It’s time to get you ready for kickoff! The 2011 season is finally approaching, as Buckeye fans across the globe treat this morning like Christmas day. The gift of another blessed season is before us as we get closer to unwrapping what is defined as one of the top presents a sports fan can ask for. It’s time to put the off-season behind us and move forward to the New Year. Every morning before kickoff, we’ll get you ready with the latest and greatest opinion and information we can before the ball flies off the tee. As you want anxiously for the TV to turn on, here are some links and media to scour through to educate your mind and regulate your hunger.
Of course, you can always get prepared here at The Buckeye Battle Cry by reading our opponent preview of Akron before game time. You can also listen to our podcast with Matt Sussman of The Hustle Belt to get us ready for Akron. And of course, stay right here for our LiveBloggin’ during the game.
Here we go, time to get you ready for Game One!
Look, some national attention that has nothing to do with scandal, suspension, or the fact that a pundit thinks the Buckeyes will take a step this season. Pete Thamel of The New York Times does a great job of describing the coaching and personal mentality of Luke Fickell heading into game one. This profile should make Ohio State fans giddy, because he has all the right characteristics to carry the Buckeye program. As a wrestler for over 10 years, I can tell you that former competitors of the sport always take their experiences with them and it helps mold you into a hard working and driven person. In this day and age, it’s all about the Ws on the record, but Luke Fickell is the right man for this job at a key transition period.
This gets me pumped up for the first game with our new head man on the sidelines.
As you probably already know, Fickell addressed the media on Thursday, discussing the great traditions of Ohio State football before, during, and after the game. Anyone concerned should not worry, as senior Tyler Moeller put it, despite Jim Tressel instilling some of these traditions, they are not Jim Tressel’s traditions. They are traditions of The Ohio State University. It is something we’ve come very accustomed to seeing. From the Skull session, the players, dressed in suits, will touch a new monument in ROTC Remembrance Park on the way to Ohio Stadium. The monument was donated by Jim Tressel and has the words, “service, tradition, academics and athletics” written on it.
From there the players will form in a hive, and in this opener will run through the tunnel of pride. With someone very special supposedly at the end of the light.
Get pumped. Tradition is back!
Mark Znidar of the Dispatch breaks down three Akron Zips from the Central Ohio area who have been thrown into the fire per-say. Jamar Williams, Blake Fraley, and punter T.J. Marchese have all been part of both the Ianello and Brookhart regimes. Znidar gives us a look into the rebuild of the program an highlights Fraley and Williams, who both have interesting stories. Williams is going to Akron to become a doctor, while Fraley is looking for a career in emergency management after his playing days. A good look at where the Zips have gotten to after being at such a low point. There is still a lot of work to be done though. Also at Buckeye Extra, Tim May and Bill Rabinowitz preview game day against Akron on their podcast.
Akron Beacon Journal beat writer Tom Gaffney breaks down Akron even further heading into week one against Ohio State. The veteran writer in the above video goes position by position on the field and really gives a good indication of where the Zips line up decently against the Buckeyes. Gaffney also wrote about what it is like for the Zips to be the first competition for the Buckeyes in a new era that doesn’t include former head coach Jim Tressel. He also looks at the improvement the defense hopes to make under new coordinator Kevin Cosgrove.
Jason Lloyd of The Republic in Indiana puts a new spin on the “New Era” of Ohio State football. Lloyds article takes a personal look at how this team has responded to it’s head coach and how the team has a new youthful and young way of going about things. With a young coaching staff, it definitely will be interesting to see how it changes things on the field. You know that Fickell will follow many of Tressel guidelines laid out to him in his gig as co-defensive coordinator. But what he pushes for on offense is a defensive mindset. A good read from Jason this morning in the Hoosier state. The new era begins at noon Buckeye fans, get pumped.
We close our Pre-Game links with a beautiful presentation from Men of the Scarlet and Gray. What kind of pre-game links article wouldn’t get you ready for college football in week one without taking you to campus with ESPN’s College Gameday! Okay, let’s be honest. The only reason I’m excited is because Herbie is orange, Corso and Sweet Lou are as insightful as ever, and Mark May is a genuine Rant Hammer expletive. Check out this great and hilarious piece by the gang. It will make your day and remind you that mute is an important button on the remote during the college football season.
That’ll do it for Pre-Game Links. GO BUCKEYES!
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