I'm sure you've seen the below video of Michigan's women's basketball coach freaking out:

I don't really have anything to contribute, but when he talked about how "frustrating" it was, did you guys have the same thought I did?

I humbly suggest new blogs named "Come On, Ohio!" and "Smash Through to Victory."

I should probably be relaxing today, and I assure you I am, but I wanted to direct you to this AP article. Basically, the Associated Press has decided to analyze security at sporting events, specifically college sporting events. Near as I can tell, the article serves three purposes. Here they are, from least to most irritating:

1. To make us feel like security experts.

Now, if you're like me, and you aren't paranoid about anything besides the possibility of robots taking over or zombies, those paragraphs went in one ear and out the other (or the reading equivalent thereof). However, there's a pretty big group of people that worry about all sorts of things, or just want to be considered experts on all topics, and they are now going to go around evaluating and discussion security measures at every arena and stadium they enter. "Well, they don't have a SWAT team taking tickets," they will say, "this is a soft target." They will not be privy to the full set of security precautions at the stadium, but they'll make suggestions about how they could make things more secure. Fortunately, this article was released on Christmas Day, when people often have better things to do with their time than read essentially pointless AP articles.

2. To advertise the University of Southern Mississippi's Center for Spectator Sports Security Management.

I assume that the Southern Miss CSSSM didn't say, "We'll help you with this article, so long as you run our spiel for our program," but it would go a long way toward explaining the above two paragraphs. There's no news and no especially important information in the above paragraphs; there's no good reason to include them. Unless, of course, you're trying to convince readers that the topic of your article is important and worthwhile. In that case, you need to convince your reader that your source, your authority of choice, is legit. And I'm not saying that they need to do that because the real point of this article was to make us afraid of something we shouldn't be afraid of, but. . . .

3. To make us afraid of something we shouldn't be afraid of.

Okay, yeah, terrorism is a real threat. I'm going down to New Orleans for the national championship game (oh yes; no tickets, but I won't let that stop me. More on this later), and it's possible that I will be blown off the face of the earth. Of course, that could happen if I go into work, to the mall, to the park, or just stay home. Even if I don't get exploded, I could get hit by a car, I could fall and break my neck, I could contract the Ebola virus, I could be attacked by ninjas. There are so many threats to your life out in the world that you'll go crazy if you worry about them all. I resent attempts by the media to drum up readers and viewers by using fear. This is just a version of your local news channel's "There are five things in your kitchen right now that could kill everyone you love. Find out what they are, tonight at 11." This article doesn't change anything, doesn't offer anything new. Before reading this, you knew terrorism was a possibility and that you should keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. After reading it, you still know that terrorism is a possibility, and that you should still keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. Except now a certain set of the article's readers is more afraid than they should be. I mean, of course terrorism is a threat to be aware of. But the only reason to bring it up here, like this, without really anything in the way of new information, is because it's a slow newsday over the holiday, they have nothing else to write about, but they still want readers.

On the plus side, though, the story was posted over the holiday, which means it won't be too widely read. In fact, if I were smarter, I'd just ignore it and let it go away. But who ever said I was smart?

Also, have a nice Festivus. If you're in the habit of buying gifts for bloggers, I'd like two tickets to the National Championship game. However, if you're in the habit of buying gifts for bloggers that you don't personally know, you can probably find better uses for your money.

I'll be back post-Christmas, at which point we'll kick things up a notch and start looking at the National Championship game.

