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You’re Nuts: Which holiday movie best sums up this Ohio State football season?

Published

1 year ago

December 25, 2023

You’re Nuts: Which holiday movie best sums up this Ohio State football season?

Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.

In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.

Today’s Question: Which holiday movie best sums up this Ohio State football season?

Jami’s Take: ‘The Grinch’

All the Oh-Whos down in Oh-Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but Jim Harbaugh, who lived just North of Oh-Whoville DID NOT.

I assume everyone is at least vaguely familiar with Dr. Seuss’s story of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” but as a quick refresher for anyone who might need it, the residents of Whoville absolutely live for Christmas. I mean, their entire personality is Christmas, and they are going to make sure you know it.

It drives one neighbor, The Grinch, a heartless furry green fellow who lives on the nearby Mount Crumpit with his dog Max, absolutely bananas. Mr. Grinch cannot stand the Whos’ toxic positivity and deranged obsession with twinkle lights, so he sets out to ruin their year by stealing Christmas.

With Max as a reindeer, the Grinch dresses himself up like Santa Claus, only instead of delivering goodies a la the Big Guy, he steals everything.

Presents. Trees. Christmas lights. Their Who pheasants and roast beasts. He steals every last drop of their Christmas, shoves it in a sack, and drags it up to Mount Crumpit to dump it.

The Whos’ somewhat naïve, childlike joy and vocal obsession mirrors that of Buckeye fans. Everyone in the land is going to know we are rooting for Ohio State because much like the Whos (and much to the chagrin of our neighbors who absolutely do not want to hear one more round of “Buckeye Battle Cry), we simply won’t shut up about it.

And for most of this season, there was much to celebrate. We headed into Thanksgiving undefeated. We had a solid shot at the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The end of the year was, much like the Whos, our time to shine.

And so, the Whos bedazzled Whoville with Christmas lights, cranked up the carols, and wrapped up their presents. We bedazzled ourselves in Buckeye beads, cranked up the fight songs, and wrapped ourselves up in coats to brave a weekend in Michigan in November.

And our joy was stolen from us by a coldhearted thief. He stuffed our undefeated season in a sack, shoved our Big Ten title hopes up the chimney, and dumped our playoff hopes off Mount Crumpit.

He even stole our signs with the same cold-blooded glee as the Grinch finishing off the Whos’ Who-Feasts.

Devastating, and frankly, disorienting end to the regular season. The following weeks brought the Big Ten Championship game with no Buckeyes in sight. It felt like waking up on Christmas morning to find an empty fridge and no presents, and it required us to recalibrate.

Now Dr. Seuss gave us a happy ending, with the Grinch also returning what he stole, embracing the Whos, and finding his heart grew three sizes in a single day. I’m not expecting Jim Harbaugh to give back what he took willingly the way the Grinch does (for Harbaugh’s heart to grow three sizes, he’d have to have one to begin with). There is still always the possibility the NCAA will play the role of Dr. Seuss here, though, by forcing Michigan to vacate all its wins due to the sign-stealing scandal.

But even if Harbaugh gets to keep it all, where we really mirror the Whos is our resilience. The Whos don’t stop loving Christmas just because the green meanie takes their stuff away. It’s something they feel in their bones, and the spirit still arrives on Christmas Day even without the lights and the presents.

Without any of their goodies, the Whos join hand-in-hand to sing a Christmas song.

And even without a Big Ten Title or a playoff spot, if there’s one thing Buckeye fans are gonna do, it’s get their complaints out of their system and then stand arm-in-arm to sing Carmen Ohio.

The Whos’ love of Christmas runs deep, and not even The Grinch can steal that from them. So to does our love of Ohio State. Our bond is thicker than the waters of the Olentangy, and even if the Grinch of Ann Arbor steals everything else, he can’t take that away from us.

Time, change and Grinches will — and dare I say HAVE — surely shown how firm thy friendship, Ohio.

Happy holidays to you and yours, Buckeye fans, and best wishes for a wonderful New Year.

Matt’s Take: ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

I don’t think that there is anyone amongst us who can claim that this past Ohio State football season was as bright and cheery as the Rankin/Bass stop-motion Christmas classics, or as relatively drama-free as a Hallmark holiday movie, but I am starting to feel like we might have happy ending nonetheless.

While you cannot directly map the 2023 Buckeye football season over top of the iconic Christmas film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” I feel like we, as OSU fans, experienced many of the same emotions contained in the movie classic. There were moments of despair, for both George Bailey and Buckeye fans, including — in some cases — ones that led to complete exacerbation that made it seem like there would never be another day when the sun shone upon us.

But one of the things that this season forced us to do was to take a look back at all of the good things that we have as Buckeye fans. As if we had our own guardian angel second class guiding us through the highs of Ohio State football. With all due respect to the recently departed — but still very much alive — Kyle McCord who still managed to put up solid and somewhat impressive statistics, his shortcomings reminded us of how good we had it with the likes of Terrelle Pryor, Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields, and C.J. Stroud.

