Football
Tressel OK with Critics, Not with Crackpots
By John Porentas

Jim Tressel is taking some flack these days. It's not bothering him.

Tressel was asked at his weekly press luncheon on Tuesday if the level of "he's got to go sentiment" was bothering him after OSU's loss to USC last Saturday night. Tressel just shrugged and commented that fans have opinions and are entitled to them, and that second-guessing was in fact appropriate in football, particularly after a loss. He even got in a good-natured jibe to a reporter who suggested that he has enjoyed a nine-year honeymoon with OSU fans, but that the honeymoon might now be over.

"You felt like it's been a nine-year honeymoon? You must not have liked your honeymoon," Tressel quipped drawing a laugh from everyone in the room, including the reporter in question.

Tressel seemed unflapped by the criticisms, and also added that while he got a fair share of rather unflattering emails after the game on Saturday, that was not out of the ordinary.

"I probably haven't gotten as many as you have, but we get lots of emails every week, even when we win, so those don't affect you any more than the effect you put on yourself when you're watching the film. Those people had nothing to do with you deciding to do this or that," he said, then went on to describe the kind of people who email him incessantly with their "suggestions".

"So, you know, honestly, the thing when I read some of them is I feel terrible for them because there's no way they're happy," he deadpanned, once again drawing a laugh.

"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 some make them less happy I'd feel bad," he said.

Tressel grinned as if joking, but you wonder if that's really the case. "Fan" is short for "fanatic", and sometimes fanaticism can go over the edge a bit. The reporter questioning Tressel alluded to his own emails he has received which are full of venom directed at Tressel and the OSU football program. For that matter the-Ozone mailbox is often "graced" by emails that leave us wondering whether to laugh or weep. Tressel and reporters, it seems, are not the only targets. OSU players also are recipient of "love letters" from fans.

"Yeah, I do," said linebacker Austin Spitler when asked if he ever gets unsolicited emails from fans.

"Somehow they get your email and your phone number. You get emails all the time of people asking questions and saying what's on their mind, and it's not always good," Spitler said.

"It baffles me. It's unbelievable, taking the time out of your day to do this (send critical emails)," Spitler said.

Spitler did not elaborate on what the emails say, but did say he got a fair share of emails imploring him to take a message to Jim Tressel.

"Oh of course," he said. " Make sure you tell coach they need to run the ball more," he continued, citing an example of what might be said, then added with a twinkle in his eye "I'll get right on that."

Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said he too gets unwanted emails.

"They said 'Why did we give up that last drive?' because we had the win," said Heyward, who added that the emails might be annoying, but not taken overly seriously.

"We can't worry about that. We have to worry about the guys in the locker room. We just have to keep on improving," he said.

"I think we all get comments. The main thing is you can't listen to it because it can make or break a team. If we can learn from our mistakes then we can only worry about the guys in the locker room."

Heyward thinks the emailers are not really representative of the average Buckeye fan, or at least he hopes so.

"I hope it's not the majority...or we got some trouble," he said with a laugh.

Tressel is getting his share of flack this week, and probably will even take a little for his comment describing some of his email pals as unhappy people. He probably deserves the criticism for his offense. The other thing? I'm not so sure. Maybe he got that part right.

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