We're roughly a week from Christmas. The well-prepared amongst us have their shopping done. The procrastinators amongst us (that's me, at least) are just now considering starting their shopping. The non-Christians amongst us aren't especially concerned about getting their Christmas shopping done. But even if you aren't worried about doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, you could still use some gift advice, right? Sooner or later, you'll have to buy someone something, and what should you get them? That's where I come in. You see, various people have sent me free copies of stuff that Buckeye fans might find interesting, apparently based on the (almost certainly mistaken) assumption that I influence opinion in some way. I'm not turning the stuff down, though, because, hey, free stuff. Plus, some of it is pretty cool. Here's a look at two books and a DVD I was sent. A note: I'm not getting paid for any of this (beyond the free copies for review). The reviews are at least neutral because, if I thought the stuff sucked, I'd just throw it away. The following didn't suck:

Saturday Rules: A Season with Trojans and Domers (and Gators and Buckeyes and Wolverines) by Austin Murphy
You've probably read Murphy before in Sports Illustrated, where's he's worked for a couple decades. Here, he claims to be making an argument for the superiority of college football over the NFL, but really this is just a guided tour of the 2006 season. That's not to say it's bad; there's a lot of interesting stuff in here, from interviews with players that add a bit more personality to the players than I was accustomed to seeing, to descriptions of traditions at schools across the country. This is, as I said, a book about the 2006 season, which is why I held off reviewing it for so long (I received my copy near the start of the football season). I felt like I should only review a book I finished, and the end of this one, of course, covers the National Championship Game That Shall Not Be Named. I put the book down at that point, and never really picked it up again. That might be the biggest flaw of the book: not that it covers the national championship game, but that you can put it down pretty easily. There's no real reason to read this book. You aren't really much richer for the experience afterwards; if you're like me, you were there for the 2006 season, and you already believe that college football is better than the NFL. That said, it's not a bad book. Murphy likes the players, and he loves college football, and that comes across clearly in the book. If you've got someone on your list that is a big fan of college football, or someone that'll read anything college football-related, or a Gator fan that wants anything related to the 2006 season, this would be a book worth considering for them.

The Baby Buckeye DVD
I am completely unqualified to review this one. Completely. I am not a parent, I am not a baby. I am not a child psychologist, I know next to nothing about parenting or young children. But I'm not going to let that stop me. When the makers of this one offered me a free copy, I almost turned them down, due to the previously noted complete lack of knowledge about anything baby-related. But I took a copy anyway, because: A.) hey, free stuff, B.) it would be good for a joke, at least, and C.) there was the possibility of giving the DVD as a gift, and low-cost gifts are always nice. So my copy came in the mail and I popped it in my DVD player. And I sat through the entire thing. Lemme tell ya, it's not exactly compelling television, but then, I'm not the target audience. It's slow, simple, and repetitive. However, I do seem to recall hearing that all of those things are good for helping young children learn. As a pure learning device, there are probably better options out there. But this one has two reasons to recommend it over those other options: it features Lee Corso, and it features the Buckeyes. That's right, Corso does the narration, which usually consists of repeating the same word six times, then moving on to the next word. He's every bit as insightful here as he is on Gameday (and now I can scratch "take a cheap shot at Corso" off my to-do list). Corso's presence, and the fact that this revolves around the Buckeyes, probably does as much for you, the theoretical parent, as it does for your theoretical kid. After all, there are dozens of mind-numbing kids' DVDs out there; one that features Corso and our beloved university is more bearable than most of the alternatives. I could definitely see this being a good gift for some parents thinking about taking their young child to his or her first Buckeye game next season. I could also see this being a good gift for some newlyweds that were married during the season. I skipped the Illinois game for your wedding, it would say, and look what happened. If this marriage doesn't produce a new Buckeye fanatic, and quickly, I'm going to get angry. Go raise part of the next generation of Buckeye fans, or else. Here's a DVD to help. Merry Christmas.

