{"id":3977,"date":"2011-01-05T07:49:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-05T07:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/01\/ohio-state-beat-arkansas-didnt-it.html"},"modified":"2011-01-05T07:49:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-05T07:49:00","slug":"ohio-state-beat-arkansas-didnt-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/01\/ohio-state-beat-arkansas-didnt-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Ohio State beat Arkansas, didn’t it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Well, you\u2019d barely think so to read some of the coverage.\u00a0 Like this AP story, the focus is on the player suspension.\u00a0 Just the first sentence:<\/p>\n

Ohio State might want to send a thank-you note to the NCAA for helping to end its bowl misery against the SEC.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, because a simple stupid mistake made two years ago by then freshmen players that involved a tattoo parlor was worth upsetting a multi-million dollar sports franchise.\u00a0 Not accepting gifts, cars, big screen TVs.\u00a0 Not peddling drugs, illegal arms, or raping women.\u00a0 A single, relatively small infraction by young and foolish freshmen back before Barack Obama was president.\u00a0 And for that, apparently a five game suspension next season just isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

But as predictable as the Big Ten losing to the SEC had become, even more predictable has been the sports media\u2019s ability to take any Big Ten victory and ensure that it was only because of any possible reason other than the Big Ten team deserving to win.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

When OSU beat Miami for the National Championship, we were assured it was only due to a bad call.\u00a0 Yes, the call was controversial, but there were other bad calls that game which hindered OSU.\u00a0 Not to worry, those were irrelevant.\u00a0 Or when we beat Texas, we were reminded it was only because Texas had lost two of its start players due to suspension.\u00a0 When OSU lost to Florida, the fact that its star player was hurt in the first play and out of the game suddenly became irrelevant. <\/p>\n

No, for the media that seems to loath any Bit Ten victory in general, and an OSU victory in particular, this will be small potatoes.\u00a0 It was shady deals with the NCAA, it was because Arkansas was inexperienced, it was a sloppy win by OSU who just got lucky\u2026it was the barometric pressure, the presence of one celled organisms in the artificial turf, the position of Orion in the southern sky, it was anything other than OSU simply deserved to win because this time it was a better team. <\/p>\n

This does have an impact of course.\u00a0 After the National Championship victory, I watched the following year as a team that should have been riding high was dispirited.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 How would anyone feel after accomplsihing what everyone said you couldn\u2019t accomplish, only to be told by the \u2018media\u2019 and other pundits that you didn\u2019t deserve it, you still suck. As we are often reminded when it comes to fan treatment of the players, these are just kids.\u00a0 When a nation of blowhards insist on telling them they are no good no matter how many games they win, expect there to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. <\/p>\n

Of course I\u2019m one who thinks the bowl games should be dispersed across the country.\u00a0 It\u2019s possibly not a coincidence that southern teams do so well when every bowl game is essentially a home game in familiar environments and acceptable climates.\u00a0 Mix it up a little, and then see how things work.\u00a0 But I won\u2019t hold my breath.\u00a0 There is a love affair among sports casters for the SEC, and yes, the SEC is good.\u00a0 But since the current set up, if it doesn\u2019t aid the SEC, it sure doesn\u2019t hinder it, I\u2019m not holding my breath. <\/p>\n

Nonetheless, expect more coverage of the above sort.\u00a0 Arkansas would have won if all those things that happened to make them lose would have been different.\u00a0 It\u2019s the NCAA\u2019s fault.\u00a0 The BCS doesn\u2019t work right.\u00a0 It\u2019s all rigged.\u00a0 Or, again, Orion was in the wrong part of the sky.\u00a0 But for OSU fans, we all\u00a0 know better.\u00a0 And even if the rest of the country changes the rules to maintain the narrative, we know the best team won.\u00a0 Congratulations Buckeyes, you earned it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, you\u2019d barely think so to read some of the coverage.\u00a0 Like this AP story, the focus is on the player suspension.\u00a0 Just the first sentence: Ohio State might want to send a thank-you note to the NCAA for helping to end its bowl misery against the SEC. Yeah, because a simple stupid mistake made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOhio State beat Arkansas, didn't it?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Well, you'd barely think so to read some of the coverage.  Like this AP story, the focus is on the player suspension.  Just the first\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/01\/ohio-state-beat-arkansas-didnt-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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