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Football
'Lost Season' Upcoming? No Way
By Tony Gerdeman

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the news coming down on Tuesday that Ohio State would not be playing in the postseason in 2012, many lamented the coming football season as "lost".

After all, what do you play for if you have no opportunity to play for a Big Ten Championship?

Well, pride can be a pretty powerful motivator. Fear can be as well. There's also the fact that players will be trying to impress the new coaching staff in order to secure spots for that season and beyond.

To call it a “lost season” isn't fair to the kids who will actually be playing next year. If they have enough motivation to go through with the actual games, then what possible reason would a fan have for not doing the same?

Besides, if losing was fun, teams wouldn't fight so hard to keep it from happening.

Ohio State fans needn't worry. Urban Meyer won't allow this team to entertain any thoughts that next year is a lost season. There will be no self-pity allowed.

He has promised a hurricane when he finally takes over on January 3rd, and hurricanes pity no one.

Even without an ability to actually play for a conference championship, the Buckeyes will still have the opportunity to leave no doubts about who the best team in the Big Ten is.

That's the saving grace about next year. No, they can't play in the postseason, but they still get to show everybody who they are during the regular season.

They have a chance to take the field twelve times next season and let everybody know how good they are. Bowl games prove very little. A season's worth of results proves much more.

There will also be a couple of years of frustration at play. The Big Ten took no prisoners on the Buckeyes this season, and don't think that bill will go uncollected.

Ohio State knows exactly what their season is going to look like next year. There are no unknowns. It's a twelve-game season and none of the first eleven games are any bigger than any other.

There is no pressure on this team because there is nothing to lose.

Isn't that when teams are at their most dangerous?

The NCAA held Ohio State's postseason fate in their hands, but Ohio State holds almost everybody else's in theirs.

The Buckeyes will play everybody in the Leaders Division and the top three teams in the Legends Division next season. To say that they won't have an effect on the conference race next year would be absurd.

They may not be allowed to win the race, but they'll still get to set the pace.

They will play each game with a purpose beyond winning in mind. Every game will be a message to anybody who would care to listen and the message will be deafening when the Buckeyes cap their season in Ohio Stadium against the Michigan Wolverines.

Who needs a bowl game when Urban Meyer's first Michigan game is the final game of the season? Buzz saw meet occupant.

Yes, Ohio State will be silent in December and January next football season, but September through November has the possibility to be anything but.

Setting the tone for 2013 begins in two weeks, and it will be a year long warning.

It reminds me of a story from my childhood. The stepfather of a friend of mine once talked about his days of living in a rough neighborhood in Chicago. One day, in order to keep his car from being stolen, he went out and bought "The Club".

The next morning after installing "The Club" on his steering wheel, there was a note left on his car. It read, "When I want it, I'll take it."

Right now, in order to keep Ohio State out of the postseason, the NCAA has put a club of their own on the 2012 Big Ten Championship.

I'm suggesting that the Buckeyes should respond accordingly.

Every game next season can be the equivalent of a note left on the door of each team in the Big Ten, and that note would read simply, "When we want it, we'll take it."

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