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Record-breaking day for Guiton leads Buckeyes in laugher

Well, that just happened. It took Ohio St all of four offensive plays over a span of 46 seconds to have a 21-0 lead. Kenny Guiton broke John Borton and Bobby Hoying’s OSU passing touchdown record – by halftime. When it was all said and done, the Buckeyes had a 76-0 victory and Florida A&M had a $900,000 payday.

Ohio St has been taking an unwarranted beating in the media this week for scheduling the FCS opponent, when if they would have done their homework they would know that OSU had Vanderbilt slated for this date until they backed out. NCAA teams have schedules lined up years in advance, so finding another school with an open date and a second bye week later in the year is no easy task. Not that Vandy is a juggernaut by any stretch of the imagination, but at least they’re an SEC team that makes a bowl game now and then.

So with the non-conference schedule in the books, it’s tough to look at this Buckeye team and get a great feel for their identity. They’ve played four teams that weren’t even close to Ohio St’s level and are 4-0 in dominating fashion. We’ve seen the super-emergence of Kenny G, but won’t see him much for the rest of the season. We can at least say that they’ve taken care of the obstacles that have been in their way, and have done so nearly flawlessly. So with B1G play about to begin and a showdown with Wisconsin looming, the Bucks must keep this momentum rolling and show that they can beat some stiffer competition.


Game Recap
I’m not going to go into much detail here, because while there were obviously several exciting plays to get to 76-0, the game was over before it started and was pretty boring for the most part. Guiton was picked off by Patrick Aiken in the endzone on the first Buckeye possession, and the Rattlers actually held some momentum for about three seconds. Then Jordan Hall stripped Aiken, who inexplicably tried to bring the ball out, and recovered the fumble. Hall followed up his defensive play with a 3-yard TD on the next snap.

A big punt return from Philly Brown set up the first of six Guiton first half touchdowns, this one going to TE Jeff Heuerman. The Buckeyes went for and failed the two-point conversion. Doran Grant’s blocked punt resulted in the second, to Evan Spencer. The third was a short shovel pass to Carlos Hyde, making his 2013 debut after a three-game suspension, and the fourth coming off a Bradly Roby pick to Devin Smith. This all happened in the first quarter.

The 2nd quarter was much of the same, with FAMU going three-and-out and Ohio St lighting up the scoreboard. Hall rushed in his second TD, Chris Fields caught #5 for Guiton, and Spencer’s second was the record-breaker for Kenny G. The Rattlers did manage to get a first down with about four minutes left in the half, so there’s that.

Up 55-0, Cardale Jones was playing football (not playing school) under center for the Buckeyes to begin the 3rd. Jones didn’t attempt a single pass in the half, but ran the ball eight times for 52 yards and a touchdown. Ezekiel Elliott received the bulk of the remaining carries, and the freshman made the most of his opportunity. Elliott ended up leading all rushers with 162 yards on 14 carries and finding the endzone twice. Fellow freshman Warren Ball got a few touches real late. After an excruciating 60 minutes for Earl Holmes’s Rattlers (yes, that Earl Holmes), the 76-0 beat down finally came to an end.

Game Ball
Since this may be his last chance to get one, and I guess because he threw a school-record six touchdown passes in two quarters, Kenny G will take home his third consecutive award. Assuming Braxton returns to action this Saturday and remains healthy for the rest of the season, Guiton has at the very least earned a few snaps per game, possibly some trickeration plays on PAT attempts after his blazing three week fill-in stint. It was awfully fun while it lasted.
Game balls to date: Guiton (3)

Big Ten
For the second straight week, michigan narrowly avoided a big-time upset, this time behind a 10-0 fourth quarter to top UConn 24-21. The game of the day saw Michigan St fall from the ranks of the unbeatens in a close loss to Notre Dame. Elsewhere, Wisconsin pounded Purdue in the first conference matchup of the season, Indiana was routed by Missouri, and the rest of the conference beat up on lower-level teams.


Heisman Watch
3. Kenny
2. motherfucking
1. G!!!!!!

Up Next: #23 Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0), 8:00, ABC
This is it – don’t get scared now. Early into a long season, we have a make-or-break game for the Buckeyes. The Badgers pose what will most likely be the biggest roadblock standing in Ohio St’s path to a B1G championship and ticket to Pasadena. The main focus for the Bucks will be stopping NCAA-leading rusher Melvin Gordon, who’s averaging a stupid 11.8 yards per carry. He’s not the only Badger that can run, as last year’s top back James White has 442 yards and three scores of his own this season. Joel Stave doesn’t pose a huge threat at quarterback, so the goal will definitely be to load the box and make him beat you.

Braxton is said to be ready and “probably” will start on Saturday. My main concern is him not being dressed for the Florida A&M game. If he was truly healthy, he would have gotten a few snaps last week. My guess is that he will start but I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Guiton get a series here and there, especially if Brax looks tentative or ineffective. Regardless of the QB, Ohio St will be relying heavily on the run game. Expect double-digit touches for Hall, Hyde, and Dontre Wilson. If they can collectively just match the Gordon/White duo, I’ll take our quarterbacks with the game on the line any day.
Prediction: Ohio St 33 Wisconsin 24


GET EM

Defense stays in Columbus while Guiton lights up Cal

Ohio St extended its NCAA-leading winning streak to 15 games last Saturday as the Buckeye offense, led by senior QB Kenny Guiton in his first career start, torched the Cal Bears 52-34. OSU put up 21 points in the first six minutes of the game and never looked back. The defense looked shaky at its best and downright putrid for the most part and will surely need to be addressed before B1G play begins in 10 days with a trip to Madison. But I’ll let Urbs and his staff deal with that and for the time being let’s just bask in the glory that is Kenny G.


Game Recap
California received the opening kickoff and began with a three-and-out, but an illegal block in the back penalty on the return buried the Buckeyes back at their own six yard line. Kenny G was not worried. After a four-yard swing pass to Chris Fields, Guiton saw Devin Smith in one-on-one coverage and lofted one high and deep to let his playmaker get under it. That he did, and a few seconds later the longest play in Ohio St history was recorded and the Buckeyes were up 7-0. Another quick Bears punt gave the ball right back to Guiton, and he went right back to work. Dontre Wilson opened the drive with a 26-yarder to put the Bucks near midfield, and on the following play it was Guiton to Smith again for the score, making the duo 2/2 for 137 yards and two touchdowns…less than 3 ½ minutes into the game.

Keeping up with the early onslaught, Ryan Shazier sacked Cal freshman quarterback Jared Goff and forced a fumble recovered by Michael Bennett. Working with a short field, Kenny threw his third TD of the quarter, this time connecting with Fields on a 4th and Goal from the 1. Cal responded by showing that Ohio St wasn’t the only team that could strike quickly, scoring on a long pass play of their own to complete a 74-yard drive lasting all of 59 seconds. Before the quarter was even half over, the score stood at 21-7.

The teams traded turnovers on the next possessions, as Guiton’s fumble was immediately followed by Christian Bryant’s pick of Goff. A couple of big runs from Jordan Hall set up a Drew Basil FG, before Goff hit Chris Harper for another long TD pass and the explosive first frame finally came to an end with a 24-14 Buckeye lead.

Although both teams continued to play at an accelerated pace, the scoring slowed down in the 2nd quarter. Each team started off with drives resulting in punts before a marathon Buckeye drive lasting nearly FOUR whole minutes ended in a Hall 1-yard touchdown run. Not to be outdone, Berkley held onto the ball for even a few seconds longer, but had to settle for a field goal. After another Cameron Johnson punt, Cal kicked another FG in the closing seconds of the half to make it a reasonable 31-20 at the break.

The third quarter looked a lot like the first, with the Buckeyes scoring early and often and essentially putting the game away. Guiton had a 33-yard run on the opening drive of the half to set up Jordan Hall’s second short TD run. Three straight Goff incompletions quickly put the ball back in Kenny G’s hands, and the longest OSU drive of the game was capped with a Philly Brown touchdown grab. A good kick return set up the Bears and Goff tossed a score to Bryce Treggs to cut back into the lead. The deficit went right back up, however, when Hall crossed the goal line for the third time on the evening and the teams began the 4th with Ohio St comfortably ahead, 52-27.

As the final period was about to get underway, there was a distinctly audible “O-H-I-O” chant at Memorial Stadium. Taking a quick glance as the crowd, one could see plenty of Scarlet and conclude the Buckeye faithful traveled incredibly well, but this took it to a whole other level. If it wasn’t still light out there while 10:30 p.m. on the east, I would have sworn I was watching footage of The Horseshoe. As for game play, OSU was just grinding down the clock while California added a meaningless touchdown and the game went final at 52-34.


Game Ball
Like there is even an option. Jordan Hall’s 168 yards and three touchdowns may keep him on the field when Carlos Hyde returns this week, but this game belonged to one man – Kenny motherfucking G! The fifth-year senior made the most of his first career start, throwing for 276 yards and four scores, while rushing for another 92. Meyer was quick to praise Guiton’s ability to spread the ball around, completing passes to seven different receivers and finding no one more than three times. Even when Braxton returns I might just keep giving the GB to Kenny.
Game balls to date: Guiton (2)


Big Ten
It was not exactly a banner day for the conference Ohio St calls home. The Buckeyes were the only ones to get the better of the Pac 12 as Washington took down Illinois in Chicago, Arizona St escaped Wisconsin on a bizarre and kind of bullshit final seconds, and UCLA rattled off 38 (!!!) unanswered points to rout Nebraska. What are the chances Bo Pelini survives the year? Right now I’d say it’s not looking good for the former Buckeye. The Pac 12 weren’t the only teams to beat the Big Ten, as UCF ran all over Penn St and Notre Dame had to rally late to top Purdue.

