Have you seen those commercials on TV for Nationwide Insurance where a woman is being rowed through the street of Venice with her dreamy Fabio-looking gondolier, and the second she opens her eyes and sees the reality of her situation, she looks up and her hot Fabio is really an aging decrepit Guido? The punch line of the commercial says ‘Life comes at you fast.’
The Ohio State Buckeyes finally opened their eyes last night, and what can only be said is that life caught up with them last night and smacked them in the ####.
The irony of the parody is that Nationwide sponsored the Buckeyes all year with billboards around Columbus with that famous slogan, Life Comes At You Fast, as the undefeated Buckeyes pounced on their competition. Each week the Insurance Company would cross off another team on the Buckeye billboard, leading up to the national championship.
Florida ended that hazy dream, playing spoiler, with nothing to lose. They continued the trend set in the previous week by Boise State: the sexy new trend of the underdog.
Underdog has been around much longer than his 1964 debut on the NBC network, but he is proving to be the hottest thing in sports thus far and why wouldn’t he? As an underdog, you can step out on to the field, fearless in your task at hand because no one holds any expectation for you except to attempting to survive. It’s the best-case scenario for a team because if you lose everyone predicted it and if you win everyone is shocked and awed.
The BCS National Championship Game seems to be a breeding ground for underdogs. In the last five years, three underdogs have come out against over-sized opponents and silenced critics and doubting fans with thrilling victories.
This year alone, the BCS games seemed to indicate that teams who entered the game feeling entitled to win wound up walking home with “kick me” signs on their backs.
From my point of view, ever since Michigan learned they wouldn’t get another shot at the title match, the Rose Bowl was a mere consolation prize. (I’m sure Ohio State would have welcomed facing Michigan if they could have foreseen their fate with Florida.) I’m sure the Wolverines are wishing they hadn’t taken Pasadena so lightly after their walloping by the hands of USC.
Notre Dame, America’s darling, should have bypassed the Bayou and opted for something a little lighter than the jumbo-sized LSU Tigers. I won’t lie, as I sat in the bar last week and watched the Sugar Bowl, I was secretly thrilled that LSU dismantled the Irish, who always feel it’s their destiny to win. Frankly, it looked more like a JV football team taking on a lower tier NFL team.
Then there’s Boise State, the little team that could. Going in, we all thought they didn’t stand a chance, that their season of smoke and mirrors was about to be exposed by the traditional powerhouse of Oklahoma. Sure, they were ahead all game, but we didn’t expect them to win. Of course, their execution of the Fiesta Bowl is an instant classic and is the single greatest athletic feat in the history of Idaho.
As I woke up on Monday morning, all I thought was “I hope today’s game doesn’t end up like the ones from the previous week.” While I’m not a fan of the Irish or the Maize and Blue, it’s never fun watching your team get dismantled.
Now I know the feeling. The feeling of sitting in your chair and watching as your heart is severed from your chest, all vital organs crumple at the loss and the overwhelming sense of dread that there is no hope invades your mind.
That was me last night about half way through the second quarter of the BCS Championship game. There was nothing I could do to help my floundering team. Maybe I should take credit for the loss. I didn’t watch the game at my usual spot; I ended up at a different bar so I could accommodate my large group of friends to help celebrate my “sure-fire win.” I didn’t wear my usual apparel; I wore my championship jersey, purchased just for the occasion. Finally, I left my secret weapon at home: my lucky Buckeye.
All fans are superstitious and I’m sure scads of Buckeye faithful are waking up today, nursing a raging hangover (because what else are you going to do when your Heisman winning quarterback looks like a third-string relief player in the big game?). Across the country, fans of all the losing teams are thinking ‘how can this be?’
The answer is simple: you weren’t wearing the uniform of the underdog and you got bit.
Lift your glasses high for Boise State, the undefeated!
Painful. Embarrassing. Mournful. Columbus is not a good place to be this morning. The only worse place than Columbus for a Buckeye to be this morning would be Glendale, waiting to go back to Columbus.
I don't want to hear another word about it. I don't want to analyze. I don't want to complain about it. I don't want to find something good to say. I don't want to rehash it. I don't want to find blame. I just don't want to hear another word about it. Make it go away. Just pull the covers over my head.
