Reflections on Football Heartbreak
Heartbreak in Ohio, there is no joy in Columbus today. If you've been living under a rock, you may not of heard of OSU's humilitation at the hands of Florida last night. What an ugly display! They looked like a Division III team with no offense and zero ability to adapt to a tight Florida defense. It was downright painful to watch because this was not the team everyone expected to see last night. Even the most ardent Florida supporters believed it was going to be a close game. What happened? That'll be the question in American sports nation for some time.As I watched the shellacking, I wondered which would be more painful: to be complelely humilitated in a blowout like last night or to come within seconds of a national championship and have it taken away by a last minute comeback. At least with the comeback loss, you can still hold your head up high knowing you played a good game.
posted by Kevin C @ 12:15 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
So since they lost so ingloriously the question has nagged at me, "what went wrong?" "Why did they lose in such horrible fashion?" What finally occurred to me is that they played an entire game out of character. Before the game everyone asked "Will Florida be able to handle the size and strength of this Buckeye team." to which people replied "Can Ohio State match up with this teams speed?" Now Ohio State is big and physical (they're from the BIG TEN) and they have some speed. But they tried to prove they had speed too and they played right into Florida's hands. I saw defensive backs off of receivers 5-8 yards on 3rd and 3 several times. If you've watched the Colts get out-muscled by the Patriots/Steelers ever year you should now that the way to beat a speed/finesse team, is to be physical. Bump them at the line, blitz early and often. You can't win when you aren't committed to your Identity. Now to spiritualize the whole matter. It is no wonder we fail so horribly as people when we forget that Jesus is the master and all powerful one and we are just the created being. It seems kind of trite to link football and Jesus together, but it struck me as a powerful metaphor of how important your Identity is in all things. As for the Buckeyes, like they say in Chicago, there's always next year.
I just want to add that "there's always next year" is a perrenial saying by the Cubbies--and they should probably get around to proving they still exist...you know...like the sox did in '05...
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