But the biggest black eye for the conference came in a victory, as michigan barely avoided what would have been a hilariously devastating upset in the gay house to Akron. Leading for much of the second half, the Zips had a shot in the closing seconds to Appalachian St those assholes but failed four tries inside the 10 as time expired.


Heisman Watch
3. Marcus Mariota, QB Oregon
2. A.J. McCarron, QB Alabama
1. KENNY G!!!!!

You may say week three is too early for a Heisman list, I say they should just close the voting now and give the man what he’s earned.


Quick Hits
- This hurry up offense Ohio St is running is going to give B1G defenses fits. I don’t see anyone catching up with them.

- The wide receiver blocking downfield has been phenomenal this year. Brown has always been a solid blocker but Smith, who has been labeled as more of a ‘diva receiver’ in the past, is really getting his hands dirty as well.

- Hand stuff with Mila Kunis couldn’t have gotten me harder than hearing Gus Johnson yell “Touchdoooooooown…BUCKEYES” in his signature call time and time again.

- Rod Smith and Jordan Hall inexplicably switching numbers this offseason could not be more confusing. What’s up with this?

- Noah Spence is starting to look an awful lot like John Simon did last year, and while I mean that somewhat as a compliment I’m also referring to all of the times that Simon got through the line and in the quarterback’s face but just missed the sack. Spence had three or four near misses against Cal.

- I don’t like how Jared Goff and Cal were not scared of Bradley Roby. Usually you don’t see more than three passes go his way through an entire game, but Goff attacked him over and over and got the best of him on multiple occasions. I’ll chalk it up as an outlier for now, but will continue to monitor the situation.


Up Next: Florida A&M (1-2), 12:00, Big Ten Network
Other than having a kickass nickname (the Rattlers), Fla. A&M doesn’t bring much to the table as the Buckeyes will attempt to tune up for Wisconsin by obliterating their FCS opponent. There’s still no word on Braxton’s condition, but I would guess we will see him for 2-3 series’. Clearly Meyer won’t play him much and risk further injury, but I would think they would want him to throw a few live-action balls before visiting Camp Randall. The same goes for Carlos Hyde as he returns from his suspension. He’ll get some touches so he can take a few hits and get back into game-mode, but don’t expect to see many recognizable names in the second half.
Prediction: Ohio St 44 Florida A&M 0


GET EM

Kenny G cruises to victory after Braxton injury

After converting a 4th down near the goal line early in the 1st quarter, Braxton Miller laid helmetless on the field in obvious pain. The crowd in attendance, as well as Buckeye fans around the country, collectively held their breath, but when our star sat up, seemingly okay, everyone’s mind shifted to a different thought. I know I was thinking it watching this game alone in my apartment, then the 110,000 at The Shoe echoed my sentiments when they started chanting in unison “Kenn-y-G! Kenn-y-G!”

Kenny Guiton took over while Brax watched the rest of the game from the sideline with a brace on his leg, and the Purdue game hero never looked back. Guiton set career marks across the board while leading the Buckeyes to a 42-7 thrashing of San Diego St.


Game Recap
SDSU received the opening kickoff and quickly punted it away to the Buckeyes, who started near midfield and wasted no time reaching the red zone. On 4th and 1 from the 12, Brax ran an obvious quarterback keeper and easily converted, but was sandwiched by two Aztec defenders at the play’s conclusion, dislodging his helmet and leaving him lying on the turf. The medical staff came out and helped Miller to his feet before assisting him off the field. Kenny G entered to a raucous ovation, and after a handoff to freshman sensation Dontre Wilson, Ohio St was off to a quick 7-0 lead.

As bad as San Diego St QB Adam Dingwell looked on his three incompletions on the first drive, he looked even worse on his first pass of the second, when Doran Grant intercepted him. Starting with great field position again, this time the Bucks couldn’t capitalize and went three-and-out. But two more Dingwell atrocities later, OSU was right back in business. Guiton was sharp on this possession, rushing for one first down and completing a pass to Rod Smith for another before hooking up with Philly Brown for a 27-yard touchdown.

Quinn Kaehler became the second backup to enter this game, but for much different reasons. I suppose he looked better than Dingwell by default, but wasn’t good enough as Steve Miller went Space Cowboy on his ass, sacking him and forcing another Aztec punt. If anyone was worse than the SDSU quarterbacks, it was their punter, as another shank set up Ohio St past the 40 yet again. A 16-yard pass play to Devin Smith on third and twelve was the key play in this series that ended with a Jordan Hall TD run. Just like last week, the Buckeyes dominated the first quarter, leading this one 21-0 at its close.

The 2nd began with another Aztec punt, then Guiton’s one mistake of the game. In his defense, the San Diego St defender made a hell of a play for the interception. SDSU followed up the turnover by actually converting a few first downs, but ultimately still had to punt it away. With the ball back in his hands, Kenny G looked like a spitting image of Brax when he raced 44 yards for the first rushing TD of his career.

The onslaught continued when Noah Spence and Michael Bennett simultaneously collided with Kaehler, forcing a fumble that Bennett recovered. (Quick aside: How bad ass is Spence’s Shredder mask? As if the dude wasn’t intimidating enough. I couldn’t find a good pic of it to link here, so if you don’t know what I’m talking about, pay attention this weekend and in the meantime just picture this.) A long Hall run set up Rod Smith for the 1-yard plunge and the Bucks took a 35-0 advantage into the locker rooms.

Ohio St took the foot off the gas in the second half, but not before Guiton threw an absolute beauty to Philly for Brown’s second TD reception of the game and a 42-0 lead. SDSU responded with a quick touchdown of their own, and the scoring was complete before the third quarter came to an end. The only other thing of note was that when Hall, Smith, and Wilson all came off the field for good, it was Ezekiel Elliot, not Bri’onte Dunn or Warren Ball, who got the mop up time carries. I’ll get into this a bit further later on. With mostly backups on defense in the 4th, sophomore Armani Reeves stood out with an interception in the red zone to shut the door on San Diego St once and for all and preserving the 42-7 victory.

Game Ball
Kenny motherfucking GGGGG! While Braxton Miller is clearly the centerpiece to an undefeated season, as long as he is alright in the long run (he appears to be), I can’t say I was mad to see Guiton out there for a game. The Captain who was almost thrown off the team less than a year ago (Yes, you read that right - the team has so much faith in its backup quarterback that they made him a captain), went 19/28 for 152 yards and two scores with the one interception, and also led all players with 9 carries for 83 yards and another TD. Hopefully Brax is good to go for Cal in a few days, but I certainly enjoyed the Kenny G ride while it lasted.


Big Ten
The nation’s focus was on a Big Ten game last weekend, as the michigan/Notre Dame contest was the highlight of the evening. I told everyone that my favorite spread of the day was bitchigan -4, but would never sell my soul to actually cash in on that. Sure enough, the wolverines ran past the Irish 41-30 behind four devin gardner touchdowns. Blah blah blah. The amusing thing about this to me is that brady hoke wasted 10 games of this kid’s career while he sat behind can’t-tie for most of last season. Hahaha, good call guys.

Illinois had an impressive rout of Cincinnati, while the rest of the conference disposed of weaker foes, with Northwestern’s win over a bad Syracuse team being the only other opponent in a major conference. Indiana was the only B1G team to lose, giving up 41 points to the Naval Academy.

Crowded Backfield
You can never have too much of a good thing. With Rod Smith returning to action after a one-game suspensions, Ohio St flexed its RB depth muscles last weekend. Jordan Hall didn’t repeat his retarded numbers from the Buffalo game (7.6 ypc, 2 TDs), but was still very effective rushing for 75 yards and a score. Freshman Dontre Wilson continued to electrify, gaining 10.1 yards per carry and a touchdown of his own. Smith was the far-from-flashy but bruising back we’ve known him to be, and Ezekiel Elliot looked good in limited mop up duty. It appears that freshman Warren Ball, who was ranked higher than Wilson and Elliot coming out of high school last year, and sophomore Bri’onte Dunn are at the bottom of the depth chart and won’t see too much playing time this season barring unforeseen circumstances.

Now for the big question – what happens when Carlos Hyde returns from his suspension in two weeks? The easy answer and the one I seem to be getting from most people who are in-the-know in Columbus, is that he is going to have to play his way back onto the field, as you can’t really limit Hall and Wilson’s touches right now considering their production in the first two weeks. That being said, I think people are quickly forgetting how freaking dominant this guy was last season. It will be very interesting to see how Meyer spreads the wealth once Big Ten play begins. But as the heading stated, there’s no such thing as having too many great players. (Quick aside #2: The other depth chart-related note was that Philly Brown took all punt returning duties, although the SDSU punter was so shitty he never got a chance to return one.)


C’MON MAN!
RG Marcus Hall committed five penalties in this game. Five! This was a big concern for him last year, and without any depth on the O-line, I think I speak for all of us when I say – Marcus, get your head out of your ass.

OK, I’m reloaded!
I said in my preview article that I wasn’t too concerned with Ohio St losing all four of its starting defensive lineman from last season. After two games, it looks like I couldn’t have hit the nail more on the head. Spence and Adolphus Washington are going to be studs and Bennett looks very good so far, but the biggest surprises have come from Joey Bosa and Steve Miller. Both of them played terrific against San Diego, plus I get the opportunity to make a bunch of Steve Miller Band references, which I couldn’t be happier about.


