As some of you may (or may not) know…I love to moonlight as a sportswriter. I had loads of success with my blog at FoxSports.com, but I have moved on to a new position, writing for The Columbus Dispatch!!!
I was recently selected by the sports department at the Columbus Dispatch to blog about Ohio State Football. (Could there be a more appropriate job for me?) To read my winning entry, click here.
For the next year I’ll be writing for The Dispatch Online at their BuckeyeXtra site, where I have my own blog called “Sports and the City.” I posted my first article today and I’m pretty proud of where I have come since joining the blogging world several years ago. I’ll be publishing about 2-3 times a week, and I promise it will be about sports and football, but I won’t write exclusively on Ohio State. Please check it out, comment, and enjoy this new chapter of my sports writing career!
* Many of you have wondered why I haven't been so vocal about the accomplishment of the Buckeyes and their bid to the BCS Championship. Although I have been very proud of the team, I have been busy writing a final paper for a sports writing class about my trip to the OSU-Michigan game. While it may seem outdated and over-due, here is my final piece about that amazing day.
I would like to congratulate the University of Michigan football team on an excellent season, but as Urban Meyer has famously said "they got their shot." Sour grapes and all, with the current BCS system, we will never see a year without controversy. While I do believe the Wolverines to be the second best team in the country, it only seemed fair for Florida to get their chance to prove if they belong in that second slot or not. By January 9, 2007 - we'll all know who has the goods to back up their team. GO BUCKS!
As the black BMW ripped through the stale Pennsylvania landscape at 90 mph, I desperately pointed my cell phone towards the car window, hoping to find a signal. I needed to confirm the news I heard at a Pocono rest stop: was famed Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, merely ill or was it worse? Anxious to confirm the report, I tried calling anyone near a computer who could update me on the man’s status. It was early afternoon on November 17th, the day before the biggest game of the year. With historic proportions on the line, it was inconceivable to commence the weekend with the death of an iconic archrival.
By the time the car pulled up to the beverage depot in New Castle, Pennsylvania at 4PM, Bo Schembechler was pronounced dead. With the state line just miles away, the sun setting, and the clock ticking closer towards kickoff, it seemed inappropriate but necessary to crack open a case of Coors Light and inaugurate the colossal weekend with a beer. The death of the Michigan legend indicated that the 103rd meeting between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines would be anything but ordinary.
This wasn’t a road trip, it was a pilgrimage; a trip made by four devoted fans-mere acquaintances when they departed earlier that morning. Desperate to witness the mêlée in person, we made the 540 mile journey from New York City to Columbus, Ohio. The ten hour expedition was punctuated by a brief stop at gas station to load up on beer and a detour to the Akron-Canton airport to pick up a late inbound passenger who couldn’t play hooky from work that morning. To any person it was ludicrous, a 48 hour road trip to witness a football game, but to us it was the only way to witness THE Game.
For devoted fans of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, there are no limitations to THE Game. What started out as a friendly match in 1897 has turned in to a turf war that many fans of college football have called “the greatest rivalry of all time.” The match-up historically crowns champions. In recent years, the game has spawned spoilers to bowl bids, ended the careers of coaches, and produced some of the biggest talent in the NFL.
In 2006, a first occurred in the history of THE Game. Both teams entered the final regular season game undefeated and ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Bowl Championship Series. The winner of this game would not only be the out-right Big Ten Champion; they would earn an automatic bid to play for the national championship.
By 6PM the OSU athletic department had issued 1100 media credentials, the state of Michigan had sent 600 law enforcement agents to provide extra protection for UM fans and we were 125 miles north of Columbus. Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter were dining at popular restaurant on campus, and our car couldn’t get there fast enough to be apart of it.
Tickets for THE Game had been on sale since early October, selling as high as $5,000 a piece on eBay. The driver of our car had scored a dandy deal, purchasing a pair for $950. Although my parents had season tickets, I didn’t expect to sit in the Horseshoe and watch the game in their seats. I had tried to buy tickets, but there was no way I could afford it. This game was a ticket-scalper’s dream; even students were making out like bandits, selling their seats for a quarter’s worth of tuition. If I couldn’t afford to go to the game, I was going to witness the atmosphere.
It was inevitable that campus would hold more fans than the stadium could seat. By 8AM on game day, parking lots as far as two miles from the stadium were filled to capacity. The 3,560 vacant parking spaces on west campus had been transformed into a nomadic camp of football fanatics in deluxe camper-trailers who had made the same pilgrimage. Their multi-million dollar vehicles would put a rock star’s tour bus to shame.
Wealthy fans had BBQ smoke-houses custom built and hitched to the back of their Gulf Stream motor homes, making the most obsessed grill-master turn green with envy. Satellite dishes dotted the horizon over the parking lot and 60” flat screen TVs were hoisted on the sides of RV’s. While most of the vehicles displayed various forms of Ohio State pride, the ride that took the prize for most imaginative was an old yellow school bus with a vintage VW bus welded on top. The entire masterpiece had been painted scarlet and grey and the ingenious vehicle barked the Buckeye Fight Song from its horn.
