Dear Pissed Off Ohio State Fans

[prosodic]

*steps on soapbox*

Just a reminder:

2008 Final Score:
OSU - 3
USC - 35

(We scored that 3 points in the first quarter and proceeded to get slaughtered afterwards.)

2009 Final Score:
OSU - 15
USC - 18

(We were ahead until 1 minute, 5 seconds left in the game.)

Now, I ask you...

Why are you so upset? So we lost...it happens. This is not the first time we have ever lost, nor will it be the last. The point is, we played a very respectable game. We were ahead for most of the 2nd half. We fought hard. We played our asses off. We did better than anyone expected us to do. USC is the higher ranked team, after all, and nobody expected us to win after last year's carnage. Personally, I think we played this game much better than last week's game. We were all over USC for most of this game and we let Navy get away with too much last week, which is why we only beat them by 4 points.

We can leave this game feeling no shame. I can't help but wonder if a lot of the fans are this upset because they were hoping we'd get vengeance for last year. Well, we didn't. But we sure as hell tried. Bravo, Ohio State. I applaud you. You really looked alive out there.

So, let's get some perspective. This was USC. One of the highest-ranked teams in the country. Next week, we play Toledo. Wouldn't it be much more infuriating...more humiliating...if Toledo beat us? Ok. Save your vitriol for a game like that, in the unlikely event that should happen.

Believe me, I bleed scarlet and grey as much as you all do, and I'm proud of our guys. Once a Buckeye...always a Buckeye. For better or for worse.

Now...let's focus on the rest of the season, shall we? What's done is done.

*steps off soapbox*

ETA: I'm already tired of having debates with people on Facebook about this game. We've had far more humiliating losses, for crying out loud. Ok...logically, we should have won. But we choked. It happens. We're not the only team who has ever done it. And people think we're overrated...but that's nothing new. People will always think that, even if we have an undefeated season. We'll never do enough to please those people or play the right teams to please those people. Screw them, I say. Buckeye fans know what their team is capable of, and who cares what anybody else thinks?

Comments

[jenny-rambles.livejournal.com]

Mike's parents both got their grad school degree from there ... so Mike was bummed that they lost. They did really well though - I thought it was a good game!

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

Thanks for saying that. I think we're in the minority. We lost by 3 points. The game could hardly have been any closer, and I've rarely seen people get this worked up. I don't get it.

I honestly thought the game would be much worse. This is one of those instances when my "expect the worst" attitude paid off. :)

[katzies.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. My football (soccer for you yanks) team did great in the first 30 minutes, scored a goal and then proceeded to lose 1:5 in the end. At least football's (your football) ranking and such is rather ambivalent so it might not be as bad for your ranking.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

Apparently, USC fans are being complete dicks about this game, so I guess I can understand some of the hostility coming from Buckeye fans (I don't get any of that here...the UW Huskies have a rabid fan base, but they lose a lot of games)...but I don't get why they are being assholes. We dominated them for a good chunk of the game. They were scared for awhile. They have no reason to be cocky. They didn't play as well as they were expected to.