Up Next: @ Cal (1-1), 7:00, FOX
Without a doubt, the Cal Bears offer Ohio St its toughest non-conference test. Last season, in Columbus, California boned the Buckeye defense for over 500 yards, and a 72-yard touchdown from Miller to Devin Smith with minutes to go was the only thing that kept Ohio St’s 12-0 season from going down in flames in Week 3. Braxton is questionable for the matchup, but Meyer seems confident he’ll play. No matter the QB for the Buckeyes, I expect the defense to play with a fire after what happened to them last year, and keep things rolling. Even more reason to be positive, OSU gets a rare FOX game, which means Eddie and Erin Andrews! What more could one ask for?
Prediction: Ohio St 33 Cal 15

Buckeye Season Preview

Editor's note: I wrote this Pryor to last Saturday's Buffalo game, so there may be instances where I refer to that game in future tense. In case you missed, Ohio St rolled.

It feels so good to be back! What promises to be another exciting Ohio St Buckeye football season is already underway, and I could not be more stoked. It’s Ohio St football, so expectations are always high, but this season seems even more so, as the Bucks will begin the 2013 campaign ranked #2 in both polls with their sights on nothing less than a National Championship.

There is plenty of reason to believe that the number two ranking is no joke in Columbus. Reason 1A – Braxton Miller comes into the season as the biggest threat to Johnny Autograph’s second consecutive Heisman trophy. Brax had an up-and-down freshman season in 2011, but showed plenty of flashes to give Buckeye faithful reason to believe he could live up to the hype. And that he did last season, completing nearly 60% of his passes, owning a 15-6 TD-INT ratio, and most importantly logging a team-leading 1,271 rushing yards with 13 scores, en route to finishing fifth in the Heisman voting. If he can stay on the field and duplicate those numbers while bringing the turnovers down a bit, there’s no reason Ohio St shouldn’t run train on the Big Ten and be given the opportunity to get probed by Alabama in Pasadena.

While most of the talk about Ohio St surrounds its superstar signal-caller, just as important to a successful season is reason for optimism 1B – Coach Urban Meyer. Urbs (Can I call him Urbs? I don’t care I’m going for it.) has had smashing success in his second year at a program, owning a 34-4 combined record in Year 2 at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida, while leading the Utes to a perfect 12-0 season and the Gators to a…game we don’t want to talk about. Does the man seem sketchy as hell? Sure. Can I look past that because he’s been the best collegiate coach in the past decade? Hell yes. (Quick aside: Jim Tressel will always be a god in my eyes, and he would be #2 on this non-existent list of mine, but I can honestly say I’d rather have Meyer. I’ve come to grips with the fact that I will burn in hell for saying that. Also, Pete Carroll can eat a dick.)

Meyer and Miller have a wide array of talent to work with on offense, anchored by a veteran, NFL-ready offensive line. The defense has some question marks but also a number of playmakers as well. Before we look ahead, let’s take a quick look back.


Last Season
Ohio St broke the 2012 season already knowing their ultimate fate. Due to the Merch-for-Ink scandal and consequent Jim Tressel cover-up, Urban Meyer’s first season in Columbus was tainted with a post-season ban. That did not stop him from leading his flawed but determined squad to an undefeated 12-0 mark. Meyer’s work last season will forever go down in my memory as one of the most impressive. Not only did he get his team to buy into playing hard knowing they wouldn’t have a game past November, but he took a very good-but-not-spectacular roster plagued by injuries (Carlos Hyde, Jordan Hall and John Simon all missed multiple games, Brax was in and out of several contests, and the linebackers dropped like flies) and got them to take their talents to the next level.

The season began with routs of mid-majors Miami (OH) and Central Florida. While there were plenty of highlights in their combined 81-26 victories, the tone was set 16 minutes into the season with Devin Smith’s catch of the year. Things got a bit hairier the following week when the Cal Bears exposed some chinks in the Buckeyes’ armor (namely: tackling) and pushed OSU to the limit in The Shoe before the Bucks prevailed 35-28. Ohio St closed the non-conference schedule undefeated after beating UAB the next week in unimpressive fashion.

Four games really stand out in my mind about the 2012 B1G schedule, three of them coming in the first four weeks. The opener saw Ohio St’s defense dominate michigan State All-American Le’Veon Bell, and Braxton Miller overcome a play where I thought he shattered every bone in his leg, to make enough plays and outlast the Spartans in East Lansing, 17-16. Seven days later, Brax and Carlos Hyde dicked all over the alleged “Blackshirts,” running up 371 yards and six touchdowns on Nebraska. The Buckeye defense took the next week off and almost blew a game to Indiana leading into the most thrilling and improbable victory of the season.

Kenny motherfucking G. The lowly Purdue Boilermakers made the trip to Columbus on a late-October Saturday afternoon after losing their first two conference games in embarrassing fashion. Everything that Cal and Indiana exposed in the Buckeyes earlier in the year came out in this contest, and when Miller left the game at the end of the third quarter with a shoulder injury and the Buckeyes trailing 20-14, the dream season was all but lost. Then the world got to experience Kenny Guiton. After being in Meyer’s doghouse all season long and almost quitting the team, Kenny G found himself with ball in his own territory facing an eight-point deficit and 47 seconds on the clock. The first play went 39 yards to Devin Smith and OSU was quickly in business. Eventually down to the Boilermaker two-yard line with three ticks remaining, Guiton found Chris Fields for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was a success thanks to a beautiful touch pass to TE Jeff Heuerman and the teams played some free football. In the overtime, Guiton brought the Bucks to the goal line and Carlos Hyde scored the go-ahead TD. Four incompletions later, Ohio St finally ended the dreaded Figgs/Andy game-watching losing streak.

The Buckeyes cruised through victories the next two weeks against Penn St and Illinois. The most memorable thing about those games was against the Illini, in which I was in attendance, when the Bucks had a big lead late and 110,000 people stuck around waiting for the myth that is Kenny G to enter the game. I’ve been in Ohio Stadium a dozen times, and I don’t know if I ever heard it louder than when he finally came in. It was epic.

When I said four conference games stood out in my mind, for some reason the 21-14 overtime victory over Wisconsin wasn’t one of them. I don’t know why, but this was the only game I had to look up what happened to jog my memory. Then I recalled Ryan Shazier’s body count, and his heroic hit and forced fumble on Montee Ball at the goal line to seemingly seal the Buckeyes W. Badger QB Curt Phillips had other ideas, however, leading a game-tying TD drive with eight seconds left. Hyde scored his second game-winning OT touchdown of the season, and OSU went into The Game at a perfect 11-0.

Two things carried the Buckeyes to ANOTHER victory over that school up north to complete the unblemished season – Carlos Hyde and 30 minutes of the best football the OSU defense played all season long. Hyde rushed for 146 yards and pounded wolverine defenders all afternoon, while the Buckeye D forced three turnovers and shut down bitchigan in the second half to secure a 26-21 victory. Unfortunately, that was the last time we saw our Buckeyes.


The Schedule
Uncle Frank is this a joke? You can’t take anything for granted, and the Browns fan in me hates how optimistic I’m looking at this, but are you seeing what I’m seeing? Do you think I could get a good deal if I booked a flight to Indy for December 7th now? The non-conference schedule is the easiest I have ever seen as an Ohio St fan. Buffalo, San Diego St, Cal, and Florida A&M. That’s it, that’s the list. Joe Bauserman’s one-armed twin brother could go 4-0 there.

As far as Big Ten play goes, what I’m not seeing is Michigan St or Nebraska. They are both off the schedule this year. Wisconsin, Iowa and Penn St are all at home. So what’s left? Northwestern, Purdue, and Illinois are all formidable opponents on the road, but don’t pose giant threats. And of course, there is a date in whore arbor, but that’s the most automatic win of the season. This schedule just screams 12-0. If the season comes to a close and Ohio St isn’t playing in the Big Ten Championship for a shot at Pasadena, I will be surprised.


The Offense
The Buckeyes come into the 2013 season with a full cupboard on offense. Nine starters return to a unit with a wealth of talent and experience. I’ll start where everything starts with this Buckeye team, and that’s the quarterback position, manned of course by Braxton Miller. The reigning B1G Offensive Player of the Year, #5 improved by leaps and bounds in his first year in Urban Meyer’s offense. It’s easy to look at Brax’s jaw-dropping highlight reel for proof of a successful season, but his quietly efficient passing numbers (58% completion percentage, over 2,000 yards, 15-6 TD-INT ratio) is why I’m all on board for Miller’s 2013 Heisman campaign. But of course, it is still fun to look at his out-of-this-world rushing numbers, which stood at 227 attempts for 1,271 yards and 13 touchdowns. The scary thing for the NCAA – he’s only 20 years-old and still improving.

Entrenched in the runner-up role at QB, is the aforementioned Purdue-hero and smooth sax player Kenny Guiton. Incoming highly-touted prospect J.T. Barrett tore his ACL at the end of his senior season and will spend the year rehabbing as a redshirt, leaving redshirt freshmen Cardale Jones and Levi Ratliff to fight over the clipboard.

The Buckeyes came into last season with some question marks at the running back position, and were dealt another blow early when Jordan Hall was injured (and subsequently dealt with nagging injuries keeping him on the sideline the majority of the year). Then Carlos Hyde went H.A.M. and they ended the season and head into 2013 as one of the deepest backfields in the nation. When an “alleged” incident this offseason involving Hyde’s fist and a female counterpart’s face threatened to see Carlos tossed from the team, those question marks suddenly started to rise again. Thankfully, the charges were dropped and Hyde will only see a manageable three-game suspension.

After a slew of injuries last season, Jordan Hall is ready to return and will have the opportunity to show off his game-breaking ability early and often, as he is penned in to start in Hyde’s absence. Even when Hyde returns from his suspension, Hall will see plenty of time in Meyer’s “pivot” position, made famous by Percy Harvin in Florida. Rod Smith will share the load with Hall…starting in game two, as he is also suspended for the opener with Buffalo for violating team rules. Sophomore Bri’onte Dunn suddenly finds his name second on the depth chart for this week’s battle with the Bulls, and has the opportunity to prove he deserves more than the 13 carries he received last year.

