 |
| Teach me how to Brutus! |
If you're expecting pipes, roaring fires, ascots and haughty British accents... well, we don't mean that BBC.
We're talking to the Buckeye Battle Cry this week, who asked if we'd be interested in doing a Q&A as we did last year. Twice. (It's okay, we're used to others having a crush on us.)
You can see our answers to their questions over yonder. Much like the 11W boys, they are decent folks. I know, I know. Why are all these OSU sites trying to be our friends? It makes us feel dirty. Then again, sometimes we like to be dirty... ah, where was I?
Oh yes, our questions for the lads at the BBC. Cheerio!
BS: With a younger coach in Fickell who was also a player not all that long ago, how much of an advantage do you think that is in terms of knowing the going rate for paying a player?
BBC: At the risk of looking like a jerk, not playing along, and taking your question seriously; isn't the fact that Ohio State players needed to pawn their personal belongings to afford a few lousy tattoos proof that Ohio State doesn't pay its players? At the very least, it's proof that they pay them peanuts and aren't offering competitive SEC rates.
BS: How soon after the season do you think Urban Meyer will be named OSU head coach? A week? A month?
BBC: My favorite rumor is that Meyer will be announced as the next head coach at halftime of the Ohio State/Duke game in Columbus on November 29th. So, that's puts us at 3 days after the regular season.
BS: Okay, sort of a real question now...what do you guys think of Fickell and does he deserve to stay? Why or why not? If not, what does/did he need to do or did he never have a chance, as many suspect?
BBC: Fickell was put into a no win situation at the beginning of the season for several reasons.
First, he was handcuffed with a short term (through the end of January) contract, which has killed him on the recruiting trail (even though Ohio State is still in a position to pull in some serious talent, so kudos to him on that, he has always been one of our best recruiters).
Second, without Tressel, he was left with a headless chicken for an offensive coaching staff which has flapped around aimlessly to our immense frustration all season.
Third, the personal losses this offseason would have been difficult to overcome even if Tressel was still around.
Given those handicaps, I think Fickell has done a good job this season. The marked improvement that his team, and especially he has made during the year shows that he is still learning on the job, but he is learning and improving.
I think Ohio State fans fall into three camps when it comes to who they want to see as the next head coach.
The first camp wants to see Urban Meyer come in as the head coach while maintaining certain members of the current staff (basically the entire defensive staff and Stan Drayton from the offensive staff). The juicy rumor is that despite being promoted to HC, Fickell would be willing to move back to defensive coordinator due to his intense loyalty to the school.
The second camp wants to see Luke Fickell given a long term contract- as long as he blows up and completely replaces his offensive coaching staff (notice a pattern there?).
The third and most famous camp of Ohio State fans are too stupid to have a valid opinion and therefore should be disregarded. [Okay, that was hilarious. -BS]
BS: Admit it -- beating Wisconsin the way the Bucks did was even more satisfying given this "down" year for OSU, right? Had you already given up on that game by the time the Hail Mary prayer was answered?
BBC: Ohio State has had very few opportunities to play the underdog over the past decade. Before the Wisconsin game this year, Michigan in 2004 was the last game I can remember where being a spoiler was the main source of excitement before kickoff.
I am slightly jealous of fan bases that have little to no expectations going into games and get to play spoiler constantly. It is a win-win situation. You win and you get to party, you lose and you shrug it off because you suck. That always seemed appealing to me in certain ways as a fan. [Yes, definitely a 'win-win' when you have little hope of winning. Keep telling yourself that while we go cry softly in the corner. --BS]
That said, I anxiously await next year when Urban Meyer turns us back into the evil empire in the Big Ten.
As far as giving up on games, allow me to pound my chest and say that I never give up on games- I just get more drunk during games that make me nervous. I was quite drunk at the end of the Wisconsin game and still not feeling very good prior to the last second pass, but I was still nervously and constantly drinking my beer along with everyone else in the bar which had definitely not given up on the game in the face of common sense.
BS: You can be truthful with us...is there anything you're legitimately worried about Purdue being able to do to OSU that could result in another Boilermaker win?
BBC: The scenario that went down two years ago in West Lafayette has a more than decent chance of repeating itself on Saturday. With a freshman under center and a defense that played flat and got gashed by Indiana's offense last weekend. there are plenty of things to worry about going into this game.
If Ohio State turns the ball over it could be another nightmarish trip to the corn fields.