it’s time?

I generally maintain that there is no actual end to Ohio State football season, but after our last on-field performance, it was probably good to take a small break, just to let some of that bad mojo slip away. Our family didn’t even make our usual fuss over the spring game this year, as we were all in Florida for Father of Uncle Crappy’s Birthday.

Rest period is over boys and girls — Uncle Crappy has purchased his first college football preview magazines of the season.

I made the regular purchase of the Sporting News preview book, usually well-written and pretty thorough. I also bought a copy of Phil Steele’s preview, a massive volume with 300-plus pages of freaking agate — but full of more information than most of the other previews combined.

That’s an interesting magazine. Graphically, it’s a nightmare — tiny type, jumbles of boxes and charts and thumbnail photos scattered everywhere. Mr. Steele, who writes all the copy himself (as he points out in several locations) could also benefit from a little thorough editing — like, say, he could cut out all the references to himself and how accurate his book is and probably cut the number of trees he kills each year in half.

But, jesus, it is thorough. I’ll be reading from now until September 1, and I won’t come close to getting through the whole goddamn thing. And that’ll be OK, because that’s the day we get started for real.

(That is, if you consider the game against DI-AA Youngstown State to be a real game. But we’ll save those thoughts for later.)

Both magazines peg Ohio State as a Big Ten contender, but not a serious one (TSN has us 17th in the country and finishing 4th in the conference, while Phil says we’re 15th and will finish 3rd in the Big Ten.). On the other hand, both say if we manage to win the big road games (Penn State and Michigan) we should be in an interesting position at the end of the year. They say we’re going to have a killer defense, good kicking game, a solid o-line, good skill players and a steady, dependable quarterback who won’t dazzle anyone but should keep us out of trouble.

Think back five years or so. Does this sound familiar?

Look, it’s waaaay too early for me to be sayin’ anything.

But I’m just sayin.’

5 thoughts on “it’s time?”

  1. This week I’ve been wondering what the world would be like if 110% was possible outside of the effort that athletes give. Example, as I walked to my office this morning, I wondered what if the humidity was 110% instead of the 95% it actually was, would I have to swim?

    Then I check in with my favorite blogger, and lo and behold, I find out what a fan would be like if he gave 110%. I’ve seen Steele’s mag on the shelf, but I’ve never had the courage to buy it. I’m certain that I would crumble before I got half way through it. You have taken on the mother of all football previews. If you survive it, your place in the pantheon of fans is secure. Plus, you’ll be able to dazzle your family and friends with an array of minutiae regarding their favorite teams.

    Good luck and good reading.

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  2. This week’s sign of the Apocalypse…

    Uncle Crappy took some “time off” between OSU football seasons.

    Thank goodness you are such a complete, utter, unrestrained freak, I mean fan, about Ohio State Football. Hopefully that makes up for the slacking on my part.

    Now, off with You! Shouldn’t you be reading Steele’s?

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  3. I may be blind by the time I’m done, but I’m well into Mr. Steele’s book, after only a couple of days. I’ve been through all of Ohio State’s opponents, the rest of the Big Ten, the MAC and I’ll be starting on the Top 25 shortly.

    I’m slowly learning some tricks to reading his stuff, which has helped some. The biggest? Virtually anything in bold type is self-flagellation, something along the lines of: Of course, I predicted that Boise St. would run two trick plays — one in the fourth quarter and one in overtime — to upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

    So I just skip over those parts. And there’s whole pages devoted to how good he is, so I can skip over those as well. The rest of it, though, is pretty cool.

    My biggest concern is that reading too much of his book will speed the onset of my impending need for bifocals. I’m thinking about writing with the suggestion that he hire me as a page designer for future editions, because he absolutely needs that help.

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  4. And … I’m thinking about wearing an Ohio State jersey to the show on Monday. Watch out for the freak…

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  5. …i am really enjoying the pundits talking about us having a down or so-so year…last year’s offense was fun, but a year of grinding-it-out, 10 of 17 passing, great field position, solid opportunistic defense…ummm, it just feels like a warm blanket…and a growler of barleys.

    yeah, i think it best for the rest of the big 10 to just forget about us…although, my dream is for joe (it’s-actually-all-about-me) pa-thetic to soil himself once again against the buckeyes…

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