Then Tress Said to Troy: The Best Ohio State Football Stories Ever Told by Jeff Snook
I had some reservations about recommending the above book and DVD: Saturday Rules isn't really written for the die-hard Buckeye fan, and Baby Buckeye might drive you crazy with repeated viewings (though you'd raise a hell of a Buckeye fan during your descent into madness). I have no such reservations about this book. You might recognize Snook's name from What It Means to Be a Buckeye, which he edited. I've called that book a must-read, and this one is as well. It's a collection of stories about Buckeye football. It's a pretty easy read, and it's a fun one, covering everything from practices to sudden trips to Mexico by players when in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Some of the stories are pretty straightforward, some are touching, plenty are funny, but all are good. It's not all new material; if you're a fan of Buckeye history, you'll have heard a few of these before. But it's all so entertaining that it doesn't really matter. If you have a huge Buckeye fan on your list, get him or her tickets to the national championship game. If you can't swing that, this book is a good second choice. Heck, even if you have all your shopping done, buy it for yourself. You deserve a little something for your hard work, and this, a good, fun book about the team we love, is a great choice.

This time of year, with the Holidays approaching and bowl selections being a hot topic of debate, college football fans (myself included) often tend to lose sight of the things that truly matter in life.  In Columbus, Buckeye football tends to run our lives, and is always such a hot topic that it is commonly forgotten that it is always a game.

Tyler, sporting his #7 jersey, with his brother Travis last fall.

Tyler Alfriend, age 15 and a good friend of mine, defines what it truly means to be a Buckeye.  The kid ate, slept, and breathed Ohio State football and basketball, and he is truly the epitome of what all fans of any team should admire.  He followed the team with a passion, and you could carry on a discussion about Buckeye football with him for time on end.  

But now, Tyler is fighting a battle far more serious than anything on the football field.  On November 14 -- just three days before the Buckeyes were set to square off against archrival Michigan -- Tyler was diagnosed with stage IV Burkitt's Lymphoma, a form of cancer.  That Saturday (the day of the game), Tyler began chemotherapy.  Since then, he has had his ups (he was allowed to come home for Thanksgiving for a few hours), and his downs; however, this is a battle that Tyler is just now beginning to fight, and he needs all of the support that he can get.  His father has set up a blog for everybody to check on Tyler's status, and I recommend that you read it and leave Tyler a comment (by the way, Buckeye fans, you should probably read all of the comments on this post).

The support for Tyler at this time has been great, and for that I am sure he and his family are very thankful.  He received a signed Daequan Cook Miami Heat NBA Draft hat, a basketball signed by the entire OSU team, a hockey stick signed by the entire Buckeye team, autographed memorabilia by Miami Dolphins star Jason Taylor, a couple of members of the Blue Jackets stopped by Children's Hospital to spend some time with him, and just recently he received a football that read "Tyler, the Buckeyes are cheering for you! - Jim Tressel."  Needless to say, that's a whole lot of cool stuff.

Please keep Tyler in your prayers.  It's all myself and the Alfriend family asks of you this holiday season.

Other links:
Burkitt's Lymphoma

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (You can donate to Leukemia and Lymphoma society here)

Check on Tyler

You've probably noticed that I haven't been posting around here as regularly as I should. Turns out that this "work" thing takes a bit more time than school did. The good news is that work should start taking less time now, so I should be back to daily posting just in time for the football season. However, you, my esteemed reader, deserve more than just daily post. You deserve daily quality posts, and I can't always guarantee that. To that end, I've decided to add another writer. Specifically, Ryan Pfefferle, formerly of Pfef's Sports Blog. It was a daily read for me, and I'm assuming for you as well. And now Pfef's going to be doing his thing here at AtO.

This should provide two benefits to you, the reader. First, more posts, since two bloggers should (if my math checks out) be able to post more often than one. Second, better posts: If one of us posts news and/or links for the day, the other one is free to write some analysis or something entertaining. Or haiku, whatever we're up for. The drawback is that you can no longer assume that I'm responsible for whatever stupidity is perpetrated on this site. It's still a safe assumption; Pfef is good at that "thinking" thing, while I prefer easy jokes and half-assed predictions. But you'll have to start checking the byline before commenting on me being a paragon of clearheaded thinking, since it's likely that the quality analysis and writing is coming from Pfef now.

