Jim Tressel Returns Fire On Buckeye Fans
After the Buckeyes lost to USC on Saturday night I basically pinned the blame for Ohio State’s loss on him and his conservative game plan. I was not alone in doing so as plenty of Ohio State fans felt the very same way, but with a few differences. One being that since they’re fans, they were a lot angrier about the whole thing, and two, that anger caused a lot of them to say Tressel needs to go.
I’m not ready to go that far considering the success Tressel has had in Columbus, and apparently the Sweatervest himself thinks the very idea of firing him is ludicrous. Tressel talked about some of the reaction he’s heard from Buckeyes fans following their loss on Tuesday, and he said some things that aren’t bound to please. Unless people like being called miserable anyway.
Jim Tressel receives e-mails every week, win or lose, but the Ohio State football coach said that the writers of the critical ones he reads after a loss — like the 18-15 fall to No.3 Southern California on Saturday night — seem to have something in common.
“Honestly, the thing when I read some of them is I feel terrible for them because there’s no way they’re happy,” Tressel said at his weekly media luncheon today. “They’ve got to be some of the most unhappy people in the world, and I feel bad because we just made them less happy
“And I hate to be a part of making someone less happy. I mean, they’re already miserable and to make them less happy, I feel bad.”
You know, I’m no expert on human feelings, but I’m not sure talking about how miserable your fan base is is the best way to win back their affections. Seriously, try it out on your girlfriend or wife the next time she’s mad at you. Let me know how it goes.
“I’m sorry, dear. Here you are, already one of the most miserable people in the world, and now I’m making you feel worse. I feel bad.”
She’ll be putty in your hands!
I can’t be sure what some of the emails to Tressel have said, and odds are some of them crossed a line or six, but I’m very surprised Tressel would make comments like that in public. Even if he was saying it jokingly. He has to understand why Buckeyes fans would be upset seeing their team lose another game to a top-5 team.
Poking an angry bear is never a good idea.
Coach Tressel,
With all due respect, many of us fans are happy people, but our passion for the Bucks creates frustration as we experience the same medicine poured down our throats. You are being defensive about a major win that slipped through the cracks. I’m sorry, but for $3.5 million (more than most of us with a good education will earn in a lifetime), we have the right to question your leadership. We want to understand WHY??? Was Pryor nervous, is he not the talent we think he is, or was his preparation lacking. Do you think he had smart plays to attack the usc defense? Other than a few bright moments, the offense looked like it was too easy to defend, and usc proved it by stopping us time and again with great field position. If we are not capable of a more creative open offense, just say so and we can lower our expectations against top teams. WHY? After our defense played so well, and it’s 2nd & 19 with usc backed up, did we back off putting pressure. I understand protecting against the long pass, but we were not prepared to cover the middle with the package that was called. They ran a draw (10 yards), a short pass to the RB (20 yards), and we were not matched up well. I believe if we stayed aggressive, we would have shut them down. They were on the ropes, and we gave them hope and confidence. They mixed run & pass and executed against our NOW tired and guessing defense. We feel we are not “playing to win”, but just “playing not to lose”. I can live with losing, if we dare to be great, if we risk a little more creativity and take our very best shots, on both sides of the ball, and this is the question we happy fans need answered. Thank you and GO BUCKS!