[March 22nd up date: ....and then there were three !]
[March 23rd up date: ...suddenly there was only one left in the "Elite Eight"!]
[March 24th up date: ...still one left -- OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
going to New Orleans in the "Final Four"!]
[March 31st up date: ...and then there were none -- leaves Kansas vs Kentucky in finals Mon.]
[April 2nd up date: ...University of Kentucky is the champion!]
My husband used to complain he couldn't get much news in the Los Angeles Times about Ohio State University (OSU) sports teams. Never mind, as I reminded him, that most people in Southern California where we now lived are more interested in West Coast teams -- UCLA, USC, OSU (here it means Oregon State University,) Washington, just to name a few western powerhouse college athletic teams.
He had been accustomed to reading Central Ohio's major newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch (Columbus is home to Ohio State University,) but we hadn't continued the subscription here. Keep in mind computer use with Internet access was uncommon and not available yet in our household. A few special Ohio friends he especially welcomed hearing from would celebrate wins, commiserate losses as they kibitzed with him by phone, including John who had been a head cheerleader at Ohio State.
I remember years ago at least one occasion of our attending an exciting Ohio State basketball game when they played then at St. John's Arena, now a multi-purpose arena. The OSU basketball team games are currently played in a newer arena with the Schottenstein family name, associated with what has become a prominent Columbus national/international holding company. I recall the name as being a huge discount store where I sometimes shopped for marked down or seconds in name designer clothing, long before such marketing became so prevalent.
Anyway, yesterday's L. A. Times sports section had a small front page column by Chris Dufresne that does mention Ohio. For all of you Ohioans wherever you are and for my husband, though he is no longer of this world, I thought you might be interested in the quote at the beginning of the article that's titled:
"Ohio players simply tireless
Cincinnati, Xavier, Ohio State, Ohio give the state four Sweet 16 entries, an NCAA first.
One of every four teams remaining is from Ohio, with Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati and Ohio all advancing.
No state has ever pushed four schools into the round of 16, which only invites the question: What happened to Akron?
This is the tournament, you could say, where most of the rubber met the road."
You can click on the L A. Times Dufresne link above for the rest of the article which primarily discusses other college teams still in NCAA basketball's Sweet 16 playoffs.
Another time, I'll share the saga, expectations and complications I had for introducing my husband to using the computer to connect to the budding sports information cyber world that could be available to him.
Love your Ohio sports saga! And I had no idea that four of the sweet sixteen were from Ohio! I can imagine the hysteria if this had happened in Iowa (often mistaken for Ohio, since nobody can quite believe such a rural state could produce much besides corn). I don't think Iowa would have four schools in that bracket or league or whatever they call it (sports ignoramus here). Let's see....Iowa, Iowa State, Grinnell?? UNI?? (I do recall fondly the song students from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA, (not Cornell University, which is in Ithaca, NY) used to sing when they played Coe College of Cedar Rapids, IA,...(to the tune of "She'll be comin' round the mountain..."): "If you can't go to college, go to Coe"....Heh
ReplyDeleteExtreme English: Expect Ohio residents are very enthusiastic about having all these teams in the "Sweet Sixteen" playoffs. Likely there's intrastate competition. Columbus fans would certainly be hyped up over OSU's presence ... and now that they've won the game against Cincinnati, OSU progresses into the "Elite Eight" ... the tension builds! Yes, I've been aware that many people mix Iowa and Ohio -- could never understand why. Many people mix Ohio State University with Ohio University. Xavier and Ohio Univ. yet to play their games. Funny slam on poor Coe!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite golfing buddies was a rabid Ohio State backer. He knew Woody Hayes, and told many good Woody stories. He flew an Ohio State flag in his backyard, and lowered it to half-staff anytime the Buckeyes lost, which wasn't often. Now that my Badgers have exited the basketball tourney, I'm rooting for the Ohio and other Midwest teams. Go, Midwest!
ReplyDeleteDick: Sorry about your Wisconsin team being eliminated, especially so early in the "madness." I chuckled when I read about your golfing buddy. A young couple who lived across the street from us for a few years included a Univ. of Michigan alumni wife. She and my husband enjoyed bantering good-naturedly about their respective teams in that classic rivalry between Mich. and OSU. The year Mich. was the football victor my husband put a white flag in our front yard which delighted her. Woody Hayes was greatly admired in Ohio -- "three yards and a cloud of dust" as he had the team mostly run the ball rather than pass as my husband explained to me. Most unfortunate that Hayes career ended in the manner it did. If OSU sports teams were eliminated from tournaments, like you, my husband always rooted for whatever team was competing, including Michigan, from what was then the Big Ten Conference.
ReplyDeleteJoared: Ahem...I am the blogger known as Xtreme English. I do know how to spell extreme, but that variant was already taken! So I wound up with Xtreme, spelt with a capitol X, and have managed to hold onto it for SIX YEARS despite many incursions from non-English speaking persons wishing to appropriate it for themselves. Please be on my side. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteXtreme English: I can only plead guilty to this multi-tasking violation due to "watching TV while bloggin' and eating." Am not sure if the penalty is more severe than "texting while bloggin'," which I've also been known to do. "Radio listening while bloggin'" is generally more amenable to my avoiding such thoughtless glitches. Sorry 'bout that 'cause I do know better.
ReplyDeleteJoared: You smart folks just amaze me with your varieties of multi-tasking. If I tried to watch TV, blog, and eat all at the same time, I'd probably fall off my chair. :)
ReplyDeleteXtreme English: I don't necessarily recommend my multi-tasking ways, particularly to anyone who might fall off their chair. Dare I confess that I have also been known to include talking to someone, too, during such nefarious activities? Obviously, it's not the better part of wisdom to be doing so, particularly when I'm publishing a new blog post, as I sometimes discover later.
ReplyDeleteAll alphabet soup to me, I'm afraid. David is a UNC alumna so he keep up with them. I keep up with politics. Now there's a sport. Dianne
ReplyDeleteSchmidley: My carry-over NCAA sports interest has been primarily acquired via osmosis from my husband and lingers still, spasmodically. Like you, he generally followed sports teams and I've kept up with political sport.
ReplyDeleteThe NCAA time is INTENSE. I've watched bits and pieces of things, but am not really invested in who wins. I'm probably one of a handful of people who feel that way. My addiction is with professional teams....basketball, baseball and football. Well, we all have to hooked on something, right? My husband loved sports and was hooked on politics too....BIG TIME. I managed to stay out of the line of fire...kind of as I do now. ~Joy
ReplyDelete