I knew with your last name that you had to be Lebanese or Syrian or Jordanian. Personally I am 96% Lebanese per 23 and me , which makes sense because my dad was from Lebanon and my mom’s parents from Syria. I too watched NFL games at my immigrant grandmothers house on holidays and Sundays. It so happens that I became a Dallas Cowboy fan during the ice bowl while at her house. For the next few years (until the Cowboys won the 1972 Super Bowl) I would cry when they lost a big game. To which my Lebanese father would chide “if they won would they put money in your pocket?”
and this is how my brother and I rationalize Buckeye losses. As bad as it pains us , one of us will tell the other “Would we have one dollar more in our pockets had they won ???!!!” It brings us back to our Lebanese dad who passed in 2008 and always puts a smile on our faces
Love your story and lesson your dad taught you. It's a good way to look at it. I never bet on the Buckeyes, it would ruin my fandom and cause me to be upset at a win that they didn't cover the spread.
With that said as of Jan 1, 2023, you can legally bet on the Buckeyes in Ohio, so it's a possibility they can put money in your pocket if they win. See my last sentence of previous paragraph. Don't do it my friend.
Cheers. Thank you for sharing your family with us.
"That 2019 team blasted everyone it played, especially the Wolverines. It had a championship offense, defense and special teams. It had championship mettle and played without entitlement.
The 2022 team was one big soft tissue injury with a championship mindset. The defense is still paying fines for recruiting and coaching crimes committed dating back to 2019. Its defense has a penchant for allowing cartoonishly long touchdown plays. They lost at home to Michigan by a whole bunch of points."
Well-said. The 2019 was such a crush because that was a phenomenal squad both on paper and on the field, until, somehow, the game against Clemson. Self-inflicted wounds, Dobbins high ankle sprain and a couple of the worst and most impactful calls I've ever seen (Fuller scored a freaking TD and no one can ever convince me otherwise).
The 2022 Georgia game, for the most part, was a pleasant surprise! Who knew we could compete with a team that looked designed to stifle the Bucks? Big plays came back to haunt us, but the Bucks were right there! And that was with a depleted offense and another very questionable call- a no call in this instance (targeting on MHJ).
I'm proud of how the team finished. Especially Stroud. He fought like a dang warrior.
Go Bucks!
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
I agree with you - that team was badass all the way around. The only thing that lightens the burden if that loss though is the fact that we turned around the very next year, in a season that almost wasn’t, and obliterated Trevor Lawrence’s Clemson. That was a significant win in my view because it was the first defeat of Clemson in school history , and somehow it avenged the Woody Hayes outburst in the 70’s, the 2013 orange bowl loss, and the 2019 robbing by the refs. (And I believe that at least a couple of starters still missed that game testing positive for Covid)
They're very different feelings though. In 2019, it just felt like a team destined for greatness. And after the 2016 Clemson nightmare, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to show Clemson who's boss and prove to the world what the Buckeyes could do with a legit pass game. And then.... horror after horror. Fast start followed by destruction. You could feel momentum being sucked out of the field and the team never got it back. It was heartbreaking. Felt like such a waste of remarkable talent- Dobbins, Fields, Fuller, Okudah, Young, Werner, Josh Myers, Wyatt Davis, Olave, Wilson... that team was LOADED. If we couldn't beat Clemson with those guys, could we ever beat them? Now, that's what made the 2020 Clemson game so special... What sweet memories!
Leading up to last week's game, my thought was "if the Buckeyes can just stay competitive and not get embarrassed, I'll be happy." Well, then they held a lead almost the whole game! I was happy. Of course, losing by 1 sucks, but I was proud overall of how the team fought and they performed at a higher level than I expected based on the Michigan performance.
One thing that makes 2019 sting a little less is the fact that Clemson ended up not winning it all and knowing that the LSU team with Burrow was REALLY good. The Bucks would've had a tough time winning that game. I'm not suggesting they would've lost, but a win seems unlikely in hindsight. This year though, I think we would've taken TCU no problem. But then, I didn't expect TCU to hang with Michigan either... But it would've been easier to beat TCU this season than LSU in 2019, even with the guys and coaches we had. Just my opinion.
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
LSU probably wins the '19 ship anyways (but not guaranteed). What makes the 2019 CFP loss to Clemson the worst is because of the way we were ACTUALLY cheated that game by the SEC refs. We had the better team and outplayed them, but all it takes is one replay booth call overturned to hand victory to whatever's good for the South and ESPN which happens to be diametrically opposed to the B1G.
Conversely, the 2022 CFP vs Georgia was a hard fought game in which we were underdogs, nobody gave us a chance in. Yeah the reversed calls were killers but the Bucks punched above their weight all night and gave us a team/ season/ QB/ coach to be proud of in the end.
Oh and getting robbed of the opportunity for a Fields-Burrow championship showdown in '19 made it worse also.
"We had the better team and outplayed them, but all it takes is one replay booth call overturned to hand victory to whatever's good for the South and ESPN which happens to be diametrically opposed to the B1G."
2019 team earned everything, they beat Michigan. When they lost, and had their batch of on-field calls changed, it fucking stung really hard. There was no containing me at my in-laws’ holiday gathering.
2022 felt like a robbery, but it stung less with the team being less complete all year. I’m slowly learning how to eat these games. Less alcohol helps.
Yes. But 2022 UM stings more than both. Despite the refs in 2019 Clemson game. you go back to first half kicking FG and not scoring TDs were as impactful as anything else.
1995 UM, 1998 MSU, or 2006 Florida (sickening, 82 tot yards) has to be the worst for me.
As a Buckeye fan, I think it's this general feeling of 'why can't we have [such gettable] nice things', and how everything seems so uphill on so many fronts for us compared to the Bama's of the world.
Other than that, my only other gripe are fans who point out how some conferences/teams 'get away with it but we are morally superior' line of thinking, too. The NCAA exists, but no longer for football. Chaos is reigning, so why not be at the front of it? We seem to only be so eager to get in line with self-reporting and such as if there are brownie points later in life for the program...
"I don't apologize for anything. When I make a mistake, I take the blame and go on from there." - Woody Hayes
Well said. I’m far from over Saturday. Not sure how long this one is going to take. Yes they were frustrating as hell at times, yes the Michigan loss sucked, but that was our game to win. This was our year to win. And yet, here we are, coming up short, again, for like the 10th freaking time in the last 20 years. I’m going to have a hard time getting up for the season in September. As an aside, one of my friends at the party Saturday was an Alabama fan. Of course he had to get mouthy after the game because “Ohio State fans are the worst”. I honestly thought my new year was going to be starting with an assault charge for smacking someone who’s team has won what, 6 in 12 years and was happy we lost solely because his team didn’t win, again.
Not sure how long this one is going to take. Yes they were frustrating as hell at times, yes the Michigan loss sucked, but that was our game to win. This was our year to win. And yet, here we are, coming up short, again, for like the 10th freaking time in the last 20 years
I so agree with your post, OSUfan. Sometimes I wonder if it’s easier to move on from a season if we just get smoked in a game like the Peach Bowl, as I think even most Buckeye fans expected. But, unlike the Michigan game, the boys showed up to play, were winning for the majority of the game and should have won. Very, very few, if we’re being honest, expected Ohio State to have a chance against Georgia in their backyard.
