Class. Now there's a word that would be foreign to Mr. Stiff Jsmooth. What was that that you said in an email to me? Oh yeah, and I quote, 'I always pay my debts, you have no right to question me you f*ckin idiot'. Of course, that was before you lost, since as we all know, you blocked me after game the was over and you haven't been heard from since. White trash at it's finest.
As Ctown might say, that would be Tressel-2, Michigan-0.
Hey PenguinFan and/or Buddy, if you guys are talking to your icon, ask him to contact me. Thanks!
Bucks saw the writing on the wall - and won them all
12/22/02
Columbus- The Ohio State Buckeyes stress class now. They used to cut it.
"We are going to be as good a football team as the CLASS of people we are," reads a Paul Brown quote hanging in the meeting room of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
It's a little too much to expect a big-time college football program to be composed entirely of guys who help little old ladies across busy streets. There have been six run-ins between football players and the law since Jim Tressel stepped out of the 1950s and led the program back to glory. People here seem willing to accept that, since things used to be so much worse.
The last year of Tressel's predecessor, John Cooper, was characterized by kind of a mass conniption at the Outback Bowl two years ago, low-lighted by a lawsuit filed against LeCharles Bentley by Tyson Walter, a result of their fight during off-season conditioning. Linebacker Matt Wilhelm also ripped captain Ken-Yon Rambo for lack of leadership. And there was the revelation that much of the team had blown off classes most of the semester. "I'm going to have to find out about these so-called problems," yelped a beleaguered Cooper.
From the remnants of this warring collection of misfits and underachievers, Tressel has forged a band of brothers that is one big upset in the Fiesta Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes from a national championship. It seems incredibly retro to catalogue the long march of 15 abstract virtues Tressel has posted on the wall. They run from "attitude" to "work," with stops at "gratitude," "humility," "love," and (two words, this shouldn't count) "handling adversity" in-between. It would be corny, except this is what all football coaches believe, but few more sincerely than Tressel.
In a world in which posturing NFL players like Terrell Owens literally shake pompoms and lead their own cheers, the OSU players bought into it.
"We have developed the ability as a team to come together at the end of games," said Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel. "We have great team chemistry this year. That wasn't always the case. You see that by the way we hang out with different guys now."
Krenzel was the roommate of star-crossed former quarterback Steve Bellisari. This year, he rooms with center Alex Stepanovich. But when wide receiver Chris Vance's brother died in a bloody shootout Nov. 2 in Fort Myers, Fla., it was Krenzel who first comforted him - and later threw him a touchdown pass in a rout of Minnesota.
It's not a chicken-or-egg question, Krenzel said. The chemistry comes before the big plays. Belief isn't fostered by success. It's the other way around. "Attitude has to change first," Krenzel said.
No wonder "attitude" was first on Tressel's list.
The biggest-sized print on any sign in the meeting room reads, "Macte Virtute." Translated from the Latin, it means "strive manfully." It sounds like something Teddy Roosevelt might say, when he wasn't carrying on about a "bully pulpit." The stilted phrase describes the Buckeyes well.
The signature play of their season, one of the five nominated as the "Play of the Year" by ESPN, was Krenzel's 37-yard touchdown pass into the wind on fourth-and-1 in the last 1? minutes to beat Purdue, 10-6. It is the play that put the Buckeyes in the national championship game.
"Even if it doesn't win the award, I hope it's how little kids around Ohio will want to play," Krenzel said. "It was a play that showed we're no different from the people in Ohio, that we win with class, respect our opponents, celebrate properly, and try to face pressure with courage."
Manful striving beats men in strife. Beating the Hurricanes will be harder, though.
As Ctown might say, that would be Tressel-2, Michigan-0.
Hey PenguinFan and/or Buddy, if you guys are talking to your icon, ask him to contact me. Thanks!
Bucks saw the writing on the wall - and won them all
12/22/02
Columbus- The Ohio State Buckeyes stress class now. They used to cut it.
"We are going to be as good a football team as the CLASS of people we are," reads a Paul Brown quote hanging in the meeting room of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
It's a little too much to expect a big-time college football program to be composed entirely of guys who help little old ladies across busy streets. There have been six run-ins between football players and the law since Jim Tressel stepped out of the 1950s and led the program back to glory. People here seem willing to accept that, since things used to be so much worse.
The last year of Tressel's predecessor, John Cooper, was characterized by kind of a mass conniption at the Outback Bowl two years ago, low-lighted by a lawsuit filed against LeCharles Bentley by Tyson Walter, a result of their fight during off-season conditioning. Linebacker Matt Wilhelm also ripped captain Ken-Yon Rambo for lack of leadership. And there was the revelation that much of the team had blown off classes most of the semester. "I'm going to have to find out about these so-called problems," yelped a beleaguered Cooper.
From the remnants of this warring collection of misfits and underachievers, Tressel has forged a band of brothers that is one big upset in the Fiesta Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes from a national championship. It seems incredibly retro to catalogue the long march of 15 abstract virtues Tressel has posted on the wall. They run from "attitude" to "work," with stops at "gratitude," "humility," "love," and (two words, this shouldn't count) "handling adversity" in-between. It would be corny, except this is what all football coaches believe, but few more sincerely than Tressel.
In a world in which posturing NFL players like Terrell Owens literally shake pompoms and lead their own cheers, the OSU players bought into it.
"We have developed the ability as a team to come together at the end of games," said Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel. "We have great team chemistry this year. That wasn't always the case. You see that by the way we hang out with different guys now."
Krenzel was the roommate of star-crossed former quarterback Steve Bellisari. This year, he rooms with center Alex Stepanovich. But when wide receiver Chris Vance's brother died in a bloody shootout Nov. 2 in Fort Myers, Fla., it was Krenzel who first comforted him - and later threw him a touchdown pass in a rout of Minnesota.
It's not a chicken-or-egg question, Krenzel said. The chemistry comes before the big plays. Belief isn't fostered by success. It's the other way around. "Attitude has to change first," Krenzel said.
No wonder "attitude" was first on Tressel's list.
The biggest-sized print on any sign in the meeting room reads, "Macte Virtute." Translated from the Latin, it means "strive manfully." It sounds like something Teddy Roosevelt might say, when he wasn't carrying on about a "bully pulpit." The stilted phrase describes the Buckeyes well.
The signature play of their season, one of the five nominated as the "Play of the Year" by ESPN, was Krenzel's 37-yard touchdown pass into the wind on fourth-and-1 in the last 1? minutes to beat Purdue, 10-6. It is the play that put the Buckeyes in the national championship game.
"Even if it doesn't win the award, I hope it's how little kids around Ohio will want to play," Krenzel said. "It was a play that showed we're no different from the people in Ohio, that we win with class, respect our opponents, celebrate properly, and try to face pressure with courage."
Manful striving beats men in strife. Beating the Hurricanes will be harder, though.
