Barkeep, make mine a Ginn and Seven.  In fact, I think I’ll have three of them.

Recruiters refer to them as difference-makers and I think it is safe to say that Tedd Ginn Jr. is a difference maker.  Wow!  Speed kills and his speed certainly killed the Spartans.

MSU showed surprising character in rallying from 17 point down.  The Buckeyes have been criticized for going conservative and letting a 17 point lead dissipate.  Our offense didn’t appear conservative to me, just ineffectual.  We had dropped passes, bad passes, sacks, a fumble and a few bad running plays mixed in with a couple of penalties.  It still adds up to 3 periods of bad offense, just not conservative.  I have seen more strange looking formations from this team than any I can remember.  The only problem with that is that no matter how you line up, you still have to block people.  Therein lay the problem.  However slight, there does seem to be improvement. Certainly Ginn deserves most of the praise, but some credit needs to Troy Smith for orchestrating the late game drive.  It was not a perfect performance, by Troy, but with no turnovers it has to be viewed as solid at the very least.  He threw passed to Santonio and  Gonzalez which, if thrown perfectly, would have been TD’s.  They still should have been caught.  Lydell returned from the dog house  only to fall into the out house with a crucial fumble.  The silver lining in all our running back woes is the recent performance by Mo Hall.  Here is a Buckeye who has done nothing, but work hard, say the right things, be a good student.  It is nice to see him play well in both the role of kick returner and running back.  We had a win, we scored 31 points and are now bowl eligible.  Now before you bad-mouth whatever humble bowl invites us remember it really means 20 more practices before spring ball.  I think we can agree that this team needs practice.  All in all, though, it was nice day to be a Buckeye.

                Then came this week.  What a jerk!  And shame on ESPN for even listening to him.  My fantasy, edging out something involving the Coors Lite twins, is to morph into Ray Lewis’ body and to have a clean shot the of knees this miserable SOB.  Then Jim O’Brien has to pile on.  Nobody ever said being a Buckeye was going to be easy.

                What we need is a victory over Purdue.  The Boilers have had a very strange season.  Winning their first 5, then losing their latest four.  Of course, as we get ready to play them things look brighter in W. Lafayette.  Orton seem at least semi-healthy, the Golden Girl has made bail and the Big Drum seems to be recovering from the shock of learning that the Texas drum was bigger.  But, does Texas have a train?  No way, just some dumb old steer.  A better question does Texas or anybody for that matter,  pipe in crowd noise as the Boilers do in Farm-Aide Stadium?   The Bucks need to lay some licks on whatever QB the home team throws out there.  The Boilermakers have been pretty generous with the turnovers as late and it would be very helpful if they would continue this.  Let’s put #7 in motion and see what kind of a crowd he attracts.  Get ready, Santonio, for some passes and for the announcers to continue to butcher your name.

                The Sooners high-wire act continued with back to back nail biters with Oklahoma State and Texas A&M.  This week they play the Cornhuskers in what could be the first of a two-round match.  The 29 point spread tells you all you need to know about this once-great rivalry.  Auburn faces Georgia in a very interesting game.  The Bulldogs don’t quite seem to have a great team but they could wreck some War Eagle-Tiger dreams and save the BSC.  Miami is finding out what life is like in a real conference.  The oh-so sad Nittany Lions can commiserate.  Can poor Joe Pa get a win in the Big Ten? Indiana is the best chance they are going to get, but it is no sure thing.  I just have a bad feeling that we may be watching a sad ending to the Paterno era.  After watching Florida State struggle with NC State, I don’t feel quite so bad about the Buckeye offense.  Those were two historically bad offenses.  The whole state of Florida seems to be struggling.  The Gators are looking like expensive shoes, the Canes have two defeats already and should get beat by Virginia this week.  The Noles have also lost twice and just don’t look very good. The poor Sunshine state, first the disastrous weather, and now football stinks.  You gotta feel for them. Only kidding!   Let’s hope our recruiters are working hard down there.

                OK, Buckeyes, we all know it has been a tough week.  But now is not the time to wallow in self-pity.  Need I remind you that in addition to a brief association with one self-absorbed  punk we have produced a few like Archie, Eddie, Keith Byars, Mike Lanese, Chris Speilman, Rex Kern, Paul Warfield, Craig Krenzel, Mike Doss, Ben Harstock, Mike Vrabel, Joe Germaine, Jim Lachay, Bobby Hoying, John Frank, Mike Tomczak, Brian Bashnagel, Woody Hayes, Hop Cassady, Randy Gradishar, Ike Kelly, Jim Houston, Ahmed Plummer, Marcus Merek, Dave Foley, Joey Galloway, Luke Fickell, Greg Bellasari, Tm Fox, William White, Jan White, Shawn Springs, Jerry Rudzinski, Will Sander, Arnie Chonko just to name a few,  who did a pretty nice job of exemplifying what it means to be a Buckeye student-athlete.  One bad road apple does not ruin this bunch.  If it is  a credibility-integrity match between this miscreant and Jim Tressel, I know which side I’m on.  Let’s take care of the Boilers before we peak to see who is slinking into town.  Something smells and the odor is definitely from the north.