Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer on the set of ESPN before the 2013 BCS Championship game against the between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Buckeyes football team is yet to touch a national title since 2002. For a change, Ohio State Buckeyes should try going overseas to train further. This is something that has been done before by an American college. The Stanford Cardinals has a stable sports relation with Spanish teams. One country that the Buckeyes football team should try is Sweden. Though the Scandinavian country isn’t that big in American football, it has many big names in the National Football League. There is Bjorn Arne Nittmo, the first Swedish to play in the American league, {Ove Johansson} who owns the league record for the longest field goal made at 69 yards, and Ola Fredrik Andreas Kimrin who led the NFL Europe kickers with 57 points. Sweden also has a national football team that performs well in the American Football World Cup. It also has its own American football league called the Swedish American Football Federation. Sweden really has a good foundation for the sport, which the Ohio State Buckeyes can take advantage of.

American football is one of the most popular sports among Swedish teens. Sweden might find young players in Stockholm who dream of making it to the US. One of Ohio’s main problems during the past years is recruitment. They don’t usually get the best high school players because of lack of funds. Talents always go to richer schools. Maybe they should take advantage of the rising casinos in their hometown to have better funding. A gambling-related company supporting sports teams, whether in collegiate rank or commercial clubs, is something that was done before. There is the San Diego State University that is affiliated with a certain business group that operates casinos and restaurants. There is also the Real Madrid-Bwin Party Entertainment team up in Spain’s La Liga. Bwin is a company that handles poker tournaments like the World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, and online gaming sites like partypoker se. This website, which is also famous in Sweden, lets players win cash right in their laptops or mobile computers through its online tournaments. It has games that are as fun and as entertaining with the ones played in Las Vegas. Online poker is big even to celebrities, football players, and other athletes. Maybe they play the card game to develop their mental toughness. But if sponsorship with a gambling company wouldn’t succeed, they can still beef up by training with Swedish American football teams.

Sweden is looking forward to an American brand of gridiron actions. Ohio Buckeyes can have a friendly game or two with the country’s top club, the {Stockholm Mean Machines}. American football is also big among Swedish teens and the government has programs that help develop the sport. If Ohio officials will be able to do good scouting in the Scandinavian country, they might get the next Nittmo, Johansson, and Kimrin.

Ohio State fan Harrison Watson recently tweeted “$2000 to whoever sidelines this kid permanently,” in response to Michigan recruit Logan Tuley-Tillman burning an Ohio State recruiting letter — and tweeting the proof. Tuley-Tillman’s letter burning really miffed Buckeye fans, but their collective ire pales in comparison to how riled up the Maize and Blue faithful were over Watson’s Twitter bounty. Gregg Williams really started a national trend, didn’t he? That said, even he was smart enough to never tweet out, “attack the head!” And what Tuley-Tillman did wasn’t exactly classy either, but in his defense he’s a teenage recruit — not a grown man.

Luckily, Watson eventually came to his senses and apologized for his actions. In fact, he cited that the whole thing was just a joke, something between him and friends that got completely blown out of proportion. To back up his claim, he made a handsome $2K donation to the University of Michigan. Now that’s the Buckeye way! This whole thing has gotten rather silly, but it’s doubtful that we’ve heard the end of it given this long-standing rivalry.

The Hatfields and McCoys might have gotten all the pub due to the Kevin Costner mini-series the History Channel just aired, but for our money Michigan-Ohio State is the greatest feud in American history.