:
In an effort to make this blog closer to a daily occurrence, I'll need to stretch my imagination a little bit to come up with enough material. Although, I'm only going to be aiming for about 200-500 words per day, it'll still add up to a lot more Ham than 1000 words every third week. I've also decided to stop pimping my posts on FB since I don't fetch many hits, and it probably serves to annoy more than it actually helps people. So, if you want to read my stuff, just check here daily. All the time.
I recently heard someone on television talking about how he keeps all of his ticket stubs in a scrapbook. Initially, I thought it was an incredibly nerdy, and lame thing to do, but quickly changed my mind. I thought about some of the games I've been to in my life which have been awesome, and tried to fast forward to when I'm 80-years-old. I won't be able to remember any of it. In short, I've decided to also keep my ticket stubs, starting now, and write a brief summary of each experience. I've really been extremely fortunate to witness some of this stuff. I mean, really, some of these games, and the circumstances surrounding them, I can't believe I was a part of them. I've tried to recount everyone I was with at these games. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone on account of too much alcohol. This is entirely possible.
During the beginning of my sophomore year of college (2005) I spent a lot of time in an apartment tenanted (surprised this is a word) by Ronald, Zeke, Haus, Mitch and Justin Sanchez. They were all broke seniors, and I was a broke sophomore, not yet 21 and unable to enter most bars without fashioning a fake ID. The NHL returned from a lockout and we typically spent the weekend drinking cheap beer in the aforementioned apartment, joined by Greg S. and others, of course. It was this group however, that decided to turn on the Blue Jackets, who played their home games less than 3 miles from where we lived, in order to yell jibberish at the television screen and pretend like we knew hockey. None of us had ever watched hockey prior to this season. After about 3 drunk, weekend nights of screaming at the television and trying to encourage hockey fights, I looked at Ronald and asked if anyone actually kind of liked this sport for what it was, beside the fact that it gave drunk kids an excuse to yell at stuff. Ronald nodded, and suddenly the two of us, along with Greg S, evolved into die-hard BJ's fans. Ronald and I drove down High Street to the local Goodwill Store to be fitted for BlueJacket apparel. We bought actual jackets that happened to be blue. Ronalds was originally made for women, and mine was a nylon duster that went all the way to the ground. Wearing our new "uniforms" made watching the games hysterical and also drew us closer to the sport.
Flash forward to last Friday. Ronald, now wearing a Red Wings jersey, for reason's I hate to think of and refuse to explain for the purposes of this blog, myself, Ben B, J Boke, Z-Botz, Brian M, Danny M, and a Canadian guy named Joe, sat in Nationwide Arena watching the Blue Jackets and Red Wings play a game to decide 1st place in the division. Much like the first NHL game I ever attended, the Red Wings defeated to Blue Jackets, except this game was 2-1 and not 6-0. It kicked off the BJ's current 5-game skid. Besides this skid, the Blue Jackets have had their most successful season to date, but I've been without my best Blue Jacket friend, Ronald, and it's really disappointing.
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The Reds 1st home postseason game in 15 years. After finally having the pleasure of watching a winning season, I realized just how much I love the Reds more than any of my other sports teams. The Reds were swept out of the postseason in this game, but it was still an incredible sight, and I was fortunate to see it. I could probably complain about a few things, but complaining isn't productive and all it really does is make people not want to hang out with you. It's the only Reds game I've been to in my 25 years of living, where the stadium was actually full. For a moment I thought I was in heaven, and then my least favorite player made an error in the top of the 1st, so the Reds were quickly down 1-0, with the Series at 0-2. That's when I realized I was actually in Cincinnati, not heaven. Jake O purchased tickets online and I went to this game with My Brother Andy, Jason K, Greg S, and Jake O. For my purposes, it's unfortunate this "ticket" is actually just a piece of paper that was printed off the internet.
