Former Buckeye and current ESPN commentator and SEC advocate Kirk Herbstreit’s most recent attack on the fanbase of Ohio State has coined a new phrase among the Buckeye faithful. While former head coach Urban Meyer like to refer to Ohio State fans as Buckeye Nation, the SEC’s biggest fan went with “lunatic fringe.”
His reason for this was that many Ohio State fans were willing to find a new coach after the embarrassing and worst defeat in my life for the Buckeyes in the 13-10 loss at the end of the regular season. Instead of a simple comment about how much The Game means to Buckeyes everywhere and brings out their strong passions and love for their team (even if in his view they’re misguided) he decided to blame the issue on the people who bleed scarlet and gray.
Herbie spent much of the broadcast of Ohio State’s victory over Tennessee taking shots at the fans who are the lifeblood of Ohio State. Ohio State’s trouncing of the Vols and blow of Oregon in the Rose Bowl might have the broadcaster thinking he was vindicated and that only the nuts had had enough with 0-4. The 41-21 Rose Bowl victory only proved the lunatic fringe right.
It may be the lunatic fringe to some, but being an Ohio State Buckeye means The Game is the most important game (short of a national championship game, and even then, they’re even) that will be played in any given season.
Does wanting to move on from an otherwise successful coach because of his struggles in that game make one part of the lunatic fringe? If so, then so is wanting to retain that coach. Because who you say you are, the games you say have the most meaning, the history you love, all of that matters.
The truth is that both sides of that argument are part of the lunatic fringe. The ones who look deeply at the team and game they love are the exception. The rule is the people who sell their tickets to visiting teams, the people who don’t make lots of noise at the Shoe, and tell people to sit down, and who leave the games way too early.
The lunatic fringe was right about these Buckeyes because they know the game of football enough and their Buckeyes enough to know that they had games like the win over Tennessee and the Rose Bowl in them all along. The criticized Ryan Day included! The disagreement among us was that some had said that Day just needed another chance, and some had said he’d had more than enough chances.
The lunatic fringe understands a coach in Day’s shoes earns every ounce of criticism so must be given just as many of their flowers when they succeed. And boy has Day earned them against Tennessee and winning the Rose Bowl! The lunatic fringe knows Ohio State is not done, that the mission is not over.
They’re half of the way to that mountain and a stumble would re-shine a light on the former four-game stretch and the pressure would return. But this is Ohio State, where greatness is expected. That’s the way it’s supposed to be and while it may make you the lunatic fringe, it doesn’t make you a bad Buckeye.
Maybe it’s because there’s a local rock n’ roll radio station out of Cincinnati, Ohio that has proudly called itself the lunatic fringe for decades. Maybe it’s a pro wrestler from Cincinnati, Ohio who wore that term as a badge of honor. Maybe it’s because when you take a negative thing someone has called you and you wear it like a king wears his royal title you take the negative power away from it.
Regardless, I am part of the Buckeye lunatic fringe. We know and love our team the most of anyone, and we love being Buckeyes! Go Bucks! Beat Texas!