As I get older, these types of Buckeye losses don’t hurt as much as they did in the 1990s, when I was much younger and my ego much more fragile. I’ll get over it. I think I already have, actually, and I’m looking forward to the 2023 Buckeyes and our new QB. Hopefully, our defense improves drastically.
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
Oh the ups and down of being a buckeye fan. I what ifs,and's and buts are endless while the highs and lows are boundless. I lived through and remembered everyone of those scenarios in the above article and my heart sinks to think about them. On to next year.
Great read. Ramzy, although you said "seven days later I loved them again" in 1987, I'm not sure everyone knows that after losing at home to Iowa, they went to Ann Arbor, as underdogs, and beat Michigan in Earle's last game. The famed "Earle headband" game.
My first game in Michigan Stadium. Great experience. Even better than the Toledo game, which I also attended. A TTUN fan gave me his tickets because he didn't feel like "watching Michigan beat Toledo by 50 points".
So fellow fans, appreciate this addiction of ours. Appreciate that this team has been in the conversation since the 60's. Appreciate that we get disappointed when we have the 4th best recruiting class in the nation (or 3d, or 5th).
And as for The Rivalry? The Buckeyes will rise again and vanquish TTUN. Just give 'em love in the meantime.
No, I have the same issue. There also seems to be missing the normal "sidebars" with the gray buckeye leaves, Trending Column, etc. My non-technical guess is that it's something to do with the column widths of some of the graphics - the graphics extend the entire width of my monitor even though the main text and the comments below the article do not.
"You ever hear of the saying "you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole; you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole." - Raylan Givens
Sharing the sidebar conversation some of us had after the Peach Bowl loss. Sometimes it feels like OSU comes up on the wrong side more frequently than any other team in college football. Maybe that’s just our perspective as Buckeye fans. Or, maybe it’s because the Buckeyes are consistently on the precipice of a NC more often than every other team.
It’s great to be be a Buckeye; but it also comes with its fair share of pain.
Since Urban arrived, the Buckeyes are in the greatest stretch of wins in history. We can recall every loss with vivid detail because they are so far and few between. We can for the most part remember most of Tress' losses too. We couldn't do that in Luke's interim year, or Cooper and Earle years.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
Of course we remember the Tress- to- today era better than the Bruce/Cooper years in detail, Stantmann. That's common sense. Time does that. Those losses were every bit as excruciating at the time however. Just a little bit more scabbed over.
If you have two people that agree on everything, that only means one of them is not thinking at all.
Urban lost 5 regular season games in 7 years, I bet you can name every one of them. Ryan, yes, all 3 of his are recent, i'll give you that, but I bet you'll remember those losses 10 years from now. Tressel had quite a few more losses, but the best years, you know because there were so few losses. I'll give you an example, in 2010, Tress lost one game, you know instantly it was Wisconsin. In 1996 and 1998, OSU lost one game, you know instantly it was UM and MSU. In 2005, Troy Smith's first year, Tress lost 2 games, one of them Troy did not start, if you were a big fan back then it would not be hard to recall it was Texas and @PSU. I remember both easily. Earle lost one game in 1979 season, who'd they lose to? Because Urban and Ryan have not had any bad years, you remember every single loss, not because of time, but because there were so few of them.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
I don’t, I remember the entire 90s and I can’t count the number of times I and my father lost our voices yelling at Cooper. I remember in 94 As a senior after some stupid play call I had had enough and I blurted out “good grief John Cooper fucking sucks”.
My mom shocked didn’t know what to say; my dad who ran a pretty tight ship as a Marine turned and looked at me and said “you’re right son he does fucking suck”
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
My first sports heartbreak was the 1981 Bengals. They were one yard away from beating what became the hated 49ers (losing 2 Super Bowls to them would have that effect). But now I'm grown up enough that I like the 49ers. Time is weird. It feels different with the Buckeyes though. At the completion of every game I might still be equally heartbroken or elated, depending on the outcome.
This 2022 rendition of the Buckeyes kind of reminds me of the 2015 version, but maybe only in a "what could have been" sense. If both teams get their collective heads out of their asses a little sooner, a much greater outcome could have been achieved. The Peach Bowl hurts right now, and unfortunately my psyche relies on a better outcome to get that taste out of my brain. Unfortunately, that can't happen for about 8 months.
Go Bucks!!
"We gotta go win this next game and make the State of Ohio proud!"-UFM
Great as usual Ramzy. I too am proud of the 2022 team. I too am a little sick about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We'll be back! Go Bucks!
This piece makes me sad and makes me want to throw up. We should be playing for it ALL next Monday night. My moron ass was dead wrong and I learned that we were the more prepared and better team on offense. OL did a great job and they kept Jalen Carter out of the backfield, and proved me wrong. CJ played like a fearless alpha dog and did everything he could to take us home. He too proved me wrong. I applaud and thank the entire offense for their preparation, performance, execution. I was proud as hell of them. We would've hung 50 on TCU. I'm still hurting--badly.
Or the absolutely horrific and ghastly overturned Jordan Fuller's scoop and score where Justyn Ross took 4 GOD DAMN steps after catching the ball and Jeff Okudah stripped him.
I get more angrier about that loss and Saturday's loss than a cocaine addict going through withdrawal.
I showed that video to a Ducks fan today when I was telling him why us Buckeyes feel like it’s us against the world. He didn’t believe me, but after watching that he was like “son of a bitch” and that creepy “could he be right” look crept across his face.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
Reading that first part about the Chargers stings because as a lot of readers will recall, that game came just one week after one of the most bitter losses in the mostly bitter history of the Browns, also to those same Raiders. When you're young -- and that game took place literally on the day I moved on to the Ohio State campus -- you can tell yourself, "Hey, good season anyway. We're going to have other chances." But the Chargers and Browns are still waiting, and now San Diego doesn't even have its team.
It illustrates the importance of seizing your opportunities, and appreciating the few times everything breaks your way.
1998 home loss vs MSU was my absolute low for losses. Choked a big lead at home. Team was talented and rolling. Only loss of the season. Tee Martin lead UT over FSU and a back up QB for the title.
Six year old you apparently wasn’t aware of the 1980 Rose Bowl? Those of us who were there in Pasadena and 43 years later were in Atlanta (I’d actually get a kick out of knowing how exclusive a club that is), know all-to-well one point losses in the waning minutes of meaningful games. Yeah, it sucks, but then we know it sucks, because we were also in Tempe in 2003 and Arlington in 2015. (Maybe the club just got smaller). Your sentiment, Ramzy, to embrace the journey, is spot on. During much of the 4th Q, I felt privileged just to be there in person and along for the ride. (And yes, I was also in Phoenix that night in 2019). The sun truly will come out tomorrow.
Prolific offense with a mediocre defense.... where have I seen this movie before? Seriously proud of the 22' team, they faired better than I guessed they would after losing JSN at the start of the season. Now its up to Knowles to fix the killer explosive plays and for Day to continue to find ways to maintain an elite offense while breaking in a new QB. I guess the stars really do have to align to have Championship seasons, because as fun as 22' was, the team didn't win a single one.
What's the correct bourbon to salve your soul with while you read this article in your softly lit man cave, den, or basement, alone, in the evening, with no external distractions? Whatever you can get your damn hands on.
I was thinking, what was the cheapest rot gut that could plausibly be called bourbon could you use to drown your sorrows after such a dissappointing game and save the good stuff for a victory over UM or in the playoffs.
