Those of you who read this blog with any regularity will know I’m something of an Ohio State football fan. Over the weekend, the team had a very difficult and unexpected loss against Purdue, who outplayed them to earn the victory. Hats off to Purdue, they did what they had to do and pulled out the win.

Now then, on to the central thesis of this post. Something has been happening in the Buckeye fan base that is incredibly distasteful. That is the bashing of players and coaches after wins (and particularly losses) where these “fans” are rude, disrespectful, and have completely lost the plot. What I think has happened is that the fan base has gotten spoiled with routine 10 win seasons and trips to BCS bowls and simply expect that is the right of the Buckeye football team.

This has cultivated a false sense of entitlement that has led to this really horrid display of being a fan. So much so, I’m embarrassed to even admit I am a fan (not because of the team mind you, I’m proud of them and their effort despite the odd disappointment) but because of the preponderance of douchebags who purport to be OSU fans. Ugh, they suck.

This doesn’t mean one can’t observe the offense has regressed this year, it doesn’t mean that discussion can’t take place about what might be a fix. But when these “fans” take it out on 20 year old kids, boo them as the come off the field, shout insults at them, that’s where we need to draw the line. Because, if this trend continues, we could see Ohio State field the best damn team in the land supported by the best damn band in the land, but also dragging along the worst damn fans in the land. And that would be a sad, sad day.

OK, so now texting while in the car is the major sin we as a society need to go after and legislate out of existence. It’s complete and utter horse hockey. I’ll admit it, I text while driving. Every single day. Multiple times per day. But it makes not a bit of difference in safety. Why you ask? Because when I choose to text, the car is stopped in traffic or at a traffic light. When the car is moving, my eyes are on the road and my hands are on the wheel.

By the way, it’s the same rule I use when handling liquid in the vehicle. It’s the same rule I use when I handle food in the vehicle. Or read something, or scribble on a note pad, or dial the phone. To do otherwise is stupid. But what is even more stupid is that we’re going to single out texting and make it illegal. Here’s a list of things at least as dangerous as texting that I have personally witnessed while commuting:

• Eating – There was a guy eating ribs with a sauce to dip in while tooling along at 50mph. Sticky fingers, not paying a bit of attention to the road, swerving, and three near accidents.
• Applying Makeup – This is a morning activity on the road. A woman was traveling over 70mph about 10 feet off the bumper of the car in front of her, looking in the mirror under her sun visor putting on mascara.
• Arguing – There was a couple moving along in a traffic jam (about 20mph with braking every 2-3 seconds) in full-on verbal shouting match (windows were open so everyone could hear.) Not a care of actual driving on the driver’s mind.
• Reading – This is a multiple offender activity in that I see this at least once per week. Some driver tooling along reading a [newspaper, book, computer, phone, etc] at variable speeds and in variable traffic conditions.
• Kids – This is a good one, “If you two don’t stop fighting I’ll pull the car over and you’ll be in trouble!” – Really, I wish the parents would pull over rather than spend more time looking in the back seat than actually driving.
• Drinking – I’ve seen everything being consumed in cars, but my favorite was a guy pouring steaming hot coffee from a thermos into a styrofoam cup while cruising along in the hammer lane, zooming across lanes to make time.

So, rather than legislate this stuff out, which includes texting. I’d prefer we let nature (or if you’re a believer, god’s will) take its course. This must be an area where the gene pool would benefit from weeding out some of the induhviduals with poor judgment, preferrably, before they breed. I know there is sometimes collateral damage, but I have to believe society would benefit in the long run.

Meanwhile, I wish the government would focus on the wars, financial, health, and confidence crises we have going on right now. This little issue can be worked out without their help. My spouse calls me a “GOM” aka Grumpy Old Man – guess I’m showing why!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

This got caught up in my publishing system somewhere and I had to kick it loose this morning. Forwarded to me via virtual carrier pigeon over the internets….(HT: Bob)

The Ten Reasons Beer is better than Jesus:

10. No one will kill you for not drinking Beer.

9. Beer doesn’t tell you how to have sex.

8. Beer has never caused a major war.

7. No one forces Beer on minors who cannot think for themselves.

6. When you have a Beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give it away.

5. Nobody’s ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over his brand of Beer.

4. You don’t have to wait 2000+ years for a second Beer.

3. There are laws saying Beer labels can’t lie to you.

2. You can prove you have a Beer.

1. If you’ve devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.

Another Top 10 team, the same result. A loss. At least it wasn’t a blowout like last year. There was a lot to be proud of in this game, though the Trojans scored 18, the defense really is accountable for 11 of them, a TD, 2-pt conversion, and a field goal. The first TD was totally on the offense with the for all intents and purposes pick-six. Without that, there’s a win.

Special teams were AWESOME in this game. Great punting, great returns, great return coverage, and great placekicking. They showed up.

The offense was not consistent in the least. I think the hits Pryor took in the first quarter might have hurt him physically, but certainly hurt his confidence and judgment. The lack of a bell cow back like Beanie Wells also showed up. Nothing against Boom, he runs hard and provides maximum effort – which is all you can ask – but he’s not going to get those tough yards between the tackles with an opponent like USC.

The O-line was pretty good for all the grief it takes over time. I thought play calling was pretty sound in the first quarter as well. But somehow, we got away from the misdirection and started running Dave again. And again. And again. On 1 yard conversions, I’d think someone might say “Hey, we’ve got a 6′6″, 230 lb quarterback. Why don’t we simply sneak it behind 500 lb benchpress Boren to convert?”

But no, Dave would be the best answer. Pull the guard, have the fullback whiff on his block and the back gets chopped down at or behind the line of scrimmage.

All of the losses hurt when it’s the team you root for – but this one somehow is worse. This one was winnable and slipped away, much like the Texas game last year. At some point, the offense is going to have to join the same team and perform consistently and score touchdowns, not field goals. Eight points were left on the board tonight. That would have amounted to a win too. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. If my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle as they say. This was a needless loss.

Now, as for the rest of the season, we’ll see what happens next week on the road in Cleveland vs. Toledo which put up 54 points this week. If we come out with fire and passion, this could be an 11-1 season. If we’re still funky, Toledo could win. Seriously. That would suck.

The University of Southern California (USC) will play Ohio State in a night game at the ‘Shoe tomorrow evening. If you read anything about this game, you’ll know the Buckeyes have absolutely ZERO chance of winning. They ought not even show up. After all, they lost in LA last year 35-3 (ouch!) and have lost their last 4 big, non-conference games.

I’m a Buckeye fan and thus am not objective in this, but I like this game. I like the setup. I like that no one believes they will win. I like that their Freshman starting quarterback is talking smack. I like that they are -7 point ‘dogs at home. I like that nothing but mild respect is coming from Ohio State about this game. I like that the game last week against Navy was a tougher challenge than anticipated. I like that USC beat the snot out of a horrible San Jose State team building their confidence.

Yep, I betting I’m going to like the final score which will look something like this: 23-12 Buckeyes. And if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But I believe the perfect storm is brewing and that the big game beatdown predicted won’t happen, at least in the way the pundits are predicting. GO BUCKS!