“Time and change will surely show…”.
You want to get a grasp on how fast time moves (and at an accelerating pace…)?
Let me introduce you to the files at our Parallel Universe of Sports Reports:
[“Yes, fans, it’s the spring of 2005 and Maurice Clarett’s final spring
practice. Who can forget that just four short years ago, the loveable lug left
high school early to attend his first OSU spring drills; talking about his
affection for the university and eagerness to be part of the new era for the
Buckeyes. Way back then, who would have thought that Ohio State would be the
odds-on favorite to win it’s third national title in four years or that
Clarett would be going for back-to-back Heismans? It was just January past that
Mo-Mo shocked Columbus by announcing that he would forego a certain #1 pick in
the NFL draft to return for his senior season, further cementing the love affair
that this native Ohioan has with Buckeye fans throughout the nation”]
Meanwhile, back here in the real world…
We can’t change time but we can time our changes here at Bucknuts. And just
as the team changes from year-to-year, we are always looking at ways to
upgrade the Bucknuts Experience. We have a great monthly magazine, an unusual
weekly radio show and a singular focus: content. Bucknuts is driven to provide
the best, the most, the freshest and the most entertaining Ohio State football
content of any media outlet in the universe.
Not a small task, there.
And this goal dovetails nicely into the changes we plan to make with
Bucknuts.com, the website. Some months back, Scout.com (our national network)
changed the look of its format and front page to gain some consistency amongst
its hundred or so sites. That worked well with many of the smaller sites, but
ran against the grain for Bucknuts. We often have six or seven feature stories
in any given day and we also have “timeless’ features that need to stay up
for a couple of days. So we have re-designed the front page to make it easier to
read, provide more pictures and graphics, pile on more content and – basically
– just improve the whole look and feel of the site.
I said, years ago, that as we succeeded we would continue to improve our
coverage and our value to you. This is further proof of that pledge. Let us know
your thoughts and ideas as you peruse the new look of Bucknuts!
* * * * *
Pardon our dust…We are always trying to construct a better
website for you here at Bucknuts. Sometimes our limits are self-imposed while
often we run into barriers imposed by our network (Scout). The Scout people are
working with us now to make the Bucknuts site both more entertaining and more
user-friendly. No, we haven’t been successful at getting the ads removed from
the front (something about generating revenues…) but we have struck pay
dirt in a number of other areas:
1) You will be able to “mouse over” the message board icon on the
control panel and go directly to the message board of your dreams.
2) We will present you with more feature stories on the front page and
with more pictures and graphics
3) We will have a permanent box on the front (with some cool tabs…) so
that you can go to “The Bucknuts Radio Hour”, “Bucknuts the Magazine”,
the Bucknuts store and other creative locations.
4) We are going to choose and then bring you the “Post of the Week”
from our often-hilarious and always-entertaining premium “Ask the Insiders”
board. Take a look – if you are not part of the party, feel free to join
in!
5) We are going to excerpt some of the fine feature articles from our “Bucknuts
the Magazine” and tell you where you can find the most current issue.
While some websites talk about new gimmicks and past achievements, Bucknuts
always has been and always will be about content. We want to bring you the most
facts, figures, insights, news and opinions on your beloved Buckeyes of any site
in the world.
These new changes should help us do just that…
* * * * *
And another thing…We have a very active audio and video function here
at Bucknuts. As to the videos, through Duane Long we receive hundreds of player
videos during the year. We don’t show you all of them but we bring you the
ones that are the best quality and have Buckeye implications. As to the “audio”,
we have two recording studios; one in Dayton and a larger studio up near campus
in Columbus. We tape, we produce and we put together two full radio shows for
statewide distribution (our almost-famous “Bucknuts Radio Hour” and the
nearly-perfect “JJ and Jerry High School Sports Show”). To add to our audio
presentations, we are going to bring you sound bites of interviews and features
done purely for audio.
Jerry Rudzinski has already started to tape “audio articles”, the first
two of which detail his feelings on special teams and playing in night games.
Give them a listen and tell us what you think…
* * * * *
The quicks and the dead…I will set the stage for you: It is third and
five, Ohio State driving. They break the huddle with Troy Smith at quarterback,
Ted Ginn lined up in the backfield as a flanker, Maurice Wells as the tailback,
the two wide-outs are Santonio Holmes and Tony Gonzalez, Roy Hall is the tight
end. Man, talk about match-up problems! Holmes, Ginn and Gonzalez might be the
fastest triad in the country. Conley described Wells as one of the quickest
backs he has ever seen. Roy Hall is steady as a wide receiver but will be hard
to cover as a tight end and Troy Smith has football speed that is much more
effective than track speed.