------------------------------------------------
I believe this game was played on a Thursday. It wasn't easy to find people to make the 2 hour drive to Cincinnati from Columbus to watch the Reds potentially clinch. With the projected starting pitching matchup, I was extremely confident the Reds WOULD indeed clinch, and I was able to talk one of my all-time greatest friends, Lee M, into going to the game. We met up with current Cincinnati resident and my former next door neighbor, Greg R, for this game. Heading into the bottom of the 8th, I called Jay Bruce would hit a leadoff, walk off homerun in the bottom of the 9th to send us to the playoffs. That's exactly what happened, because I'm a genius. Lee and I stayed around the park and took part in the celebration for an hour. We then drove back to Lee's house in Columbus, where we rewatched the game, and the walkoff, while drinking champagne and beer until 4am. This year I was able to watch the Reds biggest two home games in person, over the last 15 seasons; I'm grateful for that.
-----------------------------------------
The Buckeyes beat M!ch!g@n and we were heading back to the BCS National Championship. My immediate reaction was, "I'm absolutely broke, there's no way I can go to this game." Then, I went over a few things in my head and decided, "fuck it, I'm going to New Orleans." What are the things I went over that ultimately rationalized the trip to New Orleans? Glad you asked. Here's the list of my thoughts.
-I've been a fan of Buckeye Football since I was 5.
-Ohio State was the only college I wanted to go to.
-Ohio State was the only college I applied to.
-It was my senior season.
-How perfect is this situation?
-Very perfect. It's like a fairy tale.
-I'll just put everything on my credit card and pay it off eventually, somehow.
I called Lee M and the trip was on. Jon K from Miami, Aaron D from the University of Dayton, Justin S fellow OSU'er, myself and Lee made the trip.
Ohio State had a student lottery, which gave the winners the opportunity to purchase tickets to the national championship. Guess what. I won. I only knew 3 other people who won, and they were Abbey M, Kirby E and Tyler F. We all met up and purchased our tickets together and eventually, Tyler sold his.
About 2 weeks before we were to take off for New Orleans, I received a letter in the mail stating inactivity in my OPERS retirement account, which I was paying into while I was working for the Village of Minster for the previous 2 summers and 3 summers overall. It asked if I wanted to just cash it out. Yes, please. My only problem was, we were leaving for New Orleans so soon, I didn't know if the mail could get everything processed in time for my trip. Luckily I realized that I lived in Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, and that the OPERS office was probably also in Columbus. I was right, it was located about 1 mile from where I was living. I went to the office and collected the $900 I never realized I was entitled to and the trip was set.
If you're a fan of statistics as I am, think of these odds.
-Buckeyes make the championship my senior year.
-Out of about 150 OSU students I knew, I was 1 of 4 who won the opportunity to purchase tickets.
-Days before the trip, I was flat broke, but was basically gifted $900 which paid for everything.
All of these incredible circumstances made me positive that witnessing the Buckeyes win a National Championship in the Sugar Bowl my Senior year of college was destiny. After the first 3 minutes, the Buckeyes were up 10-0 and Kirby, Abbey and myself rejoiced as our destiny was certainly becoming a reality. This was the 1st time I ever thought I was in heaven. Then LSU scored 31 unanswered points and I realized I was just in shitty, shitty New Orleans. The game ended and my trip was over. Still, I'm undoubtedly fortunate to have been able to see this game, and partake in 4 days of partying in New Orleans with some of my best friends. Destiny still works, and the trip was a blast. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, the Buckeyes actually winning the game wasn't the most important thing.
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A season prior to witnessing a national championship game, I was on hand as the Buckeyes and M!ch!g@n met for the only time in their collective history as number 1 vs. number 2. I think Bo Schembechler passed away the day before, and Columbus was crazy. We had about 8 guests in our apartment for the weekend and it was a nonstop party.
I tailgated with Kurt B and his sister's friends before the game, and I saw Tara Reid partying at an adjacent tailgate. It's basically the only time I've seen a famous person in Columbus, who wasn't playing for a team based in Columbus, or from Columbus themselves.
