Carson Palmer proves Buckeye fan stereotype true

*Note: I know this story is a few weeks old but I was on vacation and couldn't post anything. There's more to the story than just telling what happened anyway.

Carson Palmer seemed to find himself in a little bit of a predicament the other day after he appeared on an LA radio show and talked about how excited he was for USC to beat the pants off Ohio State in their upcoming game on Sept. 13th in the Coliseum, as well as next year in Columbus. Listen to the audio to hear the whole conversation.

I'm not writing about this to argue whether Palmer will be right in his predictions. He should be openly supporting his alma mater. He should hope that USC beats the crap out of Ohio State. And Buckeye fans should hope for the opposite. Heck, I hope Ohio State goes out to LA and beats the bejezus out of the Trojans and does the same thing next year here in Columbus. I'm writing to explain how Carson Palmer proved the Buckeye fan stereotype true. The first bit of evidence lies with the Ohio State fans who lashed out against Palmer with torches and pitchforks. In the days following his comments, some Bengal fans who supported him religously before swore him off completely because of his so-called Buckeye bashing. Seriously though, what did you expect him to say? He was on an LA show, graduated from USC and now plays football in the state where fans are obnoxiously passionate about Ohio State. Buckeye fans, this isn't anything new. People get pissed at you all the time for being too obnoxious and loud. Chill out and shut up. This isn't the first time someone has talked crap about you and from your reactions to this it sure won't be the last. To me, it seems OSU fans are up in arms simply because a prominent figure in their state doesn't support their beloved team. So what? Get over it. Buckeye nation is big enough, it'll be fine without one more person.

Another argument that I don't understand at all is that fans are upset because he insulted Jim Tressel. Are you kidding me? I've listened to that clip at least 7 or 8 times and the only reference to Jim Tressel I hear is when Carson explains how fans in Ohio talk about "that university, that football program and Tressel, and all that crap I gotta put up with being back there." His reaction doesn't seem any different than any other non-OSU fan living in Ohio. Think about it, if you were a Buckeye fan and had to live in Ann Arbor I'm absolutely positive you would get sick of the Wolverine coverage. The complaint that Tressel was thrown under the bus makes no sense to me and only proves how stupid and irrantional some Buckeye fans can be.

The bottom line is that Ohio State fans should lighten up on Palmer. As far as I see it, he was just supporting his alma mater and talking (some) crap about an upcoming opponent. But no Buckeye fan has EVER done that before, right?

*2nd Note: While I was on vacation, Mark Schlabach named Ohio State the most hated team in college football. Buckeye Nation, begin your whining... now.

Hooliganism at its finest

In case you missed it, fans of the Columbus Crew and West Ham United were involved in a scuffle on Sunday at the teams' friendly in Crew Stadium. According to reports, the fighting began when West Ham supporters went over to where the rowdiest Crew fans were sitting. The Crew fans took notice and began chanting at them which led to a brawl between more than 100 Crew fans and at least 30 West Ham fans. Full story here.

What the hell are West Ham fans doing in Columbus, Ohio? For an exhibition soccer match. Across the Atlantic. In Columbus, Ohio.

Do these people not have jobs? Maybe this is their job; travel with the team and brawl with other fans. Apparently, they must be pretty good fighters for only 30 of their fans to take on a crowd of 100. When you really sit down and think about it, that would be a great job. Imagine you are paid by your favorite team to travel with them from city to city and all you do is get loaded and fight with other fans, the team would even pay for your legal expenses. It may seem too far fetched to work in America but I'm sure the idea may have been tossed around a time or two overseas given the riotous behavior of soccer fans. And the way some Ohio State football fans act, the only difference between their current behavior and my idea is a paycheck from the university.

Girlfight!!

More of this will definitely make IndyCar more popular in the states...

Titletown

Could ESPN please stop forcing onto us the idea that smaller cities like Williamsport, Massillon or even Columbus can compare to the great sports histories of Boston, LA and New York? The original "Titletown" was (and still is) Green Bay. (See for yourself, it's right there on the seal of the city.) That's not to say Green Bay is the only city full of championships, Pittsburgh's nickname is the "City of Champions." Boston, LA and New York need no explanation of their success either.

I know this time of year seems to be kind of slow around in the sports world, people are bored with baseball, football training camps haven't opened yet and basketball finished well over a month ago. Despite all those factors, it's still really annoying when ESPN launches some month-long series that achieves nothing except making the reporters and interviewees incredibly uncomfortable. And it's not just Titletown, ESPN seems to do this every year. Does anyone really care about "Who's Now?" (I'm looking at you Stuart Scott) or what the greatest highlight is? This one really annoys the crap out of me because anytime these clips are ranked it always seems to come down to the same 5 or 6 moments. "Do you believe in miracles?!" "I don't believe what I just saw!" "The band is out on the field!!" These moments are all great but when constantly rehashed to the point of emotional numbness, it gets a little annoying.

The First Post: Ohio State Football

It seems appropriate that as an Ohio State student I should write something about the upcoming football season. (42 days to kick off, by the way) As a disclaimer, I would like to think this is coming from a relatively objective point of view. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a reasonable Buckeye fan, as opposed to some of the wackos in Columbus who abandon all logic and reason when talking about football.

With that said, here's my season preview:

At the very least, Ohio State will win the crappy Big Ten for the fourth year in a row. Please don't try to stick up for the conference, the next best team last year, Illinois, got wiped up and down the field by USC in the Rose Bowl. Oh yeah, the argument that Michigan beat Florida in their bowl game doesn't help either. One good game doesn't make up for years of underachievement by Lloyd Carr (sad to see him go, but Rodriguez doesn't seem to help their case much either).

The Buckeyes may struggle at Wisconsin and at Illinois (I didn't say lose, the games will just be close). Ohio State has been known to struggle on the road at night and the fact that the Buckeyes play Minnesota the week before doesn't help either. While Ohio State will probably win those games, the game at USC will ultimately determine whether or not OSU will be playing for the national title in Miami. I have full confidence in all three units of the team to make a legitimate run at the title but it will absolutely hinge on the play of Todd Boeckman. It seemed Todd improved through each game last year up until Illinois. His gambles of heaving the ball down field eventually caught up with him, throwing 6 interceptions in the last 3 games. All reports out of camp show that Boeckman is developing much needed consistency to lead the Buckeyes to a third straight national title game appearance. His play will be the difference in Ohio State finally getting over the hump or taking one more step in becoming the Buffalo Bills of college football.

On a side note, could Ohio State please start putting tougher teams on their schedule? I know there's nothing they can do about their conference games but come on. Two Division 1-AA teams (Youngstown St. and Troy) have no business being on the schedule, especially one (YSU) that OSU is playing for the second year in a row.