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SECOND THOUGHTS
Buckeyes could win it all, or lose early
Sunday, March 04, 2007
It's tough to watch and read the coverage of Friday's bus crash involving Bluffton University's baseball team. I can't imagine how gut-wrenching it is to lose someone that way. I do know one thing: The parents of Springfield's A.J. Ramthun, the team's unofficial spokesman, should be very proud of their son. What an amazing, thoughtful kid. Our prayers go out to the family of Verona's Cody Holp and the others who died in the accident.
Race for No. 1: I'm not sold on the Ohio State basketball team. Then again, the Buckeyes appear to have as good a chance as anyone of cutting down the nets next month in Atlanta. It's going to be tough filling out those NCAA tournament brackets. I can't recall the last time when there were eight or nine teams with legitimate shots at a No. 1 seed.
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The thing that concerns me about the Buckeyes is that the entire team — except Greg Oden — seems to prefer running and gunning. Oden is a half-court threat, and OSU doesn't look like it has found a way to blend the two styles. It wouldn't shock me to see the Bucks win it all — or get knocked out in the second round.
Tourney trail: Some retired people play golf from the front tees and get their hair dyed blue. When I hang it up, I'm looking forward to crisscrossing the country and taking in a bunch of conference basketball tournaments.
One of my first targets is the Missouri Valley tourney in St. Louis. The crowds are big, but not too big, so tickets aren't an issue. The basketball is great, and there's always a lot on the line because the hungry MVC can't take NCAA bids for granted.
Plus, if the games gets boring, there's always a brewery tour to consider.
Chicken dance: Kansas State, in an attempt to show that its campus is indeed civilized, has banned the tossing of live chickens before games with the rival Kansas Jayhawks. Another fine college tradition down the drain.
Of course, PETA weighed in on this one because the college blinked, claiming that chickens are "very intelligent and inquisitive animals" and that is was a bad thing to abuse them at a basketball game. Yeah, maybe. Think I'm stopping at KFC on the way home.
Quick hits: NASCAR's season goes on about as long as tennis season, so why does Nextel Cup take a week off after two races? Ridiculous. ... Is the Atlantic 10 a major or mid-major? The attendance at the conference tourney this week in Atlantic City will provide all the evidence I need. Bring that event back to UD Arena, and keep it here.
Good guy of the week
I've despised the Dallas Cowboys ever since they beat my Vikings on Roger Staubach's original Hail Mary (it was pass interference). But it's tougher to hate America's Team when you read the story about Everson Walls donating a kidney to good buddy Ron Springs, who has been a wheelchair-user for two years. The former Cowboys DB went under the knife last week, and by all accounts Walls saved Springs' life. Now there's a hero.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.
