So a few weeks back I was listening to the “Poscast” (Joe Posnanski’s Podcast) that we was doing with Ken Tremendous (AKA Michael Schur AKA Mose Shrute AKA my favorite sports blogger ever) and they were doing one of their “fantasy drafts.” This one was “if you could to dinner any five sports figures, who would they be?”
So for our first summer Open Thread, I thought I’d modify that question a little and find out what you guys thought. Since we can’t have a proper “draft”, we’ll leave it open to everyone. If you could have dinner with any five Buckeyes, who would they be? They could be historical Buckeyes, non-athletes, current Buckeyes. Whoever.
Here’s my five. I put a limitation on my list to be Buckeyes I had seen in action with my own two eyes. Live and (for all but one) in person.
1. Vernon Gholston – This one is obvious. I have no idea what we would talk about and it would probably get uncomfortable after a few minutes of me staring, but I would like to meet the man behind the body. Plus, we could reminiscence about his dismantling of Jake Long and his one-armed tackle of Albert Young. And then there was the Northwestern game where he had that beautiful TD. I think we’d eventually hit it off.
2. Alonzo Spellman – This might be a weird pick here, but it makes sense if you understand my fascination with both: physical specimens and Ohio State Defensive Ends. Had MotSaG existed 20 years earlier we would have had Alonzo Spellman Shots of the Week. Before there was Gholston, there was Spellman. He was the original manimal. I’d wager that Mr. Spellman might make dinner conversations interesting.
3. Rob Kelly – My favorite defender on the should-have-been-National-Champs 1998 team. I don’t know if it was the giant cross tattoo on his arm or the white socks pulled high or what, but I loved the way Kelly played and I always imagined my 23 year-old-self would be really good friends with Kelley.
4. Chris Spielman – Here are the obvious ones. No one is more of a Buckeye than Spiels and I would just love to sit back and hear his stories. If I could have two dads, I would want Spielman to be my other one. I think my real dad would be okay with that.
5. Eddie George – And finally, yes, I would love to sit down with Eddie and hear his journey, as well. Possibly the greatest running back I’ve ever watched, I think I’d enjoy hearing him recount his record setting games and everything else that happened during his times at Ohio State. Do you think he ever got car deals?
So those are my five. Within my constraints, I could have added another dozen players, including basketball players. If I expanded it to all-time Buckeyes, I’d be paralyzed trying to whittle the list down to 25, not to mention 5. But I’m happy with my list.
Who are you inviting to dinner?