Even though we lost and I am still sad, I will cherish the feeling I had at the end of the game because I will never ever forget it. I have lived in TN for 25+ years, am married to a Tennessean and all my friends are Tennesseans. We had a few of them and their kids over to bring in the New Year. They are all Tennessee fans, but they are real fans that do not cheer for their conference enemies and were on the side of the good guys. Of course they were not sad the good guys lost and probably didn't really even care but at least they weren't assholes about it. Anyway, I said all that to say this. My 6 yr old son loves the Buckeyes as much as I do. He was sitting in my lap when the fg was missed and I just hugged him tight fighting back tears because I knew he was more crushed than I was. He looked at me fighting back his own tears and we just shared the moment.
I keep thinking of new things I’ll get to experience with my 3 month old son. Thank you I’ll add this one to the list, although hopefully we’ll have more successful FGs than missed ones.
The Big Ten doesn't win championships, not even a piece of one. They still don't win them. Ohio State wins championships. Until another teams wins one, it's not the B1G. True. Great piece. Well written with a great perspective beginning in childhood.
I'm older than you and 2 title games that still stick with me are the 1976 Rose Bowl and the 1980 Rose Bowl. Two national titles OSU should have won. Definitely not the Luckeyes in those games. The 1973 tie game with michigan gets honorable mention of games we should have won. Led to another title lost.
I'm not trying to win a popularity contest. I'm trying to win football games-- Woody Hayes
I'm going to date myself here, but my first sports heartbreaks were in the early 70s. From 1970-1975 OSU lost 4 of 5 Rose Bowl games. it always seemed we were favored and a few times it probably cost us the natty. Also, I was a big Reds fan. In 1970 and 1972 they lost the World Series. Brooks Robinson and Gene Tenace killed them. The early 70s were hard, but they were glory days compared to the Cooper years.
Nice write up, Ramzy, as always. Some interesting trivia to color in your picture of those early sports memories.
That 1981 Super Bowl was played the day that Iran released the hostages to come home. There were pink ribbons around the stadium in Detroit! (yes, they played that Super Bowl in the old Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit!) to celebrate their homecoming.
For what it's worth, many Ohio State fans suffered lingering dislike of Jim Plunkett from his Rose Bowl victory over the Buckeyes in 1970.
The "Miracle on Ice" hockey match was the medal round semi-final. The scrappy team of US college students had to proceed to beat Finland on Sunday for the gold medal. The Soviet game was played Friday afternoon and ABC (Olympic broadcaster back then) showed the game Friday evening on tape delay. During earlier Olympic coverage, ABC displayed the game result on a chiron. Spoiler Alert! Still, while watching the delayed broadcast Friday evening, we couldn't believe the miracle unfolding before us on the TV. I'll never forget that night and the absolute jubilation that the whole nation shared.
Time and change will surely show how firm thy friendship, O HI O.
Difficult to measure Buckeye football teams on just wins and losses. Great teams lose and good teams win. But if there’s a measurable difference between the two it has to be the teams with the B1G, Bowl Game, and/or National Championship behind their name.
Ramzy: great writing as always. And, just stepping away from the sports angle for a moment, how wonderful that you had grandparents in San Diego to visit for Xmas vacation. I imagine that locale alone provided a source of fabulous holiday memories.
Coming back to San Diego sports: so, for those who think Buckeyes fans have suffered, consider the following—San Diego fans who just attained eligibility to collect Social Security will have no memory of the Chargers’ sole AFL title in 1963. And of course, no one has ever witnessed a San Diego World Series title.
I have not read through all the posts in all the articles but if it hasn't been said before we are lucky to have Ramzy using his talents writing on this site. He should be writing for the New York Times.
"It's a dog eat dog world and i`m wearing bacon pants."
I like the piece but too much nostalgia for Earle Bruce for my taste. As Bill Parcells puts, you are what your record is. Earle took Woody’s players, had one very good year, then kept playing 1970s football until he was deservedly shit-canned in 1987. Darkest day indeed. When we were behind by two scores late we would still be play-faking to the tailback, and lining up in a 4-3-4 defensive alignment when we needed to take risks. Earle was stuck in 1968.
Oh, and Earle’s best player was a degenerate gambler who ruined numerous lives, including his own, and was likely already throwing games and shaving points while wearing scarlet and gray. But Earle’s shadow on the program doesn’t end there because his dildo ordering grandson dragged down the highest percentage winning coach in program history because Urban wouldn’t fire that doofus when he had plenty of opportunities and cause. Oh well putting Zach Smith ahead of the team and university rules was his own terrible judgment.
I will take Ramzy’s advice and appreciate the journey without getting swallowed up by the losses. Thank you.
Only the best record amongst big ten coaches during that time, and a winning record versus ttun...no one bled scarlet and gray more than Earle Bruce except the man he followed. You didn't like him? IDGAF - I did, and so did his players who carried him off the field after beating Michigan in his last game. I've never before or since seen that happen to an Ohio State coach. And Art wasn't his best player - he was Woody's prize pet.
IDGAF that you do like him so two way street. They carried him off because he was fired, and yes he was dedicated to the Buckeyes. I remember those EARLE headbands. I didn’t question his dedication. But we wouldn’t accept 9-3 every season now, would we? And we should fire a coach with four losses including the darkest day. I was there. And against Iowa. Oh, and yes they lost their best receiver that last season, but stuff happens. Now, let me think, was there another season where the coach lost the best receiver - ah yes 2022 but we didn’t go 6-4-1.
It's nice to look back now that it's done and realize that for every reasonable fan who knows to take the good with the bad, that footballs bounce funny and that it's a game of heart and momentum as much as recruiting and skill, there are fans who are dogmatic, unyielding, ignorant and cruel in their assessments of players and coaches. The interweb allows bullies to flourish, unfortunately.
Thanks for a nostalgic look at this greatest of American sports and a team that has operated at the highest levels of success for the last 75 years.
It's nice to look back now that it's done and realize that for every reasonable fan who knows to take the good with the bad, that footballs bounce funny and that it's a game of heart and momentum as much as recruiting and skill, there are fans who are dogmatic, unyielding, ignorant and cruel in their assessments of players and coaches. The interweb allows bullies to flourish, unfortunately.
Thanks for a nostalgic look at this greatest of American sports and a team that has operated at the highest levels of success for the last 75 years.
This article is more poetry than prose, beautifully written and puts things in perspective in a very personal way, as a journey and an evolution of one's tribal instincts and behavior.
The will to win is not as important as the will to prepare to win. -- Woody Hayes
A question — the article (which was fantastic) states that the players in white were celebrating on San Diego's field but the video shows the Raiders wearing black. Are those the same game? Or is the video from a different Raiders/Chargers matchup?
Thank you for this thoughtful trip down memory lane, into the rabbit hole, and towards much needed healing perspective. Bravo my friend! Ended up on your Cooper Rose bowl masterpiece this evening as well. You are a phenomenal storyteller.
I think history repeats itself in sports eventually, but it’s never an identical comparison. Most this year were hoping for a repeat of 2014 with 85 yards thru the heart of the south again but it was more comparable to 2019 with injuries and bad penalties effecting the outcome. The good news is that next year, like 2020, could very well see us make it to the NC game but instead of a repeat of the bama outcome maybe we’ll see something more similar to the 2002 Miami outcome. Either way, we’ll live and die with every game but always come back for more.
I laughed when I read about a kid crying about a loss in football.
