O-H-I-O: One More About Ohio Sports

The Columbus Dispatch's coverage of Ohio State's bowl games is interesting because much of the writing has a greater subtext: Ohio's football symbolizes the state's place in the nation's political economy. OSU often plays in premier games against teams from the West Coast or the South. That pits the Steel Belt, with its unionized semi-skilled manufacturing labor, cold winters, conservative Democrats, small-town family values and declining population, against sunny climes, with their lower-cost labor and living, real estate economics and housing bubbles, liberal Democrats or hard-line Republicans (the West and South, respectively), carefree (or at least easygoing) living and growing population. Essentially, on one side of the field is the U.S. circa 1955 and on the other is the U.S. circa 1995. The former is trying to prove it still has a place in the national conversation circa 2010.

The difference also manifests itself in the teams' playing styles. Ohio State relies on the running game -- large corn-fed, Ohio-bred boys push forward as the running back behind them muscles his way for four yards, they collapse in a pile of tacklers, and then they get up to exert themselves all over again. It reminds me of farming and the serious life; you earn your rewards the hard way, through daily repetition and accepting the importance of physical labor, and there's no other way to do it in the cold weather. Meanwhile, their opponents, particularly the West Coast ones, have high-flying offenses with lots of passing, unusual formations and even, gasp, trick plays. Pretty boys trying to coast to victory. (The Times even had a story hypothesizing Terrelle Pryor, OSU's super-athletic star quarterback, would be having a more successful career if he had chosen Oregon, the Buckeyes' opponent in this year's Rose Bowl, over Ohio State. Ohio State's buttoned-up style hinders Pryor's talents, the story said.) The hand-wringing extends to the success of the entire Big Ten, Ohio's athletic conference, consisting of other large Midwestern state universities, during bowl season. The Big Ten's success reflects on the whole region's.

Thankfully, Ohio State defeated Oregon Friday, 26-17. After three consecutive bowl losses, the Buckeyes reinserted themselves in the national conversation.