Ross Bjork had a banner year in his first full year as the athletic director for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes won the men's Capital One Cup, Ohio State won the national championship in football, and he set up several NIL collectives. Yet, fans are still not pleased with what he's doing.
Bjork seems to have mismanaged the new NIL rules with the NCAA, and that has cost the Ohio State football program several big-time recruits. He is renovating the stadium for the richest of the rich at the expense of students. He seems to care more about the corporate aspect of things than the heart of college athletics.
While speaking in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Bjork revealed his most egregious offense of all since taking the athletic director job over from a retiring Gene Smith. He has ended a beloved Ohio State football tradition that has been around for decades.
Ross Bjork ends Hang On Sloopy tradition at Ohio State football games
According to Bjork, Hang On Sloopy will no longer be played by the band at the start of the fourth quarter, a tradition that has been around for decades. Instead, Bjork said the band will play the iconic song "whenever we need it the most", which is ridiculous.
That's not the only tradition he's changing. The Buckeyes are ringing the Victory Bell before games start instead of after wins. Instead of signaling victories, it could end up signaling losses, depending on the outcome of the game.
Bjork will quickly wear out his welcome if he starts messing with beloved Ohio State traditions. He wore out his welcome pretty quickly at Ole Miss and Texas A&M with the fans; he's fast-tracked that at Ohio State. This is a ridiculous thing to do for no apparent reason.
Bjork has already moved the band from the South stands to the North stands, a move that makes it easier to play in the Shoe. For years, it has been borderline impossible for opponents to score in the South endzone because of the support of the students and the band in that section.
Fans are already not taking kindly to this announcement. Bjork is revealing himself to be a corporate shill who only cares about the bottom line, and he isn't even doing a good job with that. The athletic department is $38 million in debt.