In addition the four backs with experience already mentioned, Ohio St welcomes three explosive freshman into the backfield mix. Redshirt Warren Ball is the most ready and fits the Hyde bruiser mold, so he should see a decent amount of carries in the non-conference slate. Offensive coordinator Tom Herman insists that speedster Dontre Wilson will see plenty of touches, both as the backup to Hall at the pivot position as well as getting the first crack on the team to return kicks. I would have expected a redshirt due to all the talent in from of him, but Ezekiel Elliot remains on the roster as his talent will waste away on the bench. The Buckeyes will forgo a fullback position this season in favor of Meyer’s pivot.

The pass-catchers lost red zone threat Jake Stoneburner to graduation and also saw Verlon Reed transfer to D II Findlay before T.Y. Williams was dismissed from the team. Stone’s big frame will be missed near the goal line, but the Reed and Williams departures aren’t very relevant. Five experienced receivers return, with Corey Brown and Devin Smith solidly hanging on to their starting positions along with Evan Spencer and Michael Thomas behind them and Chris Fields expected to see some time in the pivot.

Brown was Mr. Reliable for Braxton last season, and will continue to serve as his go-to-guy this year. Smith will also renew his role as the big-play receiver when the Buckeyes begin play this weekend, but needs to limit his drops and become more consistent in order to be as truly effective as his is capable of being. Spencer has impressed this spring and will push Smith for targets should his case of the dropsies continue.

Should any of the veterans falter, JUCO transfer Corey Smith has all kinds of speed, and will fight for playing time along with true freshmen James Clark and Jalin Marshall. Clark should see some opportunities to returns kicks, and Marshall could battle fellow freshman Wilson for touches at the pivot position.

TE Jeff Heuerman will be a big factor in the receiving game as well, as he was too talented to keep off the field last year and eventually pushed mainstay Stoneburner to WR. Backup Nick Vannett will see some targets as well, and in a surprise move, former defensive lineman J.T. Moore has also been getting reps at tight end.

While Braxton Miller’s running style will always make him vulnerable to injury, he shouldn’t have too much to worry in the pocket, as Ohio St boasts one of the top O-Lines in the country. Four starters return to a line that surprisingly dominated the conference in 2012. When Urbs came to Columbus, he was critical of several Buckeye players. One of his biggest targets was Center Corey Linsley, who accepted the challenge and promptly got his act together off the field and straight dominated on it. He’s back to anchor the hogmollies up front and should have his sights set on the Rimington Trophy. Next to Linsley are two fellow senior returning starters, Andrew Norwell and Marcus Hall. Norwell was quietly just as effective as Linsley was last season. I say quietly because he was rarely mentioned, mostly because he was never penalized. Hall was almost kicked off the team in 2011 after coming in outrageously overweight and having off-field issues. He slimmed down to a petite 325 as a junior and while committing far too many holding penalties then desired Hall was nothing less than solid at the right guard position.

Protecting Braxton’s blindside and forming the best left-side duo on the line since Orlando Pace was inventing the term “pancake,” is senior Jack Mewhort. If you’re a pass-rusher on an opposing team, either line up on the other side or just save your energy and take a seat, because Norwell and Mewhort are going to keep Brax’s jersey so Scarlet that Hester Prynne would be jealous. The only lineman not back this season was converted tight end and surprisingly awfully effective RT Reid Fragel. After losing his spot to Fragel in 2012, 6’7 315 lbs. sophomore Taylor Decker will get a second chance. With only inexperienced underclassmen behind him, Decker was just given the job. Hopefully he doesn’t take it for granted and comes to play. The most talented and recognizable name behind these five on the depth chart is Jacoby Boren, but he’s best suited at Center where he won’t see a snap all season long barring a Linsley injury.


The Defense
Much has been made this offseason about the losses on the defensive front seven for the Buckeyes, as only one starter returns. I’m a lot less worried than most people. While the departures of John Simon and Johnathan Hankins, among others, is tough to swallow, there is a lot to be optimistic about this defense. Most importantly, the one returning starter is LB Ryan Shazier, who has All-American written all over him this season. Secondly, the defensive line was the deepest position on the team, so even though all four starters from 2012 squad are gone, there are plenty of guys ready to step up, most notably sophomores Adolphus Washington and Noah Spence. Also, the secondary behind them is one of the top in the nation.

Since we’re on the subject, we’ll begin with the d-line. Simon was one of the most fun players to watch during his tenure at OSU, and will always be a fan favorite. Big Jon Hanks was a man in the middle and will surely be missed, as will Nathan Williams and Garrett Goebell. That being said, I’m real excited to see what Washington and Spence can do with a full opportunity.

On the inside, juniors Joel Hale and Michael Bennett will bring plenty of backup experience into the starting roles. With Se’Veon Pittman “leaving” (being kicked off) the team and the bizarre move of transforming J.T. Moore to TE, the line isn’t very deep. DT Tommy Schutt is the only one with any experience, although it’s minimal, and will be first off the bench. Sophomore Chris Carter has the name and the size (340 lbs) to be effective, and freshmen Michael Hill and Joey Bosa will also get their shot. Jamal Marcus and Steve Miller will backup Spence at the Viper position.

Zach Boren saved the linebacking corps last season when he moved from fullback a few weeks in and played beyond any expectations we could have had for him. He is out, as is Etienne Sabino. There is good news, as Ryan Shazier returns to mammoth expectations. I would argue that Shazier was the best player on this defense last year, with all due respect to Simon, Hanks and Bradley Roby. If he can stay on the field for 12 games, he’ll no doubt be coming home with some hardware. Freshman Trey Johnson should be the first to spell Shazier in the rare times he’s not on the field.

Getting a third and final chance, senior Curtis Grant will replace Boren in the middle. Grant was in this same position last year, then played so badly that Meyer was forced to move his star fullback to defense to replace him. It’s been said that Grant has been making strides in the offseason, but with his track record I will not be convinced until I see it when it counts. The other unsettling part about having to move Boren to the other side of the ball, was not only that Grant couldn’t handle being a starter but also that they didn’t have another ‘backer on the team that could take his place. Those same depth issues occur this year, as green sophomore Joe Burger and true freshman Mike Mitchell are behind Grant on the depth chart.

If you look at a depth chart, Joshua Perry would be penciled into the starting linebacker spot opposite Shazier, but if you watch an Urban Meyer coached game, you’ll see that he uses the “Star” position with an extra defensive back much more often than a third LB. But Perry will be the guy in those times when a traditional defense is on the field. Sophomore Camren Williams will most likely see time at all three positions.

The secondary is the strength of this defense and could develop into one that tops the country. Bradley Roby will serve a one-game suspension against Buffalo, but when he gets onto the field he is something special. He turned down a lot of guaranteed money in the pros to come back for one more shot at something big at Ohio St. The other CB will see a drop off from “Howard Island” to Doran Grant, but Grant brings plenty of experience and should be fine, especially with Roby next to him locking down the opposing team’s #1 wideout.

A pair of seniors are back to start for their third consecutive year at the safety positions, and as long as C.J. Barnett and Christian Bryant don’t have multiple embarrassing missed tackles (as they did last year), they form the best duo in the conference. Fellow senior Corey Brown is the top backup and could start for just about any other team in America.

A slew of freshman defensive backs come in immediately ready to play. While Eli Apple and Cam Burrows were rated higher in the recruiting process, it looks like Tyvis Powell will get the first crack at the Star after a phenomenal spring. Vonn Bell will also get time and rounds out an astounding group of DBs.

Drew Basil is back to kick for his third and final season. While he won’t win the Groza award, we could be a lot worse off. Basil has a booming leg and can hit from 50+, but needs to be more accurate in shorter yardage situations. With Ben Buchanan finally gone (THANK GOD!), there is a chance Basil might get a chance to use that big leg in the punting game as well. Right now freshman Cameron Johnson is slated for the punting duties, but if he can’t cut it Basil is the only other option. Dontre Wilson, Jordan Hall, Philly Brown, and James Clark will all see opportunities to return kicks, with Wilson seemingly in line to get the first shot.


The Outlook
Buckeye legend Craig Krenzel said it best on his radio show last week when he was asked if it was hard playing/cheering for Ohio St where every year you have expectations of a National Championship when he said, “If I wanted to play for a school where winning a Conference Title is enough, I would have gone to Wisconsin.” Well this year is no different, as anything less than a berth in the BCS title game will be considered a failure. They have the coach, the star QB, the playmakers, and a favorable schedule to make that happen. Let’s get it done, gentlemen.


GET EM

FCF Racing - Summer 2013

Things did not look good for the future of the illustrious Andy Francis Race Career around this time last year. I was still on my way back from the second of two right knee surgeries, and the recovery was going much more slowly than the other two times I had attempted to get back to normal after going under the 'scope. Indeed, there is still some strangeness in that knee that I suspect will never be resolved but is at least fun to show people at parties. It wasn't until early September 2012, more than two months post-op, when I could finally jog a little bit, with my first run of any significant distance taking place in London on an important quest to find the city's Chuckstop. It's still odd the things I can and cannot do easily on my knees; basketball and football games don't give me any trouble, but hiking in the woods and going down stairs pose significant challenges for me. Running 10 miles? Sure. Swimming with a kickboard? Hell no.

Limitations aside, I've slowly but surely worked my way back to pretty good shape and have enjoyed a full race season so far in 2013. I know the hammer could drop again at any time, but there's not much I can do about that, and I'm determined to fire as many bullets as possible in the interim. With my triathlon season having wrapped up at Presque Isle this past weekend, I thought it'd be a good time to tell some tales about the events I did this spring and summer to set the table for the always-glorious fall race season, during which one can do some serious road racing and then spend the rest of the day drinking beer and watching football. As Isaac Brock in Modest Mouse once sang, "sometimes life's okay."

