Buckeye State of Mind

Let’s be honest.  Nothing went right for our beloved Buckeyes this off-season.  We lost our coach forever, our three best playmakers for at least 5 games (and in one case forever), and a few prized recruits.  The sense of prestige that surrounded the program is gone, and we are one of the most hated programs in America.  What else is new? We have an inexperienced offense that will make mistakes and stall.  We have new corners that will get burned, and a thin defensive line that will get their share of bumps and bruises. Those are all givens.  One more given? We are going to win a lot of football games.

Forgive my confusing bit of reckless optimism there.  I am an obviously biased source.  And
I know we just had a cardiac arrest inducing near catastrophe against a MAC school.  However, I am strong in my conviction about this 2011 Buckeye squad, and am confident that they will play a warm weather game come January.  One main reason is none other than Luke Fickell.  If I had to pick a coach who is equipped to lead a team under the given conditions, it is Coach Fick.  Jim Tressel was a great leader of men.  But his greatest flaw was the one that led to nearly all of his downfalls: he cared too much.  He was too careful on the field, he cared too much about his players, he cared too much about success, and he cared too much about his reputation.  In life, this is not a bad flaw to have.  In the world of college football, it can prove fatal. 

Coach Fickell brings the type of brash, “I don’t give a damn what ANYONE thinks” attitude that is necessary, given the circumstances.  After a decade of political correctness and playing it close to the Vest, it is even refreshing.  The new mindset brought by Coach Fickell was necessary to rally the troops, keep recruits interested, and most importantly, win those football games I’ve been talking about.

We all knew, in the beginning, that Coach Fick was going to have to play a form of media “TresselBall.”  There was too much controversy swirling around the program for any shenanigans.  The last thing we needed was to be in the national spotlight for any new reasons.  The athletic department handled everything so poorly that little to no good could come from new press.  Ultra-conservative was the way to go, whether that was the new Coach’s style or not.  If the program was a bear, it would have headed straight for a cave to hibernate until the weather cleared a bit.  It was in our best interest to just try to disappear.  Of course, our “frienemies” at ESPN would have none of that.  Every hiccup has been magnified and every bit of inconsequential news is made a headline.  Not that we could have ever expected anything different. 

Under the calm surface, however, the Buckeye feet were churning.  The team was riding the line between struggling to stay afloat, and dreaming of soaring to new heights.  Coach Fickell was drilling into his players that they could do just that.  There was a no mercy, “us against the world” mindset being formed.  Gone are the days when Ohio State runs out the clock in the 4^th quarter out of pity.  If the Buckeyes are better than you, you are going to know exactly how many points better they are.  While the world was busy dragging the Buckeyes through hell, the Buckeyes were busy preparing a whole new brand of fire to unleash on the world.  You don’t come to Ohio State to have good seasons.  You don’t come to Ohio State to go through hard times.  You come to Ohio State to win championships.  You come to Ohio State to be remembered.  You come to Ohio State to be a Buckeye.  I cannot express to you how hard I am pounding my keyboard typing these sentences.  But they are true. They are facts. The pride involved with donning the Scarlet and Gray is immeasurable.  That belief needs to be restored.  Not in the players, they already know. But in Buckeye Nation.  In sports nation. 

Coach Fickell chose the slogan, not only for the players, but also for himself.  They are done seeing any kind of negativity, and they are going to do something about it.  These are your Men of Action, and this is going to be a season to remember. It's all in a state of mind.

#likeaBaus

Using the Twitter hash-tag, I go over things you could do if you did them like our quarterback, the Baus, Joe Bauserman. All in 140 characters or less.