Go all the way back to 1956 and my first football game was in Columbus against PSU with my dad's company tickets. I was more of a Cincinnati Reds fan, and I was 8 years old. I remember being bored to tears because Big Ten football was all about defense. PSU beat us 7-6. I watched how disappointed dad was. (He graduated from OSU in 1933.) I think I cried because he was unhappy. As an aside, I remember he parked on a street to save parking cost and parked too close to a stop sign and received a ticked. Amazing what you remember from a long time ago.
After leaving the Navy, I enrolled at OSU, graduating in 1974. I watched many, many OSU games since then, mostly with good outcomes. I haven't cried about a football loss since then.
I went into the game this past weekend without wearing my lucky t-shirt and hoodie. I made an effort to forego my superstitions and just enjoy the game for what it was; watching the only team I root for in all sports play the game. It was a different experience. I let out a few screams and F-u's to the refs, but for the most part just enjoyed watching them play their hearts out. I have done that only once prior, the Oregon game last year. Its not that I dont care any more or less, but as a dad with children who played sports and worked hard to be successful I realized the irony of my attitude. How can I be angry at some 18-22 year old college athletes who work tirelessly to win a game when I would defend my kids efforts knowing they gave 150%. The coaches? Yeah, they can frustrate me. But honestly, how many times do you think Day, Wilson, Knowles, etc said to themselves, " lets call a bonehead play or defense on this play to make it interesting"? Probably never. We all can probably say that about our own decisions in life- no one intentionally tries to lose. I work in healthcare, there are good doctors and bad doctors- just as there are coaches. I dont think we have bad coaches. But doctors have bad days, like the rest of us, and some days coaches do too.
I think, with or without the circumstances of this year's team- the injuries, NIL, etc- it was a successful year (with exception of the UX game LOL). The team learned more about themselves in the last game of the year than the first 12 games combined. Believing in themselves is something they were saying all along this year, but maybe is something they only confirmed after the georgia game.
I didn't think I'd ever see a loss more crushing than the '19 loss to Clemson. This one came damn close. Ramzy, thanks for putting things in perspective. It still stings, but I'm extremely proud about how that team fought on Saturday.
The valleys make the ascension to the peak that much sweeter.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS. The future is still bright for the Buckeyes. GO BUCKS.
Grandma used to say, "If wishes were horses beggars would ride." She, passed away in 1991 at the age of 99 years and 2 weeks. I miss her wisdom. Wishing doesn't get anything done and wishing on the past is an even worse waste of time.
Buckeye by birth. Christian by 2nd birth. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
Your article rings so true for me in the memory of painful loses costing the Buckeyes a natty. The wins over lesser teams are just fog. For me at age 71 one the losses are just painful and frozen in mind
Nov 22 1969 -- Barry Pearson punt return to the OSU 3 at the end of the first half of Bo's first match with Woody
Jan 1 1971 -- Two Jim Plunkett passes a scramble to TE Bob Moore and the killer TD pass to Randy Vataha
Nov ? 1971 -- A four loss OSU team taking and undefeated UM team to the bring only to see a non interference call go against the Buckeyes at the end and watching Woody go balastic with sideline markers. Its worth watching if you have never seen it.
1974 Rose Bowl leading USC 17-10 in the 4th Q when Neal Colzie intercepts a USC pass returns it to the UCS 3 only to spike the ball out of bounds and get a 15 yard peanulty and OSU with 1st and goal from the 18. Finaly score USC 18-OSU 17 --- Sam Dickerson scoring the 2 point conversion with seconds left.
Jan 1 1980 -- Leading USC 16 -10 with under 4 minutes to play......intro Marcus Allen, Charles White and student body left.
I heard about the 1935 Notre Dame game.....and the spirits of past seem to want me to remember that one too.
It is fitting that I was born in Boston and my other favorite team is the Red Sox....the pain of 86 years still lingers at times.
I suspect that if I ever get Dementia that last fleeting memory will be one of these...... sometimes being a Buckeye fan can be a mental disorder but I still love them!
Buckeyetis -- An incurable human condition. It starts in the teen years and is often genetic. It tends to peak in the fall and peaks at Thanksgiving.
Spielman picking off Kevin Murray in the '87 Cotton Bowl was one of my best childhood memories as an Ohio to Texas transplant. Aggies were/are the worst.
Roughly the same age and memories so interesting read. My first game at the shoe was like 1980 versus Arizona St which the Buckeyes won. I live outside of Ohio too and am ‘meh’ about the local teams. Don’t hate them, just ‘blah’.
My most devastating football losses excluding high school in no particular order. They were all bad. But what they all had in common is my team should have won or were THAT close with a lot on the line. I don’t include games where a lot was lost but the team played like crap (I.e. 2022 UM game).
Finally got around to reading this article. Glad I did. It's a beautiful depiction of sports fandom. The perspective was needed and well-received. Thanks, Ramzy.
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Ramzy
I knew with your last name that you had to be Lebanese or Syrian or Jordanian. Personally I am 96% Lebanese per 23 and me , which makes sense because my dad was from Lebanon and my mom’s parents from Syria. I too watched NFL games at my immigrant grandmothers house on holidays and Sundays. It so happens that I became a Dallas Cowboy fan during the ice bowl while at her house. For the next few years (until the Cowboys won the 1972 Super Bowl) I would cry when they lost a big game. To which my Lebanese father would chide “if they won would they put money in your pocket?”
and this is how my brother and I rationalize Buckeye losses. As bad as it pains us , one of us will tell the other “Would we have one dollar more in our pockets had they won ???!!!” It brings us back to our Lebanese dad who passed in 2008 and always puts a smile on our faces
+1 to your Dad
I'll second that. wise man Nashville
That's how winners play. We convince the other guy he's making all the right moves.
Love your story and lesson your dad taught you. It's a good way to look at it. I never bet on the Buckeyes, it would ruin my fandom and cause me to be upset at a win that they didn't cover the spread.
With that said as of Jan 1, 2023, you can legally bet on the Buckeyes in Ohio, so it's a possibility they can put money in your pocket if they win. See my last sentence of previous paragraph. Don't do it my friend.
Cheers. Thank you for sharing your family with us.
Muck Fichigan
"That 2019 team blasted everyone it played, especially the Wolverines. It had a championship offense, defense and special teams. It had championship mettle and played without entitlement.
The 2022 team was one big soft tissue injury with a championship mindset. The defense is still paying fines for recruiting and coaching crimes committed dating back to 2019. Its defense has a penchant for allowing cartoonishly long touchdown plays. They lost at home to Michigan by a whole bunch of points."
Well-said. The 2019 was such a crush because that was a phenomenal squad both on paper and on the field, until, somehow, the game against Clemson. Self-inflicted wounds, Dobbins high ankle sprain and a couple of the worst and most impactful calls I've ever seen (Fuller scored a freaking TD and no one can ever convince me otherwise).
The 2022 Georgia game, for the most part, was a pleasant surprise! Who knew we could compete with a team that looked designed to stifle the Bucks? Big plays came back to haunt us, but the Bucks were right there! And that was with a depleted offense and another very questionable call- a no call in this instance (targeting on MHJ).
I'm proud of how the team finished. Especially Stroud. He fought like a dang warrior.
Go Bucks!
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
Very well said!
Thank you!
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
So you think the 2019 game stings more than last weeks game?
Doug
Yes. They were the best Buckeye team I've ever seen since my Buckeye beginning in 1987. Pure championship on every level.
