The loss to Tennessee was quite the gut punch and I really didn’t feel like posting anything after it. For whatever reason, even though I love football more than basketball, I always feel more emotion during a basketball game. Maybe it’s the ebb and flow of the game is so different from football, maybe the beauty of the game is more emotional than the visceral rawness of football. Maybe I just really hate Tennessee. Whatever it was, this game was a frustrating exercise in Buckeye Fandom, no matter what this team’s ultimate ceiling could have been.
I really thought the Buckeyes were one three-pointer away from putting the Volunteers away. Up by five with about 5-6 minutes to go I thought one more dagger could distance the Buckeyes and crush the Vols’ spirits. It clanged out and Tennessee killed us at the rim and that was that.
So instead of writing any kind of season warp up, I think I’ll just link what Vico wrote (with a nice little PJ Hill tribute), which encapsulates more or less what I feel.
In the end, I’m not too torn up about the loss to the Volunteers. It sucks. It really does. However, I pictured the Buckeyes as a Sweet 16 team before the season. To that end, they met my expectations. The hard part is getting a taste of what may come, only to have it all suddenly end. The Buckeyes are still blessed to have Thad Matta and company at the helm of the program. Dave Richardson, the strength and conditioning coach, also deserves special praise for keeping a 5.5 man rotation fit for the Big Ten run. Simply put, we would never be dreaming this big under Jim O’Brien. Further, the roster losses for the Buckeyes are all very manageable (at least, the five seniors) and Evan Turner has led us to believe that a return for his senior season is still a possibility. However you look at it, there is not that instant thought of defection like some of the Thad Five. Lastly, the Buckeyes are getting an incredible recruiting class next year, led by Jared Sullinger. Hopefully, Sullinger will be a necessary complement in the post.
And with that, the blogging around these parts will probably slow a bit (not that it’s been blazing by any stretch of the imagination) except for brief bursts of activity, such as the spring game, the NFL draft and when Evan Turner announces his decision to return for his senior season to subjugate the NCAA field to his whim and fancy.
I have some stuff I’ve been working on that will show up periodically, but I’m not sure how often that will trickle out. For now, we will promise not to disappear completely (if I can get my co-bloggers to throw in the occasionally post, all the better) and you can always hit us up with your tips, ideas for stories and complaints and we will be as responsive as we can be.
It’s been a great 2009-2010 athletic season, all these considered, and the future looks just as bright.
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