An Open Letter to Coach Urban Meyer

Dear Coach Meyer,

First of all, I want to tell you how angry I still am about the 2007 National Championship game. It was embarrassing. Humiliating. Your Gators destroyed us; there's simply no getting around that. I thought we had that game in the bag. I thought we would coast to our second National Championship in five years. But you exposed us; and after that game, whether it's fair or not, the narrative became Ohio State versus the SEC. It was a difficult few years. LSU. Texas. (Heartbreak! But we did still beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and while it's off the record books, we beat Arkansas in the Sugar.) And then...well, let's not bring up the tattoos. Or last season. It's time to move on. So I want to say this from the bottom of my scarlet and gray heart: I forgive you. You're my coach now. You've come home. Welcome back.

Now, let me make a confession. We made an idol out of Jim Tressel. We dehumanized him by making him superhuman. We set our expectations too high. We demanded his lifeblood, his flesh, his soul. And when he failed us, we turned on him. We sent him away. And I participated in every step of that journey. It wasn't him so much as it was us and our unrealistic expectaions. We, the fans, the alumni, and the boosters were the first ones who sinned. We drove him to it through our dehumanizing idolization. I don't know if we've learned our lesson yet. I hope we have. So please, be careful. We need you to set boundaries with us. If you don't, we'll eat you alive. If you thought things were tough in Florida...well, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

Do us a favor. Keep that promise to your daughter. Don't violate that contract. Eat lunch. Exercise. Go to your kids' sporting events. Take your wife out for dinner. Love your family and take care of yourself. Keep us at arm's length. Keep the program in it's proper place. Don't lose yourself in the sea of scarlet and gray. Don't listen to us when we turn on you. (We will.) Don't pay any attention to us when we boo your players. (We will.) Don't let the expectations of boosters determine how you run the program. Just do your job and go home to your family with a clear conscience.

Most importantly, and I don't know where you stand with this, abide closely with Jesus Christ. Find a church. (I know a good one that's small and meets on Sunday nights!) Only by fostering a deep and rich relationship with the true King will you be able to keep yourself from becoming what we will try to make you into--a king and an idol. Enter into a Christian community that will treat you as a man and not as a god. Jesus doesn't care if you beat Michigan or win Big Ten Titles or National Championships. He cares if your heart is fully turned toward himself in humble submission to his rule and reign. And win or lose, Jesus, the eternal King, loves you.

God bless you!

Andy Holt
tOSU, Class of 2001

I'm Proud of You, Jim Tressel

I'm sad today. Rain is pouring down on central Ohio right now, the weather a reflection of the emotion many Buckeyes are feeling in their hearts. As you may have heard, our beloved football coach Jim Tressel failed to report that he received information about the tattoo scandal long before it came to light through a federal investigation. This is a major NCAA violation, and the school has suspended him for 2 games and fined him $250,000. While Ohio State will most certainly win those games (against Akron and Toledo), the suspension is a major blemish on an otherwise stellar career.

Jim Tressel is being suspended. This is sinking in. And it hurts. The national media, of course, is happy as can be. Mark Schlabach, writing on the Big Ten blog at ESPN, said this:

In 10 years as the Buckeyes' coach, Tressel has often showed us his teams can't win big games.

On Tuesday night, Tressel showed us he can't win the big news conferences, either.

Tressel, who has guided the Buckeyes to seven Big Ten titles and the 2002 BCS national championship, wanted us to believe that he was different from other successful head coaches.

From his character-based books to his conservative sweater vests, Tressel wanted us to believe that he's a straight shooter who follows the rules.

On Tuesday night, we learned Tressel isn't any different from a lot of coaches in college football. He's apparently more concerned about winning games and championships than following rules and doing things the right way.

In fact, Tressel might be even worse than other coaches who are corrupting college athletics. He won't admit he's wrong even after he has been caught.

Which coaches, exactly, is Jim Tressel worse than? Pete Carrol? Or Lane Kiffin? Who, Mr. Schlabach, are these coaches who stood in front of the media and said "I was wrong." Who took Because Tressel did that. So you can put down your stones and arrows.

Tressel didn't pass along some information. He broke the rules. He said he was scared for the safety of his players and didn't want to interfere in a federal investigation into the obviously dangerous man with whom these players were getting connected. I believe him. This is why:

Jim Tressel didn't throw Maurice Clarett into the garbage pile, like the national media would have liked him to. Instead, he stuck with him, long after his playing career was over. Maurice Clarett has been through hell and back, and the man who went there with him was Jim Tressel.