I saw pairs of tickets on eBay for as much as $2400 for this game, but decided not to sell.
Anyway, Kurt and I left the tailgate, stole an unopened bag of chips from a random tailgate, and walked to the stadium. We ate the chips and drunkenly yelled stupid stuff all the way to the stadium. Kurt and I arrived at the stadium, but our seats weren't together that season, so I found my seat with Zoid. BTW, we were usually able to get to the 1st row of C-Deck, which is the upper bowl, to watch games. The seats were on about the 45 yard line, so you could see the plays unfold. These were my favorite seats I've ever had in Ohio Stadium. It was one of the greatest games ever, and the Buckeyes won 42-39. I had a throbbing headache from screaming the entire game. It was the loudest I've ever heard our crowd. Zoid and I rushed on the field and tore up some of the sod to take home with us. It was the last game the Buckeyes played on sod at home, as field turf was put in the following season. I had about a yard of sod hanging over my shoulder as we walked back to our apartment and people tore some of it off my back, but I didn't care, because who needs a yard of sod? I just wanted a little bit, and I kept it in our freezer for the rest of the school year. We moved out in June, and I deposited the sod into a dumpster. What an unbelievable memory.
---------------------------------------
One of these two tickets is from a regional final baseball game I played my senior year of high school. It was the last game I ever played. I'm not completely sure where the other originated, although I suspect it's from the game our girls won state in basketball my senior year of high school.
My brother gave me his stub from the Regional Final game. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now, it's kind of special he thought to do that. I love baseball, and still miss playing it. I was fortunate to ride the coattails of such a great group of guys from age 8-18, and we made a lot of great memories.
Watching our girls basketball team win state our senior year was really fun. Most of my friends played football and basketball when I didn't, so I couldn't really hang out with them during those seasons. Since the girls playoff run came after our boys were eliminated and before baseball, it was a great time for all of us to hang out and support our girls, who eventually brought home the state title.
----------------------------------------
So that's it. Wow, this was a lot longer than I anticipated. Talk about rambling. You'll probably have to excuse some of the grammar...
In an effort to make this blog closer to a daily occurrence, I'll need to stretch my imagination a little bit to come up with enough material. Although, I'm only going to be aiming for about 200-500 words per day, it'll still add up to a lot more Ham than 1000 words every third week. I've also decided to stop pimping my posts on FB since I don't fetch many hits, and it probably serves to annoy more than it actually helps people. So, if you want to read my stuff, just check here daily. All the time.
I recently heard someone on television talking about how he keeps all of his ticket stubs in a scrapbook. Initially, I thought it was an incredibly nerdy, and lame thing to do, but quickly changed my mind. I thought about some of the games I've been to in my life which have been awesome, and tried to fast forward to when I'm 80-years-old. I won't be able to remember any of it. In short, I've decided to also keep my ticket stubs, starting now, and write a brief summary of each experience. I've really been extremely fortunate to witness some of this stuff. I mean, really, some of these games, and the circumstances surrounding them, I can't believe I was a part of them. I've tried to recount everyone I was with at these games. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone on account of too much alcohol. This is entirely possible.
During the beginning of my sophomore year of college (2005) I spent a lot of time in an apartment tenanted (surprised this is a word) by Ronald, Zeke, Haus, Mitch and Justin Sanchez. They were all broke seniors, and I was a broke sophomore, not yet 21 and unable to enter most bars without fashioning a fake ID. The NHL returned from a lockout and we typically spent the weekend drinking cheap beer in the aforementioned apartment, joined by Greg S. and others, of course. It was this group however, that decided to turn on the Blue Jackets, who played their home games less than 3 miles from where we lived, in order to yell jibberish at the television screen and pretend like we knew hockey. None of us had ever watched hockey prior to this season. After about 3 drunk, weekend nights of screaming at the television and trying to encourage hockey fights, I looked at Ronald and asked if anyone actually kind of liked this sport for what it was, beside the fact that it gave drunk kids an excuse to yell at stuff. Ronald nodded, and suddenly the two of us, along with Greg S, evolved into die-hard BJ's fans. Ronald and I drove down High Street to the local Goodwill Store to be fitted for BlueJacket apparel. We bought actual jackets that happened to be blue. Ronalds was originally made for women, and mine was a nylon duster that went all the way to the ground. Wearing our new "uniforms" made watching the games hysterical and also drew us closer to the sport.