SalemBuckeye
I agree with you - that team was badass all the way around. The only thing that lightens the burden if that loss though is the fact that we turned around the very next year, in a season that almost wasn’t, and obliterated Trevor Lawrence’s Clemson. That was a significant win in my view because it was the first defeat of Clemson in school history , and somehow it avenged the Woody Hayes outburst in the 70’s, the 2013 orange bowl loss, and the 2019 robbing by the refs. (And I believe that at least a couple of starters still missed that game testing positive for Covid)
I do, yes.
They're very different feelings though. In 2019, it just felt like a team destined for greatness. And after the 2016 Clemson nightmare, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to show Clemson who's boss and prove to the world what the Buckeyes could do with a legit pass game. And then.... horror after horror. Fast start followed by destruction. You could feel momentum being sucked out of the field and the team never got it back. It was heartbreaking. Felt like such a waste of remarkable talent- Dobbins, Fields, Fuller, Okudah, Young, Werner, Josh Myers, Wyatt Davis, Olave, Wilson... that team was LOADED. If we couldn't beat Clemson with those guys, could we ever beat them? Now, that's what made the 2020 Clemson game so special... What sweet memories!
Leading up to last week's game, my thought was "if the Buckeyes can just stay competitive and not get embarrassed, I'll be happy." Well, then they held a lead almost the whole game! I was happy. Of course, losing by 1 sucks, but I was proud overall of how the team fought and they performed at a higher level than I expected based on the Michigan performance.
One thing that makes 2019 sting a little less is the fact that Clemson ended up not winning it all and knowing that the LSU team with Burrow was REALLY good. The Bucks would've had a tough time winning that game. I'm not suggesting they would've lost, but a win seems unlikely in hindsight. This year though, I think we would've taken TCU no problem. But then, I didn't expect TCU to hang with Michigan either... But it would've been easier to beat TCU this season than LSU in 2019, even with the guys and coaches we had. Just my opinion.
“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.”
-Jack Handey
LSU probably wins the '19 ship anyways (but not guaranteed). What makes the 2019 CFP loss to Clemson the worst is because of the way we were ACTUALLY cheated that game by the SEC refs. We had the better team and outplayed them, but all it takes is one replay booth call overturned to hand victory to whatever's good for the South and ESPN which happens to be diametrically opposed to the B1G.
Conversely, the 2022 CFP vs Georgia was a hard fought game in which we were underdogs, nobody gave us a chance in. Yeah the reversed calls were killers but the Bucks punched above their weight all night and gave us a team/ season/ QB/ coach to be proud of in the end.
Oh and getting robbed of the opportunity for a Fields-Burrow championship showdown in '19 made it worse also.
"Put ya' weight on it"
"We had the better team and outplayed them, but all it takes is one replay booth call overturned to hand victory to whatever's good for the South and ESPN which happens to be diametrically opposed to the B1G."
Well said Conserious.
Cancer sucks!
2019 team earned everything, they beat Michigan. When they lost, and had their batch of on-field calls changed, it fucking stung really hard. There was no containing me at my in-laws’ holiday gathering.
2022 felt like a robbery, but it stung less with the team being less complete all year. I’m slowly learning how to eat these games. Less alcohol helps.
Without question, though I think the ‘98 team could have given them a run for the money for most frustrating season.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
I’m 50 y-o and 1998 MSU worst loss of my lifetime. 2019 Clemson 2nd… but a distant 2nd for me. Man I loved that 1998 team.
9/1/07: A great day in the history of college football.
Yes. But 2022 UM stings more than both. Despite the refs in 2019 Clemson game. you go back to first half kicking FG and not scoring TDs were as impactful as anything else.
1995 UM, 1998 MSU, or 2006 Florida (sickening, 82 tot yards) has to be the worst for me.
Muck Fichigan
As a Buckeye fan, I think it's this general feeling of 'why can't we have [such gettable] nice things', and how everything seems so uphill on so many fronts for us compared to the Bama's of the world.
Other than that, my only other gripe are fans who point out how some conferences/teams 'get away with it but we are morally superior' line of thinking, too. The NCAA exists, but no longer for football. Chaos is reigning, so why not be at the front of it? We seem to only be so eager to get in line with self-reporting and such as if there are brownie points later in life for the program...
"I don't apologize for anything. When I make a mistake, I take the blame and go on from there." - Woody Hayes
Well said. I’m far from over Saturday. Not sure how long this one is going to take. Yes they were frustrating as hell at times, yes the Michigan loss sucked, but that was our game to win. This was our year to win. And yet, here we are, coming up short, again, for like the 10th freaking time in the last 20 years. I’m going to have a hard time getting up for the season in September. As an aside, one of my friends at the party Saturday was an Alabama fan. Of course he had to get mouthy after the game because “Ohio State fans are the worst”. I honestly thought my new year was going to be starting with an assault charge for smacking someone who’s team has won what, 6 in 12 years and was happy we lost solely because his team didn’t win, again.
Just win baby
I so agree with your post, OSUfan. Sometimes I wonder if it’s easier to move on from a season if we just get smoked in a game like the Peach Bowl, as I think even most Buckeye fans expected. But, unlike the Michigan game, the boys showed up to play, were winning for the majority of the game and should have won. Very, very few, if we’re being honest, expected Ohio State to have a chance against Georgia in their backyard.
As I get older, these types of Buckeye losses don’t hurt as much as they did in the 1990s, when I was much younger and my ego much more fragile. I’ll get over it. I think I already have, actually, and I’m looking forward to the 2023 Buckeyes and our new QB. Hopefully, our defense improves drastically.
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
Oh the ups and down of being a buckeye fan. I what ifs,and's and buts are endless while the highs and lows are boundless. I lived through and remembered everyone of those scenarios in the above article and my heart sinks to think about them. On to next year.
Great read. Ramzy, although you said "seven days later I loved them again" in 1987, I'm not sure everyone knows that after losing at home to Iowa, they went to Ann Arbor, as underdogs, and beat Michigan in Earle's last game. The famed "Earle headband" game.
My first game in Michigan Stadium. Great experience. Even better than the Toledo game, which I also attended. A TTUN fan gave me his tickets because he didn't feel like "watching Michigan beat Toledo by 50 points".
So fellow fans, appreciate this addiction of ours. Appreciate that this team has been in the conversation since the 60's. Appreciate that we get disappointed when we have the 4th best recruiting class in the nation (or 3d, or 5th).
And as for The Rivalry? The Buckeyes will rise again and vanquish TTUN. Just give 'em love in the meantime.
Are the videos overlapping text for anyone else or is that just me?
Good story as always Ramzy, much more level headed then A few staff reactions we saw the day after.
No, I have the same issue. There also seems to be missing the normal "sidebars" with the gray buckeye leaves, Trending Column, etc. My non-technical guess is that it's something to do with the column widths of some of the graphics - the graphics extend the entire width of my monitor even though the main text and the comments below the article do not.
Just the cheapshot vid from the 2018 TTUN game
"You ever hear of the saying "you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole; you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole." - Raylan Givens
I have the same format issue covering text ... tried on several different browsers and devices. Will check back later.
Time and change will surely show how firm thy friendship, O HI O.
Had the same issue on mobile. Refreshing the screen while the picture/text is in view seemed to fix the problem for me
The near misses, we've had a few. I've cried in my share of beverages.
Acceptance and moving forward is crucial to fair all-weather fandom.
Stung by the last two Novembers and another near miss, but I'll be right as rain come the next opening kickoff.