A friend of mine, an OSU alum, is dealing with some severe chronic pain. The other day she received a hand-written note from Jim Tressel (who doesn't know her at all) wishing her well in the midst of her pain. The joy this note brought was overwhelming.

Jim Tressel consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty. But no human being is perfectly consistent. He failed here, but he's not a failure; he's a man. And if, for that reason, he is deserving of the stones being flung at him today, then I suppose that those of you who have never sinned have every right to throw the first stone.

Tressel is being held accountable for what he did, more accountable than you or I. As an Ohio State fan, I sense that justice must be served, and that it is. I hope we are held to a higher standard than schools in other parts of the country. My football coach stood in front of the cameras and took his punishment. He didn't bolt for the NFL, he didn't leave his school in the lurch. He didn't deny it or downplay it. He owned it.

So I'm sad today, but I'm also proud. I'm proud of Jim Tressel. I'm proud of my school. I'm proud to be a Buckeye. Let's give the haters even more to whine about by going undefeated next year! Go Bucks!

Wolverine Advice

Dear Wolverines,

Congratulations! You've just fired Rich Rodriguez; and so a 3 year debacle comes to an inglorious end. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: You embarrassed the Big Ten in your bowl game. The Game has become predictable and boring. Worse yet, it has had no impact on the Big Ten race since that epic contest in 2006. Your football team has become a glorified WAC program: a niche offense combined with horrible defense simply won't get it done in the big boy leagues.

So, three years too late, RichRod is out. And now you have your sights set on Jim Harbaugh, the rising star out of Stanford. He's a Michigan man through and through. He's turned around a program out west and just won a great bowl victory. What's not to like about him? He would be perfect for you! Right?

Let me tell you a story. At the end of the football season in 2000, Ohio State fired John Cooper. Like RichRod, his success in The Game was meager. Unlike RichRod, however, Cooper was a good coach and an outstanding recruiter. We had some unbelievable talent come through Columbus in the '90s. But he just couldn't get it done when it counted. So we let him go.

At that time there was a rising star out west, a coach who had just won a National Championship by turning around a once-great program. Bob Stoops had roots at Ohio State. He was a Buckeye through and through. We all wanted him. But, like Jim Harbaugh is apparently doing to you, he turned us down.

So the search committee turned its gaze to a little-known, 1-AA coach out of Youngstown State named Jim Tressel. Sure, he had won 4 1-AA National Championships there, but would it translate to big time college football? Ten years later, we've beaten you 9 times. We've won 7 Big Ten titles, including 6 in a row. We've been to 8 BCS bowls, winning 5 of them. We've won a National Championship. We've had a Heisman Trophy winner. We've finished in the top 5 of the final AP rankings 6 times. We've won 106 games and lost 22. (RichRod lost 22 in 3 seasons, by the way.) Nobody has been to more BCS bowl games. Nobody has won more BCS bowl games. No team in college football has been more consistent, including Bob Stoops' Oklahoma program.

My point is this: Jim Tressel wanted to be our coach. This is his dream job. Nobody talks about him leaving for the NFL or coaching anywhere else because this is the only place he wants to be. We took a chance on a guy from a lower division of the NCAA because he wanted this job, and it's paid off in a big way.

Michigan, if Jim Harbaugh doesn't want to be your coach, if he's talking to the NFL, then you don't want him. Let him go. Find somebody who wants you. You have too much history and too much class to be anybody's stepping stone. You are a destination job, now go find somebody who wants to be the next great coach at the University of Michigan more than anything else.

Don't get me wrong. I love beating the crap out of you every year. But you depress me. It's sad to see what has happened to you. I hope you find a coach that cares about you, that cares about The Game, and gets you ready to play us. Lord knows we'll be ready for you. See you in November.

My Take On Tressel, TP, et. al.

By now you've probably heard about the 5 star OSU football players who sold various trophies and game-used equipment. This occurred almost two years ago, but the NCAA has just now found out about it and laid down the punishment. The facts of the case are these:

• 5 players (including Terrell Pryor, Devier Posey, Dan Herron, and Mike Adams) sold various trophies, including gold pants (for beating Michigan) and Big Ten championship rings, and game-used equipment for a total of a little over $7,000.
• Some players also received discounts on tattoos.
• When the football program became aware of what transpired, they self-reported to the NCAA.
• There was some form of internal, team punishment levied against the players.
• The players have been ordered to return the money they made from the sale of these items and give it to charity.
• The players have been suspended for the first 5 games of the 2011 season, but are eligible for the Sugar Bowl.

