A Sad Case of Sweatervestitis: Are Ohio State Football Fans Truly Unhappy?

[In my best Jeff Foxworthy voice] When you hear a coach start off his weekly press conference talking about how great the punt team was, you might be a Buckeye fan.

People in Columbus are used to Jim Tressel, or "Senator Sweatervest," dancing around questions and talking forever without really saying anything. However, after hearing Tressel deflect the attention from himself and talk about all of the warm and fuzzy positive messages he overheard the players talking about, I believe there is a bigger issue at hand.

"I heard them talking about things like, you know what, we got five three and outs and I don't know how many teams are going to have Southern Cal go three and out five times in a game, which is outstanding."

Tressel continued:

"And then when you see the offense and you hear them talking a little bit about the fact that they were able to make a play here or make a play there and they knew very well that they were playing against a very good defense..."

He did continue to talk about how the offense wished they would have gotten sevens instead of threes. He also seemed pleased that the talk he heard was always about "we" and not "he."

I am sorry if that doesn't make me feel happy and ready to watch a punt-fest on Saturday against Toledo.

You don't get points for playing hard. It doesn't matter how many times USC goes three and out the rest of the season. Field position does not mean anything if you are unable to eventually convert it into a touchdown.

The most disturbing quote came when Tressel was discussing some of the emails he received after the loss.

"Honestly, the thing where I read some of them is I feel terrible for them because there's no way they're happy. They've got to be some of the most unhappy people in the world, and I feel bad because we just made them less happy."

That quote is quietly confrontational. It seemed like a polite yet sarcastic way of telling people to relax because it's only a football game.

When you subscribe to that way of thinking, you become Iowa. You become Bowling Green. This is Ohio State. A national championship should be the goal at the start of every season. Anything less is not acceptable.

That twisted, arrogant, and fanatical attitude is what has made Ohio State one of the most disliked programs in college football. It is also what has made Ohio State one of the best programs in college football.

Is Coach Tressel right? Are Buckeye fans unhappy?

After watching what happened in Ohio Stadium on Saturday, I would say yes.