“It’s like if you get kicked in the (groin) 100 times, your dog gets run over, your girlfriend cheats on you with your friend, or something like that,” Ohio State junior right tackle Kirk Barton told the Columbus Dispatch following OSU’s beating in the National Championship game last Monday night.
“Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. It’s just terrible.” Barton’s statement accurately describes not only the football teams’ devastating loss, but more or less the past 10 days in the world of OSU sports, although adjectives like “appalling,” “shocking” and “ghastly” seem more appropriate under the circumstances.
It started 10 days ago, on Jan. 6, when at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl three highly-prized recruits spurned OSU and decided to take their football talents elsewhere. Defensive end Ben Martin, defensive tackle Joseph Barksdale and offensive lineman Anthony Davis, left OSU without a verbal commitment from the same game that has produced Ted Ginn Jr. and Chris Wells.
Then on the eighth day, well, we really don’t need to rehash the debacle in the desert… bad memories, like when you suddenly realize how you got that strange looking cold sore on your lip that just won’t seem to go away.
The following day the OSU men’s basketball team took on the third-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, and despite a valiant effort – coming back from 16 points down with less than 10 minutes left – ended up on the losing end of a 72-69 score. The loss ran their record this year to 0-3 against ranked teams, all of which came on the road.
There was further disappointment on Thursday when junior wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez announced his intentions to forgo his senior year of eligibility and declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft. On Monday junior wide out Ted Ginn Jr. and running back Antonio Pittman followed suit, making sophomore receiver Brian Robiskie the most experienced playmaker returning for the offense next year.
The lone bright spot in the past 10 days was the men’s basketball team’s first win against a ranked opponent this season, a 68-66 win against the University of Tennessee on Saturday. It required the last-second heroics of guard Ron Lewis, but was bittersweet after all I had been through recently.
I think 100 kicks to the balls may have been more pleasant than enduring all that mental anguish. In fact, I’d be willing to let Dirk Diggler borrow my girlfriend for a month if it would just somehow give OSU a National Championship in football. But, it is what it is, and in reality, it’s pretty damn good to be a Buckeye right now.
Jim Tressel still has an 81.6 winning percentage and is 4-2 in bowl games – with four BCS appearances in six years, including two in the National Championship games – and more importantly 5-1 against M*ch*g*n while at OSU.
Recruiting-wise, rankings are overrated. Tressel tends to find the diamonds in the rough. A.J. Hawk and Troy Smith are prime examples. Neither was heavily recruited by many other major schools, much less played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, yet each will go down in history as one of the very best at OSU at their respective positions. And all those lost to the draft or eligibility are replaceable, OSU’s defense replaced nine starters this past season and proved that to be true. And the very young basketball team will continue get better as they build more chemistry through a though Big Ten schedule.
Besides, it could be much worse. At least OSU teams are making headlines for being in marquee matchups rather than NCAA investigations, arrests and other things that bring a negative light down on the university.
Dustin Ensinger is a senior in journalism and political science and can be reached for comment at [email protected].