Walking through the endless RV lots, the smell of charcoal and lighter fluid filled the air. (It’s never too early to start grilling bratwurst.) Middle-aged men standing in scarlet and grey fatigues with Buckeye helmets on their heads, holding cans of Bud Light, were a frequent sight at 8:30AM.
For the college crowd, the day’s events started at 5AM when Panini’s, a popular campus bar, had opened for “Kegs n’ Eggs.” For a $10 cover you could get all the eggs you could eat and dollar pre-dawn drafts. These people weren’t fans…they were cult followers. Their devotion to their team and to the traditions of football Saturday was that of a religious ritual.
At a central Ohio church earlier that week, the minister started of the service saying "Good Morning. First of all, let's say a prayer to God, that he not empower Michigan as they travel into Ohio this Saturday. Although I know that God will not empower them as he will not empower EVIL over GOOD. God Bless The Buckeyes.”
While weddings and funerals had been re-scheduled around this game, the extremes these fans take for the rivalry went beyond the pulpit. Earlier that week, an OSU fan from Dayton spray-painted his Michigan-born neighbor’s yard with a giant red “Go Bucks!” across the front lawn. Another fan ate Ohio State cereal every morning and wore OSU inspired clothing to work all week, refusing to remove his No. 7 jersey. One fan even went out of his way to have his Michigan neighbor’s car towed.
Malicious jokes and superstitious behavior aside, the measures taken to witness the game infiltrated all facets of life. High school football tournament games were rescheduled to conclude prior to the OSU-UM kickoff. Even the Ohio Board of Elections postponed the counting of provisional ballots for a hotly contested House of Representatives race until AFTER the game.
Everyone wanted to see this match-up. Like me, many had driven all night and were prepared to pay any price to get a seat. As I walked towards the Stadium, I passed a six year old boy who was dressed up like a football player and had a cardboard sign hanging around his neck that read “I want to go to my first OSU-UM game, can you spare a ticket?” Like a poor Gypsy child, he scampered through the crowd, eliciting pitiful looks from grownups who wouldn’t think of giving up their seat.
Perhaps the most poignant story was that o####entleman who gave up his ticket to the game in lieu of a plane ride to Denver, Colorado. There he planned to sit bedside with a close friend who was facing his final days of terminal cancer. The bedridden buddy’s final request was to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game with his best friend.
By 3:30PM 105,708 fans had crowded in to Ohio Stadium. Twice as many people covered the campus and 21.8 million viewers tuned in on the television. There was no where else in the world I wanted to be at that moment than on the campus of Ohio State…and there was no way I would let any road block or natural disaster stand in my way. As a child born and raised on Ohio State football, I had watched this game since birth and never in my 25 years of football attendance have I ever witnessed something as big as the 2006 OSU-Michigan game. I’m not sure the stadium will ever be as loud, will refrain from sitting down, or see its field flooded with over 100,000 ecstatic fans again.
The car ride from New York to Columbus was well worth the white knuckles I endured as our car overtook oncoming traffic like a NASCAR contender that Friday, but I opted for a $100 return ticket on AirTran. If I had been the gambling type, I should have put a $100 bet on the game, or played the lottery immediately following the victory. For the few who chose the final score of the game as their “Pick 4” numbers that night, 4-2-3-9 turned out to be the winning combination and the Ohio Lottery paid out $2.2 million for that fortuitous combination.
For THE Game, there is nothing too impossible to imagine, but like any miracle you can only believe it if you witness it in person. While I may never get to see Mecca, my own pilgrimage to THE Game will forever be a highlight of my religious devotion for Ohio State football.
I am currently in a writing class at NYU and I am writing a feature story about what people will do to watch "The Game." If you are planning on being apart of the Ohio State-Michigan(in any way), I'd love to know about it. For example, are you taking extreme measures to get to the game? Did you sell your ticket for loads of cash? Do you have any rituals for game day? If you can't be in Columbus, how are you planning on watching the game? If you don't give a load of #### about college football, your mistake! Thanks for your help, any stories or comments are appreciated!
10) How did I manage to go 12/13 on my pro football picks this last week and 8/17 on my college picks? I am normally 90% correct on my college games and 90% wrong on my pro picks. My how the tables can turn!
9) Michigan State University is hurting…and they are hurting bad. Nothing is more dangerous than a wounded team. While John L. Smith’s world might be in a freefall, all that could change if he defeated the No. 1 team this weekend with Ohio State coming up to East Lansing. Is that too hard to imagine? It’s been done to Woody’s No. 1 OSU team in 1974 and John Cooper’s No. 1 OSU team in 1998.
8) Joe Torre is out. Joe Torre is in. Joe Torre is in a tough place. The guy has won 4 World Series titles in 11 years but his most recent assignment looked like it might be forced retirement. Is the problem really Joe? I think not…I think the problem is the mentality that just because you can afford the best players in the league doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed or entitled to anything.
7) Choking. The Yankees choked. Auburn choked. I choked on a huge audition this past Monday that was money in the bank. Why is it when we think we have all the ducks in a row, somehow they manage to slip between our fingers?
6) The Maize and Blue should be number two!