St Malachi Run
Road race
5 miles
16 March
I did a couple of races in late 2012 once I got back to the point I could, with mixed results. I made my return to running by keeping my perfect streak of Towpath Marathon participation alive, though this was the first time I did the 10k instead of the half marathon. I posted an unimpressive 50:03, but whatever, I was out running and the weather was pleasant. A birthday 5k netted me a so-so 22:29, followed by the annual Pigskin Classic, where I posted a 21:39 and Ohio State posted a 26-21 win.

My first race in 2013 was my first shot at Malachi, a five-miler in Ohio City traditionally seen as the start of the local running season. It couldn’t have come on a much nastier March day, with very cold temperatures and the sort of chilling rain that has aspirations towards snowdom. An ugly day for a run and an ugly run, as I was only able to manage a 37:48, not even sub-7:30. On the bright side, my man Rosencratz had a strong race, and Guinni were enjoyed afterwards, the day before my first totally sober St Patrick’s Day since some year beginning with “19.”


Cleveland 10-Miler
Road race
10 miles, obviously
27 April
Another local tradition, the Cleveland 10-Miler was a good opportunity to stretch out my distance running a bit more than the usual 4- and 5-mile training runs I had been clocking. This was the first one where I really felt like my conditioning was holding me back, as I registered a 1:17:53, far from my 1:12 best in 2010. I didn’t feel bad this day, it wasn’t too hot, I was running well … and I just couldn’t run as fast as I wanted to. From miles 5-8, I just felt the 7:30 splits that I wanted were slipping away from me. I finished with a couple of decent miles, but not where I wanted to be.

Speaking of 2010 – every one of my PRs remains from a period between Sept 2009 and May 2010, except triathlons, which are impossible to compare quantifiably and accurately year-over-year. They’re all tough ones to beat, yet I’m convinced I can topple all of them. Unfortunately, the easiest mark on the board is my marathon PR (3:54), and I think I’m out of the marathon game.


Cleveland Marathon
Road race
26.2 miles
19 May
Ha, I didn't do this one at all. I ran about 50 meters with a water bottle to give to Nena and rode my bike around the neighborhood for a while. Whatever, I've conquered the Cleveland Marathon three times already, get off my back.


Cleveland Challenge
Scavenger Hunt
Approx. 5 miles
8 June
I wrote about this fun run at length previously this summer – it’s here for completeness sake only. Sadly, this would be the only race I would run while sporting a Darth Vader mask for the rest of the summer.


First Town Days
Road race
5k
6 July
Back to my home town of New Philadelphia for the annual 5k race as part of First Town Days, our summer Independence Day festival named after the fact that Phila was Ohio’s first permanent settlement. I was talking with some fellow racers prior to starting, including a few who had never done the race. This was my eighth running, making it the one I’ve tackled the most times, tying it with Pittsburgh’s Great Race for that honor. I stressed to the competitors that it was a tough course, mostly owing to its hilliness, including a killer run up Wabash Ave at the start of mile 3. I said this numerous times both the morning of the race and during the week prior to it.

And you know what? I’m right. It is hilly, and it’s tough. But no amount of saying that out loud seems to get my body to remember what that feels like, and how difficult it really is. I posted a 22:52, slower than all but two of my previous seven efforts, but those fall within a pretty tight distribution. Six of them, including this one, fall into a thirty-second band of finishing time, which is bizarrely consistent considering the ups and downs (hill joke!) of my running career. Next year (barring injuries, as with every claim I will make in this piece) I’m smashing my 21:38 course record, and that’s all there is to it (except for the above disclaimer).


Lorain Summer Sprint
Triathlon
Sprint
7 July
Two races in two days seems a bit ambitious, but when the first one is a 5k and the second one is a sprint triathlon at which that you're not expecting to break any records at, it's not such a big deal. I figured I'd be pretty much fully recovered in time for this race.

And I was right, at least as it pertained to racing fatigue. What I didn't count on was recovering from my one-year-old nephew, Diggity. You see, after the FTD race ended, I went to visit my sister for a while, and of course ended up with D chasing me around their house. I can't overemphasize how much my sister's kids like chasing me. The sight of me running away is like crack to them. Anyway, while eluding his tenaciously wobbly pursuit through the kitchen, I absolutely crushed the small toe on my right foot on the wooden frame of the doorway leading to the dining room. As soon as I hit it I knew it was trouble, and it took all the restraint I had not to yell out. O U C H.

Later that day in Cleveland I finally took a look at it, and wow. It was so crazy-looking that I took a photo – I considered posting the image here but ultimately decided against it. Imagine a little toe on a normal male foot, then imagine it twice as big and totally purple. I’ll email you a shot if you like. It was amazing. Those of you who I sent a pic of my smashed purple toes on the other foot from last fall (the City STILL hasn’t removed that stupid metal shiv): this looks exactly the same as that. I may or may not have broken it, but I tend to take a cavalier attitude towards potential breakage of digits, as we will see. I might have been more proactive had it been the big toe, the Captain of the toes if you will. I declared myself fit to race the next day, even though walking was somewhat painful.

Nick and I hit Lorain, got set up, and I found myself a bit nervous. I knew that I'd finish, of course, but I also knew that I hadn't completed a triathlon in nearly two years - my lone attempt last summer was abandoned about 100 meters into the run. I was as apprehensive for this one as I had been for any race since my first triathlon, back in '08. Naturally, I forgot to bring my swim cap to the beach with me, a fact that Nick fortunately realized during the pre-race announcements. Short on time, I had to flee to the transition area and back, helpfully tiring myself out before it was time to hop into Lake Erie. We’re off to a good start here.

I raced OK, managing not to bump my toe against anyone in the water and scoring a 1:19:22 that pretty much means nothing in the vacuum of non-standard race courses. I can tell you that my race notes say, “I felt really old and slow,” that my 5k time was a poky-even-for-triathlon 25:11, and that I’ve had toes feel better than my little right one did that day. But hey, I’m back in the tri game.


Huntington Triathlon
Triathlon
Sprint
21 July
I was feeling even more confident heading into this one, after breaking back into multisport at Lorain and following three weeks in July of solid training and dietary habits. I think I performed well, finishing in 1:16:14, which is even more nonsensical than my Lorain time because the chip timers didn’t work and there’s no event breakdown. Yes, it’s faster than the Lorain finish, but the relative lengths of the courses aren’t entirely clear to me.

On the good side, though, I felt different running. At Lorain, I was basically trying to get through 5k so I could be at the finish line and stop, though I did execute my traditional two-hand slam on a lowered basketball hoop on the side of the street, this time without the accompanying hamstring pull. At Huntington, I was running. I had an Age Group competitor with whom I was dueling throughout the run. I was behind him by about 100 m after leaving the bike area, and shortly after I overtook him, some spectator even went out of his way to tell the guy that I was an age grouper.

For those of you not familiar with this competition, the Age Group pass is the most important one you can make. Getting ahead of any 30-34 year old male is crucial for someone of my demographic makeup; I want to pass everyone, of course, but those are the ones that boost your age group and gender placing, and the ones you can be assured started at the same time as you, so when you pass them you’re really passing them.

Anyway, shut the fuck up, spectator guy. We both know how to read numbers on calves, and “33 M” is fairly unambiguous. This ain’t your concern. I kept my lead and finished strong, even charging up a steep hill just before the finish. This was the first race where I really felt like I was doing it again. My buddy Dave K also completed his first career triathlon here, which was a solid accomplishment. I ran back a bit on the race course to offer moral support, and a race volunteer asked me, “was there anyone behind you?” I answered, “there were a lot of people behind me!” but she was actually wondering if there were still people starting their runs, as I was in the “out” lane. There weren’t. I ran a bit with Dave, but forewent a second go at the finisher’s hill. Also: I won a sweet orange towel afterwards – not only does it match our bathroom décor, but it’s the only towel I’ve ever owned with an instruction manual.


The Thunder Run
Road race
5k
27 July
Emboldened, I decided to enter a local race instead of taking a week off before my next swim-bike-run endeavor. The Thunder Run, a small library fundraiser run in Cleveland Heights, seemed to fit that bill perfectly. There was no thunder this day, but there was considerable rain – fortunately it held off until post-race, though frankly I don’t mind a bit of precip during a run.

I clocked an 18:49, good for 10th, and … wait a minute … what’s going on here? I felt fleet afoot, but did I really shatter my personal 5k record by more than a minute?

Nope. I sure didn’t. I, along with all the runners before me, ran the wrong course. I had a strong suspicion as I was running that something was awry. Mile 1 seemed pretty solid and I was running well, and then all of a sudden hey, there’s Mile 2. Clearly it was too early for a marker, and I was immediately concerned about the length of the course. I was also concerned about this strange fellow who basically stared me down the entire time I was passing him, like Laura Dern in Jurassic Park seeing her first dino. I pressed through both issues and finished, but as soon as I heard my “time” announced, I knew it was wrong. Here’s what happened. Take a look at this course map. See the loop around the tennis courts and baseball diamonds at the top right? We all missed that right turn and continued straight towards the water station. Blah. Nena got 30th and she said she was the first runner where they noticed everyone was going the wrong way and started routing them properly. They’ve had this race for four years – odd that this would happen now.

I was a little disappointed because I thought I was moving pretty well and had a chance to challenge my PR of 20:03, or at least get close. I know it was an honest mistake by the organizers and that it’s not a professionally-run race, but it’s frustrating to pay for an event and end up with a meaningless time. It’s also funny how they never once acknowledged the snafu, even with the 1st place guy “broke” the course record by 1:40 and all the runners were chatting about it post-race. Oh well, good exercise, I suppose.


