Bowser

Hey Buckeye fans. It's 3:46 pm on Saturday and I've just watched OSU post a harrowing 27-22 win over a feisty Toledo squad to run their record to 2-0. Figgs will undoubtedly recap the game in greater detail later in the week, but I wanted to share a few impressions about the game and provide a sterling example of how not to be a good fan of a team.

- I haven't seen anything indicating that Drew Basil is capable of making a field goal. I'm not sure if it's because we're consistently having him kick long-yardage tries, or a lack of game experience, or what, but his inaccuracy is at least mildly concerning as we move into games where we can't afford to leave three points on the field. Hopefully a few shorter kicks splitting the uprights will boost his confidence and accuracy and expand his range from there.

- None of our backs are exactly Beanie Wells, though Carlos Hyde appears to be the toughest runner. Rod Smith wasn't particularly impressive even before that inexcusable late-game fumble. Hopefully Hyde will be able to handle the load going forward in the season. The Buckeye offense generally moved the ball well, totaling 301 yards on the day, but struggled on 3rd down.

- Ben Buchanan has looked good, save for the blocked punt early in today's game.

- The defense was mostly sound, except for a few lapses here and there against an explosive Rocket offense. They also seem a bit susceptible to misdirection plays, but these things are characteristic of young defenses.

- michigan sucks

- The QB situation will continue to get loads of attention until either Braxton Miller takes over, or Joe Bauserman throws touchdown passes on 56 straight attempts. That's just the way it's going to be, I'm afraid, and as Figgs suggested previously, Miller will likely eventually win the position sometime this season. After a flawless opener against a weak Akron club, Bauserman was decent but not great against Toledo. He only completed 53% of his throws, tossing a few out of bounds that maybe he should have waited on and flat-out missing some deep throws, but ultimately got the job done and didn't turn the ball over once.

- The coaching sitution will continue to get loads of attention until either an established coach takes over, or Luke Fickell wins 8 straight National Championships. That's just the way it's going to be, I'm afraid. Personally, I think it's a bit too early to draw conclusions on Fickell's work as coach with only two games under his belt, both of the home-win-against-MAC-school variety.

Clearly, not everyone agrees with me on this point. In particular, whoever wields the in-game Twitter feed for FCF's kindred spirits over at Cleveland Strikes Back does not agree with me. Instead of enjoying the game and providing some sort of useful analysis, this fellow has decided to spend the past two weeks sending an endless stream of vitriol all game long directed at Fickell ("brain dead", "fucking idiot") and Bauserman ("steaming pile of crap," "Lousyman"). In the span of three hours, this chipper, supportive, fun-loving individual lobbed an incredible 49 grenades at Fickell and Bauserman. What a fun way to spend an late summer afternoon! I feel like, I don't know, let's say five or so such messages would have gotten across the same message. This guy's literary oeuvre exhibits roughly the same amount of variety as does Jack Torrance's, and the same measured perspective on player performance as does Ray Finkel.

I mean, seriously, if you put Figgs in a room for a week straight and made him watch nothing but michigan wins from years past (admittedly, you'd have to go back a ways to find many) and played "The Victors" over and over again, I doubt he could sustain the level of venom this guy pumped out, the difference being that the CSB guy is presumably aiming his poison darts at a team he supports. I think he should relax a bit.

The sad part is, I actually like the CSB Twitter feed, except when this guy is dousing Haterade all over it. Ex-Buckeye Jon Thoma actually called this Debbie Downer out on Twitter for "overwhelming negativity", prompting a typically defensive "calling them like I see them" response. Yeah, that's what you're doing - in that case, what you're seeing is indeed overwhelming negativity. Relentlessly firing off angry twitters at college football players and coaches (during a win!) doesn't seem to me like a particularly worthwhile way to spend an afternoon. It's actually a bit unsettling to watch - I think in the future I'll unfollow the account during OSU games and refollow at other times. Braxton Miller may indeed be the answer for OSU at QB, but having never actually seen the dude play, I'll leave that up to the coaching staff and support the guys on the field.

So, sports fans, I'd offer that it's more than OK to offer reasonable constructive criticism at players and teams that you want to see win, but haranguing them over and over again on social media sites is no kind of way to be a fan.