5) WARNING: The new film, School for Scoundrels, is horrible! I know it is Billy Bob Thornton and John Heder (that cool dude from Napoleon Dynamite) but the movie is horrible and a waste of 2 hours of your Saturday night. Why the Weinstein brothers decided to produce that movie is beyond me. They should go back to their Miramax roots and bet on the arty projects.
4) How funny would it be if the latest Big 12 tour-de-force, Baylor, beat Texas by 1 point?! Isn’t it ironic, don’t ya think?
3) Graduate school applications are looming over my head. I’m not sure what I feel guiltier about, neglecting my blog or neglecting my essays for school.
2) You heard it here first: in the next three years, Northwestern will be a big dog in the Big Ten. Pat Fitzgerald has the ability to continue the work that Randy Walker left behind. They might not have been able to turn water in to wine this season, but as Tyrell Sutton said, they’ve hit rock bottom and the only way to go is up.
1) It would be awesome on November 18 if Ohio State and Michigan met in the ‘Shoe as No. 1 versus No. 2, but what does it really matter? Whoever looses still looses, regardless of rank and that would screw any hope for the BCS Championship.
I have two tickets to that game, and while I could sell them on eBay for $1000 a ticket, there is no way I’d sell out to a rich yuppie who wouldn’t value the tradition of the greatest college rivalry in football.
Bonus: The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the greatest player in college football for that year. While Troy Smith has been a front-runner all season, Garrett Wolfe is the true candidate who has run all over his competition. Unfortunately, is it possible to give the Heisman Trophy to a player who has no impact on the national title picture? Some would argue that the trophy should go to a player who contributes to his team winning a major title. While I might agree with that opinion, is it appropriate to overlook a true player who has succeeded to the greatest of his ability in his conference that might be of lack-luster value? I mean, he did gain 200+ offensive yards against the number one team in the country…on his first game of the season.
I love the way marketing think-tanks comes up with catchy titles like “Separation Saturday.” Ironically, while the alliteration gives such a title its cohesiveness, the idea of one whole violently tearing in to two separate parts is really what characterized Saturday’s college football action. It wasn’t two teams breaking up; it was one team being severed from the dream of the BCS championship.
Perhaps a new title should be added to the roster of football Saturdays, that being “Out With the Old, In With the New.” The dominate teams of yesterday (Florida State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and, Miami) have their swan song on repeat. Even teams like Tennessee, who look poised to have a comeback season, misfired in a deadly way yesterday. A few of those classics like USC and Ohio State still remain dominate in their quest for the national championship, but a few newbies have emerged on the radar to really shake up the national picture.
To further prove how misguided the entire BCS championship is, teams like TCU, Louisville, and even Rutgers are starting to show that the little man can triumph among the larger programs that barely keep their heads above water. Louisville manhandled Miami (see, I can make up catchy alliterations too, ESPN) and with Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia rolling to 3-0 starts in the Big East, that comedic conference isn’t looking like such a joke.
To be fair, I visited the land of the Scarlet Knights in New Brunswick, New Jersey on Saturday to see if Rutgers was the real deal. While they do have one great running back in Ray Rice, it was only thanks to the drunken mistakes of Frank Solich’s Ohio University football team that made the 24-7 score possible. The entire second half of the football game was scoreless, and if it wasn’t for the four forced turnovers and blocked punt, this game would have been a sleeper.
Honestly, on Thursday night I turned off the West Virginia game after the first quarter and went to see Invincible. Steve Slaton’s 195 yards was enough for me to know I didn’t need to worry about Maryland staging a comeback. (Besides, it was a little more entertaining watching Mark Walberg run up and down the field on the big screen.) Is anyone else as terrified as me that Slaton is only a sophomore? Hopefully he won’t fall victim to the Adrian Peterson disease and be a minor blip on the radar screen for the rest of his career.
I felt like a proud mother watching her kid’s first piano recital when I caught the Louisville-Miami score, 31-7. (Thank god I listened to my gut when I picked Louisville to win that game!) But then that gushing parent glow quickly drained from my face when news that QB Brian Brohm dislocated his right thumb and will be out for the next four to six weeks. I suppose the good news is that Louisville still managed to maintain Miami for the last quarter, but what does this mean for the big picture? It means Hunter Cantwell, backup QB, will have to continue playing like a beast and prove that Louisville has the depth in their roster to play for the big game. Next week the Cardinals will be flying in to Kansas State, who is also 3-0 and Manhattan, Kansas is no prairie town. If the Cards can get the “W” on the road…be prepared to TiVo the Big East season for October and November.
I like seeing the little guy win, but I was more than happy to see fellow Big East member Cincinnati stumble against Ohio State. Yea, OSU is my team, and I’m biased, but I would have been one cranky mother-mucker if OSU fell against a mediocre team one week after defeating Texas and one week before taking on Penn State.
Speaking of Penn State, after getting spanked by Notre Dame one week and then watching the Irish get punched in the stomach by Michigan, what does it all mean? Is Michigan finally back from their 7-5 2005 season or is Penn State really not good? The Big Ten is finicky like that, and when they open up their season next week with Penn State at Ohio State, Notre Dame at Michigan State, and Wisconsin at Michigan, I guess we’ll all see what the Big Ten is made of.
