First Posted: 1/16/2015
I should keep this thought to myself, but since I’m not, full disclosure.
I am a graduate of The Ohio State University, have one daughter graduated from TOSU and one currently enrolled. I’m a mostly lifetime Ohio resident, with a small stretch spent in Michigan when I was young (Not my fault. I know better now).
I don’t bleed scarlet and gray, but I was drawn into this year’s National Championship run. Who wasn’t? It was cool, no doubt about it. Underdogs overachieving. A guy coming off the bench and being spectacular, and then another coming off the bench and also being spectacular. Wow.
And being able to spread the meme: “This is what you look like when our third-string quarterback beats your Heisman trophy winner.” Hehehe. As they say, priceless.
But here’s the thought I should keep to myself: Will we get to keep this one?
Yeah, I know. Cynical. But … but …
It would be great for this first true National Championship to stand untarnished (cue bad taste in mouth from previously forfeited games). It would be inspiring for Cardale Jones to be the kind of sports story you can tell youth from start to finish, without those embarrassing gaps about … well, this is a family paper. Let’s not go there.
It would be fantastic for the Bucks to take the fluke out of this season and be the second true National Champions as well.
Is that too much to hope for?
I’m not much of a sports fan, but seasons like the Buckeyes had this year are the ones that bring not-much fans like me into the fold. I don’t have faith that multi-million dollar college football coaches will win the big ones AND grow their young athletes into men of solid character as well as body.
But I want to have that faith.
I want Urban Meyer to show that an Ohio State football program can beat the snot out of everyone else, and do it with integrity. I want the Cardale Jones of that Sports Illustrated profile, the one who wants his daughter to grow up knowing exactly who her dad is because Cardale didn’t, to be that storybook athlete who comes up from hard times to be a real inspiration to those who follow him.
Here’s a good sign: Jones has already chosen his degree over instant NFL. Pinch me. Is this 2015?
Go, Bucks! Continue to do well. You made us proud, now keep us proud.
Make that Buckeye Factor something everyone wants a piece of. Worthless nut, you say? Let me tell you a story about a third-string quarterback …