Finally having a legitimate Silver Bullets defense again, and an absurd level of offensive talent, this fall was almost like being able to see what Ohio State fandom would have been if none of our elite-level quarterbacks had ever been born. While obviously not as disastrous as what would have befallen Bedford Falls had George Bailey never been born, this season was at times just as emotionally taxing for Buckeye fans.

But as if Clarence was here to grant our wishes, things seem to be turning around for Ohio State. There has been legitimate concern from Buckeye fans — including some who write for LGHL — about the seeming lack of aggression in the transfer portal, but we are starting to learn that there might be a very good reason for that perceived passivity.

While there have been precious few confirmations about veterans’ 2024 intentions, rumors and general vibes seem to suggest that Ryan Day and company are going to get a sizeable number of starters back for next season. And while landing someone like linebacker Tackett Curtis, defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, or even quarterback Will Howard would be nice, if OSU ends up getting back impact players like Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka, Donovan Jackson, Jordan Hancock, TreVeyon Henderson, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, and Tyleik Williams back, that would certainly make a wonderful life for Buckeye fans, besides, as the old saying goes, “every time a player returns, an angel gets his wings.”

Poll

Who has the right answer to today’s question?

33%

Jami: The Grinch

(1 vote)
66%

Matt: It’s a Wonderful Life

(2 votes)

3 votes total

Vote Now

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No matter who wins between Notre Dame, Ohio State, this bettor’s positioned to profit

Published

2 hours ago

January 16, 2025

Press Room

No matter who wins between Notre Dame, Ohio State, this bettor’s positioned to profit

LAS VEGAS — Notre Dame and Ohio State winning their semifinal playoff games meant the wisdom of Tom Petty, once again, rang true.

“Even the losers / Get lucky sometimes.”

Sometimes, fortune smiles upon minnow bettors whose stacks of losing tickets provide so many bookmarks, coasters and, yes, even novel wrapping paper.

On Dec. 12, I studied the new 12-team College Football Playoff with a keen eye to newly released title-game exacta odds.

My college-pigskin rudder is points-per-play, ratios available at TeamRankings.com. The tale of teams is contained in those fractions.

On offense and defense, and overall margins, Notre Dame had sparkled since early October. “Past three games” reveals how teams are currently running.

I applied those figures to project each playoff game, best squad moving on. I played out the tournament, producing the finale exacta. I aimed to go into the championship game with a sweet ticket on both teams, guaranteeing profit.

That exercise compelled me to obtain South Point tickets on Notre Dame over Ohio State, 30-to-1 odds, and Ohio State over Notre Dame, at 25-1. Alas, the Buckeyes and Irish play for the national title Monday night.

“That’s awesome!!!” Long Island handicapper Tom Barton wrote in a text message.

“Looks like you played it 100% correct,” Southern California professional bettor Tommy Lorenzo told me. “Bull’s-eye, well done. TeamRankings is a great tool. I use a lot of its info for my power rankings.

“You’re sitting pretty, my friend.”

The two best teams

Barton entered the week 3-0 in this new playoff, and he sounded as if he’d be fine taking a pass on the championship game.

Unless the point spread ekes up to 10 somewhere. It mostly opened around 9 to 9.5 points in favor of Ohio State. Last Sunday night, it got shaved to 8. Monday afternoon, it hit 7.5 before pumping back to 8.5 by Wednesday.

“I haven’t finished my homework on the championship game,” Barton said. “I tend to lean with the points. The over looks interesting, too, but I’m not sure if I’ll play anything.”

Monday, DraftKings posted a 45.5 total. Wednesday, it hit 46.5, -108 over (or risk $108 to win $100), -112 under. Odds subject to change.

Lorenzo said he felt fortunate to be holding a title ticket on Notre Dame, at 11-1, plus Ohio State at +340.

They represented the two top teams in his power ratings, “so I pulled the trigger.” He added, “I do kick myself, however, for not attacking the championship exacta on those two, given my conviction on those two being the best teams overall.”

More maneuvering

I have more work to do, since I’ve been on Notre Dame since the summer. I’m bullish on Irish coach Marcus Freeman, so I bought a 22-1 Irish title ticket Aug. 31.

It lost early to Northern Illinois but has won 13 in a row, and I nabbed a 30-1 ducat on the Irish on Nov. 21 at the Westgate -SuperBook. So I reap more profit with a Notre Dame victory.

To even that out, I’ll stake positions with Ohio State, likely via in-game maneuvering.

Should the Irish tally an early touchdown, say, the Bucks’ moneyline will shrink closer to even (from around -380), providing an optimal situation to bet on Ohio State and ensure my dividends will be nearly equal, no matter who wins.

I did scramble for a +560 Penn State ticket on New Year’s Eve, just in case, among other moves. I had already bought into the Nittany Lions, at 24-1, on Aug. 31 at William Hill.

There are other debits, and credits. For the semifinals, I played a moneyline parlay of Ohio State to Notre Dame, turning two units into five. In sum, I’ll likely net around 55 units of playoff profit.