Big Ten? Big East? It’s all a bunch of BIG QUESTION MARKS!
Honestly…I’ve never been prouder to be a Buckeye. It was one thing to witness the 1997 Rose Bowl and be in the end-zone that David Boston caught the game winning catch from Joe Germaine to beat Jake “the Snake” Plummer and steal the title from Arizona State. It was another thing to watch Craig Krenzel and the 2002 team take the National Title from the University of Miami. I never thought I could stand more proud than I did in the sports book of the Mandalay Bay Resort as I watched OSU demolish Notre Dame…until tonight!
As I sit on my living room couch, absolutely inebriated from all the pitchers of beer that I indulged in from 7PM until 1AM, I have never been more proud to be a Buckeye than I am at this moment. Perhaps it was the utter domination I feel from embarrassing a team on their home turf 24-7. Or perhaps it was the inner glee of knowing that 80,000 people in Texas Memorial Stadium were speechless, including one exboyfriend who threw last year's Texas victory in my face as I sadly exited the 'Shoe.
Not tonight baby! Blondies and The Big Easy was as close to the Varsity Club and undergraduate nirvana as I could have gotten in New York City on a Saturday night. Up on the Upper East Side the Buckeye fans were packed to the rafters. As “Hang on Sloopy” played from the stereo and the drunken masses witnessed The Ohio State Buckeyes demolish the Longhorns of Texas, I stood my ground and screamed loud and clear. I never imagined that Ohio State could finish the game holding the Burnt Orange to 7 points! I hardly know where to begin! How does Kirk Herbstreit stay so “unbiased?” Isn’t he sitting up there in the booth ready to burst because he’s so happy?!
To be perfectly frank, it is a double victory for me. Last year, the man I thought I’d marry (who is a Texas Longhorn) broke my heart weeks before the Texas-Ohio State game by putting an end to us. He was smart enough to not expect his tickets to the game, but watching Ohio State get beat by Texas on my home in 2005 only made that wound more personal. Tonight, not only did my team need to redeem their reputation, my own personal honor needed to be amended. For Texas to win two years in a row, it would have been like getting dumped all over again!
By the way, what heterosexual male dumps a girl who loves football so much that she schedules her life around it? Secondly, what guy dumps his girlfriend weeks before the big game that she has tickets to?
Tonight was the equivalent to adding salt to the wound. Not only did my team redeem their honor…I redeemed my glory and solidified my strong position that I am superior in the grand scheme of life. Never again will that Texas turd have the pleasure of dating someone like me, but more so, my team ended UT’s winning streak and proved that things really aren’t better or bigger in Texas!
10. No matter how overmatched this last weekend was, it still sucks that athletic departments sell out the DI-AA schools as a sacrificial lambs to the Power-Slaughterhouses of major conferences so that they can earn a "W" for opening weekend and the mangled and dejected teams can walk home with a big fat check for their Athletic Director.
9. Is there any way Duke football can go one season without being shutout o####ame?
8. Preseason polls and predictions are, more or less, dictators of doom rather than glory.
7. It's never too early to enjoy a beer on football Saturday…hey, it is five o'clock somewhere in the world, right?
6. While some teams blew out their opponents by 50 or 60 points, the game to watch was the defensive juggernaut of Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. 14-10 is only the score, hardly the story.
5. Nothing brings tears to my eyes faster than going to a football game with my dad and watching the dotting of the "i" during "Script Ohio" at an Ohio State game. (Well, I usually cry every time I watch Rudy, but that's a given.)
4. While the roar of the crowd can stir a team to victory or defeat, the deafening sound of a moment of silence in memory of Randy Walker at the Miami (OH)/Northwestern game on Thursday was positively chilling.
3. Regardless of willpower, I will gain weight every time I visit home for a football game. I just can't resist a good bratwurst with sauerkraut, hot mustard, sautéed peppers and onions with a beer to wash it down.
2. If Ohio State expects to win in Austin next weekend, they'd better practice in full gear with the heat turned on at their practice facility and music blaring in the background. By halftime, temperatures in Austin on Saturday were hovering around 100 degrees and the $8 million dollar "Godzillatron" scoreboard shook the stadium with its Texas-sized sound system.
1. If Texas expects to win against Ohio State, they'd better start to look past their freshman quarterback's debut against a pitiful opponent and begin to question if his 6'3", 195 lbs. frame will recover once he gets a sack or a hit by a top ten competitor.
I have been a bundle of nerves as the college football season kicked off this past weekend. My first game, the Northwestern-Miami (OH) game on Thursday was more or less a warm-up to the Saturday rumble that took place across the country.
While the NU-Miami game should have been a homecoming for Randy Walker, it was forced to turn into a memorial for the man who was taken from his career, players, fans, and family by a heart attack this past June. Nothing is more eerie than standing in a packed stadium, minutes before kickoff, and pausing for a moment of silence. Seeing thousands of faces but only hearing the rustle of the wind blowing through the stadium for the longest 30 seconds of your life is more deafening than any European soccer stadium could aspire to.
