Further evidence that our world is coming to an end

We were in Columbus yesterday afternoon. I had been separated from my TV for hours. I had no idea how the Saturday afternoon college football games were going. I finally begged off going into another Asian market and turned on the car radio while I waited in the parking lot. I figured AM radio would be the fastest way to find out what I wanted to know. AM radio in Columbus... How could I miss? I hit the search button and immediately pick up a strong signal at the bottom of the dial.

"I think it's time we got rid of Tressel," the caller to the sports radio program proclaimed.

This could mean one of two things, I reasoned. Ohio State failed to tromp Purdue by more than 20 points, or (could it be..?) they lost.

The radio show was well past giving the results or the score by the time I tuned in. But the way caller after caller was demanding Head Coach Jim Tressel's head and insisting that the offensive coordinator leave town immediately, there could be no question that the Buckeyes had suffered the worst humiliation of all, losing to lowly Purdue who hadn't beaten at 7th ranked team in something like 25 years.

I don't know how they do it, but the Ohio State athletic department surely must have one of the best PR machines in the country. Year after year, the football team is ranked near the top of the preseason top ten, whether they deserve it or not. This year they started at number five and immediately lost to USC, which dropped them just out of the top ten in most polls. They managed to climb back up to number seven, before yesterday's loss. Not only are they not even the best team in the state, but their offense ranks somewhere around 200 out of 250 teams. They will probably be ranked somewhere in the top 25 this week. I'm not sure they deserve it.

Remember Maurice Clarett [name corrected]? He was being touted as the first freshman Heisman Trophy winner before he even set foot in Ohio Stadium. Clarett was a great running back. But where is he now? High expectations and bad advice landed him so far off the team his current location is unfathomable. Terrelle Pryor, with the same kind of pressure, seems only to suffer from performance anxiety. It's about now that we can expect the bad advice to start. From what I have seen, he is smart enough to ignore it.

Tressel seems like a decent guy who tries to do the right thing by his players. Clarett should have listened to him. And while Tressel's detractors decry his play calling and blame him for the sputtering offense, they should not encourage Pryor to distance himself from the coach. "It's not Tressel's responsibility to mold Pryor into an NFL quarterback," they say. "His job is to win football games." They think Pryor, with his size and speed, should be cut loose to run all over the field. I have to admit that I'd like to see a little more of that, myself. But I understand where Tressel is coming from - strong defense and conservative offense. It's an Ohio State tradition and it has served him well in the past. The problem is, this year they don't have the runners to get that four yards and a cloud of dust.

Will the Bucks win the Big Ten this year? Probably not. It's beginning to look like "wait until next year" time. However according to the Mayans, there won't be very many "next years," as the world is due to come to an end in 2012. Was yesterday's 24-16 loss to Purdue an omen that they are correct? I'm sure it seems that way to those callers to that Columbus radio station.