Sometimes you just have to give it up. Like them or not, there are irresistible forces in the universe that simply won't be denied. You know -- like Obamacare, Anderson Cooper's vacant stares, Judge Judy's shrewish tongue, that whole Jedi thing, or an adorable new puppy either peeing in or chewing up your shoes. It's going to happen, so one might as well learn to live with it.
Such would seem to be the case with the Ohio State football team. Like it or not, they're national champions and they most definitely earned it.
Though yours truly is no Buckeye fan, I have to give it up to Urban Meyer and his crew for what they accomplished -- especially in the end.
They not only defeated the favored Oregon Ducks, they beat them up. One could say they even humiliated them on national TV. The 42-20 final score was evidence enough of a good old-fashioned ass-whupping, but it could and likely should have been even worse.
Think back to all that OSU had to overcome to finally sit on the mountaintop. They lost their first and second string quarterbacks to injury. Early in the season, they got blistered by two touchdowns in their own house by lowly Virginia Tech.
It seemed like every scribe and talking head in the country (outside the Columbus area) screamed bloody murder when somehow the "Committee" (Condy Rice and Co.) leaped-frogged them over more "worthy" teams like Baylor and TCU into a berth in the Final Four. They weren't deserving, the masses clamored.
And then they knocked off #1 Alabama fair and square. That wasn't supposed to happen.
Oregon was a 6.5 point favorite in the national championship game. They had the reigning Heisman winner as their quarterback and speed galore all over the field. Surely they would finally slay the evil Buckeyes.
Further yet, OSU committed 4 turnovers during the course of the game. Normally, this is a recipe for disaster, especially against a high octane, point-scoring machine team like Oregon. You can't give them 4 extra possessions and possibly expect to win -- right?
But we know what happened and who won indeed. Actually in a blowout, that I dare say NOBODY saw coming. Not the bookies. Not the above-mentioned scribes, talking heads and other "experts". It's unlikely even the staunchest Scarlet and Gray fans in the heart of Buckeyeland would have thought such a lop-sided score possible. Yet as the game went on, particularly in the latter stages, instead of wilting the Buckshots looked be firing away with 12 gages, while the flightless Ducks were helplessly quacking and swimming around in circles on a pond. Usually in such situations the shotguns win.
So yeah, you have to give it up to the Buckeyes. They overcame a whole lot of stuff along the way to get where they are now.
In the end, there is no question they are worthy National Champions. Congratulations and may they enjoy their parade in Columbus in a few days. Some of us don't have to appreciate it any more than, say, a twelve hour mini-series on the life, times, and artistic brilliance of Lindsey Lohan, but irresistable forces can come in strange packages at times.
And as mentioned in my last post a few hours ago, there were those intrepid enough to place wagers on Ohio State way back when they were only 50:1 shots to win the championship.
Trophies, titles and parades are great, but THESE are the truest of happy campers right about now......
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