To play tribute to the late coach, fans wore white shirts that said “WALK” on the front and that is exactly what both teams did…they walked through the first half of that game. With a score of 0-0 at half, I began to wonder if any game had ever gone in to overtime because it was scoreless by the end of regulation. Luckily, the red zone caught some action in the second half and the Northwestern Wildcats were victorious in their 21-3 win. With a young Pat Fitzgerald as coach and a freshman QB at the helm, it was a nice victory for the team who has had to overcome so much, but Saturday proved that the Big Ten is vicious this year and the Wildcats have much to work on before their Big Ten opener.
Friday night tailgates quickly turned in to Saturday morning kegs n’ eggs. As I cracked open my 11AM Miller Lite at the College of Nursing alumni event (thanks Mom, for the tickets) I began to wonder if Cinderella teams of last season, like Rutgers and Vanderbilt, would continue their wave of wins by shocking their home opening opponents.
By 11:30AM I woke up and realized that the inaugural football Saturday would be the typical blowout of the DI-AA schools that agree to have their #### kicked so powerhouse schools can score an easy home opener. (At least everyone gets to walk home with a big check, made payable to each school’s athletic department.)
While it was raining in Columbus, the sun was shining in Texas. The real McCoy, freshman Colt McCoy showed up for the UT victory against Northern Texas. Of course, even Bevo would have been able to out score this puny team that hasn’t been able to score more than 10 points in their last six games. It’s hard to judge how good the defending national champions really are when they play a team that is so outmatched, even a high school team could have scored on Northern Texas.
As the eyes of the nation turn on Austin next weekend for the rematch of Ohio State and Texas, it’s very difficult to gage how each team will fare against each other. At least Ohio State took on a slightly more talented “lesser team” for their home opener. The opponent, Northern Illinois, was the MAC champion last season, and has their own Heisman candidate in running back Garrett Wolfe. Their QB, Phil Horvath also had the highest passing efficiency in the nation last season, at roughly 70%. I know the MAC is far from the ACC or the SEC, but at least Ohio State was playing a team with championships and talent on their sideline.
The Ohio State offense came on to the field like fireworks, scoring so quickly and viciously, you would have thought John Cooper was back on headset as head coach. As many Buckeye faithful know, Jim Tressel is not about running up the score, but when the teams took to the locker room at halftime, 28-3, you wondered how anyone on the Huskies bench could prevent a blowout.While the final score depicts a victory of 35-12, Ohio State has a long leap to take before heading to Austin next weekend.
At this particular moment, the only reason Austin has an advantage on this game is because of home field advantage. The fans will make all the difference. While Ohio State has the offensive power to make prime rib out of Bevo, the Texas defense has years of experience on Ohio State. I’m already sick to my stomach about the game and it’s still a week away.
Now dear diary…I know it’s not nice to wish ill will on any team, I have to admit that my inner voice was shouting ‘Whoopie!’ as I watched golden child Brady Quinn struggle against the Bees of Georgia Tech. Perhaps it’s because I am so sick of hearing all the Irish faithful purchase their BCS championship tickets in the off season because they feel entitled to game thanks to their coach and QB. It was nice to prove once again that nothing in college football is certain. While Notre Dame may have scored a “W,” it came with many stunned looks of horror and fright. Don’t pack your bags yet, Charlie.
There is no perfect team in college football this season. Everyone is going through growing pains. While USC still won, many great teams struggled to earn their win. Oklahoma got by UAB on a pray called Adrian Peterson while Tennessee finally pulled their heads out of their butts by proving that Cal is overrated. Auburn wasn’t looking too pretty in the first quarter, but Penn State might have a chance without Michael Robinson at the helm.
Next week…Penn State at Notre Dame AND Ohio State at Texas
August…the eighth month of the calendar year, the last month of oppressive heat, the final countdown of summer…and the official start of college football! That’s right, while boys of summer slug it out on the diamond, our golden boys of the gridiron return to campus this month to begin preparations for the next chapter in NCAA football.
During the off-season, we witnessed underclassmen turn in their student ID-cards for NFL contracts. We mourned the loss of coaches who retired their headsets, and we continued to follow the police activity of a few rascally players who couldn’t keep their noses clean.
On the dusty sun-bleached fields of their college stomping grounds, players will unite to awake the hibernating football appetite that has been dormant since January. No amount of winter or spring training will prepare them for sweat that is about to roll in their eyes as they run sprints in the August sun, all for the chance to dawn that one piece of apparel that sets them apart from the common man: the team jersey.
These boys don’t need steroids to prove their manhood; they just need suitable attire. The perfect jersey is one that combines classic styling, carefully coordinated colors, historic intimidation, and a talented body to fill out the appropriate garment.
As a devout follower of all things football and fashion, the following are my favorite college jerseys and the top players who will be modeling these fine garments this coming fall.
IOWA HAWKEYES
There has to be something said for the power of black and yellow. While our boys from Army sport a very similar jersey, the power of Kirk Ferentz and his consistently tight squad are hard to ignore. Even more difficult to overlook is the power play coming from Iowa quarterback, DREW TATE. The guy has the seniority and skill to lead his team to a fifth-straight January bowl, but the loss of a few key offensive hands means Tate will need to identify young blood that he can faithfully throw the ball to.