You could throw touchdown passes to a young wide receiver named Antonio Cromartie at Tallahassee Lincoln HS, if you grew up #likeaBaus

You can win the award for “best change-up” in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league organization, if you pitch #likeaBaus

You could be a little known walk-on, known only as Joey Baseball for your first 3 years on the Bucks, if you changed sports #likeaBaus

 

You can go hunting at 4 am on Friday mornings during the season, and still make it in time to catch the team plane, if you hunt #likeaBaus

You can be the best ping-pong player on the whole team, even beating the Asian punter, if you play table tennis #likeaBaus

You can turn broken plays into rumbling, bumbling 15 yard touchdown runs, if you run the ball #likeaBaus

You can find the extremely talented and WIDE OPEN tight ends in your offense, unlike your predecessor, if you see the game #likeaBaus

You can be a mentor to a kid that might inevitably take your job if you love your team #likeaBaus

You can ignore thousands of your team’s biggest fans telling you that you will fail, if you prepare #likeaBaus

You can be a soft-spoken kid from Virginia and go on to captain the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes, if you keep the faith #likeaBaus

You can replace a superior athlete and direct a depleted team to success, if you do the right things #likeaBaus

You can brush aside continual criticism, buckle down, and be the best player you can be, if you have a great attitude #likeaBaus

You can win over Buckeye Nation by shutting up and playing football, if you win games #likeaBaus

And us fans can have some faith.  Because this can be a year to remember if we all just believe, #likeaBaus

You Win With People

Woody Hayes said it best.  You win with people.  It doesn’t take the most talented players.  I think it has been proven that talent without substance is not enough.  As a certain former coach of mine once said, “Talent is NEVER enough.”  It takes drive.  It takes determination.  It takes something deep down inside that will not let you quit until your goal is achieved.  It takes a togetherness that cannot be measured.  It takes confidence, execution and preparation.  Did I mention it takes heart?

I’ll tell you what it does not take.  It doesn’t take cockiness. Having swagger is different from being cocky.  You have to believe that you are the best, yet remember you are not above others, especially your teammates.  The team is always number one.  The team is always number one.  The team is ALWAYS number one. 

It does not take arrogance.  Arrogance is the downfall of the great.  How many stories from history involve the mighty falling, only because they believe themselves to be invincible?   You can try to live above the law as long as you want.  The law will catch up to you. No one is higher than the law.

The type of player who selfishly disregards others in favor of his own benefit will never reach his potential.  The type of player who cuts to the front of every line rather than wait with everybody else on his team will never reach his potential.  The type of player who mysteriously comes up with an injury almost every time there is a challenging workout will never reach his potential.  The type of player who tells his teammates to “Shut the f--- up” on the sidelines when they offer encouragement will never reach his potential.  The player who cannot even come remotely close to showing interest in resisting temptation will never ever reach his potential.  It’s not going to happen.  

In the end, it is not all about football.  It is about becoming a functioning member of society.  It is about making a positive difference on the world around you.  You can win some football games on talent alone.  To win in life, it’s going to take more.  To win a National Championship, it is going to take more.  It’s going to take heart.  A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.  You Win With People.

I just want to remind the lucky ones that donning the Scarlet and Gray comes with great responsibility. It takes a big person to be able to turn down gifts and riches. But that big person knows a greater glory awaits. The Buckeyes lose great talent every year. This week was no exception.  And you know what? I’m excited about the future of Ohio State football. Go Bucks.

In Defense of My Coach

It is always sad to see a hero fall.  

It has happened to me a few times, and for a few different reasons.  Mario Lemieux was taken from the game of hockey as he reached his prime to battle illness.  Tiger Woods lived a double life and is now a shell of the man who used to make the world shake with the reverberating roars of galleries across America.  Those were my sporting heroes.  

Men who stood at the pinnacle of their respective professions and made a legitimate difference in people’s lives.  

I thought that watching them lose their air of invincibility would be the hardest way to see a career end.  I thought that I would never feel so hopeless again, because I would never be as young and impressionable as I was when I let these men become such a large part of my life.  Then again, I thought Jim Tressel was invincible.
 
Let me start by saying that I will not blame my teammates for any of this.  Am I mad at them? Yes. I am mad as Hell at them for some of their actions.  I am furious they cast aside our symbols of brotherhood and victory for a few hundred dollars.  Those rings and Gold Pants were supposed to remind us forever of what we were a part of. Those rings were supposed to clank off of each other as we shook hands at our 2010 Rose Bowl Champs 25th anniversary banquet.  Those rings were a part of our legacy to be carried on to our grandchildren as they looked at us in our rocking chairs and wondered how in the world we used to be champion athletes.  