Flash forward to last Friday. Ronald, now wearing a Red Wings jersey, for reason's I hate to think of and refuse to explain for the purposes of this blog, myself, Ben B, J Boke, Z-Botz, Brian M, Danny M, and a Canadian guy named Joe, sat in Nationwide Arena watching the Blue Jackets and Red Wings play a game to decide 1st place in the division. Much like the first NHL game I ever attended, the Red Wings defeated to Blue Jackets, except this game was 2-1 and not 6-0. It kicked off the BJ's current 5-game skid. Besides this skid, the Blue Jackets have had their most successful season to date, but I've been without my best Blue Jacket friend, Ronald, and it's really disappointing.
---------------------------------------------
The Reds 1st home postseason game in 15 years. After finally having the pleasure of watching a winning season, I realized just how much I love the Reds more than any of my other sports teams. The Reds were swept out of the postseason in this game, but it was still an incredible sight, and I was fortunate to see it. I could probably complain about a few things, but complaining isn't productive and all it really does is make people not want to hang out with you. It's the only Reds game I've been to in my 25 years of living, where the stadium was actually full. For a moment I thought I was in heaven, and then my least favorite player made an error in the top of the 1st, so the Reds were quickly down 1-0, with the Series at 0-2. That's when I realized I was actually in Cincinnati, not heaven. Jake O purchased tickets online and I went to this game with My Brother Andy, Jason K, Greg S, and Jake O. For my purposes, it's unfortunate this "ticket" is actually just a piece of paper that was printed off the internet.
------------------------------------------------
I believe this game was played on a Thursday. It wasn't easy to find people to make the 2 hour drive to Cincinnati from Columbus to watch the Reds potentially clinch. With the projected starting pitching matchup, I was extremely confident the Reds WOULD indeed clinch, and I was able to talk one of my all-time greatest friends, Lee M, into going to the game. We met up with current Cincinnati resident and my former next door neighbor, Greg R, for this game. Heading into the bottom of the 8th, I called Jay Bruce would hit a leadoff, walk off homerun in the bottom of the 9th to send us to the playoffs. That's exactly what happened, because I'm a genius. Lee and I stayed around the park and took part in the celebration for an hour. We then drove back to Lee's house in Columbus, where we rewatched the game, and the walkoff, while drinking champagne and beer until 4am. This year I was able to watch the Reds biggest two home games in person, over the last 15 seasons; I'm grateful for that.
-----------------------------------------
The Buckeyes beat M!ch!g@n and we were heading back to the BCS National Championship. My immediate reaction was, "I'm absolutely broke, there's no way I can go to this game." Then, I went over a few things in my head and decided, "fuck it, I'm going to New Orleans." What are the things I went over that ultimately rationalized the trip to New Orleans? Glad you asked. Here's the list of my thoughts.
-I've been a fan of Buckeye Football since I was 5.
-Ohio State was the only college I wanted to go to.
-Ohio State was the only college I applied to.
-It was my senior season.
-How perfect is this situation?
-Very perfect. It's like a fairy tale.
-I'll just put everything on my credit card and pay it off eventually, somehow.
I called Lee M and the trip was on. Jon K from Miami, Aaron D from the University of Dayton, Justin S fellow OSU'er, myself and Lee made the trip.
Ohio State had a student lottery, which gave the winners the opportunity to purchase tickets to the national championship. Guess what. I won. I only knew 3 other people who won, and they were Abbey M, Kirby E and Tyler F. We all met up and purchased our tickets together and eventually, Tyler sold his.