Anyway, keep an eye out for Pfef, you'll start seeing him around in the next couple days. Give him a warm welcome.

I don't mean to keep neglecting the site like this, especially now that I have stuff to post about (practice is starting, the season is just around the corner!), but work has been keeping me entirely too busy lately. Plus, I'm working on more in-depth writing than I've been posting - it's preview time once again - so rather than posting a paragraph or two in a spare half-hour, I write a paragraph or two on a longer post. There should be a preview of mighty mighty Akron up tomorrow, and I'll continue posting as much as I can through the next week or two, at which point regular daily posting should resume. So bear with me, we'll get through this together, and then we'll start over-analyzing everything Ohio State. It'll be a good time.

There's been some talk lately, prompted by an interview given by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, of expanding the Big Ten (HT: Brian at the Fanhouse). This comes up with some regularity and has usually involved adding Notre Dame, but Delany seems to be looking eastward in this case, specifically to Rutgers and Syracuse. Expansion holds additional appeal now for the Big Ten, with the Big Ten Network getting up and running. An additional school would provide additional games for the network, and that's obviously a good thing for the network. The addition of a New York school would provide an added benefit for the network, though: currently, they're asking for $1.10 per customer from cable companies in the Big Ten region, and something like $.10 for customers everywhere else. Adding a Rutgers or Syracuse would put New York in the Big Ten region, and bring them an extra buck for each customer of a cable company carrying the network. That's a lot of extra cash.

Aside from the financial benefits of adding a New York school, Rutgers and Syracuse seem like curious choices. For starters, the schools' athletics aren't exactly top notch. Rutgers was very good last year in football, but that's just one season, and their basketball team is underwhelming, to say the least. Syracuse has been pretty consistent in basketball, but what happens when Jim Boeheim retires (or when Greg Schiano moves on from Rutgers, for that matter)? Syracuse football was pretty good not long ago, but they're pretty bad now. Neither school adds a whole lot to the athletic side, and they don't fit in especially well geographically. They're good enough academically, which, as Brian points out, is a real issue in conference expansion, but I think the addition of either school would be a purely financial decision.

There are a few other schools that, while not bringing in the TV audience of a New York school, make more sense from a competitive and geographical standpoint. Pitt is a good school academically and a decent school athletically, and their addition would finally stop all the calls for Pitt and Penn State to start playing each other again. West Virginia's an up-and-coming program, but the academics might not be up to the standards the conference would look for in a new member. Louisville and Memphis are pretty near geographically, but as Brian pointed at at the Fanhouse about Louisville, they're southern schools, and the Big Ten is not a southern conference. The conference could expand westward and try to steal Iowa State or Missouri from the Big 12, but I have a hard time seeing that happening. Then there's Notre Dame, which is located in the heart of the Big Ten, is a good school academically and athletically, and is already playing half of a Big Ten schedule this season. But if they haven't joined yet, I don't see why they would now.

But is expansion even a good idea? As both Delany and Kirk Ferentz note in the article, a 12-team, two division conference isn't entirely a good thing. The last game of the regular season would be devalued by the addition of a championship game, which might not be a big deal for, say, Northwestern, but the Buckeyes' last game is one we all take pretty seriously. We all know how often that game's decided the Big Ten champion; just look at last year. One versus two, winner gets the Big Ten championship and a trip to the national championship game. How would you have felt if, after the Buckeyes beat Michigan, they'd have had to play Wisconsin in a championship game? That's probably the best argument against a twelve-team conference I've heard. OSU-Michigan is probably the biggest event of the year for me; I don't think I'd deal well with it never being more than the second-biggest game in the season schedule.

Update: So, between writing this post and getting a chance to actually post it, Brian went ahead and discussed the expansion possibility way more thoroughly than I. It's rare that someone steals your thunder when you're expanding upon a post they did earlier, but he did it.