Its now a few weeks since the Rose Bowl victory by the Bucks and the season is slowly sinking into the psyche. While we all have individual memories of the Buckeyes during the season, there are some lasting memories we will retain for the years to come. Those defining moments of the 2009-10 season. The victory over the Badgers last night had me so amped up I could not go to bed and sat up compiling these memories of the season for 2009-10
1) How do you solve a problem like Pryor: The season was a roller coaster for Terrelle. The kid was put into national spotlight, quite unfairly one might say, early on in the season. With the help of coaches and those around him, he bounced back to not only silence some of his critics but win them over too. Yours truly was one among them. His up and down year, those range of emotions we saw from him, the off-the-field attention he was getting (from the likes of LeBron) and his eventual domination of the Ducks in the Rose Bowl will stay with us for sometime. And once again remind us that despite those superhuman traits they exhibit on the field, our student-athletes are human beings too.
2) The Renaissance Man - Jim Tressel: The media may use terms like 'battered', 'beleaguered', etc. to describe Jim Tressel. And in their vanity, they believe that their words are actually taken for gospel by one and all. That it is of consequence to the people they are talking about. Jim Tressel proved them wrong. He inherited a team that was gutted on both sides of the ball. A QB that had supreme talent, but was also very raw. A Buckeye nation that just 'expects' success even in rebuilding years. All that. And it got off to a rocky start for him. A close game against Navy, a loss to USC in a much touted game and a shockingly inept display at Purdue. But coach Tressel, not only adjusted and adapted his game plan (installing the zone read to utilise Pryors varied skills) to the talent he had seen in the first few games, he did it with even keeled demeanor. Not once in the press conferences did you see him display frustration, desperation or anger. And he eventually led his Buckeyes to a win over all their traditional rivals, an outright Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl victory without any All American or All Big Ten player on his squad and handled sticky issues like Ray Small (and his Dad) with class but also polite firmness.
3) Son of Keokuk Iowa: A great Buckeye team also gets contributions from worthy opponents. And while the team faced many a great team through the season, the performance of James Vandenberg, the rookie QB of the Iowa Hawkeyes playing his first game as a starter on the road In the Shoe with a Rose Bowl berth on the line will be a defining moment for the Buckeyes in the 09-10 season. With the loss of their starter Ricky Stanzi to an injury and no game experience for young James Vandenberg, the Hawkeyes were supposed to roll over and play dead. Not so fast my friends said James. His focus in that game, the execution, poise was simply beyond his years. Luckily for the Buckeyes, his WRs let him down. And in OT, the wily veterans Heyward and Worthington were just too much. There are no moral victories in sports. But there was a victory of character for James Vandenberg that night. He showed the world that this is physical talent and mental toughness and then there is 'heart'. Of which he had plenty on the night. The game, courtesy in large part to him, became an instant classic. So that worthy son of Keokuk Iowa, James Vandenberg, will get a notable mention every time the 09-10 season is mentioned.
4) That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet: So said Juliet Montague to Romeo Capulet. They obviously were not Big Ten fans. Cos nothing is sweeter to Big Ten fans than a Rose Bowl victory. And this season will always be remembered for a successful trip to Pasadena and a dominating display over a worthy opponent in the Rose Bowl. So dominating that it had the biased ESPN crew eating slice after slice of humble pie in the 4th quarter. It is the granddaddy of em all for a reason. Played on a picture perfect green carpet, with resplendent views of a SoCal sunset and a stadium drenched in scarlet and gray, the Rose Bowl was just a magnificent New Year's day gift to Buckeye nation from your beloved 2009-10 Buckeye football team.
1) How do you solve a problem like Pryor: The season was a roller coaster for Terrelle. The kid was put into national spotlight, quite unfairly one might say, early on in the season. With the help of coaches and those around him, he bounced back to not only silence some of his critics but win them over too. Yours truly was one among them. His up and down year, those range of emotions we saw from him, the off-the-field attention he was getting (from the likes of LeBron) and his eventual domination of the Ducks in the Rose Bowl will stay with us for sometime. And once again remind us that despite those superhuman traits they exhibit on the field, our student-athletes are human beings too.
2) The Renaissance Man - Jim Tressel: The media may use terms like 'battered', 'beleaguered', etc. to describe Jim Tressel. And in their vanity, they believe that their words are actually taken for gospel by one and all. That it is of consequence to the people they are talking about. Jim Tressel proved them wrong. He inherited a team that was gutted on both sides of the ball. A QB that had supreme talent, but was also very raw. A Buckeye nation that just 'expects' success even in rebuilding years. All that. And it got off to a rocky start for him. A close game against Navy, a loss to USC in a much touted game and a shockingly inept display at Purdue. But coach Tressel, not only adjusted and adapted his game plan (installing the zone read to utilise Pryors varied skills) to the talent he had seen in the first few games, he did it with even keeled demeanor. Not once in the press conferences did you see him display frustration, desperation or anger. And he eventually led his Buckeyes to a win over all their traditional rivals, an outright Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl victory without any All American or All Big Ten player on his squad and handled sticky issues like Ray Small (and his Dad) with class but also polite firmness.
3) Son of Keokuk Iowa: A great Buckeye team also gets contributions from worthy opponents. And while the team faced many a great team through the season, the performance of James Vandenberg, the rookie QB of the Iowa Hawkeyes playing his first game as a starter on the road In the Shoe with a Rose Bowl berth on the line will be a defining moment for the Buckeyes in the 09-10 season. With the loss of their starter Ricky Stanzi to an injury and no game experience for young James Vandenberg, the Hawkeyes were supposed to roll over and play dead. Not so fast my friends said James. His focus in that game, the execution, poise was simply beyond his years. Luckily for the Buckeyes, his WRs let him down. And in OT, the wily veterans Heyward and Worthington were just too much. There are no moral victories in sports. But there was a victory of character for James Vandenberg that night. He showed the world that this is physical talent and mental toughness and then there is 'heart'. Of which he had plenty on the night. The game, courtesy in large part to him, became an instant classic. So that worthy son of Keokuk Iowa, James Vandenberg, will get a notable mention every time the 09-10 season is mentioned.
4) That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet: So said Juliet Montague to Romeo Capulet. They obviously were not Big Ten fans. Cos nothing is sweeter to Big Ten fans than a Rose Bowl victory. And this season will always be remembered for a successful trip to Pasadena and a dominating display over a worthy opponent in the Rose Bowl. So dominating that it had the biased ESPN crew eating slice after slice of humble pie in the 4th quarter. It is the granddaddy of em all for a reason. Played on a picture perfect green carpet, with resplendent views of a SoCal sunset and a stadium drenched in scarlet and gray, the Rose Bowl was just a magnificent New Year's day gift to Buckeye nation from your beloved 2009-10 Buckeye football team.