About 2 weeks before we were to take off for New Orleans, I received a letter in the mail stating inactivity in my OPERS retirement account, which I was paying into while I was working for the Village of Minster for the previous 2 summers and 3 summers overall. It asked if I wanted to just cash it out. Yes, please. My only problem was, we were leaving for New Orleans so soon, I didn't know if the mail could get everything processed in time for my trip. Luckily I realized that I lived in Columbus, the capitol of Ohio, and that the OPERS office was probably also in Columbus. I was right, it was located about 1 mile from where I was living. I went to the office and collected the $900 I never realized I was entitled to and the trip was set.
If you're a fan of statistics as I am, think of these odds.
-Buckeyes make the championship my senior year.
-Out of about 150 OSU students I knew, I was 1 of 4 who won the opportunity to purchase tickets.
-Days before the trip, I was flat broke, but was basically gifted $900 which paid for everything.
All of these incredible circumstances made me positive that witnessing the Buckeyes win a National Championship in the Sugar Bowl my Senior year of college was destiny. After the first 3 minutes, the Buckeyes were up 10-0 and Kirby, Abbey and myself rejoiced as our destiny was certainly becoming a reality. This was the 1st time I ever thought I was in heaven. Then LSU scored 31 unanswered points and I realized I was just in shitty, shitty New Orleans. The game ended and my trip was over. Still, I'm undoubtedly fortunate to have been able to see this game, and partake in 4 days of partying in New Orleans with some of my best friends. Destiny still works, and the trip was a blast. Maybe in the grand scheme of things, the Buckeyes actually winning the game wasn't the most important thing.
-----------------------------------------------
A season prior to witnessing a national championship game, I was on hand as the Buckeyes and M!ch!g@n met for the only time in their collective history as number 1 vs. number 2. I think Bo Schembechler passed away the day before, and Columbus was crazy. We had about 8 guests in our apartment for the weekend and it was a nonstop party.
I tailgated with Kurt B and his sister's friends before the game, and I saw Tara Reid partying at an adjacent tailgate. It's basically the only time I've seen a famous person in Columbus, who wasn't playing for a team based in Columbus, or from Columbus themselves.
I saw pairs of tickets on eBay for as much as $2400 for this game, but decided not to sell.
Anyway, Kurt and I left the tailgate, stole an unopened bag of chips from a random tailgate, and walked to the stadium. We ate the chips and drunkenly yelled stupid stuff all the way to the stadium. Kurt and I arrived at the stadium, but our seats weren't together that season, so I found my seat with Zoid. BTW, we were usually able to get to the 1st row of C-Deck, which is the upper bowl, to watch games. The seats were on about the 45 yard line, so you could see the plays unfold. These were my favorite seats I've ever had in Ohio Stadium. It was one of the greatest games ever, and the Buckeyes won 42-39. I had a throbbing headache from screaming the entire game. It was the loudest I've ever heard our crowd. Zoid and I rushed on the field and tore up some of the sod to take home with us. It was the last game the Buckeyes played on sod at home, as field turf was put in the following season. I had about a yard of sod hanging over my shoulder as we walked back to our apartment and people tore some of it off my back, but I didn't care, because who needs a yard of sod? I just wanted a little bit, and I kept it in our freezer for the rest of the school year. We moved out in June, and I deposited the sod into a dumpster. What an unbelievable memory.
---------------------------------------
One of these two tickets is from a regional final baseball game I played my senior year of high school. It was the last game I ever played. I'm not completely sure where the other originated, although I suspect it's from the game our girls won state in basketball my senior year of high school.
My brother gave me his stub from the Regional Final game. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now, it's kind of special he thought to do that. I love baseball, and still miss playing it. I was fortunate to ride the coattails of such a great group of guys from age 8-18, and we made a lot of great memories.