But who am I to tell someone what is important?  Show an 18-year-old some money and give him some power, and you have a recipe for disaster.  Put yourself in their shoes and tell me you would be able to resist temptation.  You can’t.  Tell an 18-year-old that he is the greatest enough times, and he will believe you.  It comes with the territory.  
 
Coach Tressel made the choice to try to account for his young players’ transgressions and move forward into the season with one of his most talented teams ever. It’s a choice he now undoubtedly regrets.
 
In my brief time at the top level of the amateur game, I learned one thing to be true without fail: If you succeed, people will hate you.  And if people hate you, they will try to bring you down.  Look at Auburn.  If they went 2-4 through their first six games, would jealous Mississippi State boosters have come out of the woodwork to rat out Cam Newton?  Fat chance.  And along those lines, there is an even fatter chance that both Gene Chizik and Cam himself knew nothing of Cecil’s plan to shop his son.  Examples are abundant.  Bob Stoops knew nothing about the tens of thousands of dollars Rhett Bomar took for working a no-show job? Yeah, and I’m dating Beyonce.  Dig deep enough anywhere you want, you’re eventually going to hit the dirt.  

The difference is that when the others got caught, there was no proof.  Coach Tressel reached out to people he thought may have an influence on future decisions made by the players (the quarterback’s “mentor”), and in doing so, sealed his own fate.  The nail in his own coffin came in the form of a concerned e-mail.  
 
Do I think Coach Tress was in the dark about the alleged ongoing violations by his players? No way. I always thought that man knew everything.  My freshman year he approached me, a mere walk-on back-up punter, and asked me how my parents and two sisters were doing.  He referred to them all by name! We had about 120 players on the team and he knew every person in all 120 immediate families.  He knew because he cared.  

He made a promise to our families to take care of us and he did everything in his power to fulfill that promise.  He made us read books that would help us in life, write reports about those books, and present them to the team.   The first thing we did every day was reflect and pray. There were constant reminders about how lucky we were to be playing a game for a free education and a chance at a better life.  He made us sit through hours of brutal meetings with the compliance office almost every week. Believe me, we all knew what was legal and what was not legal.  He brought lawyers and policemen in to warn us about the dangers of drunk driving, nightlife, and hanging out with the wrong people.  He put us in hospitals to interact with patients, and introduced us to the military.
He taught us that there was more to being an Ohio State football player than just football.  

We had a responsibility to present ourselves in a positive way, as we were representatives of so many things so much bigger than ourselves.  Apparently, some of us could not handle that honor.  

To some of us, there were different priorities, and becoming a man under the watchful eye of millions around the world was too much.  George Dohrmann from Sports Illustrated suggested that Jim Tressel lost control of his football team.  Quite the contrary.  The Ohio State Football culture took over Columbus.  Coach was the only reason there WAS any control on this football team.  Ask the troubled former receiver.  Ask the star quarterback.  Our mistakes occurred away from his watchful eye.

Our mistakes had nothing to do with Jim Tressel.
 
Coach Tressel had one goal for each and every one of his players.  He wanted to put us in the best position possible to succeed.  Both on the field and off.  He taught us that complacency was not an option, and that we could only be the best men that we could be if we learned every single day.  He taught us everything he could, and gave us resources to learn what he could not teach us.  

I want to look him in the eyes and thank him for the chance he gave me.  I want to thank him for the life I live today and the doors he opened for me along the way.  I want to thank him for introducing me to BuckeyeNation.  I want to thank him for my rings and for my gold pants.  I want to thank him for allowing me to live my dream and for the happiest moments of my young life.  
 
He always said, “On your best days be great. On your worst days, be good. Every other day, get better.”  Let’s just say that today, the Ohio State community is only good.  But thanks to our Coach, we will always be better. Go Bucks!       
    
Tupac Shakur "When Your Hero Falls"
when ure hero falls from grace
all fairy tales r uncovered
myths exposed and pain magnified
the greatest pain discovered
u taught me 2 be strong
but im confused 2 c u so weak
u said never 2 give up
and it hurts 2 c u welcome defeat

when ure hero falls so do the stars
and so does the perception of tomorrow
without my hero there is only
me alone 2 deal with my sorrow
your heart ceases 2 work
and your soul is not happy at all
what r u expected 2 do
when ure only hero falls