Ohio State and the team north of them play this Saturday (11/24) in their annual rivalry game. The difference is that Ohio State is 11-0 but is banned from post season play so ‘The Game’ is our Bowl game and championship all rolled into one. The Ohio State biased newspaper The Columbus Dispatch thinks having a bowl ban this season was a wrong result of the NCAA punishment the school got for Tattoogate. If only hindsight was a real thing to use in making decisions.
Ohio State got a bowl ban and other NCAA punishment after Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, as well as several other teammates, had been involved with selling memorabilia for tattoos and money. Urban Meyer became coach in 2011 and in his first season has the Buckeyes undefeated at 11-0 with nothing else to play for except to beat their rivals from the state north of Ohio.
Once again a sports hero has fallen – where was the Columbus media
Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, held out as the model of integrity, resigned Monday as the pressure mounted due to a memorabilia-for-tattoo scandal that showed no sign of simmering down. Like all media created heroes, the backlash and piling on has been merciless. Besides the obvious questions about what is true or not, where was the Columbus media when all this was going on?
The start was in December when we all found out that 5 players had traded memorabilia (rings, jerseys, autographs, etc…) for tattoos at a Columbus tattoo parlor. At the time Coach Tressel and Ohio State officials claimed they found out about it in December. The five players were allowed to play in the season ending Sugar Bowl but were suspended for five games to start the 2011 season.
Ohio State Final Four Then and Now
The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team has made it to the 2007 Final Four to take place in Atlanta this coming weekend.
I hope they make it to the final and they win it all. The best match up would be Florida vs Ohio State but they have to take care of Georgetown first.
Some sports reports have said this is the first final four for OSU since 1999 – which is technically correct. However, recruiting violations by the former coach caused the NCAA to force Ohio State to vacate that records related to that appearance so in essence that appearance doesn’t exist. (see: Ohio State University and Former Men’s Basketball Coaches Penalized for Infractions)
The last official final four for Ohio State was 1968. The starting 5 on that team were Bill Hosket, Steve Howell, Dave Sorenson, Jody Finney, and Denny Meadors.
Hosket has been involved in broadcasting Buckeye games and is still well known to OSU fans from that era and today.
Dave Sorenson is a name I know well. He attended Findlay High School before going to Ohio State. He was twice named first team All-Buckeye Conference, was Ohio Player of the Year 1965-66, and was named Buckeye Conference MVP. He remains among FHS’ all-time leaders in career, season and game scoring.
At Ohio State he ended his collegiate career (1966-1970) 2nd in scoring (8th all-time) and rebounds (7th all-time) behind the great Jerry Lucas. Sorenson also scored the winning basket that beat Kentucky in the 1968 Southeast Regional Final and was named that region’s Most Outstanding Performer.
Sorenson was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and played for them until 1972 before joining the Philadelphia 76ers for a season. He also played in Europe before returning to Ohio.
Sorenson died from cancer in 2002 at the age of 54.
So as a tribute to Dave and Ohio State and their visits to the NCAA Final Four, I added Dave to my Famous Findlayians page.
Thanks to Kathy for reminding me about Dave