I am still a Buckeye. I always will be a Buckeye.
That was a total domination last night tj. A lot of people felt this was going to be a one-sided contest but the overwhelming majority of people said it was going to be in Ohio State's favor. Certainly not the performance we were use to seeing out of the Buckeyes. Credit to Florida for keeping it together after Ginn's TD to start the game.
I was wondering how you were hanging in there Belle.
I lived it last Monday (although not as badly) when my Sooners got beat! I expected a major blowout in that game.
Underdog is alive and well and not even Sweet Polly Purebread will get him away this time!
Hang in there Belle, you've got a man child on your hoops team that should win a lot of games this season and they'll be back in pads for next football season soon!
There's a lesson in that for all of us: if you're a die-hard fan, NEVER alter a winning game-watching routine, ever.
Maybe 2007 is the year of the underdog. Could this be the year a mid-major takes the next step and wins the NCAA basketball title? Perhaps the Devil Rays can even finish in third place. Hell, even Underdog himself (yes, the flying pooch) is slated to return to theaters in 2007.
I enjoyed your post, and as a Red Sox fan, I have often in the past felt your pain.
Mustard- You're right, I do have hoops to look forward to.
It was a fitting end to the biter irony of the night. When Tressel won it in 2002/2003, he was a second year head coach and the underdog who barely got by each game by squeaking it out. This year, Urban is in his second year, squeaked it out each game, and holds a graduate degree from OSU.
Everyone has got to pass the pie around and two timers seem less and less likely...just ask USC.
manrub- you couldn't be more right: NEVER CHANGE THE GAME WATCHING RITUAL.
I even did something I'm ashamed to admit: I left the game early. A real fan watches to the end, but with 5 minutes remaining, I just couldn't take it anymore.
It might not be George Mason this year, but I bet another team takes a crack at the title. It's bound to happen one year, statistically it will happen.
Mmmm Belle, "all vital organs cruple?" I think you need to consult the Book of Boston Red Sox. My favorite chapters are 1978, 1986, and 2003. You should, as a loyal fan, be deeply down. But let's face it, the better team, at least for that night, won fair, square, and without question. Besides, in 25 years someone whispers "Florida Gators" in the the ear of an OSU fan, you'll get that grimmace. But to this day, say "Bucky Dent" north of New Haven, and you'd better have your track shoes on. So here's the question--which do you take, the way this season ended, or a loss to Michigan, in exactly the manner they lost, this past November?
Last edited by gocatsnyc on January 10th at 7:17 AM.
Which is worse, seeing your team wiped out quickly or watching them die a slow, painful, death with cruel fate mocking you through a final quarter that was half sick joke and half Murphy's Law to the 3rd power. And yes, dogone it, I'm a Cowboy fan!
When IU lost the Nat'l Championship in 2002 (b-ball, of course), I was satisfied despite the coming up short. They overachieved.
Not so this year with OSU pigskin. They underachieved.
Detmer got killed his senior year and last bowl the year after the Heisman. It is a crummy feeling.
Again, my sentiments. Empathy and best of luck in the future...
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Good to see a finalist back! Did you hear of the new Fox HOF?
As a Gator grad, I'm sorry we had to put it to you like that, dear.
In my current state of euphoria, it's hard for me to think back on some of my most painful losses as a sports fan.
Like cats just said, as a Red Sox fan, certainly 1978 and 1986 stung. 2003 not so much because I think I was numb at that point, expecting the worst.
As a Gator fan, certainly the drubbing Nebraska laid on us eleven years ago left a mark. And when Michigan State beat us in the championship game with Mateen Cleeves, that one bit as well. It seemed like we had finally put the pieces together that year with Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner, but that, again it was not to be.
So again, sorry for beating up on ya like that. You can't say Ohio State fans weren't getting a little too big for their britches.
It's okay, these losses build character, and make you appreciate the victories that much more.
GoCats- You know, I was thinking to myself, which loss would have been worse: Monday night or Michigan? In all honesty, they both suck, but at least the Michigan lost seems more like a Midwest loss. Monday's loss was a national loss for the game EVERY team was playing for all year long.
