DAYTON - National pundits still can't believe it.
On a radio show, columnist Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Timeswent so far as to suggest Ohio State turn down its bid to the FiestaBowl on the grounds that the football team isn't as good as its 13-0record would imply.
How's that for respect?
Then again, it's been about respect all season for the Buckeyes -finding it, keeping it, then solidifying it through narrow, heart-stopping victories over such Big Ten rivals as Purdue, Penn State,Michigan and anyone else that tried to spoil (or devalue) theirunblemished record going into Friday's national championship gameagainst the University of Miami.
If some remain unconvinced - hey, what can you do?
Beat Miami, you say? A win over the Hurricanes - oddsmakers makeOSU a two-touchdown longshot - would give the Buckeyes their firstnational title since 1968, back when Woody Hayes prowled thesidelines and terrorized yard markers, referees and whatever elsewandered into his path.
Lose and they still might get a parade down High Street, such isthe nature of the love affair between this surprising team and itsadoring fans.
Ohio State's return to prominence is the biggest story of theyear, as determined by an esteemed panel of writers and editors inthe Dayton Daily News sports department. It emerged from a passelof other noteworthy events including Pete Rose's pursuit ofreinstatement, Chaminade-Julienne's thrilling drive to a state highschool football championship, Cinergy Field's gates closing for goodand longtime DDN baseball writer Hal McCoy being voted into theHall of Fame by his peers.
Of the many individual stories arising from OSU's triumphantseason, perhaps none warms the heart more than that of placekickerMike Nugent, who in the span of one year went from shaky freshman toAll-American, joining teammates Matt Wilhelm and Michael Doss on thatprestigious squad.
Nugent, the former Centerville High standout, kicked up a stormand helped the Buckeyes ascend to unimagined heights in just thesecond year of coach Jim Tressel's tenure.
He made 23 field goals in a row to obliterate the school record of15 and come within two of the NCAA mark for one season. He's madegood on all but two of 26 attempts.
'I never saw this coming,' said Nugent, who made 7 of 14 fieldgoals and heard boos as a freshman.
Sure, running back Maurice Clarett and the defense receive most ofthe accolades, but without a steady kicker, where might the Buckeyesbe? Probably not in Tempe, Ariz., preparing for the game of theirlives.
That prickly Rose
If OSU represented the good in area sports this year, the Rosesoap opera was both the bad and the ugly as baseball's all-time hitsleader continued his campaign for reinstatement into baseball and, asmany think, his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, forever seeking ways to restorethe sport's popularity, appears anxious to run interference for Rose,the disgraced former Reds player and manager who 13 years ago signeda lifetime ban after being found to have bet on baseball games.
Did Rose bet on Reds games while managing the team? The evidenceis being dredged up again and at least one audiotape has surfaced inwhich Rose chats with a notorious underworld figure.
Will Rose be forced to admit betting on baseball and apologizebefore being reinstated? Selig plans to discuss this and other issuesnext month with a group of Hall of Famers, many of whom (Bob Fellerfor one) are so fed up with Rose that they have trouble even talkingabout him in civil tones.
But Rose remains popular where it counts. Fans blindly cheer hisevery move, which ultimately could tip the scales in his favor.
C-J had a Ringer
The beauty of sports can be found in the absence of script. Youwould know this if you followed C-J, which beat Macedonia Nordonia,41-26, for the Division II state football title before 8,851 fans atPaul Brown Stadium in Massillon.
Despite losing players to injury, suspension and academicineligibility, C-J would not be diverted. Nordonia was the finalobstacle, and with sophomore sensation Javon Ringer racking up a D-II championship game record 251 yards rushing and four touchdowns,hope became reality.
'All year long we talked to our kids about the magic, about theEagle magic,' C-J coach Jim Place told the DDN afterward. 'And thiswas the year of Eagle magic. Man, that magic was flowing tonight.'
C-J finished 14-1 and bagged its first state championship, but itwasn't easy. Punter Isaac Hull severely sprained his ankle on hisleft (punting) foot before the title game even started. QuarterbackAnthony Turner's passing hand swelled up due to a hematoma and helost four fumbles.
It was Ringer to the rescue as the All-Ohio back scored on runs of12, 70, 60 and 37 yards. 'I don't want to take all the credit,' helater said, graciously. 'I wouldn't have been able to make all thoselong runs if not for my line.'
Place had taken nothing for granted at the start of the season,even wondering if his team could contend for a title. He challengedhis players to take control of their season and discover theintangibles that would reveal their character.
In the end, that's what happened.
So long, Cinergy
Midway through the baseball season, tributes to Cinergy Fieldbegan flowing as if a dam had burst. The Reds were going nowhere, sowhy not reminisce about better times and better players?
And look who came back for one last stand on this lot. Youcouldn't turn your head without spotting a Hall of Famer. A JohnnyBench. A Tony Perez. A Sparky Anderson. A Joe Morgan.
They talked about the Big Red Machine, about championships won andfriendships cherished. It was baseball when the grass was real, evenif theirs was fake up until a couple of years ago.
The final Cinergy event was a softball game involving Rose andmany other legends of the game, including Dayton's own Hall of Famer,Mike Schmidt. Some 40,000 paid between $20-34, with proceeds going tocharity. Cheers for Rose nearly brought down the house a few monthsearly, especially when he favored the fans - at age 61 - with one ofhis trademark head-first dives into third base.
Peering through the tears and magical moments, discerning fansrealized Cinergy was nothing more than an outmoded facility whosetime had come. This morning, it becomes rubble, making way for thecompletion of Great American Ball Park.
HOF summons McCoy
Hal McCoy has spent three decades in Riverfront Stadium/CinergyField chronicling the exploits of the Reds. The power of endurance,coupled with an unrivaled ability to entertain and inform, earnedMcCoy the prestigious J.G. Taylor Spink Award 'for meritoriouscontributions to baseball writing' in a vote of the Baseball WritersAssociation of America.
It means he's going to Cooperstown next summer to enter thewriters' wing of the Hall of Fame.
'Probably the highlight of my career,' McCoy said. 'I will beawestruck to stand on the stage with all of those baseball greats,many of whom I covered.'
McCoy's impeccable credentials include the fact that he's coveredsomewhere in the neighborhood of 5,760 games (including 161 WorldSeries games) and written about 25,000 baseball stories.
Columnist Terry Pluto of the Akron Beacon-Journal had the best andmost succinct reaction to McCoy's honor when he wondered, 'Why did ittake so long?'
Contact Sean McClelland at 225-2408 orsean_mcclelland@coxohio.com