Watching our girls basketball team win state our senior year was really fun. Most of my friends played football and basketball when I didn't, so I couldn't really hang out with them during those seasons. Since the girls playoff run came after our boys were eliminated and before baseball, it was a great time for all of us to hang out and support our girls, who eventually brought home the state title.
----------------------------------------
So that's it. Wow, this was a lot longer than I anticipated. Talk about rambling. You'll probably have to excuse some of the grammar...
Friday, December 3, 2010
LeBron Outcome
I guess it's kind of ironic or hypocritical that I'm so sick of hearing about the Heat/Cavs/LeBron, yet I continue to talk about it. Well, just wanted to let you all in on a little something...
Since I'm in Grad School/Unemployed/kind of nerdy for sports/a loser, I'm usually not extremely busy from 10am-1pm during any day. Strangely enough, this is precisely the time that my good ole buddy, Colin Cowherd is on ESPNU talking about sports. I usually check in daily to see if he's talking about something I'm interested in and if he is, I'll continue watching. And if he's not, I'll probably continue watching. It's still better than The Price is Right.
Yesterday, or Today, or whatever, Colin was talking about LeBron, and he asked people to email what they WANTED to happen in the game, and what they THOUGHT would happen yesterday, or today, or whatever. He said, he would give the person with the closest prediction a "real nice package," and since I enjoy real nice packages and am in Grad School/Unemployed/kind of nerdy for sports/a loser, I decided to take the time to voice my opinion. I guess I'll just copy/paste my exact email for you folks:
"I want LeBron to score 30 and the Heat to win by double digits.
I think LeBron will score 38 and the Heat will win by 15. I think the crowd will affect LeBron, but it will also affect the Cavs players. LeBron will shoot poorly, and decide to take it to the rack every time. LeBron won't let himself have a game that will allow the Cav fans to say, "we don't even miss you, LeBron." I think LeBron will do everything tonight."
I don't know if any of y'all kept track, but LeBron did score exactly 38 points last night. I'm guessing someone else probably emailed Colin and also predicted 38 points, but suggested a point total that ended up being closer than my 15 (Heat won by 28), so I doubt I'll win. I sure hope I win though, it would be my 4th appearance on the show either via having my email read and name mentioned, or literally being in the background of the shot when on location. So, if you tune into The Herd tomorrow and hear, Big Time Hammer Time mentioned, you better believe they're talking about me.
Even if I don't win, sometimes as a Grad Student/Unemployed/kind of nerdy for sports/loser, you just have to find reasons to brag about yourself every once in a while.
Since I'm in Grad School/Unemployed/kind of nerdy for sports/a loser, I'm usually not extremely busy from 10am-1pm during any day. Strangely enough, this is precisely the time that my good ole buddy, Colin Cowherd is on ESPNU talking about sports. I usually check in daily to see if he's talking about something I'm interested in and if he is, I'll continue watching. And if he's not, I'll probably continue watching. It's still better than The Price is Right.
Yesterday, or Today, or whatever, Colin was talking about LeBron, and he asked people to email what they WANTED to happen in the game, and what they THOUGHT would happen yesterday, or today, or whatever. He said, he would give the person with the closest prediction a "real nice package," and since I enjoy real nice packages and am in Grad School/Unemployed/kind of nerdy for sports/a loser, I decided to take the time to voice my opinion. I guess I'll just copy/paste my exact email for you folks:
"I want LeBron to score 30 and the Heat to win by double digits.
I think LeBron will score 38 and the Heat will win by 15. I think the crowd will affect LeBron, but it will also affect the Cavs players. LeBron will shoot poorly, and decide to take it to the rack every time. LeBron won't let himself have a game that will allow the Cav fans to say, "we don't even miss you, LeBron." I think LeBron will do everything tonight."
I don't know if any of y'all kept track, but LeBron did score exactly 38 points last night. I'm guessing someone else probably emailed Colin and also predicted 38 points, but suggested a point total that ended up being closer than my 15 (Heat won by 28), so I doubt I'll win. I sure hope I win though, it would be my 4th appearance on the show either via having my email read and name mentioned, or literally being in the background of the shot when on location. So, if you tune into The Herd tomorrow and hear, Big Time Hammer Time mentioned, you better believe they're talking about me.
