Ohio
Mailbox: Did soft schedule lead to Ohio State football ‘hype train’ being derailed?
Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity.
On Ohio State football
To Brian: I watched with jaundiced side eye at all the preseason hype of superstar transfers, returning talent and a new offensive coordinator combining to make the Buckeyes a national championship juggernaut. Even Ohio State’s detractors said this was the best team money could buy. All these prognosticators ignored Ryan Day and his choke factor in big games. Now that it’s apparent the hype train was derailed in Eugene, it may be time to reevaluate the head coach position if they gag in the playoffs.
Jeff Petsche, Delray Beach, Fla.
Dear Editor: With the Buckeyes’ loss to Oregon, it makes one wonder about their scheduling of opponents early in the season. Do the Buckeyes really benefit from beating the “Little Sisters of the Poor” teams 62-0 and then pound their chest and claim they are such a great team? I don’t think so. After those lopsided early-season blowout wins they then meet a “real” opponent and find it very difficult to handle the situation of a real competitive game. Maybe the Buckeyes should schedule some actual games where the outcome is not so assured early in the season to better prepare them for the more competitive teams that will surely follow. Chance favors those better prepared.
Chet Ridenour Sr., Worthington
To Mr. White: After rewatching the OSU vs. Oregon game, I have a question for Jim Knowles: Why do D-ends contentiously crash down inside and not maintain the edge? That should be their primary goal, pushing everything toward the middle for the D-line and linebackers. In Saturday’s game, one end failed to make a difference and the other did not maintain his assignment which resulted in the game-wining touchdown. Coach Knowles is paid enough to have his defense prepared for any situation and offense.
Fausto J Garofalo Jr, Columbus
To Brian: I’ve always criticized those who criticize amateur athletes, but I guess Ohio State football players aren’t really amateurs anymore. Nonetheless, those critical of Will Howard’s decision-making at the end of the Oregon game and Jeremiah Smith’s questionable penalty just before that overlook that they played well throughout the evening against a very good team in a hostile environment at night three time zones away and still almost overcame the deficiencies of the defense and a kickoff return player who demonstrated how playing back on your heels is less effective than being on your toes.
Dennis Singleton, Dayton
On baseball catchers
To the editor: Having gone to Williamsport’s Little League World Series a couple of years ago with my adult grandson, we consider it a special place to showcase youth players.I do have a baseball and an umpiring complaint. It was not only “if” but “when” the issue would reach and impact Williamsport.In a recent LL game, the catcher was “framing” pitches to deceive the umpire into thinking it was a strike. Often called an art form, it is praised by MLB commentators. Catchers are often rated by their ability to influence a ball into a strike. Youth catchers and coaches have noticed. It has become blatant, successful and game-changing. You can not watch an MLB game without framing. But LL!Baseball has always included integrity challenges. Sharpened spikes, spitballs, illegal bats, betting and now, framing. What kind of a fair penalty could be administered?Umpires could treat the framed pitch as a walk unless the batter advances otherwise. After all, by framing the pitch back into the strike zone, what has the catcher admitted?Hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult skills in sports. Failing seven in 10 at-bats could make a Hall of Famer.Jim N. Reed, Lancaster
To Jim: Subtle framing, without moving the receiving arm, is indeed an art. But the exaggerated movement of the glove or hand should not throw off a good umpire, who can judge a pitch by where it hits the glove. That good umpire will ignore such catchers and they will stop the silliness.
On newspapers, deadlines and online coverage
To Brian: I’m just sitting here (about 2 p.m. Saturday) and thinking how this modern world can do so many things faster, smarter, and with more precision than in the past. I recall what the current media misses. Like, Woody had a TV show after the Saturday game, 10, 10:30 or 11 p.m. That included some of the outstanding players of the game.
Yes, the very next day the paper came out on Sunday morning with super stories from the game day. This week, we might (get a paper on Tuesday with a) little about the game. If they lose or win by a very small margin, the sports department will certainly tell how bad they are. That’s what they do all week. It sounds like the “USA Today” sports section doesn’t like to do anything positive for the team.
I also recall going to the games and getting an early Saturday paper, which told how great the team was. When do I see that now? I haven’t. The media help the Ohio State Buckeyes rise and fall.
This is just history to all, but true. This might be how The Dispatch falls, too.
Bill
To Bill: Newspapers are different these days, with earlier print deadlines. In our case, that means any Ohio State game that kicks off later than 12:15 p.m. will not make the Sunday print editions. It’s been that way for many years now, with coverage of the games in Monday’s print editions. However, the timeliness of our coverage on Dispatch.com is better than ever, and shortly after the Ohio State-Oregon game ended we had published 14 stories, plus a photo gallery. All week, our website contains several articles that don’t make the print edition. Our Saturday print edition is now an electronic edition, available to all subscribers, but our Friday print editions include a separate game preview section. Lastly, our job as journalists is to report on the team in an unbiased and fair fashion, not to strive to do only positive things for the team. There are plenty of media in Columbus that do that. It’s just not our role.
More from the Mailbox
Is it time to put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame?
Remembering Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose, a great hitter but flawed person
A tribute to overlooked, ‘indispensable’ photographers
Are Ohio State football games getting to be too long?
Reader takeaways on Michigan’s Connor Stalions; and what would Bo think?
Loyal Crew fan won’t stand for Haslams moving game to Cleveland
Reader wants to hear less from Pete Rose; and what’s with recruiting rankings?
Reader’s baseball Hall of Fame story takes a twist, featuring Al Oliver
Columbus Crew’s Aidan Morris misses 2024 Olympics, Ohio state football and more
Pete Rose was a great Ohioan, but what about Mike Schmidt, Cy Young?
Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
Have a question for Just Askin’? Email us.
The Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, except maybe Google.
Do you have a question you want answered? Send it to us at justaskin@enquirer.com, ideally with Just Askin’ in the subject line.
It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
-
Technology6 minutes agoDyson’s powerful 360 Vis Nav robovac is down to $279.99 for a limited time
-
World12 minutes agoAs Trump forces NATO to pay up, alliance races to close military gap with US
-
Politics18 minutes agoInside the US military playbook to cripple Iran if nuclear talks collapse
-
Health24 minutes agoFitness expert visits gyms nationwide, shouts out 4 clubs for ‘getting it right’
-
Sports30 minutes ago2026 INDYCAR Odds: Alex Palou Clear Favorite for Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS
-
Technology36 minutes agoGlobal scam crackdown leads to 276 arrests
-
Business42 minutes agoDisney’s ABC challenges FCC, escalating fight over free speech
-
Entertainment48 minutes agoWriters Guild staff union reaches deal, ending strike after nearly three months