Coming soon to a stadium near you: the Buckeyes have the quicks, they
have the dead…
* * * * *
And speaking of which…I remember writing a squib a few years back with
the prefatory title being “An Embarrassment of Riches”. I was describing the
state of wide receivers at OSU with the group in mind of Chris Vance, Chris Gamble, Drew Carter and Michael Jenkins. Quite a group, eh? But, as mentioned
above, do you think that group will stand up historically to Santonio Holmes,
Ted Ginn, Tony Gonzalez, Roy Hall, Devon Lyons et. al? And the “et. al.”
part of the group might be just as impressive. First off, don’t
discount the young Devon Lyons, a big and flashy kid whose high school nickname
was “The Hope”. Secondly, Albert Dukes is back in play and no less authority
than Dustin Fox has compared him favorably to Santonio Holmes. Word is out that
Albert is tearing up spring practice. Plus, don’t forget Devin Jordan and the
new batch of Brian Hartline, Andre Amos and any other potential
position-switcher.
Ahh, an embarrassment of riches, indeed. If we only knew then what we know
now, maybe we wouldn’t have felt quite so bad when Dwayne Jarrett reneged on
his commitment and Fred (Who) Davis got lost on his way from Toledo to Columbus…
* * * * *
Who put the “fan” in fanatic?…We pride ourselves on the support and
fanaticism we have for our beloved Buckeyes. That emotional investment is
mirrored by other teams’ support of course but we always feel that our support
is, well…special somehow. New empirical studies are out and making the
rounds of academia, trying to attribute the evolution of sports fanaticism and
how it impacts society. One plausible explanation describes the Darwinian
essence of this behavior and how it enabled our ancestors to reproduce, survive
and thrive. The roots of sports’ fierce passion lie somewhere in the ancestral
drive of “coalition based aggression” that enabled the winning groups to
collect the most crops and the coolest women. A book that is cited in this
over-the-top study of over-the-top fan behavior is “Rammer Jammer Yellow
Hammer”, a seasonal account of fans that follow the Alabama football program.
When one long-time Bama backer was chastised because he missed his daughter’s
wedding (when it conflicted with the Alabama-Tennessee game), he said
innocently, “ You know we made the reception”.
Now, that’s what we’re talkin’ about…
* * * * *
How good is Chris Wells…If you watched the Bucknuts’ videos of Chris,
I wouldn’t have to say another word. Duane Long has had Beanie Wells at the
top of his class in Ohio when he was a freshman, when he was a sophomore and –
in the soon-to-be-released Ohio High ratings, now as a junior. And CW won’t be
17 years old until this August, so he’s still developing. To quote Duane
again: “The back I saw as a freshman and sophomore was more like Eddie George,
but as a junior, I saw a back that reminded me more of OJ Simpson and Eric
Dickerson. But more than any back, he reminds me of current Oklahoma star Adrian Peterson”. Whew – that’s a lot to choose from and you can’t go too far
wrong with any of those choices…
* * * * *
If ya can’t beat ‘em…Get ‘em the hell off the schedule, I say!
Let’s face it – the Buckeyes have problems with Purdue and Wisconsin. And
the first step toward solving a problem is admitting it. Purdue could have
beaten OSU the last three years and – last year – they did. Wisconsin seems
to have their number lately and last year they ran up a big number on the
Buckeyes at home. What to do? Trade the two of them for some other teams that
OSU can beat consistently. So this year coming up, we got Wisconsin and Purdue
off the schedule and added Minnesota and Illinois. While the Gophers might not
be a bargain, Illinois seems like a breather compared to either the Badgers or
the Boilers. In the Year of the Buckeye, the aspect of scheduling cannot be
understated…
* * * * *
Looking farther down the road…There are some that think Ohio State
shouldn’t schedule a big-time home-and-home series like they are facing with
Texas this year and next. I think it’s great. I think it is the essence of
college football. Anyone that was at the pounding the Buckeyes gave Notre Dame a
few years back will certainly agree. Part of the big mess of the BCS is that it
discourages regional rivalries since you can lose one game and be out of the
hunt. A playoff would cure that, just like March Madness. Schedule them tough
and often and interesting, I say! And to that end, let’s look down the road:
Next year, OSU is at Texas. In 2007, Syracuse comes to Columbus; the Buckeyes go
there in 2010. That same year, OSU also plays the Miami Hurricanes at home
before going down to Florida to face them in September the next season (talk
about your hot games…). And you want bigger and better? OK: the Buckeyes play
USC in 2008 and 2009. That will be a good follow-up to them beating USC next
January in the Rose Bowl for the national championship – wouldn’t you say?
If you have something to say, and you want to address it to Mr. Bucknuts,
drop him a line at MrBucknuts@yahoo.com