Pitchers and Catchers Report in Just About a Month!

Well that was nothing short of terrible. Here are my initial thoughts:

- I refuse to become like an obnoxious Yankee fan, and get pissed when my team loses in The Championship Game because they are pretty tough just to get to. But I still have a right to be unhappy.

- I came away from last night's game with the same thought that I had after watching LSU in person against Florida: LSU is beatable. They are very beatable. But a team that seems beatable but is rarely beaten is a team that knows how to win. And LSU (obviously) knows how to win.

- There were any number of points in time where the game was there for the taking, and at every point, OSU did something stupid to piss it away.

- Todd Boeckman has GOT to be better next year. Whether it was his questionable decision making, or his bad throws, or his holding onto the ball too long in the pocket, he was one of the major reasons the Buckeyes lost the game.

- Jim Tressell has completely lost all of the equity he gained in 2002. No, his job is not on the line or anything like that--let's not go completely off the deep end here people-- but he has been thoroughly outcoached in two straight BCS Title games. The Ohio State defense looked totally confused for the middle third of the game, and the coaches couldn't keep the teams intensity up after taking the 10-0 lead. Don't even get me started on the time outs before every crucial play, or that Chinese fire-drill on 4th down! There is nothing worse than watching your team come out of a time out, then see your QB run for his life and fumble the ball 30 yards backwards on 4th and 7.

- The Bucks had all of the earmarks of a poorly coached team: Horribly-timed penalties (including far too many personal fouls), turnovers, mistakes in special teams (blocked FG?!), having the defense not set at the snap, and a QB totally unable to read defenses.

- It will go completely unnoticed (except by LSU defenders) but Chris Wells is an utter beast. He looked like a man playing with boys for a lot of that game.