Good morning Buckeye fans! Welcome to your Thursday edition of the Buckeye Bits. Let's jump right in!
Non-Revenue Sports Update. Another week of Buckeye sports in the books. Let’s take a look around campus and see what we have. Let’s take a look at the Men’s Gymnastic team. The top 5 Men’s gymnastic team has had a strong start to the season. In their first meet of the year, they knocked off several top 10 teams and won the prestigious Windy City Invitational. This win secured their #2 ranking.
However, they couldn’t ride that momentum to a win in their first dual meet of the year, losing in a tight battle to #3 ranked Oklahoma in Columbus. They will try to rebound at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas next week, followed by a dual meet against TSUN on 2/18. The Lady Buckeye Gymnasts are 2-1 on the year and currently ranked #11. They are a tough squad with their only loss coming by less then 1 point. In other sports, the Wrestling team is off to another great start. Already this year they have knocked off perennial super power Iowa, and won the always tough Cliff Keen Invitational.
This past week saw Ohio State Freshman Hunter Stieber named B1G Wrestler of the week. The schedule gets no easier for the Buckeyes as this Sunday they travel to State College to face #1 ranked and defending National Champion Penn State. PSU is coached by the legendary Cael Sanderson. It should be a great test for the Buckeye grapplers. A look at other sports wouldn’t be complete without a look the defending National Champion Men’s Volleyball team.
This incarnation of the Buckeyes is ranked #10 and they are beginning to find their groove. They are on a 3 match winning streak, and are gearing up for the Dunlap Invitational in Columbus. Coming to town this weekend are nationally ranked Stanford, Penn State, and Pacific. The matches should be terrific and are worth going too. So while supporting football and basketball is great, don’t forget about wrestling, volleyball, swimming and diving, and gymnastics among others.
Women’s Basketball. What a great season it has been for Buckeye basketball. While everyone is excited about what Thad Matta and the men’s team has been doing, everyone should be paying attention to Jim Foster and his lady Buckeyes. The Bucks are #9 in the nation and have a 19-1 record including being 15-0 at home. It is time to compare OSU and their players to the rest of the nation. You know what I found out after looking at stats at the Buckeyes have dominant players on this team and are lead by star guard Senior Samantha Prahalis. She is the 30th ranked scorer in the nation averaging 18.7 points per game, and is the 20th best free throw shooter with at 87.5% (maybe she should work with the men’s team on free throws).
Women’s Basketball. What a great season it has been for Buckeye basketball. While everyone is excited about what Thad Matta and the men’s team has been doing, everyone should be paying attention to Jim Foster and his lady Buckeyes. The Bucks are #9 in the nation and have a 19-1 record including being 15-0 at home. It is time to compare OSU and their players to the rest of the nation. You know what I found out after looking at stats at the Buckeyes have dominant players on this team and are lead by star guard Senior Samantha Prahalis. She is the 30th ranked scorer in the nation averaging 18.7 points per game, and is the 20th best free throw shooter with at 87.5% (maybe she should work with the men’s team on free throws).
However, scoring is not the only part of her game. She is a great passer and is ranked #8 in assists averaging 6.9 a game. As great as Sammy is she can’t play by herself, she has help. In the back court with Prahalis is Tayler Hill. She is a dynamic player and dead on 3 point shooter. She is the 21st best 3 point shooter in the country, hitting 55 on the season averaging 2.8 a game.
Her 45.1% is 7th best in the country. 6’5” Sophomore Ashley has done a great job down low for the Buckeyes She had to fill some pretty big shoes, stepping into the center spot after the graduation of 4-Time B1G Player of the year and All-American Jantel Lavender. Adams is one of the best defensive players in the nation, ranked 30th in blocked shots with 2.4 a game.
The Buckeyes have a busy week coming up. On January 26 they travel to Indiana, followed by a January 29th game at Minnesota, before returning home to battle Wisconsin on February 6. Currently ESPN Bracketology by Charlie Crème has the Buckeyes as a #3 seed in the same region (Des Moines) as #1 ranked Baylor and #5 Duke. As a fan of all OSU sports both men’s and women’s I look forward to seeing scores and highlights for the Lady Buckeyes.
My Feelings on Joe Paterno. What an awful year for certain college football historical powers. We all know about the pathetic stuff that went on with OSU and the NCAA this year. Players were suspended, our coach fired, and we have basically lost 3 seasons. However, all of this pales in comparison to what happened at PSU. A seemingly squeaky clean coach and his staff were rocked by the what I consider the worst scandal ever in sports. As a teacher, a person who works with children, I do not see a crime more reprehensible then abusing a child. Now Joe Paterno did not touch a child, but he also did not do enough to stop the abuse. He heard what happened and reported it like he should have, but he should have done more.
My Feelings on Joe Paterno. What an awful year for certain college football historical powers. We all know about the pathetic stuff that went on with OSU and the NCAA this year. Players were suspended, our coach fired, and we have basically lost 3 seasons. However, all of this pales in comparison to what happened at PSU. A seemingly squeaky clean coach and his staff were rocked by the what I consider the worst scandal ever in sports. As a teacher, a person who works with children, I do not see a crime more reprehensible then abusing a child. Now Joe Paterno did not touch a child, but he also did not do enough to stop the abuse. He heard what happened and reported it like he should have, but he should have done more.
He was Joe Paterno, there was no person in Happy Valley with more power then him, not they mayor of the city, the AD, or even the President of the University (at least two of them lost their jobs along with Joe Paterno). Joe knew he made a mistake, but does this absolve him, does the fact he passed away absolve him? Frankly I do not know.
But out of respect for Joe Pa and his family, I will mention some positives. Besides winning more games then any other coach in history Joe and his beloved wife Sue did many wonderful things in his decades at PSU. He was an educator. Joe donated millions of dollars to help build the campus library that bares his name. His wife Sue was/is a tireless worker for children with special needs as a dedicated volunteer for the Special Olympics.
From what I have read and heard on ESPN radio Joe’s players both past and present loved him, at his memorial the line of players, which included Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti wrapped around a block to pay their respects to the Paterno family. Joe was obviously a loved man. But how will he be remembered? Will the passage of time dull the pain of what occurred? Some people are attempting to compare what caused Paterno’s firing Woody Hayes punching a Clemson player at the Gator Bowl (OSU needs to stop going to the Gator).
Yes, Woody punching a player was bad, and sadly it cost him his job. But that was it with all of his temper Woody did not do irreparable damage to other children. Joe not following up on the allegations may have damaged other children. I just can’t get past what came out this year. I will always believe it is cool, that I was at games against Penn State and watched Joe Pa, one of the greatest coaches ever coach, but in my mind, because of what happened, and what he could have done there will always be an asterisk by his name.
