Arena Dotting of the "i": The Ohio State Athletics Appreciation Thread

"Just like football!"

 

Taking bets on how many minutes Oden will play before having to sit the rest of the first half with foul trouble.

I optimistically think he'll make it to four minutes.

 

Great season. Could have hoped for a better finish... but such is life.

I hope Oden sticks around. Next year should have a ton of promise going in if he does.

But great season, Buckeyes. Everyone said you'd be the first 1 seed out of the tournament, and you hung in there. Bravo.

 

Well guys, tough loss last night.

I do however think I hold an opinion of the game that doesnt seem to be what many think, but I think we actually outplayed Florida last night. I truely do.

We dominated on the inside. Oden made Noah, Horford, and Richards all look like second rate players compared to him.

We had almost as many steals (forced turnovers)as they had on against us.

We out rebounded them.

When our guys drove the lane (Connelly, Lewis, Lighty, etc) they were successfull.

They never once wilted and let Florida ever blow open the game.

The only true differnce in the game was the Florida had an answer everytime we made a run (aka they shot unconsciously from the 3 point land)

Even though we were HORRIBLE from 3 point land (the only negative aspect of last nights game for our team, even if we simply would have made 7 or 8 three pointers out of 24 instead of just 4 (not a huge diffence), we either win the game or Florida is shaking in their boots until the last few seconds of a nailbiting last minute finish.

Also to note that I noticed SEVEAL times in which lucky bounces of loose balls that Ohio State created on the defensive end went Florida's way and they ended up with the ball and even a possession arrow on a tie ball.

All of the so-called experts are saying the better team won the game. IMHO, I am not so sure about that. Florida seemed to be the benificary of Ohio State shooting uncharactoristically poor from downtown. And you can't say that it was just simply good defense from Florida that forced all of those misses, because the VAST majority of the three point misses I saw from OSU last nightwere wide open, GOOD looks at the hoop.

In my opinion Florida is DARNED lucky the Bucks weren't feelin it from behind the arc or else we wouldnt be having this same discussion today.

Also, just a side note. The way in which the Florida players conducted themselves after the game in the post game celebrations was flat out classless and the antethesis of humbleness. Even of few of their gestures like Horford wiggling his shoulders after a dunk and Brewer holding his arms out like a flying bird after a 3 pointer and Noah's usual angry look and chest thumping, just makes that team all the more unlikable. When Noah ran up into the stands after the game to see him mom, it just screamed "attention seeker".

The way this Buckeye team has handled themselves after the Big Ten regular season title game vs. Wisconsin and the Big Ten Tournament Title game and also after they won the South Regional, just goes to show how much more class and humbleness this team has and WOULD HAVE conducted themselves with had they won last night.

I will take our guys over the Florida guys on my team any day of the week and TWICE on Sunday.

 

You can play the if-this and if-that game all day long. Fact is, Oden had a great game, and the rest of the team was shut down.

That's the difference between Florida and THE Overrated State University. With THE 81 Yards of Offense Univeristy, you can shut down one part of their game and allow one man to dominate and still end up losing. With Florida, you can shut down Horford and/or Noah, only to have Brewer, Humphrey and Green scorch you all night long, as was seen last night.

And it seems like "class" is the only thing the losing team can really say about the winner. Maybe the kid loves his mom. Maybe Brewer and Horford were excited. If these are the worst things you can say about the team, then I'm cool with that. It reeks of sour grapes.


"Just-like-foot-ball!"

 

when you win back-to-back titles, you earn the right to act like an idiot and not be a good sport. You've backed up your talk like nobody's business. That's my feeling on it.

 

You can play the if-this and if-that game all day long.

Welcome to the world of sports talk and debate.

and the rest of the team was shut down.

Not sure which game you were watching, but the ONLY aspect of the game OSU did not do well at as a team was three pointers and even those, were mainly WIDE OPEN missed shots and good looks. You cant credit Florida for shutting that down at all. The only thing Florida can do is take credit for hittng their own three pointers much better than OSU did and answering OSU's runs when they had to. But shooting three pointers well and answering runs with clutch shots is not what I define as shutting a team down.

That's the difference between Florida and THE Overrated State University.

Well, well your majesty. Just because we have not been able to have our way with the almighty Florida University, I am not sure how you would define that as overrated. That is unless you consider teams like Georgetown, Memphis, your very own almighty SEC brothern Tenneessee (who by the way beat your Gators) overrated teams.

With THE 81 Yards of Offense Univeristy, you can shut down one part of their game and allow one man to dominate and still end up losing. With Florida, you can shut down Horford and/or Noah, only to have Brewer, Humphrey and Green scorch you all night long, as was seen last night.

What part of the Georgetown, Memphis, Tennessee, and Xavier games are you not aware of? Because in all three of those games we were forced to play KEY moments and situations (and in many times LATE in the game) WITHOUT Oden. Not Oden being shut down or limited, but COMPLETELY without and the rest of our team STILL stepped up.

Last night happened to be a night when the rest of our guys were off from three point range (not necessarily from other areas) and it just wasnt our night.

And it seems like "class" is the only thing the losing team can really say about the winner.

You must not have have read my last post....did you? Because I seemed to recall talking about alot more than Florida's class.

It reeks of sour grapes.

