Ohio State's 2012 Bowl Ban Isn't The End Of The World

Bowl ban? No biggie.

The pre-Christmas announcement of Ohio State’s 2012 postseason ban came as a shock to Buckeye Nation, who mistakenly assumed that the self-applied punishment of scholarship restrictions would absolve the program of all sins. 

The wave of Urban Meyer-induced euphoria that had enveloped Columbus over the last several weeks has subsided, and fans can finally look at the grim reality. A 6-6 season, with a loss in Michigan, is not a season worth remembering. A bowl ban for 2012 has hopes from Buckeye fans as gray as an Ohio November day. 

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Hurricane A Brew'n in Miami

Very appropriate

There is not only a hurricane forming in the Atlantic but also one forming over the city of Miami, FL.

In the past 6 months there have been enough college football scandals to last a lifetime. Ohio State, Boise State and a host of others have been under the NCAA microscope with Miami being the latest casualty.

I will be the first one to tell you that I have always though the Hurricane's have been thugs. From the teams of the 90's to Kellen Winslow being a 'solider'. When Ohio State beat them in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl to win the national title that year, I couldn't have been happier! Not only was it the first championship for Ohio State in my lifetime, but it came against a team that I despised, almost as much as that team up north.When we beat them handily last fall in Columbus, I cheered some more!

When the allegations came out about the inappropriate benefits (and actions, behavior, etc.) from Yahoo! Sports, I kind of turned a deaf ear. I was tired of hearing the NCAA come down on someone because they failed to catch Cam Newton and Gene Chiziek, but as I followed the story further, I knew, without a doubt that most of the allegations had to be true. The Ohio State situation has to be proof of that. The NCAA has been doing their homework and not casting allegations out just to be on the front page. No one thought after the Sugar Bowl that Jim Tressel would no longer be the coach, that Terrelle Pryor would be in the NFL or that the other four would have stayed to serve their punishments (I applaud and appreciate the respect they are showing to Coach Tressel, Coach Fickell, the staff and fans by doing that.)

Terrelle Pryor And Other Thoughts

Waving goodbye to college

Terrelle Pryor has become quite possibly the most polarizing figure in the history of OSU football over his tenure at the university. There is no question the man possesses athletic ability that the common man can only dream of. He is at least partially responsible for giving the fans a great record since 2008 and has single handily won several big games for the scarlet and gray. There is no denying that he will go down as one of the great quarterbacks in the school’s history. 

Unfortunately, with good comes the really REALLY bad. From most accounts he was an arrogant and self involved individual. I can’t say I wouldn’t be the same way if I had grown up with the public adoration and fan fare that he did. As a two sport star in western PA, I imagine the kid rarely heard the word no and was constantly praised throughout the community and the nation. Every one of us that fawned over him in the recruiting process through message boards and blog posts is partially responsible for the monster that ended up taking down our beloved coach, and to a degree, the university.