You don't scare me, offseason.
"Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness." - Yousuf Karsh
Enough talk.
Sharing the sidebar conversation some of us had after the Peach Bowl loss. Sometimes it feels like OSU comes up on the wrong side more frequently than any other team in college football. Maybe that’s just our perspective as Buckeye fans. Or, maybe it’s because the Buckeyes are consistently on the precipice of a NC more often than every other team.
It’s great to be be a Buckeye; but it also comes with its fair share of pain.
All too familiar.
Extended brethren up in PA, excited about their Rose Bowl win...and rightfully so...even were sympathetic to it all.
I'd rather be regularly in the mix than not at all. I still believe Day can figure it out and win a title.
"Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness." - Yousuf Karsh
Enough talk.
Since Urban arrived, the Buckeyes are in the greatest stretch of wins in history. We can recall every loss with vivid detail because they are so far and few between. We can for the most part remember most of Tress' losses too. We couldn't do that in Luke's interim year, or Cooper and Earle years.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
Of course we remember the Tress- to- today era better than the Bruce/Cooper years in detail, Stantmann. That's common sense. Time does that. Those losses were every bit as excruciating at the time however. Just a little bit more scabbed over.
If you have two people that agree on everything, that only means one of them is not thinking at all.
Urban lost 5 regular season games in 7 years, I bet you can name every one of them. Ryan, yes, all 3 of his are recent, i'll give you that, but I bet you'll remember those losses 10 years from now. Tressel had quite a few more losses, but the best years, you know because there were so few losses. I'll give you an example, in 2010, Tress lost one game, you know instantly it was Wisconsin. In 1996 and 1998, OSU lost one game, you know instantly it was UM and MSU. In 2005, Troy Smith's first year, Tress lost 2 games, one of them Troy did not start, if you were a big fan back then it would not be hard to recall it was Texas and @PSU. I remember both easily. Earle lost one game in 1979 season, who'd they lose to? Because Urban and Ryan have not had any bad years, you remember every single loss, not because of time, but because there were so few of them.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
Without looking at Google, the ‘79 loss was USC, yes?
Get busy living.
Yes, the Charles White game.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect - Woody Hayes
Bravo. Apparently those two neurons were the strong ones. That’s some varsity level fandom.
I don’t, I remember the entire 90s and I can’t count the number of times I and my father lost our voices yelling at Cooper. I remember in 94 As a senior after some stupid play call I had had enough and I blurted out “good grief John Cooper fucking sucks”.
My mom shocked didn’t know what to say; my dad who ran a pretty tight ship as a Marine turned and looked at me and said “you’re right son he does fucking suck”
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
My first sports heartbreak was the 1981 Bengals. They were one yard away from beating what became the hated 49ers (losing 2 Super Bowls to them would have that effect). But now I'm grown up enough that I like the 49ers. Time is weird. It feels different with the Buckeyes though. At the completion of every game I might still be equally heartbroken or elated, depending on the outcome.
This 2022 rendition of the Buckeyes kind of reminds me of the 2015 version, but maybe only in a "what could have been" sense. If both teams get their collective heads out of their asses a little sooner, a much greater outcome could have been achieved. The Peach Bowl hurts right now, and unfortunately my psyche relies on a better outcome to get that taste out of my brain. Unfortunately, that can't happen for about 8 months.
Go Bucks!!
"We gotta go win this next game and make the State of Ohio proud!"-UFM
It seemed unfathomable that they could stop Pete Johnson from getting one yard.
You Got Barbecue Back There!?!?!?!
Stupid stinkin' Hacksaw Reynolds lol
"We gotta go win this next game and make the State of Ohio proud!"-UFM
Fantastic piece. Well done, Ramzy.
Great as usual Ramzy. I too am proud of the 2022 team. I too am a little sick about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We'll be back! Go Bucks!
You Got Barbecue Back There!?!?!?!
This piece makes me sad and makes me want to throw up. We should be playing for it ALL next Monday night. My moron ass was dead wrong and I learned that we were the more prepared and better team on offense. OL did a great job and they kept Jalen Carter out of the backfield, and proved me wrong. CJ played like a fearless alpha dog and did everything he could to take us home. He too proved me wrong. I applaud and thank the entire offense for their preparation, performance, execution. I was proud as hell of them. We would've hung 50 on TCU. I'm still hurting--badly.
FUCK!!
BOATS and HOES.
The targeting reversal was killer (more so than the defensive lapses late IMO). Worst part is we got screwed by a bad targeting call in 2019 playoffs.
BernardBuckeye
Or the absolutely horrific and ghastly overturned Jordan Fuller's scoop and score where Justyn Ross took 4 GOD DAMN steps after catching the ball and Jeff Okudah stripped him.
I get more angrier about that loss and Saturday's loss than a cocaine addict going through withdrawal.
BOATS and HOES.
I showed that video to a Ducks fan today when I was telling him why us Buckeyes feel like it’s us against the world. He didn’t believe me, but after watching that he was like “son of a bitch” and that creepy “could he be right” look crept across his face.
If I must choose between peace and righteousness, I choose righteousness! -Theodore Roosevelt.
Reading that first part about the Chargers stings because as a lot of readers will recall, that game came just one week after one of the most bitter losses in the mostly bitter history of the Browns, also to those same Raiders. When you're young -- and that game took place literally on the day I moved on to the Ohio State campus -- you can tell yourself, "Hey, good season anyway. We're going to have other chances." But the Chargers and Browns are still waiting, and now San Diego doesn't even have its team.
It illustrates the importance of seizing your opportunities, and appreciating the few times everything breaks your way.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
What a masterpiece...thanks RN!
Rdsbucks
1998 home loss vs MSU was my absolute low for losses. Choked a big lead at home. Team was talented and rolling. Only loss of the season. Tee Martin lead UT over FSU and a back up QB for the title.
BernardBuckeye
Closest win was 10 points over #6 TA&M in Sugar Bowl and we led 24-7 at half before sleepwalking thru 2nd half.
9/1/07: A great day in the history of college football.
Six year old you apparently wasn’t aware of the 1980 Rose Bowl? Those of us who were there in Pasadena and 43 years later were in Atlanta (I’d actually get a kick out of knowing how exclusive a club that is), know all-to-well one point losses in the waning minutes of meaningful games. Yeah, it sucks, but then we know it sucks, because we were also in Tempe in 2003 and Arlington in 2015. (Maybe the club just got smaller). Your sentiment, Ramzy, to embrace the journey, is spot on. During much of the 4th Q, I felt privileged just to be there in person and along for the ride. (And yes, I was also in Phoenix that night in 2019). The sun truly will come out tomorrow.
“Holy Buckeye!”
ummmm... what the bloody hell was this?
Oh well....
Great read and message, thanks Ramzy
You can’t win them all, but you sure as hell hope you do being a Buckeye fan.
TG Proud Buckeye alumnus.
Well put, Ramzy.
The losses, especially the devastating ones, will make any future triumphs that much sweeter. Hard to appreciate now, but every team goes through it.
It’s what makes sports and National Championships so great - the ultimate catharsis of many years of suffering.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Amazing again Ramzy. Yep, super proud of how they finished the season. Go Bucks!