You are right, in 25 years I'll be able to smile and shake my head. Tuesday was brutal and I wallowed in it all day, but it didn't compare to the state of Ohio that day. The sun did come out and now it is a faint memory.
Dudski- You summed it up perfectly! At least you can live with the fact that your Cowboys showed up and played the game. I'm not sure a single Buckeye was really present in Glendale...I think they were back at their Princess Resort in AZ playing golf.
I'm not bitter, just embarassed for my team. I'll learn to deal with it the older I get, but this was the first major DUD I've ever seen in my life that took such a personal toll.
Reverend- I appreciate your kind words. Each team deserves a piece of the pie and Florida got to taste it this year. There is beautiful symmetry in the whole deal: Tressel was a second year coach at OSU when his underdog team upended the Miami Hurricanes that year. No one thought OSU stood a chance and look what happened. Fast forward to 2007 and Urban Meyer did the same thing, only OSU was the losing team. Isn't it ironic?
I hope you've bought your 'Basketball/Football Champion' shirt. How quickly were they selling the prized items? Enjoy the celebration!
What's going on over there? Have you put up your own blog for sports writing yet? I'm certain you would get the exposure you want (not necessarilly the exposure us guys want!) for your writing.
My treatment got tanked when Oprah came up with the EXACT same idea, except in reality show form. Makes you wonder what goes on out there? Any bets on ideas getting passed around?
A few things. It is my duty and pleasure to tell the truth, try to be accurate, and to stand up to thuggery.
If you really are 60 so years old, you deserve a lot more respect then a lot of people give you.
My elders always get my respect, because I realize what age means. You have been on the planet longer than me! And you should be congratulated.
Hey, I disagree with my dad a lot and I love him like no one else I know. Same with Bobby Knight.
Loyalty and commitment to the right principles are different from consensus and opinions.
We can all agree to disagree if we realize that we are all human, and we are all really trying to get to the same place, no matter the perspectives and sundry details...
Hamilton and Jefferson differed greatly in vision and belief for our nation, but I love and respect them both, and I think their dialectic has made our country great, or is at least exemplary of such a dynamic...
My high school football coach said it the best I've ever heard it said one halftime when a lineman was complaining about the refs not calling holding against the team supposedly doing it over and over again. He said, "the best team almost always wins.....are we the best team? Only you can decide that...the refs can't do it for you".
Nice pic of "Underdog" there Belle. That was my old avatar back when everyone selected a cartoon hero/character of some sort before NGS2 began.
Been a little while since I've stopped by. I wished you a "Merry Christmas" right before the holidays on one of your posts, and was a tad bit late in wishing you a "Happy New Year!"
What can I say about the game? Just plain surprising for most in the country and heart-breaking for Ohio State fans. Nice job on what must not been a very fun story to write, or ideal storyline I should say.
Come swing by my page when you get the chance. Haven't written any fresh posts, though I am getting ready to make a return in that regard. I just wanted you to read my new bio and check out how I paid you a little bit of homage and give you a chance to relive some old memories.
Bafongu- I'd love to read your treatment! You beat me to the punch, I had written my new blog posting but didn't manage to publish it before your comment. I would give anything to produce 'Belle of the Ball' on ESPN or Fox, that's what I'm hoping to learn in school. Life has thrown a few curve balls, but nothing I can't handle!
SoCal- I'm back. I was distracted with some school stuff and for the next two weeks I'll be in rehearsals for 'Mamma Mia' but once I'm in the show, I'll have all day to blog! I can't wait!
Who says a theater girl can't love sports? I may be a Northwestern graduate, but I'm an Ohio State Buckeye at heart. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, I relocated to New York City to find a life on the stage. After four years of trying, (and finding some success), I am preparing to return to graduate school to pursue journalism. As an NGS II finalist, I got my feet wet as a FoxSports blogger and think it may be my new calling. Like theater, I doubt a job in online journalism will pay very well...but what can you do? I sing, I dance, and I can drink beer and eat chicken wings at a sports bar like the best of them...what more could you ask for?