Cleveland Triathlon
Triathlon
Sprint
4 August
One of my traditional “focus” races is the Cleveland Triathlon, which was my first tri in ’08 and remains a favorite mostly due to its location in Downtown Cleveland. I think most athletes have these focus races, which are sort of like Majors in tennis or golf, upon which they put added emphasis. This and the Towpath are my two big ones.

I continued to feel strong during the week headed into this event, having even gotten a chance to put in some good swimming workouts while in Tennessee the week prior. The Friday before this Sunday race, I elected to play some pickup basketball with some fellows from work. Towards the end of the game, I reached into a passing lane to deflect a very sharply-thrown pass and caught its momentum directly along the long axis of my left thumb. This made my toe-smashing episode seem like a little tickle. It got real fat, real fast; I basically couldn’t move it after about an hour. Yikes. Even now, four weeks later, it only bends on the top knuckle at a 60 degree angle, where my other one clocks 90. This concerned me going into the race.

It turned out to be mostly OK, and I think I had a pretty good race, with a total time of 1:36:24. Don’t let that time fool you relative to the others – Cleveland has a longer bike course (16 miles) than standard (12 miles) because it’s set up for the International distance racers (24 miles) to do three laps, and they couldn’t very well have us do one and a half. It’s a bumpy, hilly bike course too, and a good challenge. About three miles in, I heard this odd friction sound on my tire. My first thought was: flat. It didn’t look flat, but it was still noisy so I pulled over and checked, and it was indeed not flat. The brakes seemed to be aligned, not rubbing the tire, but I took it off and replaced it, yet it kept barking at me. Finally, I found the piece of sticky paper that had gotten stuck in my brake assembly. Damn you, litterers! I carried on but that cost me some time. There are some significant bumps on the Shoreway bike course, and the rattling they cause my bike frame was bad news for the thumb. I could see them coming from a distance each time and steeled myself like Billy Chapel getting ready to toss a curveball. Thankfully, I was able to get off the cycle, though my transition from bike to run (T2) wasn’t good, primarily because I couldn’t grip my shoelaces to tie them very well.

As a fun surprise bonus, they also mismeasured the running course – it was 3.5 miles instead of the nominal 3.1 miles (5k), saddling me with a 26:28 (8:30 mile pace) not reflective of the good race I ran. I saw these two guys about 100 m and 150 m ahead of me as I was running with a little over a mile to go, and was determined to chase them down. I did just that, though I was dismayed once I got close enough that they were both in the 35-39 age bracket (a more competitive group that, thanks to USAT’s annoying rules, I will join next year – I won’t get to do one race as an actual 35-year-old for which my official age is 35) but it was still worth it.


North Ridgeville Lions Run
Road race
10k
10 August
Feeling increasingly confident about my running speed and endurance, and replacing my old Sauconies (memorably described by Nick as "the sort of shoes you'd expect a homeless person to be wearing') with some new, cheap (like I care if it's version 5 or 6 of the Ghost), light, and strikingly ugly Brookses, Nena and I signed up for a local 10k race. it also gave us the opportunity to get a few of her XC team's runners to compete, as the course was near her school district. I stayed resolute in the face of two consecutive mismarked course distances.

I felt quite good this fine morning, and had the running to prove it early on. I was smoking through the first few miles, passing Nena's top two racers in the second mile (they were doing the 5k distance). According to the on-course timers, I was sitting at 20:50 after three miles, not far from my personal PR. That record, incidentally, is 42:47, set at the Great Race in Pittsburgh, on a day where I felt amazing and on a course with a substantial net downhill.

Shortly after mile three, I made a right turn out of a residential area and onto a main road with a group, and thus begun my downfall. Let’s go to the course map, shall we? See the red star marking the start point? Go a bit east of that and you’ll see a wishbone with a roman numeral II on top of it. We approached that from the east initially, ran north along the east curve, north on the little connector, then right, then left to go north to the top of the “II,” then left, down the west pillar of the II, then another left, then a soft right to head down the west part of the wishbone. Got it?

At this point, we turned right onto the main road, Bainbridge. A sheriff was directing traffic and said that the 10k/5k split was “up ahead a little bit.” I continued with the group on Bainbridge, all the way to West Point Dr. There I saw a policeman but no course marking. I asked him if I was supposed to go left and he said, “that’s where they’ve been going,” which was false and incompetent. There, I saw a mile marker facing away from me. I asked a race volunteer and he said “you should be done already!” Confused, I pressed him, and he said “you’re in the 5k, right?” Nope. “Go back that way then!” Great. So I went back west on Bainbridge and rejoined the course, but I knew I’d gone wrong and would be DQ’d.

Turns out that, immediately after the right from the wishbone onto Bainbridge, I was supposed to make a quick left, then take that road parallel to and south of Bainbridge, come up West Point, and so on. There were no volunteers, no other 10k runners around me, one arrow on the road that I never saw (and in fact would have had to go farther out to the road to even see), and the well-meaning but ultimately misleading info from the deputy. Ultimately it’s my responsibility, but it’s an unfortunate situation.

Anyway, roughly 400 m short, I pulled into the “finish” line in “7th place.” I told the girl, no, don’t take my race number, I didn’t really finish, you have to DQ me. She insisted on keeping it and I said OK, but I didn’t really finish this race and you need to keep me out of the order of finish, then another finisher came and she disposed of me. I returned at a less busy moment, and said, hey, for real, please remove me, I didn’t finish this race fairly, which she appeared to do. I took this opportunity to run back and find my error, and then out of spite I ran the part of the course I had missed. I wasn’t super-happy that day.

We stayed for the awards – Nena got an age group 2nd and her runners both claimed firsts. And, of course, they announced me as the “winner” of the 30-34 group (there were only two of us). So I got to make the fun walk up there and explain that I didn’t finish fairly and had to decline the medal. Thanks, girl who I asked to scuttle my finish tag! The race organization who put this on along with the North Ridgeville Lions, who normally do a terrific job, also posted me as 1st in my age group on their online results. To their credit (though it took an email from me) they finally took down my “time” recently. I’m not going to post it here.


Presque Isle Triathlon
Triathlon
Sprint
24 August
The close of my race season took place in beautiful Presque Isle State Park near Erie, PA, the home course of Nick and a race I hadn’t tackled since ’09. The first year I did it was in rotten weather on the lake side of the park, and the water was crazy. I can’t believe they didn’t cancel the swim. The second year was cold and rainy and unpleasant before the race as well – I still remember standing there in my jammers shivering and listening to uninteresting pre-race announcements.

This year was a bright, sunny morning perfect for an 8 am triathlon start. And, around 8:30, my body decided it should start as well. I just didn’t swim well, took on water a couple of times, never found a rhythm, couldn’t sight the buoys well, just ugly. I started off slow on the cycle too, slow being a relative term on the super-fast PI bike velodrome. Eventually I picked it up, engaging in a cycle duel with three other racers. I lost that duel to all of them, though thanks to my not changing shoes I was out of the transition first and never heard from them again.

They had done the swim start in a curious fashion. Usually it’s by age and gender, like all males under 40 in one wave, then all males over 40, then all females under 40, something like that. This year, to lessen water traffic, they asked participants to self-report their swimming strength. Like any such thing, people overstate their abilities, which is why you see some of the worst members of our society participating as walkers near the front lines of actual marathons. Plus, I never got this e-mail, so I ended up in swim wave four for no apparent reason. Thus, I started behind a lot of people who I was a better athlete than, and couldn’t tell who I was really passing and of whom I was 3, 6, or even 9 minutes ahead. Nevertheless, I blazed that 3.5-mile run course (I did the right one!!! It was supposed to be 3.5!!! Yay!), passing all sorts of competitors at a 7:36 pace. I finished in 1:21:06, a meaningless number as usual. PI is always a tough field – I only got 85th out of 370 (last place held down by the awesomely-named “Dart Summerson”) and 11th of 16 in my age group. Man. My splits bored out my observations about my performance over time; I was 153rd out of the water, had the 103rd best bike leg, and was the 57th-fastest runner. If I’m looking to step up my game in 2014, the path would appear to be aquatic.


Overall, I had a fun- and wrong-turn-filled spring and summer racing series that I’m excited to extend well into the fall.

Major League

The 1989 baseball comedy film Major League remains a touchstone for film fans who like baseball, comedy, and/or baseball comedy. It's a generally well-regarded movie in the celebrated genre of baseball movies - not typically ranked in the top tier with Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and The Natural, but a significant entry in the conversation.

But for me, and most other Cleveland Indians fans, it's something even more special - not just a hilarious baseball flick, but a hilarious baseball flick about our team, and for those of us living in the Forest City, a movie about our town. The dialogue and characters from Major League have become inseparably intertwined with fandom of the actual Cleveland Indians club - "Wild Thing" blares from the speakers at every game, "Vaughn" and "Dorn" jerseys outnumber those of the actual ballplayers, and as a little kid I could barely keep straight which one was Willie Mays Hayes and which one was Kenny Lofton. I don't know of a professional sports franchise whose identity is so closely tied to a fictional film, with the possible exception of Anaheim's hockey club before they dropped the "Mighty" part of their nickname.


As usual, I'll just throw out my semi-chronological, semi-coherent take on the film, a funny baseball pic for most and an enduring cult classic for fans of the Tribe.

- I couldn't possibly enjoy the opening montage of Major League more. Over the strains of Randy Newman's bittersweet "Burn On," we see shots of Cleveland in all its '80's Rust Belt glory. I suspect I would have enjoyed the downtrodden Cleveland of that era as much as I enjoy the steadily rising (but still kinda downtrodden) Cleveland of today. The very first image is of one of the Guardians of Traffic, a group of stone men keeping watch on the Lorain-Carnegie bridge to whom I give a special salute to every time I cross the Cuyahoga that way, which is quite often. It's remarkable how much the cityscape still looks like that opening view, other than the conspicuous absence of the yet-to-be constructed Key Tower.