36-24-36? Ha ha, only if she's 5'3"
I’m not sure what time it is, but Xichigan still sucks
Prolific offense with a mediocre defense.... where have I seen this movie before? Seriously proud of the 22' team, they faired better than I guessed they would after losing JSN at the start of the season. Now its up to Knowles to fix the killer explosive plays and for Day to continue to find ways to maintain an elite offense while breaking in a new QB. I guess the stars really do have to align to have Championship seasons, because as fun as 22' was, the team didn't win a single one.
What's the correct bourbon to salve your soul with while you read this article in your softly lit man cave, den, or basement, alone, in the evening, with no external distractions? Whatever you can get your damn hands on.
$8.89 at your local liquor store.
What I was trying to convey is that this is a good read, and you should savor it with a nice drink. Guess that didn’t come through.
I was thinking, what was the cheapest rot gut that could plausibly be called bourbon could you use to drown your sorrows after such a dissappointing game and save the good stuff for a victory over UM or in the playoffs.
Even though we lost and I am still sad, I will cherish the feeling I had at the end of the game because I will never ever forget it. I have lived in TN for 25+ years, am married to a Tennessean and all my friends are Tennesseans. We had a few of them and their kids over to bring in the New Year. They are all Tennessee fans, but they are real fans that do not cheer for their conference enemies and were on the side of the good guys. Of course they were not sad the good guys lost and probably didn't really even care but at least they weren't assholes about it. Anyway, I said all that to say this. My 6 yr old son loves the Buckeyes as much as I do. He was sitting in my lap when the fg was missed and I just hugged him tight fighting back tears because I knew he was more crushed than I was. He looked at me fighting back his own tears and we just shared the moment.
I to feel your pain as a Buckeye in SEC country. The good news is there are a lot of us down here. Those moments are what life is all about.
Tri-Star Buckeye
I keep thinking of new things I’ll get to experience with my 3 month old son. Thank you I’ll add this one to the list, although hopefully we’ll have more successful FGs than missed ones.
The Big Ten doesn't win championships, not even a piece of one. They still don't win them. Ohio State wins championships. Until another teams wins one, it's not the B1G. True. Great piece. Well written with a great perspective beginning in childhood.
I'm older than you and 2 title games that still stick with me are the 1976 Rose Bowl and the 1980 Rose Bowl. Two national titles OSU should have won. Definitely not the Luckeyes in those games. The 1973 tie game with michigan gets honorable mention of games we should have won. Led to another title lost.
I'm not trying to win a popularity contest. I'm trying to win football games-- Woody Hayes
My first Buckeye epic heartache was Springs slips. Sat on the curb by the aquatic center for a long time just numb.
SalemBuckeye
I'm going to date myself here, but my first sports heartbreaks were in the early 70s. From 1970-1975 OSU lost 4 of 5 Rose Bowl games. it always seemed we were favored and a few times it probably cost us the natty. Also, I was a big Reds fan. In 1970 and 1972 they lost the World Series. Brooks Robinson and Gene Tenace killed them. The early 70s were hard, but they were glory days compared to the Cooper years.
You Got Barbecue Back There!?!?!?!
just what i love reading and being reminded of ...i feel so happy now .....
Longform Ramzy is the satisfaction drip to get us through what will be a long offseason.
There is no harmony in this rivalry's refrain
Nice write up, Ramzy, as always. Some interesting trivia to color in your picture of those early sports memories.
That 1981 Super Bowl was played the day that Iran released the hostages to come home. There were pink ribbons around the stadium in Detroit! (yes, they played that Super Bowl in the old Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit!) to celebrate their homecoming.
For what it's worth, many Ohio State fans suffered lingering dislike of Jim Plunkett from his Rose Bowl victory over the Buckeyes in 1970.
The "Miracle on Ice" hockey match was the medal round semi-final. The scrappy team of US college students had to proceed to beat Finland on Sunday for the gold medal. The Soviet game was played Friday afternoon and ABC (Olympic broadcaster back then) showed the game Friday evening on tape delay. During earlier Olympic coverage, ABC displayed the game result on a chiron. Spoiler Alert! Still, while watching the delayed broadcast Friday evening, we couldn't believe the miracle unfolding before us on the TV. I'll never forget that night and the absolute jubilation that the whole nation shared.
Time and change will surely show how firm thy friendship, O HI O.
Not even the worst loss for Buckeyes in past six weeks. TSUN was orders of magnitude worse.
Agree.
SalemBuckeye
Difficult to measure Buckeye football teams on just wins and losses. Great teams lose and good teams win. But if there’s a measurable difference between the two it has to be the teams with the B1G, Bowl Game, and/or National Championship behind their name.
Try not to suck
Ramzy: great writing as always. And, just stepping away from the sports angle for a moment, how wonderful that you had grandparents in San Diego to visit for Xmas vacation. I imagine that locale alone provided a source of fabulous holiday memories.
Coming back to San Diego sports: so, for those who think Buckeyes fans have suffered, consider the following—San Diego fans who just attained eligibility to collect Social Security will have no memory of the Chargers’ sole AFL title in 1963. And of course, no one has ever witnessed a San Diego World Series title.
I have not read through all the posts in all the articles but if it hasn't been said before we are lucky to have Ramzy using his talents writing on this site. He should be writing for the New York Times.
"It's a dog eat dog world and i`m wearing bacon pants."
I like the piece but too much nostalgia for Earle Bruce for my taste. As Bill Parcells puts, you are what your record is. Earle took Woody’s players, had one very good year, then kept playing 1970s football until he was deservedly shit-canned in 1987. Darkest day indeed. When we were behind by two scores late we would still be play-faking to the tailback, and lining up in a 4-3-4 defensive alignment when we needed to take risks. Earle was stuck in 1968.
Oh, and Earle’s best player was a degenerate gambler who ruined numerous lives, including his own, and was likely already throwing games and shaving points while wearing scarlet and gray. But Earle’s shadow on the program doesn’t end there because his dildo ordering grandson dragged down the highest percentage winning coach in program history because Urban wouldn’t fire that doofus when he had plenty of opportunities and cause. Oh well putting Zach Smith ahead of the team and university rules was his own terrible judgment.
I will take Ramzy’s advice and appreciate the journey without getting swallowed up by the losses. Thank you.
Michael
Only the best record amongst big ten coaches during that time, and a winning record versus ttun...no one bled scarlet and gray more than Earle Bruce except the man he followed. You didn't like him? IDGAF - I did, and so did his players who carried him off the field after beating Michigan in his last game. I've never before or since seen that happen to an Ohio State coach. And Art wasn't his best player - he was Woody's prize pet.
IDGAF that you do like him so two way street. They carried him off because he was fired, and yes he was dedicated to the Buckeyes. I remember those EARLE headbands. I didn’t question his dedication. But we wouldn’t accept 9-3 every season now, would we? And we should fire a coach with four losses including the darkest day. I was there. And against Iowa. Oh, and yes they lost their best receiver that last season, but stuff happens. Now, let me think, was there another season where the coach lost the best receiver - ah yes 2022 but we didn’t go 6-4-1.
Michael
It's nice to look back now that it's done and realize that for every reasonable fan who knows to take the good with the bad, that footballs bounce funny and that it's a game of heart and momentum as much as recruiting and skill, there are fans who are dogmatic, unyielding, ignorant and cruel in their assessments of players and coaches. The interweb allows bullies to flourish, unfortunately.
Thanks for a nostalgic look at this greatest of American sports and a team that has operated at the highest levels of success for the last 75 years.