Howard’s Will

A lifelong Notre Dame supporter, Lorenzo said he ultimately believes Ohio State will get the victory; the figures back up that outcome.

Ohio State boasts a 0.617 points-per-play ratio over its last three games; Notre Dame’s offense, at 0.374, has been faltering.

Turnovers might be an equalizer, though, as the Irish’s ball-hawking defenders snatched an NCAA-best 32 combined fumbles and interceptions this season. Senior free safety Xavier Watts yanked down six of those picks.

All of which funnels into this column’s final words from Paul Stone, arguably the country’s finest purveyor of college-pigskin prognostications.

He noted the game opening Ohio State -10.5 at Circa Sports, which drew early action on underdog Notre Dame. Wednesday, Vegas had the Buckeyes as consensus 8-point favorites.

From East Texas, Stone said he respected those early waves of cash on the Irish, but he views Ohio State as the “more-complete team” and will back the Buckeyes on the point spread.

“They have found another gear in the playoffs and have too much firepower for Notre Dame, in my opinion,” he said. “Ohio State defeated a talented trifecta of teams — Tennessee, Oregon and Texas — all by 14 points or more.

“The Buckeyes have averaged 7.5 yards per play in those victories, while allowing only 4.2 yards per play.”

The key is Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, the 6-4, 237-pound senior who left Kansas State for Columbus.

“If [he] takes care of the ball and the Irish don’t post a defensive or special-teams touchdown,” Stone said, “I think the Buckeyes win by double digits.”

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Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Championship history and stats

Published

10 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Championship history and stats

Jan 15, 2025, 05:27 PM ET

Notre Dame and Ohio State will be facing off in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship game. How did each team get here? Notre Dame — coming off playoff wins against Indiana, Georgia and Penn State — is riding a 13-game winning streak. But the Irish are a heavy underdog in the title game matchup. Ohio State — which went through Tennessee, Oregon and Texas in the playoffs — brings its top-ranked defense in a quest to capture its ninth national championship. This will be the first time Notre Dame reaches the title game in the CFP era after falling in the semifinal in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. The Buckeyes will be playing in their third CFP title game since winning the inaugural game in 2014.

Here’s a tale of the tape between the two squads ahead of Monday’s CFP National Championship game.

Established: 1890

Conference: Big Ten

Stadium: Ohio Stadium (102,780 capacity)

Head coach: Ryan Day (2019-present)

2024 season record: 13-2

2024 season leaders:

2024 AP Top 25 final ranking: No. 6

Total championships: Eight (2014, 2002, 1970, 1968, 1961, 1957, 1954, 1942)

All-time record: 977-335-53 (.744)

Bowl record: 26-23 (.531)

Heisman winners:

Head-to-head vs. Notre Dame: 6-2, 25.6 points scored per game

Established: 1887

Conference: Independent

Stadium: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795 capacity)

Head coach: Marcus Freeman (2021-present)

2024 season record: 14-1

2024 season leaders:

2024 AP Top 25 final ranking: No. 3

Total championships: 13 (1988, 1977, 1973, 1966, 1964, 1949, 1947, 1946, 1943, 1930, 1929, 1924, 1919)

All-time record: 962-338-42 (.740)

Bowl record: 23-18 (.561)

Heisman winners:

Tim Brown, 1987
John Huarte, 1964
Paul Hornung, 1956
John Lattner, 1953
Leon Hart, 1949
John Lujack, 1947
Angelo Bertelli, 1943

Head-to-head vs. Ohio State: 2-6, 17.4 points scored per game

Check out the ESPN college football hub page for breaking news, features, schedules, rankings and more.

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Ohio’s first Zaxby’s is coming to Greater Cincinnati

Published

18 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Ohio’s first Zaxby’s is coming to Greater Cincinnati

Zaxby’s, a popular fried chicken chain, is getting its first Ohio location in Liberty Township.

A 56-seat Zaxby’s restaurant and drive-thru is planned to open at Freedom Pointe, next to Costco. The development, which was initially planned to be a hotel, will also house three other eateries: E+O Kitchen, which has locations at The Banks, Hyde Park and Loveland; Bismarck Donut and Coffee Shop and El Rancho Grande, said Christy Gloyd, Liberty Township’s marketing and events manager.

Costco opened near Interstate 75 on Cox Road in 2022. Construction on the new restaurants starts this summer, Gloyd said.

“We’re just really excited to be growing over there at Freedom Pointe,” she told The Enquirer. “Having Costco as the anchor is huge. Just to have another family-friendly restaurant and have the variety – to have the Zaxby’s and E+O and El Rancho Grande – I think it’s really going to be a nice offering for our residents.”

Atlanta-headquartered Zaxby’s has over 900 locations in 17 states, mostly in the South and Midwest. The chain is known for its chicken fingers and wings, sandwiches and salads. The closest Zaxby’s locations currently open are over an hour away, in Shelbyville, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky.

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