- The juxtaposition in the second shot is probably striking to a lot of viewers, as a neighborhood baseball game is being played directly adjacent to tall white industrial towers. Doesn't seem weird to me at all - that's Clark Fields, where I play in my football league. No, really, I like this movie for more than the Cleveland stuff, I promise.

- My buddy JHH devised the best possible way to experience this movie - simply fast-forward through all the scenes with Rene Russo. Nothing personal, Rene ... you're just not adding a lot of value here. I liked Thomas Crown Affair.

- If you're up for a challenge, try this Sporcle quiz to list the Indians' lineup in the one-game playoff against the Yankees for the division title. Any more than six, and you're a superfan. The Spring Training segment of the film is a really effective way to introduce the Tribe's cast of characters: flamboyant speedster Willie May Hayes (Wesley Snipes), down-on-his-luck catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), spoiled star Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), superstitious Latino slugger Pedro Cerrano (an almost unrecognizable pre-President David Palmer version of Dennis Haysbert), ex-con flamethrower (Charlie Sheen) and croaky-voiced manager Lou Brown (James Gammon). Pretty impressive cast of future stars and a lot of memorable personalities for one 90-minute baseball comedy.

- You know who else was in this movie? Me! I was a fan in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium when they filmed the overhead shot of the actual Indians night game that was used in the film right before the one-game playoff. I can still remember them announcing over the loudspeaker that the shot was going to be used in an upcoming film. Admittedly, it's possible that the shot was actually in Major League 2, but whatever.

- On the flipside of that, it's curious that legendary Tribe drummer John Adams doesn't get any screen time here. I guess the fourteen years of hammering his bass drum at almost every game that he'd put in to that point wasn't enough to merit a cameo.

- I was watching this in Pittsburgh one time with my buddy Gopo, and when odious ex-showgirl owner Rachel Phelps says derisively, "No wonder they haven't won a pennant in 35 years," he asked the perfectly legitimate question, "is that still true, have they still not won one?" I immediately, and with unnecessary haste and enthusiasm rallied to my Tribe's defense: "No! They've won two!" Easy, Francis. Still no World Series since '48 - the Cubs get all the press for their Series drought, but the Indians are #2 in that department with a bullet. I don't really see why we should be talking about this. Moving right along ...

- Of course, the hapless Tribe doesn't actually even win a pennant in Major League. That's right - the climactic, triumphant victory that caps off the movie is actually just a one-game playoff for the American League East crown. The fictional Erie Warriors would still have to knock off the AL West Champions in the ALCS to claim the American League pennant, THEN beat the National League champion for a World Series title. In fact, Major League 2 reveals that the Indians went on to lose the ALCS to the Chicago White Sox, failing even to reach the Series. That's how bleak it's been for Cleveland sports fans, ladies and gentlemen. Not only have none of our three major teams won a championship since 1964, not only have we suffered some of the most iconic gut-punch losses in sports lore ... but even when they make a movie about a Cleveland sports team succeeding, we still can't win. Unbelievable. Some day, though, as Jake Taylor says, there will be only one thing left to do: win the whole fuckin' thing.

- Is there some reason the Academy didn't give Gammon some sort of Lifetime Achievement award for his portrayal of manager Lou Brown? I dare you to find me a more effective use of the word "shitburger." Also, one of these days, I'm going to get myself a sport coat with a Chief Wahoo crest on it like the one Brown sports about the Indian Express. That's a solid look.

- I often want to use the coach's line when Charlie Sheen's Ricky Vaughn makes his first appearance at Spring Training: "Look at this fuckin' guy!" I'm not sure it's well-traveled enough to work in most company, though.

- Gotta love those '80's Tribe uniforms. Those were their look the first few years of my fandom, and I'm still fond of the simple block letters and red, white, and blue color scheme (plus the road grays). They've gone back to that look to some extent with their boss road grays of today (with a red block "C" on the blue cap instead of Chief Wahoo), though they still rock the red script "Indians" on their home whites. The less said about their alternate cream-colored home jerseys with the bright red caps, the better.

- How come no one uses the bullpen cart anymore?

- The success of Major League led to two forgettable sequels - Major League 2, featuring much of the original cast, and Major League: Back to the Minors, with new cast members. Blah.

- As exasperated, then ultimately rejuvenated, Tribe broadcaster and Jack Daniel's (yes, I put the apostrophe in the right place) enthusiast Harry Doyle, actual Milwaukee Brewers play-by-play guy and "Mr Baseball" Bob Uecker does an absolutely fantastic job here. From "Juuuuust a bit outside" to "In case you haven't noticed ... and based on the attendance, you haven't," he brings a constant stream of bonus comedy to all the game action. Such is the legend of the movie that Doyle has his own fake twitter account, as does his mostly mute color guy Monte and, of course, Cerrano's spiritual adviser Jobu.

- I read on Major League's Wikipedia page that there was an alternate (or perhaps original) ending where, instead of a bitchy villian, she's actually a die-hard Tribe fan who adopts her persona to motivate the team, and had all along masterminded the assembly of the ragtag group.

- The final game is really a well-constructed sequence, involving all of the principals in believable and clever ways, especially bringing Vaughn on in relief and earning thousands and thousands of dollars in royalties for the Troggs (even though they use some cheesy remake in the movie). The winning run, where Hayes scores from second on a bunt, even foreshadows Kenny Lofton's amazing dash home from second on a passed ball in the '95 ALCS. I told you it was easy to get those two confused!



I'm not going to lie to you - seeing that jacked-up fake crowd in Major League and watching Kenny sprint around the diamond brings back fond memories of the Indians' playoff appearances in the '90's and '00's. We gotta get back, friends.


For me, at least, Major League is the lens through which I view baseball - there are so many common situations in baseball where the first thing that springs to mind is a line from Major League. To wit:

* A speedy player: "With your speed you should be hittin' 'em on the ground and leggin' 'em out." - Manager Lou Brown to Willie Mays Hayes.

* A player gator arms a grounder: "Don't give me this 'olé' bullshit!" - Brown to Third Baseman Roger Dorn.

* A player boots a grounder: "At least he didn't spike himself." - Broadcaster Harry Doyle, about Dorn.

* A losing streak or tough loss: "They're still shitty." - The Asian groundkeepers.

* A towering home run from an opponent: "Too high? What does that mean, too high?" - One of the fans in the outfield bleachers.

* A nasty breaking ball: "KY ball from Harris." - Doyle, of course.

* A player swings and misses on a curveball: "Straight ball, I hit it very much. Curveball ... bats are afraid." - Pedro Cerrano.

* A pitch well out of the strike zone: "Juuuust a bit outside." - Doyle

* An inept offensive performance by the Wahoos: "One hit? That's all we got, one god damn hit?"


There you have it, sports fans - Major League, an enduring sports and comedy classic with an extra-special spot in the hearts of Cleveland Indians fans like me.

The View from the Bleachers

So what if I picked the one game they lost on an 8-1 homestand? Behold the glory of Progressive Field!

Louisville/michigan Championship: Live Blog

Welcome! Over the course of the next several hours, I will be chronicling the events leading up to and during the NCAA National Championship game between the Louisville Cardinals and that school up north - ALL LIVE FROM MY BEDROOM! Topics covered will range from analysis of the game and the tournament in general to the Cleveland Indians' home opener with the Yankees that's set to get started shortly to just any random thoughts that cross my mind, obviously with plenty of michigan bashing along the way. I have several guests lined up to stop by and plenty of Natural Light in the fridge, so let's get this thing started, I'm psyched!


Approx. 5.5 hours before tip-off
Let's keep things light and start this baby off with a joke. I know what your're thinking, but it's alright, I have plenty of material and won't run out.

A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and says, "Wanna hear a
michigan joke?" The guy next to him replies, "Well before you tell that
joke, you should know something. I'm 6' tall, 200 lbs., and I am a michigan
alumnus. The guy sitting next to me is 6'2 tall, weighs 225, and he's a
michigan alumnus. The fella next to him is 6'5, weighs 250, and he's a
michigan alumnus. Now, you still wanna tell that joke?" The first guy says,
"Nah, not if I'm gonna have to explain it 3 times." BOOM, ROASTED!


Approx. 5 hours before tip
The Tribe are underway from the corner of Carnegie and Ontario and the first Natural has been cracked. Let's light this candle!


Approx. 4.5 hours before tip
Lot of fireworks early on in Cleveland. Travis Hafner, certainly no stranger to homers in Progressive Field, hit a three-run bomb in the first to give the Yanks an early lead, but the Tribe came right back with three of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie it.


Approx. 4 hours before tip
Mark Reynolds swings comically hard at the ball every time. I'm shocked he doesn't knock himself over more often. Dude definitely has some pop though. I could see him being our 2013 version of Russell Branyan. Although shouting "MARKY!" doesn't quite have the same ring as RUSTY! did. RUSTY!

It's been far too long since I've ripped on michigan. I rather enjoy this one...

If a couple from ann arbor get a divorce, are they still brother and sister?


Approx 3 hours before tip
Yankees just pounding on the Indians, spoiling the first game of the season in Progressive. Oh well, at least there's 80 more.