OREGON DUCKS
Oregon wins the award for the most non-conventional jersey in the bunch. They even went so far as to use a pattern on their jersey, which makes the garment resemble something we might have seen at the FIFA World Cup. Being a traditionalist, I’m not sure I’d approve of the jersey for my team, but I have to say, I can’t stop checking out these Ducks! More so, perhaps we all should check out quarterback DENNIS DIXON. Living in the shadow of Kellen Clemmons isn’t easy, but at 6’4” Dixon has the goods to be the next Vince Young of the upper Pacific.
LSU TIGERS
Purple: the color of royalty and a staple of Mardi Gras; so it is appropriate that this Louisiana team stick to their roots and proudly proclaim their dominance in the Big Easy with a jersey that begs to be ogled. Sure, it’s flamboyant, but after the way LSU manhandled Miami in the Peach Bowl last year (40-3), injured quarterback JAMARCUS RUSSELL has plenty of reasons to flash his goods that hide under this hood. He was the man to get the team to that big game, but will he be 100% to start the season with two other hungry Tigers lurking in the Bayou?
MIAMI HURRICANES
Well, well, speak of the devil…while the Hurricane pride might have taken a beating in post-season play, this classic gale-force jersey seems to withstand the Miami heat. While many things make Miami hot, Larry Coker is hoping his young quarterback, KYLE WRIGHT can move past the Peach Bowl blowout and restore some fire to the Miami offense. Miami has lacked a strong leader ever since Ken Dorsey vacated his green jersey in 2003. (But to be honest, he didn’t do the jersey any justice the way Santana Moss and Kellen Winslow did.)
TEXAS LONGHORNS
No other team could possibly look hotter in their whites than the boys from UT. There really isn’t anything sexy about burnt orange, but Vince Young filled out his whites in style. The words alone, “burnt orange,” create mono-syllabic dissonance. I mean, how does one burn the color orange? Regardless, while Mack Brown begs for a quarterback miracle, he can put some trust in sophomore running back JAMAAL CHARLES. Even with a nagging ankle injury last season, Mr. Charles managed a dandy 878 yards behind a historic offense, but without Mr. Young, will a lack of leadership result in newfound problems for the backfield?
UCLA BRUINS
Man, nothing is sexier than a bronzed California beach boy in baby blue. Just look at it! Doesn’t it make you want cruise around in your convertible blasting “I Get Around” and admit that while that other LA college team may have Heismans and national titles to spare, at least your team looks phenomenal in uniform?! CHRIS MARKEY didn’t need a car in the Sun Bowl last season when he racked up 161+ rushing yards in UCLA’s dominant victory over Northwestern. (That was after Maurice Drew put up 150 yards and went out on an injury.) His shifty feet have come in handy to pick up first downs and run kickoff returns just as easy as he picks up fellow co-eds.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State’s uber-traditional and classic jersey is about as standard and rustic as JoePa’s bottle cap glasses. The jersey itself has inspired white-outs in the stands at Happy Valley. No mascot is needed to mare this jersey when fans have to endure the screaming lion over the stadium speakers every two-seconds. Regardless, this classic beauty takes a beating by All-American linebacker PAUL POSLUSZNY. The guy was a defensive tour-de-force last season, earning several Big Ten accolades and numerous awards, such as the Butkus, in 2005. In a league that is kowtowed as a linebacker finishing school, this guy could make a fabulous run for the Heisman if other league offensive juggernauts (mainly QBs) fail to impress this season.
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
Irish faithful may refer to the green jersey as “cursed,” but Knute Rockne was on to something when he instilled fear in opponents by flashing the wicked garment and forever can be credited with utilizing clothing as a psychological tool. Unfortunately, this particular jersey has spawned more losses than upsets, but there is something radiant about the green that simply upstages the navy blue and gold that typified the Lou Holtz era. Perhaps BRADY QUINN can put last year’s green losses to USC and OSU behind him and continue Charlie’s march to the championship in 2006. This quarterback is well on his way to Irish sainthood if he can improve upon ND’s 9-3 season of last year and consistently connect with Jeff Samardzija for more high offensive games. (The kid had 3900 passing yards in 2005.) Should Quinn take it all to the bank, you can bet that the Irish faithful are already making space for another Heisman trophy.
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
When your team mascot is a poisonous nut, you need a standout jersey to put the snickering to rest. Of course when you are Ohio State, your reputation and national dominance are enough to instill fear in your opponents. While the scarlet and gray combo is catchy, it’s not nearly as exciting as the tag team effort by fellow players TROY SMITH and TED GINN Jr. Both are pre-season Heisman favorites, but this dynamic duo of QB and WR have lit a fire in the Ohio State offense that hasn’t been seen since the John Cooper era. While Jim Tressel plays a patient and safe game, he has an offense this season that could make its way back to the National Championship game and repeat the 2003 dream season if the defense can recover after the loss of several top draftees.
