Urban Renewal

The worst-kept secret in sports was confirmed officially yesterday when The Ohio State University unveiled Urban Meyer as the 24th head football coach in the program's history.

This comes on the heels of a traumatic year for supporters of the Buckeye footballers, (and the team itself), because of the various scandals that have threatened to bring the program down, and may still do so, since everyone is still awaiting the NCAA sanctions to be imposed.

Kudos to newly-demoted interim coach Luke Fickell for his loyal and thankless service to a football team that often appeared to have both hands and one leg tied behind its back. Fickell was given the job Memorial Day weekend, late enough that he had to keep the entirety of Jim Tressel's staff intact, and adding an ex-NFL player and OSU grad, Mike Vrabel. That they did as well as 6-6 this year is enough of a miracle, given the neanderthal play-calling of his offensive coordinator (until the last game), that Luke should have earned a million-dollar bonus just for not slicing his wrists at midfield one midnight.

Almost since before Jim Tressel was let go/resigned/retired the mob has been calling for the Buckeyes to hire Urban Meyer, late of Florida and employed as an analyst on ESPN. You remember Meyer, the guy who twice inside a year stepped away as coach at Florida while citing health issues, and a lack of balance in his life.

Today's Dispatch has an article stating that Meyer's wife looked into his eyes and believes he is ready to do the job, while still spending time with family, working out regularly, and delegating responsibilities to his to-be-hired assistant coaches. She believes he has found that balance.

I am not a fan of Mr. Meyer; however, he is our coach now and I welcome him, and certainly hope he can rebuild the Buckeye football program to the heights to which all loyal Buckeyes believe is their destiny: an undefeated, unscored-upon juggernaut who wins the national championship every year, whilst beating Those Scum Up North 100-0 or worse every year.

Good luck and good health, Urbie! You'll need it!