So those are the facts. $7,000. All of which must be repaid. A total of 25 missed games.

These five players are all juniors, and could decide to enter the NFL Draft rather than miss almost half of their senior season. However, with the labor unrest in the NFL, and their uncertain draft value, that is a risky proposition.

There are several things that bother me about this whole situation. First of all, why are these guys selling their gold pants and Big Ten championship rings? Those are items that you can't really put a price on, and it hurts me, as a part of the Buckeye nation and OSU alum, that they would treat our football tradition with such contempt. But I also know what it's like to need money, so I understand why a person might sell such things. I'm not excusing it, I'm just saying I get it.

Secondly, these five players have been suspended a combined 25 games for selling items that "almost" belonged to them for a total of about $7,000. Meanwhile, Cameron Newton's father Cecil tires to sell his son's football services to various schools in the SEC for $180,000 and, for these sins, Cameron Newton receives the Heisman Trophy and a trip to the National Championship Game. Keep in mind that the NCAA, according to its own rules, does not distinguish between a student-athlete and his or her parents, even in the recruiting process. The NCAA's actions are hypocritical at best, utterly corrupt at worst. As many have already said, they are clearly making up the rules as they go along.

Thirdly, a lot of Buckeye fans are calling for these five players to be suspended for the Sugar Bowl and even for Jim Tressel to resign. Seriously? Enough with the sanctimony. They've been punished three times over for what is not a criminal action, but rather a violation of NCAA rules. There were no boosters involved. There were no agents. These were five guys selling stuff they thought they owned to, according to multiple sources, help their families in the worst economy of their short lifetimes. Let me say this again: this was a NCAA rules violation, not a crime. No one can be arrested for this. The punishment they have already received is severe, and some of you want them punished even more? I put it to you that your sanctimonious calls for increased punishment (and even Jim Tressel's job!) is nothing more than a mask for your sense of vengeance, which only rears its head because you have an idolized view of Ohio State football. You expect more character out of these 18 and 21 year old kids than you do from yourself. Enough. You're being a hypocrite. They've been punished enough, and I would even say unfairly, given the NCAA's history of inconsistency on rules enforcement.

Jim Tressel should keep his job. These five players should play in the Sugar Bowl, and not be suspended any games at all. They are paying back all of the money, after all. They have clearly expressed their remorse, and tOSU has done it's due diligence to report everything to the NCAA. They are, in my opinion, above reproach. And I believe, given the circumstances involved, these five players should receive some grace. And I would say that even if they were Michigan athletes.

The Future: Michigan Football

This is an open letter to all Michigan football fans. Did you, by any chance, catch the Big Ten bowl season this past year? I know your team wasn't involved so maybe you didn't care, but what you don't know ought to scare you.

In the Rose Bowl, Ohio State held Oregon's offense to its worst performance of the season. Do you know Oregon's offense? You should, because it looks a lot like what RichRod is trying to install at Michigan. The problem is that you probably can't expect to find guys faster and better suited for that offense than Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James. But Ohio State's defense held them to 260 (260!) total yards and just 12 (12!) first downs.

Here's the deal, Michigan. Oregon had probably the best offense you could hope for, and Ohio State shut them down. Do you realize what this means for the future of Michigan football? It means you're not going to beat Ohio State as long as you're running the spread offense because Ohio State has figured out how to stop the spread.

Granted, it took a couple of years, but they figured it out. They can stop it. Sure, maybe you'll get a couple of big plays here and there, but for every 20 yard pass you're going to have 2 or 3 that go for no gain or a loss. And you just can't beat OSU with those ratios.

And in case you think this only applies to The Rivalry, look at what Iowa did to Georgia Tech, or what Wisconsin did to Miami, or what Penn State did to LSU. The simple truth is that nobody plays defense like the Big Ten Conference, and the defenses in the Big Ten know how to stop your offense.

Here's the point, Michigan. We need you. Heck, I'm a born Buckeye and I need you! I need you to be good again. I want more games like in 2006, not 2008. The Big Ten needs you to be good again. You're supposed to be right there with us, competing for conference and national championships every year. But it's not going to happen as long as you're running this gimmicky offense. If you want to be good again, you need to ditch RichRod. Sure, his game works in the Big East where football players are either fast or big or strong. But in the Big Ten, our guys have strength, size, and speed. I mean, have you seen Terrelle Pryor?