So there you have it. My personal jersey favorites paired with the best players who wear them. Although I believe all these teams will have stand-out seasons, it is too early to make any predications about the BCS championship. The first game to make the BCS more clear will happen on September 16, when Ohio State goes to Austin to meet Texas under the lights. The victor of that game will be a shoe-in for the BCS dance. I’m tempted to say that game could determine the championship, but with Texas’ untested quarterback and Ohio State’s young defense, anything could happen.
Therefore, get your tailgates warmed up, play the fight songs loud and clear, and make sure you have enough face paint to cover your entire body because college football is upon us and may the chaos reign for the next four months!
Being 25 and living in New York City can be rough on a girl. In a city with over 8 million people, the women somehow manage to out number the men. Second, for a girl who loves all things college sports, it’s hard to find a bar where she can wallow in Big Ten splendor, drink cheap beer and still have money to get home on a Saturday night. Finally, trying to find a man who loves NCAA football more than he loves the New York Yankees is about as likely as finding a seat on the subway at rush hour.
My quest to find a man who can love me for my humor and intelligence, as well as my cut-throat competitive and die-hard football nature is not such a simple one.
Although I was born and raised in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, I’ve managed to mask my Midwestern roots under my contemporary New York identity. From first glance, I look like a big apple native: perfectly coiffed raven hair, pointy-toed stiletto shoes, a designer knock-off handbag from a guy down in SoHo, and the classic black Gucci sunglasses to adorn my head. Sure, my favorite drink is a dirty martini, extra dirty, I eat sushi two times a week, and always order my groceries off the internet and have them delivered.
It all looks and sounds pretty cosmopolitan, but the fact is no amount of New York will ever be able to “take the Midwest out of the girl.”
-If you take me to a bar on any given night and there are sports on TV, I’m going to have a hard time concentrating on you and the conversation.
-If you get easily annoyed by a someone who checks her cell phone every half hour for score updates, then you’ll be better off talking to the chick at the end of the bar.
-If you ask me out on a date between late August and late November, you’d better not expect to see me from 9AM-9PM on a Saturday.
-If you were expecting me to show up in the latest fashion from Barney’s for brunch on a football weekend, you’ll have to live with my favorite jeans, Ohio State tank-top, Big-Ten football sweatshirt, and a Buckeye temporary tattoo on my right (visible) cheek.
-If you decide to risk it and hang out in my favorite establishment on rivalry Saturday, you’d better not be one who is easily embarrassed by a girl who screams, shouts, paces, and gesticulates at the television like a man.
Any other day of the week you can find me pulling out my platinum Bloomingdale’s card for a pair of designer shoes, fielding calls from my agent while I run to an audition, or reading the latest Broadway review in the New York Times. If you can handle the quintesential New York girl by day and a football freak by night, then we might have something to talk about.
10) Is it ever possible to get excited, jump up and down, scream and shout while watching the PGA play on TV?
9) What's up with the 1980’s like suit that Vince Young wore on draft day…reminiscent of a horrible wedding day get-up.
8) To add on to no. 9, that damn “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You” song and all the frickin’ cowbells the silly band carries with them…just make them stop ringing!
7) If I were born in a city that embraced baseball then maybe I’d actually like following the sport. Instead, I was born in a city with a baseball identity crisis; living in Columbus, who was I supposed to support, the Indians or the Reds?
6) Why did Miami sign Marcus Vick up for training? Have you ever known a guy to be so vindictive and still score a NFL deal? (Oh right, that would be Maurice Clarett.)
5) I think Chipotle should be open for breakfast. Can you imagine how good a breakfast egg burrito would be from that place? Yum!
4) The Hallmark-card commercial for GlaxoSmithKline with Jerome Bettis and the kid with asthma…seriously, when in your life did you bemoan asthma and Jerome Bettis shows up? Secondly, why does the kid throw Bettis his Pittsburgh jersey? Don’t you think Bettis has plenty of his own?
3) How come the days when I’m late for work, the subway takes a ridiculously long time to get me to my destination and the man next to me smells like he’s never used deodorant?
2) Why is it the day I left Chicago, the Cubs finally made it to the playoffs? Yet, the day I moved to New York, the Knicks turned in to the bottom-feeders of the NBA.
1) Where do all the NY Jets hang out in New York? I’d give most anything to bump in to Mike Nugent one night…anyone got any leads?
Hmm...I can warm hands too!
Bonus) Was it just me, or did it feel like you read The DaVinci Code faster than it took to watch the dang movie?
That's all for today, folks! Happy Memorial Day...go out and wear some white! (Oh, and if anyone can tell me the little trick to getting your text to wrap around the photo, I'd love to learn the secret.)
At age six it was Kim Zmeskel. That adoration and desire to be the next Bela Karolyi darling earned me a broken arm. By 12 it was Kirk Herbstreit. Besides being my first crush, he was the single reason I begged my dad to take me to football games. This past January it was Matt Leinart, but thanks to Paris Hilton, he’s been tarnished in my mind forever. (Okay, maybe I’m just jealous.) Clearly I’ve had a life long adoration of athletes, but with a question so nebulous and so many athletes to choose from, how am I to pick just one?
