Special Good bye Karen edition:
They say that all good things must come to an end. It seems the same holds true for bad things. Who knew? Karen Holbrook's (Karenus XVI) reign of stupidity is, at last, coming to an end. Hopefully, for the rest of the academic world she will retire and not foist her evil upon any other institution. Although, if a certain school to our north were to be looking for a president, I would be glad to write a glowing letter of recommendation. When you think about it, that is where she belonged all along. She would fit right in with their mis-placed arrogance and if there was ever a culture in need of change it is right there in good old Ann Arbor. They can change presidents and culture all they want as long as they keep our boy Lllloyd.
Holbrook's ridiculous assault on tailgaiting has been well documented, but her elitist admission policies may have been her worst sin. The Ohio State University is a land grant public institution, created to serve the needs of the citizens of Ohio. It is not an Ivy League school. Sure, the retention rates for freshman and sophomores have soared; that will happen when admission is denied to all but the academically elite. Certainly, we need standards, and open admission is no longer practical. That being said, Ohio kids who are good students, deserve a chance. If they fail, so be it, that is their own doing. And don't give me the crap about the branch campuses; That is not exactly the college experience. Why not the save the money and go to a community college.
Karen's decree that she wanted to change the culture at Ohio State was downright insulting. She came to us from Georgia where the only culture they know starts with agri.
Her lack of rapport with the student body was as obvious as her lack of interest in any such relationship. The only good coming out of her reign is that she has ensured that her successor, whoever that may be, will, most certainly, be welcomed with open arms by the entire university community. Enough!
Football��Spring ball came and went and seemed to go well. With so many starters being held out it was hard to know if the wildly optimistic reports about the 2006 offense are with merit or not. Yes, there seems to be a wealth of talent. Let's keep in mind, much as Dean Smith was the only coach in America who could hold Michael Jordan to 15 points per game, will Tressel-ball adapt enough to become the Francis Schmidt-like scoring machine some envision? Will the defense be able to replace 9 starters well enough and quickly enough to compete for the national championship? A lot of serious questions for a team some consider worthy of a #1 ranking. I would write the #1 talk off as wishful thinking except for the fact that there is no overwhelming top team or even teams looking to dominate the landscape of 2006.
The big question everyone wants to know is can the Buckeyes beat Texas in Austin. That might not prove to be as important a question as the question of whether or not they can win the re-match in Tempe on January 8? It could happen. I would not expect to see two unbeaten teams playing for the NC. Think about it; the SEC and ACC will cannibalize themselves enough that no one emerges undefeated. The only two teams that matter in the Big XII, Texas and OU aren't likely to be unscathed. They play each other and one of them plays Ohio State. Out west, I think just enough of the glow has come off Petey and Co. to get them beat at least once. Notre Dame, despite what some say, will be hard pressed to improve on their record of a year ago. I know Brady Quinn is great and Charley is a "genius", but they still lack speed on defense. Let's give non-genius coaches (everyone but Charley) some credit. They now have a year's worth of game tapes to study and the Fiesta Bowl as a template. The Irish offense, potent as it is, may find the going a bit more difficult in Charley's second season. The sad part of all this is the two schools with, maybe the best chance of undefeated seasons would by West Virginia and Louisville. The good news is that they play each other in Louisville on 11/2. The rest of WVU's schedule is an absolute joke. Lousiville does play Miami (FL), but the rest are road kill. All in all, 2006 should be an interesting year, but mostly it will be COLLEGE FOOTBALL, and it can't start soon enough! Especially after the soccer crowd tried to guilt us into caring about the World Cup. The US should just give up. As if two goals in three games was not bad enough, how about four shots on goal in three games? No wonder the European fans riot.They pay huge ticket prices to see a bunch of communists in short pants and knee socks chase each other around with absolutely no purpose. The fans/hooligans are just plain bored out of their minds! We play football because we can and the rest of the world can't, so they play soccer. Let's leave it at that.
I close by sharing the song that is in my heart:
Oh come let's sing Ohio's praise
And count the end of Karen's days,
Now with open containers our hearts will thrill,
With joy even Karen could not still,
Summer's heat and the beers are cold,
The drinks will pour, the kegs will roll,
Tailgaiting time will surely show
How glad we are to see her go
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