Let's actually talk some basketball here. Whomever wins this game tonight will have definitely earned the title, as both the Cardinals and wolverines have looked by far the two best teams in this tournament, each winning their first five games by a double-digit average. Louisville's path has looked a little easier, as they have made it through 16. North Carolina A&T, 8. Colorado St, 12. Oregon, 2. Duke, and 9. Wichita St. Outside of Duke, none of those names really jump out at you, but the sheer ease at which they have been winning these games is awfully impressive. Their second half against Duke was possibly the best 20 minutes of basketball all tournament long.

michigan's route to Atlanta went through 13. South Dakota St, 5. VCU, 1. Kansas, 3. Florida, and 4. Syracuse in the Final Four. That's a tough run. Not only are those some of the best defensive teams in the nation, they all play a very different style of defense - from VCU's 'havoc' to Florida's physicality to Jeff Withey to the 'Cuse zone. Yet regardless of what type of team or defense they were facing, michigan's shooting has just been lights out each game.

I'll talk about how the two teams match up against each other and give a final prediction a bit later on. But first, since I feel dirty after actually giving scum some compliments, here's this...

How do you keep your family safe from a wolverine?


Move to Pasadena.


Approx. 1.5 hours before tip
ann arbor is STILL a whore

And Chris Webber is still a bitch. I mean I guess I wouldn't want to have anything to do with that damn school after I left either, but seriously dude, get over yourself. You're not the only person to ever have a big gaffe in an important situation. Although, his was surely the most comical.


Approx. 1 hour before tip
My roundtable is now joined (via video chat) by Kyle Poor, Tyler Youngs, and Rick Denne. Hilarity will surely ensue.

Rick's thoughts on the game - "michigan sucks." Couldn't agree more my friend.


Less than 30 minutes before tip
Finally almost tip time. All the talk in this game is pretty much on the guard play, and for good reason. Peyton Siva and Russ Smith run the show for Louisville, while michigan's trey burke was named the National Player of the Year. But I think the Gorgui Dieng/mitch mcgary matchup could decide things. mcgary has been a beast lately, and Dieng will have to stay out of foul trouble in order to attempt to contain him. michigan just absolutely dominated Syracuse on the offensive glass on Saturday, so Louisville has to do a much better job than the Orange did in that aspect. Cardinal Luke Hancock could also play a key role off the bench, as L'Ville was +20 with him on the floor and -16 without him against Wichita. Louisville will need to force turnovers like they always do, and hopefully bitchigan will finally miss a shot.

Prediction: Louisville 77 michigan 70


Approx. 5 minutes before tip
I'm setting the over/under on how many times they show Kevin Ware at 17.5. I will take the over.

Breaking News: John Beilein is only going to dress 7 players for this game. The rest will have to dress themselves.


Starting lineups
Kevin Ware count - 1.


18:08 1st, 5-3 michigan
Siva, Smith, and burke all immediately get to the rim within the first 30 seconds of the game. burke finishes, Siva and Smith miss. Dieng definitely just got away with a goaltending though.


15:34 1st, 7-7
What an insanely fast-paced first few minutes. Clark Kellogg has no idea how to keep up, he's just yelling random things.


11:41 1st, 20-15 michigan
spike albrecht comes in and buries three three's. He's now 8/8 from trey-land in the tournament. Damn, they just really can't miss.


11:09 1st, 20-15 michigan
Kevin Ware count - 2. burke with two fouls. Oh boy.


7:45 1st, 26-19 michigan
scum goes on a 6-0 once trey hits the bench. I don't understand why they can't miss a shot.


3:51 1st, 33-21 michigan
albrecht is out of control. His career high was seven fucking points going into this game, and he now has 17. This one is quickly getting out of control. Louisville has not played this sloppily all season. burke still on the bench, but scum rolling.

Dave is finally here!! Maybe his presence will switch things up.


1:37 1st, 36-32 michigan
Nice run by the Cards. Hancock doing his best spike impression.


Halftime, 38-37 michigan
Louisville ends the half on a 14-3 run. Luke Hancock shooting 4/4 from beyond the arc, then the Peyton steal and huge alley-oop was outrageous. We may have an instant classic here.

As beer #12 dwindles down, the video chat conversation takes a turn for the worse. It's better than listening to Charles Barkley though, I guess.


18:50 2nd, 40-40
Russ Smith's possible injury is taking away from Ware shots. They showed Smith on the bench five times this half already.


11:42 2nd, 54-52 Louisville
The Cardinals finally take the lead, thanks to some really active play underneath by Chane Behanan. Russ Smith back in the game.


9:11 2nd, 60-58 Louisville
Great play by Hancock to draw mcgary's 4th foul and get three shots from the stripe. Those back-to-back Siva and hardaway drives were pretty wild. And I can't express how much I hate that damn half-on beanie that Tim Hardaway Sr. wears every game. It's gotta be 80+ degrees in there for crying out loud!


4:34 2nd, 71-65 Louisville
Peyton Siva just going H.A.M. right now on both ends of the court. burke did have a clean block there, though. Bad call.


1:11 2nd, 78-74 Louisville
L'Ville busted out their largest lead of the game at 10, but some bad mistakes by Russ Smith keeping bitchigan in it. burke and Smith both with four fouls.


00:14 2nd, 80-76 Louisville
Beilein really drops the ball by not taking burke out when you know you need to foul. They wasted at least 12-15 seconds by burke not wanting to foul out, when there was just no reason for him to be in.


FINAL, 82-76 Louisville
SUCK IT, DICK BAGS!!!!!!


Postgame
Peyton Siva just straight cold-blooded down the stretch. I think it's interesting that Siva was the star of this team the past two years, then Russ Smith completely took over this season (18.9 ppg compared to Siva's 9.8), as Siva often disappeared in big games (0-9 vs. Syracuse, 2 points in the 5OT loss to Notre Dame, 4 points in the Sweet 16 win over Oregon). Tonight, Smith might have well just not been out there, while Siva controlled this whole second half on both ends of the floor.

Got to mention Luke Hancock, scoring 22 points on 5-5 three-point shooting, including a single-handed 14-point run to close the deficit at the half, to receive Most Outstanding Player honors. I told you he'd have a big impact on the outcome. Chane Behanan also playing a huge role, grabbing 12 boards while scoring 15 points.


Although I stopped keeping track, I definitely lost that Kevin Ware bet. They had to have showed him over 25 times against Wichita.


I don't think there's such a thing as too far when it comes to michigan jokes, but I figured I'd still wait 'till there was a lot of beers in me and they actually lost before I dropped this one...

michigan babies are soo ugly, their incubators are tinted.


I think 'One Shining Moment' nailed it more than ever. I really wanted to see a ton of FGCU's dunks and AC's game-winnner. Color me impressed there.


I don't give a single damn about that whole state.


FUCK EM

Flawed Buckeyes cool off, exposed by Wichita

Ohio St's successful season came to a crashing end in Los Angeles last Saturday at the hands of Malcolm Armstead and the Wichita St Shockers. The Buckeyes could not have possibly played any worse, and with all do respect to Greg Marshall and his talented and scrappy ball club, lost to an inferior team that we would typically beat 9 out of 10 times. The downfall in this game for the Bucks was their shooting, something that has been a strength for them this March (50% from beyond the arc in the tournament coming into this one). Here are some abysmal shooting stats that really sum up Ohio St's 70-66 Elite 8 loss...

- team shot 24% in the first half

- Thomas started 3/12

- team started 0/7

- Craft finished 2/12

- team finished 5/25 from 3's

Even after the Buckeyes went on a 23-6 run late in the game to make this one look close, they still only finished at 31% from the field. That run was sparked by some big time plays by LaQuinton Ross, who still only managed to shoot 4-12, and even though Tank finished with his usual 23 points, he was 0-6 from three-point land.

What made this game even more frustrating than the awful shooting, was the fact that OSU did have that late run in them, but it was still too little too late. It made it so it was like we lost twice. I'm watching this game in a hotel room in Las Vegas, and when the Buckeyes go down 20 with about 12 minutes to play, I pretty much gave up. I couldn't watch anymore, started getting ready to go out, and even after a short period of time was almost starting to get past the fact that our season was over (after all, I was in the happiest place on Earth). Then I see that Ohio St has cut it to 62-59 with 2:49 left, and immediately I am back into it, thinking the Bucks still have a chance. When Tekele Cotton hit a three-pointer to re-seal it, I was devastated all over again. It was a tough game to swallow.

I'd been saying all year that I didn't think this Ohio St team was that great, and they certainly weren't as good as they were the previous three years. But they got hot at the right time, winning 11 straight games, and with the way NCAA hoops is set up, especially in a field as open as this years, sometimes that's all you need - to just be a good team on a hot streak (See: Kemba in 2011). At the same time, with the way NCAA hoops is set up, especially in a field as open as this years, one team can have one bad game and lose to a team they typically shouldn't lose to. So what the Buckeyes had going for them was ultimately their demise.

However, it was a very fun tournament for the Buckeyes up to this point, with unbelievable, clutch, game-winning three-pointers from Aaron Craft against Iowa St and Ross against Arizona. And even though our season is over, us Buckeye fans still have a very strong rooting interest in this Final Four, as that school from up north still remains in the field. I think Louisville has unquestionably looked like the best team so far this tournament, but Syracuse and michigan are not far behind. L'ville will face the Shockers in the early game on Saturday, followed by the 'Cuse/bitchigan showdown. I really could care less which of those other three teams wins this thing, just as long as it's not those boners.

So to sum up the Buckeyes' 2012-13 campaign, it was an up-and-down season that ended a week too early, but gave us some great moments along the way. We'll say goodbye to Evan Ravenel, who I probably liked way more than I should have in his three-year Buckeye career, and most likely DeShaun Thomas, who has a big pay day waiting for him in the Association. Assuming Tank does leave Columbus early, it will be Aaron Craft's team next year, with Q probably having to step up as the main scorer. Should Thomas shock the NCAA basketball world and return, the Bucks could be an early favorite to be cutting down the nets next season. Until then, 139 days until kickoff...


GET EM