The only reason why Buckeye nation has sour grapes towards the Florida Gators and their fans is because of the "Just-like-foot-ball!" attitude. I have no problem respecting a team/university/fan nation who wins with class against us and has class in general.

OSU had alot of bad luck and non-success for MANY years in the 80s and 90s against Michigan in football AND basketball. And they and their fans always seemed to have that superiority attitude and "looking down upon" thing going on towards OSU and their fans. But the tide slowly turned to the point where now they cant beat us in either sports, and they have developed that similar hatred towards us. So, as a fan of a school that seems to have OSU's number right now, just watch it, because you never know when that tide will turn again. We did it against Michigan, there is no reason why it cant turn against Florida either.

when you win back-to-back titles, you earn the right to act like an idiot and not be a good sport.

Oh come on, that is not what sports is about no matter how good or dominant you are. Michael Jordan is the greatest and most accomplished athelete that ever graced the face of the earth, and you never saw him act like that. How about Duke's 1991 and 1992 back to back title team? They never acted like that. Same goes with the 70s Steelers, 80s 49ers, 90s Cowboys (well maybe they had a few slightly cocky characters, but nothing overly crazy), or the 2000s Patriots. That is just an ignorant statement. I'm sorry.

 

the ONLY aspect of the game OSU did not do well at as a team was three pointers and even those, were mainly WIDE OPEN missed shots and good looks. You cant credit Florida for shutting that down at all.

Agreed. Saying Florida shut OSU down outside is laughable; OSU shut themselves down out there.

 

I'm sorry ... are you saying that Michael Jordan never taunted opponents? Or celebrated too much?

And did I imagine the Patriots dancing on the field after the San Diego playoff game this year? And was that dance a mock of another player, or am I making that up, too?

When you win, you get to celebrate. When you lose, you have to watch the other team celebrate. That's the rules of the game.

The Florida Gators ... and by the Gators I mean the players on their football and basketball teams ... have earned the right to celebrate. Their fans ... well ... yeah ... they probably go a bit far in the smack talk, especially for a program that had their first football title handed to them thanks to the Buckeyes.

 

Haha, I had forgotten about that. I guess tOSU is in some way responsible for three of UF's four big national titles. Thanks guys!

 

Bye Greg. It was a great ride. Good luck in the NBA. Wish we coulda had you a season or two longer.

 

Getting close to the new season.

So far I'm hearing that Tressel is going to use the three QB rotation garbage until the Big10 opener.

Did you learn nothing from the Texas game two years ago, Jim?

How about, just pick the one performing the best in practice so far and go with him. If he sucks in the game, pull him and put the back-up in.

 

That Texas game two years ago was less about rotating quarterbacks and more about punishing a young man who made mistakes. Had Smith never been suspended, I doubt there would have ever been a real controversy. The last real impactful controversy was Stanley-Germaine. And that ended with a Rose Bowl win.

Still, looking forward to kicking the season off and slaughtering Penguins.

 

Tressel was still trying to find his starter that year. Every time Smith got in that game, OSU drove the ball. We'd get momentum and then Tressel would take him out for a series, or two and then we'd lose it. That cost us the game.

 

Greed = Teh Suxxorz

Big Ten Network = FTL

 

Okay, decent game for the Bucks...



LOL @ MICHIGAN!!!
LOL @ MICHIGAN!!!
LOL @ MICHIGAN!!!
LOL @ MICHIGAN!!!
LOL @ MICHIGAN!!!

 

I'd love to have seen how OSU looked, but unfortunately, I have Dish. Not DirecTV.

On the upside, the manager at Buckeye Hall Of Fame Cafe is a regular customer at the station, and he gave me two $30 game cards for this next weekend to come out and see the Akron matchup. May not be the best game in the world to head out for (not like THE Game), but it will be nice to see it and hang out where they're doing the Earle Bruce show and all that for 610.

 

Okay, our offense didn't do so hot today. We should have whipped Akron better than 20 - 2. I guess our D id looking okay so far, but it's not like Youngstown St and Akron are offensive powerhouses.

Enjoy the game Kavic?

 

I'm not too worried. Defense is what wins, and the Buckeye defense has looked stellar this year. Sure, not against the greatest opponents, but still looking very good. Looking forward to seeing a real test for the defense next week at Washington.

 

I didn't see the game, but just the score. Two? Give up a safety? Was it a valid safety (intentional, etc) or one from an embarrassing offense?

EDIT: and since this is the OSU thread, an extra LOL @ Michigan is appropriate

 

People, this is Jim Tressel we're talking about. OSU doesn't spank patsies as hard as other teams do, and that's just part of his style. I guess he doesn't want his players to get too high on themselves. He is normally one the best prepared coaches in the game, though he did look overmatched in the title game.

 

Beanie Wells got tackled in the end zone. It was a legit safety. Didn't see the game (darn you Big Ten Network), though, so I can't really speak to the look of the offense in general.

 

Wells ran for 135 today. That's what I like to see. I want to see the ground game crush opponents this year.

Go Bucks!!!

 

Great game today. The Bucks looked good overall.

Go Buckeyes!

 

Nice to see Wells finally have a good game. Great game by the D again, especially Little Animal. Love that kid. I think this win solidified OSU as a top-ten team.