Some commentary on the Buckeyes’ opening win, along with why the state of Indiana always seems to be building a road, without ever actually getting it built!
I observed something Saturday that ranks right up there with the frustration – actually, humor – of the ongoing absence of channel 2 in Dayton to Direct TV subscribers.
To dwell on that for a moment, frankly there’s so many other opportunities to get the same programming, news and weather…and sports…that it really doesn’t matter if channel 2 ever comes back on the air. You just wonder, if and when, Direct TV will figure that out.
But five years ago when I drove to Bloomington to cover an Ohio State baseball series they had just started tearing up Indiana route 37, a main artery, north and south, between Indianapolis and Bloomington. There were orange barrels and cones everywhere, traffic was slowed to a snarl, signage for alternative routes and detours was non-existent…in short, an unplanned, unmitigated mess.
Fast forward to the following year and another trip to Bloomington to cover Ohio State basketball.
Progress on route 37? Surely, you jest. The only progress Mark Znidar and I saw was additional barrels and cones.
Irony?
The former governor of the state, Mike Pence, is currently running for president of the United States. And isn’t that a warm confidence builder, given that in his home state they have more barrels and cones than people that can get a road built?
I wouldn’t begin to guess how many different football coaches Indiana University has had since Woody Hayes once anointed former IU coach Bill Mallory (a Miami of Ohio man) as one of the best, and most under-rated coaches in college football. Yet, Mallory’s record at Indiana was 69-77-and 3 ties before he took the highway out of town. Not route 37, I assume, or he’d still be there.
They’ve known that the Ohio State-Indiana game was on September 2 all summer (actually for at least three years), yet the media will call window for credentials and those photo vests you’re required to wear on the sidelines was an hour late in opening on Saturday. Trust it, this same conversation was the topic of choice among the dozens standing in line…that and WTF is going on with route 37?
Hey, stuff happens. I get that. You deal with that which you can control, and they were scrambling for ice and relief for a lot of people sitting outside the first aid stations suffering from the scorching heat in the stands. I carry a small probe thermometer in my camera bag just for curiosity sake, and when I stuck it into the stadium turf it quickly read…111, fahrenheit! I give IU an ‘A’ for effort, having seen the same scene before at Ohio Stadium, in Columbus.
The press box air conditioning was great – outstanding – a welcome relief and a professional check of the box.
And then…my lap top blew up. Not shut down…it literally blew up, forcing Gilbert and me to go to the car, get back on 37, and write the game story on the way home, while sitting in traffic. We pulled out of the IU parking lot at 7:10 pm. We got to I-465 at 9:40 pm – 2 hours 20 minutes to drive 45 miles. We got back to Miami County at 11:54 pm. The Ohio State game story, which should have been online by 8 pm, was finally live (with some shortcuts), by 2 am. The Dayton-Illinois State game story didn’t go live until 8 am!
Editor/publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.
All of this…because they can’t build a highway in Indiana, an apparent metaphor to building a football program – 9 different head coaches since Lee Corso left in 1982 (41 years), and none of them had a winning record – and the stain that it leaves on the mental state of accomplishment.
After all, can you imagine what traffic and road rage would have been like in Columbus since 1982 if the Buckeyes record was 215 and 339? You think 71 north during rush hour is bad now? And as bad as it is currently, can you imagine the crime and hijacking rate if it was 50-50 the Buckeyes would lose to Youngstown State next week? And speaking of crimes, can you imagine paying $100 dollars to even watch them play Youngstown State?
With some tongue-in-cheek (but not much) I present the facts. Someone in Indiana has to be responsible for this, but politicians never show barrels and cones in their campaign videos. Think about that.
And think about route 37, when next you hear Mike Pence talk about all they’ve accomplished in Indiana.
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