From: mzhao@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Min Zhao)
Subject: Ohio State Football - No fun, no future to it's players and recruits
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 16:32:22 GMT


In article <1993Jan4.130831.2723@cis.ohio-state.edu> atchison@lyre.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark Atchison) writes:
>
>All local media is reporting that Ohio State will lose two underclassmen to
>the NFL draft this week.  More or less as expected, third year sophomore Robert
>Smith (running back) and fourth year junior Roger Harper (safety) will forego
>the remainder of their collegiate eligibility.
>
>Smith is expected to release a statement through the SID Monday, and Harper is
>scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday.  Some local speculation has
>suggested that many borderline underclassmen may go this year simply due to
>the impending doom in the draft process (limited rounds, salary cap, etc.).

   That's just part of the reason. I am mildly (and understandably) suprised
none of the sports casters mentioned the real reason behind:  Playing for
a loser (Ohio State football program/John Cooper) is NO Future !
 
  Roger Harper, right on the Citrius Bowl field after losing: I'm out here !

  Smith: This guy is a great talent, but what does he have to show for ?  If
we had a winning program, Smith would benefit by staying in school and 
showcase his abilities next season (and maybe the year after too). There
is nothing for him to stay for (as far as football is corcerned). And he's
probably as much tired and disgusted with the football program here as many
of us do.  Smith is also the guy who said again and again that he puts 
academics first and wants to go on to medical school. That makes
his leaving school two years ahead of time even harder to understand in normal
situation. If all is well, he definitely should stay at least for one
more season. But the situation is not normal here, Ohio State football 
program is not what is good for him and many other players in the same team 
and many other Ohio youngsters anymore. Go somewhere else if you can, lose
and suffer and stand to lose a lot more if you can't go. That is the mood
here these days.

  John Cooper and the Ohio State football program have done grave injustice
to Smith as well as all the other talents that came to Ohio State to grow.
 
  Let me quote parts of an article in the Sunday Dispatch, by Tim May 
  (without permission)
 
	For OSU, Explaining Bowl Losses is No Fun
 
  The Florida Citrus Bowl  was hard fought, and in the end, it belonged to
Georgia. For the Ohio State football team, it was a record fifth straight 
season with the same last verse: Buckeyes lose finale, look forward to next
year.
 ...
  "I don't know, the seniors are kind of relieved the end is here, I guess", 
junior offensive tackle Alan Kline said. "But for me, this is nothing but
grief"
  "Now I'm going to have a whole year having to live with it. It's getting to 
be a trend and I am damn SICK OF IT, plainly said. ... It's really starting to
get down on me"
  "I've only got a year left,", said Kline, who will be a fifth year senior.
"I was hoping to win this one and get off to a good start next year... but 
that didn't happen."
 ...
 
  If he (Robert Smith) leaves, he'll have to make do having never been part 
of a Big Ten-Winning, or Bowl-winning,or last-game-winning team at OSU. For
Senior cornerback Bryan Cook, it's definitely a reality.
  It's not the kind of record Cook was hoping to be part of when he chose
OSU in the winter of 1988. And it's a bummer.
  ... "I came to Ohio State to win. That's one of the main reasons. I look 
at all the other teams that recruited me, and some of them even have 
national championship rings,Big Ten Championship rings, and I don't have
anything."
 
    ...
 
  And losing hurts, senior defensive tackle Greg Smith agreed.
 
    ...
 
  Oh well, maybe next year. Maybe.
 
<End>             
 --------------------
 
  I can't help to feel for the kids. They came to Ohio State, not just 
because it's Ohio State, to be part of a proud tradition, now the 
tradition is all but losing it's shine. They came here to win games, 
to improve their skills and showcase their talents, and some of them
to go on to the next level. Now all these kids will have to live all 
their lives to regret their decision to have come to Ohio State, to 
live with the fact that they never win anything of significance at 
Ohio State, to live with the facts that their potential for better future
in the NFL have not been helped at all, if not hurt by playing at 
Ohio State.
 
  I am also tired of the argument that firing Cooper now will hurt 
recruiting.  Who are you cheating ?  If I am an outside coach, be it 
Gary Moller, Joe Paterno, or Lou Holtz, recruiting a prep star in Ohio
(let's not even consider outside Ohio), all I need to tell the kid is,
"Do you really want to go to Ohio State ? " Do you really want to play
for John Cooper and his Ohio State team ?" "And you know what means, don't  
you ?"
  And if I am the high school star, I will ask myself, "besides it being
Ohio State, what else will it bring me playing there ?" 
  (too add to the point, did you read the story that right after Larry
Smith's departure and John Robinson's hiring, a couple stars in that 
team immediately announced that they will stay in school)
 
  Firing Cooper will only bring hope, and hope is what all is left here 
in the state of Ohio, for the Ohio State players who already came
here, for the Ohio young kids who are born to bleed Buckeye blood, for
the millions of Ohioians who used to take pride in their Ohio State Buckeye
football.