Even if I don't win, sometimes as a Grad Student/Unemployed/kind of nerdy for sports/loser, you just have to find reasons to brag about yourself every once in a while.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Quick Keyboard Mash - LeBron
Here are a few thoughts I wanted to get out before the matchup tonight in Cleveland. It’s exciting to know moments will occur tonight that we’ll be talking about for decades. I mean, these moments happen, but I think it’s rare that we know exactly when they’re going to happen. In forty years when ESPN Classic is running its LeBron Story, tonight will be a part of it. Tonight will be included in nearly every story ever created about LeBron. Scratch that, it WILL be included in EVERYTHING aimed at telling LeBron’s story. And tonight, we’ll all witness. Too easy.
First off, I’ve only watched the NBA for its players. When I was little, I watched Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan. Today I enjoy watching LeBron and Durant and Nash, but I never felt it would have been right to consider myself a Cav fan. Not after all the futility I’ve experienced (Reds and Browns). I resented people for taking the easy way out, and I was not-so-secretly pleased when LeBron left.
What do I think will happen tonight? I can make a prediction, but based on what? There’s no precedent for this. There’s basically no precedent for anything LeBron has ever done, if you think about it.
Who grows up being touted as the next best player in their sport by the time they’re 16? Already a small number. Of those people, who grew up in a city, which has suffered the kind of professional sports poverty akin to Cleveland? The list is already probably down to LeBron only, but let’s keep going. Who lives up to the hype and by the time they are 18, think about it, 18, is the consensus best player entering the draft. Man, I was stupid at 18. And wouldn’t you know it, your hometown was worst in the league last year, and they have the number 1 pick. You can’t write this stuff; it’s sports. This movie script would be stupid. LeBron is picked by his hometown with the duty of bringing the city out of sports hell. His games continues to progress and puts up ridiculous numbers. He has a couple playoff runs where he’s just out of his mind. Look up some of the stats he’s had in the playoffs. Absurd. LeBron grows tired of trying to defeat deep, 9-man teams in the conference semis and finals by himself and decides to bolt town.
LeBron does an hour of ill-advised television and he’s immediately the worst human being on the planet. What a character flaw, eh Kobe? Eh Big Ben? Eh Ron Artest? Eh Tiger?
Basically I’m trying to say that this entire “LeBron” saga has never happened before. How can I predict what’ll happen tonight? Cowherd makes a great point. He says Cav fans can yell at LeBron tonight and hopefully get everything out of their collective system. It can, and hopefully will be therapeutic. I hope we can stop talking about it after tonight. Sure, players have skipped town and come back to play in front of angry fans before, but not to this magnitude. Don’t kid yourself. (BTW: Mike "The Miz" insert last name, just won some kind of WWE title. He's from Cleveland (Parma), does this end the title drought?)
I’m really more annoyed with the incessant Heat coverage. We’ve already figured out they won’t surpass the ’96 Bulls. Can we stop with a little bit of this converage. Every day I have to wade (pun intended) through all the Heat news to find the really important stuff on ESPN (Blue Jackets news).
The big 3 in Miami have each gone over 20 points the past few games and I think they are putting it together. But I don’t know if it’ll be enough to defeat the energy in the Q tonight. I think LeBron is going to try too hard, and I think he has to. The worst thing LeBron can do is be a non-factor. He can’t be complacent and give Cav fans a chance to think they don’t even miss him. LeBron has to be a tornado tonight, which I don’t think is even a basketball term. I think he has to try to do everything. I think he’ll have too many nerves to have a good shooting night, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to get to the rack.