Steelybuck54
It's nice to look back now that it's done and realize that for every reasonable fan who knows to take the good with the bad, that footballs bounce funny and that it's a game of heart and momentum as much as recruiting and skill, there are fans who are dogmatic, unyielding, ignorant and cruel in their assessments of players and coaches. The interweb allows bullies to flourish, unfortunately.
Thanks for a nostalgic look at this greatest of American sports and a team that has operated at the highest levels of success for the last 75 years.
Steelybuck54
Well said Ramzy! Thank you.
"I was tired of trying to work my way around the back so I just ran him over.” - Joey Bosa
Well said Ramzy! Thank you.
"I was tired of trying to work my way around the back so I just ran him over.” - Joey Bosa
This article is more poetry than prose, beautifully written and puts things in perspective in a very personal way, as a journey and an evolution of one's tribal instincts and behavior.
The will to win is not as important as the will to prepare to win. -- Woody Hayes
Nope - Urban lost 6 regular season games, 5 in conference
Virginia Tech 2014
Michigan State 2015
Penn St 2016
Iowa Oklahoma 2017
Purdue 2018
...or something like that
Lord Hammercy
A question — the article (which was fantastic) states that the players in white were celebrating on San Diego's field but the video shows the Raiders wearing black. Are those the same game? Or is the video from a different Raiders/Chargers matchup?
Thank you for this thoughtful trip down memory lane, into the rabbit hole, and towards much needed healing perspective. Bravo my friend! Ended up on your Cooper Rose bowl masterpiece this evening as well. You are a phenomenal storyteller.
-Go Bucks!
I think history repeats itself in sports eventually, but it’s never an identical comparison. Most this year were hoping for a repeat of 2014 with 85 yards thru the heart of the south again but it was more comparable to 2019 with injuries and bad penalties effecting the outcome. The good news is that next year, like 2020, could very well see us make it to the NC game but instead of a repeat of the bama outcome maybe we’ll see something more similar to the 2002 Miami outcome. Either way, we’ll live and die with every game but always come back for more.
I laughed when I read about a kid crying about a loss in football.
Go all the way back to 1956 and my first football game was in Columbus against PSU with my dad's company tickets. I was more of a Cincinnati Reds fan, and I was 8 years old. I remember being bored to tears because Big Ten football was all about defense. PSU beat us 7-6. I watched how disappointed dad was. (He graduated from OSU in 1933.) I think I cried because he was unhappy. As an aside, I remember he parked on a street to save parking cost and parked too close to a stop sign and received a ticked. Amazing what you remember from a long time ago.
After leaving the Navy, I enrolled at OSU, graduating in 1974. I watched many, many OSU games since then, mostly with good outcomes. I haven't cried about a football loss since then.
I went into the game this past weekend without wearing my lucky t-shirt and hoodie. I made an effort to forego my superstitions and just enjoy the game for what it was; watching the only team I root for in all sports play the game. It was a different experience. I let out a few screams and F-u's to the refs, but for the most part just enjoyed watching them play their hearts out. I have done that only once prior, the Oregon game last year. Its not that I dont care any more or less, but as a dad with children who played sports and worked hard to be successful I realized the irony of my attitude. How can I be angry at some 18-22 year old college athletes who work tirelessly to win a game when I would defend my kids efforts knowing they gave 150%. The coaches? Yeah, they can frustrate me. But honestly, how many times do you think Day, Wilson, Knowles, etc said to themselves, " lets call a bonehead play or defense on this play to make it interesting"? Probably never. We all can probably say that about our own decisions in life- no one intentionally tries to lose. I work in healthcare, there are good doctors and bad doctors- just as there are coaches. I dont think we have bad coaches. But doctors have bad days, like the rest of us, and some days coaches do too.
I think, with or without the circumstances of this year's team- the injuries, NIL, etc- it was a successful year (with exception of the UX game LOL). The team learned more about themselves in the last game of the year than the first 12 games combined. Believing in themselves is something they were saying all along this year, but maybe is something they only confirmed after the georgia game.
I didn't think I'd ever see a loss more crushing than the '19 loss to Clemson. This one came damn close. Ramzy, thanks for putting things in perspective. It still stings, but I'm extremely proud about how that team fought on Saturday.
The valleys make the ascension to the peak that much sweeter.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS. The future is still bright for the Buckeyes. GO BUCKS.
Damn good article, Ramzy. As you wrote about your trip through memory lane, it brings us all to remember ours.
Grandma used to say, "If wishes were horses beggars would ride." She, passed away in 1991 at the age of 99 years and 2 weeks. I miss her wisdom. Wishing doesn't get anything done and wishing on the past is an even worse waste of time.
Buckeye by birth. Christian by 2nd birth. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
Ramzy, thank you for putting things all into perspective.
"There is a force that makes us all brothers, no one goes his way alone." --Woody Hayes
Your article rings so true for me in the memory of painful loses costing the Buckeyes a natty. The wins over lesser teams are just fog. For me at age 71 one the losses are just painful and frozen in mind
Nov 22 1969 -- Barry Pearson punt return to the OSU 3 at the end of the first half of Bo's first match with Woody
Jan 1 1971 -- Two Jim Plunkett passes a scramble to TE Bob Moore and the killer TD pass to Randy Vataha
Nov ? 1971 -- A four loss OSU team taking and undefeated UM team to the bring only to see a non interference call go against the Buckeyes at the end and watching Woody go balastic with sideline markers. Its worth watching if you have never seen it.
1974 Rose Bowl leading USC 17-10 in the 4th Q when Neal Colzie intercepts a USC pass returns it to the UCS 3 only to spike the ball out of bounds and get a 15 yard peanulty and OSU with 1st and goal from the 18. Finaly score USC 18-OSU 17 --- Sam Dickerson scoring the 2 point conversion with seconds left.
Jan 1 1980 -- Leading USC 16 -10 with under 4 minutes to play......intro Marcus Allen, Charles White and student body left.
I heard about the 1935 Notre Dame game.....and the spirits of past seem to want me to remember that one too.
It is fitting that I was born in Boston and my other favorite team is the Red Sox....the pain of 86 years still lingers at times.
I suspect that if I ever get Dementia that last fleeting memory will be one of these...... sometimes being a Buckeye fan can be a mental disorder but I still love them!
Buckeyetis -- An incurable human condition. It starts in the teen years and is often genetic. It tends to peak in the fall and peaks at Thanksgiving.
Fun read.
Spielman picking off Kevin Murray in the '87 Cotton Bowl was one of my best childhood memories as an Ohio to Texas transplant. Aggies were/are the worst.
vacuuming sucks
Roughly the same age and memories so interesting read. My first game at the shoe was like 1980 versus Arizona St which the Buckeyes won. I live outside of Ohio too and am ‘meh’ about the local teams. Don’t hate them, just ‘blah’.
My most devastating football losses excluding high school in no particular order. They were all bad. But what they all had in common is my team should have won or were THAT close with a lot on the line. I don’t include games where a lot was lost but the team played like crap (I.e. 2022 UM game).
1. Ga - 2022
2. Clemson - 2019
3. USC - 2009
4. MSU - 1998
5. UM - 1996
6. UM - 1986
7. USC - 1980 Rose Bowl
8. 2022 - Super Bowl
9. 1988 - Super Bowl
Gregory
Finally got around to reading this article. Glad I did. It's a beautiful depiction of sports fandom. The perspective was needed and well-received. Thanks, Ramzy.
(P.S. What happened to the Factory of Sadcast?)
Real fans stay for Carmen.