The word “athlete” comes from the Greek word, “athlos” which means “contestant.”In ancient Greece, athletes were held in the highest esteem and worshiped, even treated as gods. It seems little has changed through the years in that respect. On the other hand, when a victor was announced in the Greek games, they were expected to be perfect examples of men who would be imitated and live a life that youth could follow and emulate. Hence, athletes were role models, pillars of both bodily strength and societal supremacy.
When I thought about the word “athlete” and looked at the history behind these modern day “gods”, I wanted to come up with someone who not only embodies strength and agility, but like the ancient Greeks is someone who is a role model for the sport, the players, and the fans. Going back to my roots, I chose an Ohio State player. No, it’s not Archie Griffin, or Eddie George, or classics like Jack Tatum or Hopalong Cassidy. I chose number 36, Chris Spielman.
Born in Canton, Ohio, home to the Football Hall of Fame, Chris Spielman was destined to play. Although he was an all-American coming out of high school and graced the front of a Wheaties box by age 18, at 6’, 247 lbs., Chris was small for a linebacker. Maybe it was his size or perhaps his personality that fueled his competitive focus and drive. While under the tutelage of Earle Bruce at Ohio State from 1984-1987, Spielman set records and standards that raised the bar for linebackers. His sixth sense in reading plays made him one of the top collegiate players of his generation. His impressive numbers have rarely been rivaled, and several records remain unbroken:
-Most total tackles in a single game, 29 (OSU-Michigan, 1986)
-Most solo tackles in a single season, 105 (1986)
-Most solo tackles in a collegiate career, 283 (1984-1987)
-3 time all-Big Ten at OSU/ 2 time All-American at OSU
-Lombardi Award Winner, 1987
-Total Career Tackles at OSU: 546
Clearly Spielman was a prize worthy player, and the Detroit Lions were quick to #### him as the 29th pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. Over his eight years in Detroit, he led the Lions in tackles for seven consecutive seasons (the only player to ever do so) and earned Pro-Bowl honors four times. Although these were all worthy accomplishments, the one that stood out the most was that in eight years with Detroit, he played all but four games, ending his 114 consecutive games streak in 1997. Chris’s devotion to his craft and the game were so devout, had he not been under anesthesia for an A-C joint injury, he never would have conceded to be placed on the injured reserve list.
Chris was a prototype for linebackers to come; tough as nails and focused like a hawk. In the eight years he was with Detroit, the A-C joint injury was the only time he missed games. Even when he tore his right pectoral from his rib cage in a season opener, it wasn’t enough to put him down. He used to joke with the media saying “If I ever lay down on the football field, one of you guys get your hunting rifle out and put me out of my misery.” He was the guy who’d be studying film at 6:30 a.m., the last guy out of the weight room, and the player who practiced as if he were facing elimination. He was your overachiever; the one players tend to resent because his work ethic made the rest of the team look lazy.
For a guy who excelled in a league where pain and sacrifice were second nature, it must have come as quite a shock when Chris abruptly left the NFL in 1998. Upon discovering that his wife, Stefanie, had breast cancer, Chris suspended all play and spent the year to be with his family. To show support and solidarity for Stefanie, Chris shaved his head while she underwent chemotherapy. A year after her diagnosis, the Spielmans helped establish the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at The James Cancer Institute. Since the fund’s conception in 1999, the Spielmans have helped to raise over $3 million for breast cancer research.
Not only does Chris Spielman embody all the traits of an accomplished athlete, he also lives up to the quote by George Will: Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.While Chris dominated his sport, ultimately he managed to use his talents to champion the game of life. That is a display of excellence. When the time came for Chris to make a decision to play ball or be a husband and father, there was no hesitation in his mind. He knew when it was time to set the cleats aside and focus on the bigger picture. The strides he made as a football player are considerable, but the leaps and bounds he and his wife have made in cancer research and funding are limitless.
The hardest thing for any professional athlete to face is knowing when to leave the field and move on. Chris was a player who refused to quit, to let up, or disappoint his fans and teammates. He had his priorities in check and walked a fine line between football player and family man. He did return to the NFL after his wife had recovered, but only managed one more year before he was forced in to early retirement in 1999, due to a career ending spinal injury.
The legacy Chris left behind at Ohio State and the NFL has gone on to inspire some of the top linebackers in the game. At Ohio State alone, the legacy of linebackers started with Tom Cousineau (who made his name prior to Spielman’s freshman season), and continued on with players likeSteve Tovar, Andy Katzenmoyer, and A.J. Hawk. Hawk was taken as the fifth pick in the 2006 NFL draft and many have drawn comparisons about A.J’s style of play to that of Spielman’s.
Being an athlete is not only about conditioning, performing, and winning; it’s what you chose to do when you leave the field. The Greeks had it right, athletes are role models—models we respect and our children aspire to be. Chris Spielman fits that mold to a tee. He’s earned his laurel wreath. Perhaps we don’t have a marble statue erected in his honor, but visit any establishment in Columbus, Ohio and it is a safe bet that children and adults speak of Chris Spielman and his family with the reverence and adoration of a modern day Greek victor.
OREGON DUCKS
LSU TIGERS
UCLA BRUINS
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
Hmm...I can warm hands too!