The worst part about LeBron leaving in favor of Miami is the time they’re taking to figure out how to play together. Wade and LeBron haven’t coexisted perfectly yet, but it will get better, if Wade can accept that it’s no longer his team, IMO. After all, LeBron is the reigning two-time MVP. The league’s most valuable player hasn’t been entertaining. He hasn’t been appointment television.
I know not everyone is a sports fan, but if you’re reading this, you probably are. I don’t particularly care about the NBA, but I will realize a chance to be a small part of history, even if it’s on the other side of a television screen. I hope you’ll all join me in putting this issue to bed.
I’ll see you tomorrow
First off, I’ve only watched the NBA for its players. When I was little, I watched Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan. Today I enjoy watching LeBron and Durant and Nash, but I never felt it would have been right to consider myself a Cav fan. Not after all the futility I’ve experienced (Reds and Browns). I resented people for taking the easy way out, and I was not-so-secretly pleased when LeBron left.
What do I think will happen tonight? I can make a prediction, but based on what? There’s no precedent for this. There’s basically no precedent for anything LeBron has ever done, if you think about it.
Who grows up being touted as the next best player in their sport by the time they’re 16? Already a small number. Of those people, who grew up in a city, which has suffered the kind of professional sports poverty akin to Cleveland? The list is already probably down to LeBron only, but let’s keep going. Who lives up to the hype and by the time they are 18, think about it, 18, is the consensus best player entering the draft. Man, I was stupid at 18. And wouldn’t you know it, your hometown was worst in the league last year, and they have the number 1 pick. You can’t write this stuff; it’s sports. This movie script would be stupid. LeBron is picked by his hometown with the duty of bringing the city out of sports hell. His games continues to progress and puts up ridiculous numbers. He has a couple playoff runs where he’s just out of his mind. Look up some of the stats he’s had in the playoffs. Absurd. LeBron grows tired of trying to defeat deep, 9-man teams in the conference semis and finals by himself and decides to bolt town.
LeBron does an hour of ill-advised television and he’s immediately the worst human being on the planet. What a character flaw, eh Kobe? Eh Big Ben? Eh Ron Artest? Eh Tiger?
Basically I’m trying to say that this entire “LeBron” saga has never happened before. How can I predict what’ll happen tonight? Cowherd makes a great point. He says Cav fans can yell at LeBron tonight and hopefully get everything out of their collective system. It can, and hopefully will be therapeutic. I hope we can stop talking about it after tonight. Sure, players have skipped town and come back to play in front of angry fans before, but not to this magnitude. Don’t kid yourself. (BTW: Mike "The Miz" insert last name, just won some kind of WWE title. He's from Cleveland (Parma), does this end the title drought?)
I’m really more annoyed with the incessant Heat coverage. We’ve already figured out they won’t surpass the ’96 Bulls. Can we stop with a little bit of this converage. Every day I have to wade (pun intended) through all the Heat news to find the really important stuff on ESPN (Blue Jackets news).
The big 3 in Miami have each gone over 20 points the past few games and I think they are putting it together. But I don’t know if it’ll be enough to defeat the energy in the Q tonight. I think LeBron is going to try too hard, and I think he has to. The worst thing LeBron can do is be a non-factor. He can’t be complacent and give Cav fans a chance to think they don’t even miss him. LeBron has to be a tornado tonight, which I don’t think is even a basketball term. I think he has to try to do everything. I think he’ll have too many nerves to have a good shooting night, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to get to the rack.
The worst part about LeBron leaving in favor of Miami is the time they’re taking to figure out how to play together. Wade and LeBron haven’t coexisted perfectly yet, but it will get better, if Wade can accept that it’s no longer his team, IMO. After all, LeBron is the reigning two-time MVP. The league’s most valuable player hasn’t been entertaining. He hasn’t been appointment television.
I know not everyone is a sports fan, but if you’re reading this, you probably are. I don’t particularly care about the NBA, but I will realize a chance to be a small part of history, even if it’s on the other side of a television screen. I hope you’ll all join me in putting this issue to bed.
I’ll see you tomorrow
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