10 Most Hated

For those of you who are too serious and stuffy about the things I post on Facebook or in my blog and can't seem to allow sarcasm or hyperbole without some sort of judgemental comment about my judging or supposed negativity, stop reading now.

For the rest of you, I keep hearing plenty of hate from anti-OSU people here in Columbus or just about anywhere on the Internet even when the topic or thread has nothing to do with us. Obviously, it is because we are so freaking successful and our fans are pretty freaking obnoxious about it.

Of course we like to call it passion. You say tomato, we say tomato.

So in honor of all the sports hate that seems to be the trend these days, I give you my top ten list of most hated sports "stuff."


10. Glamour City Bias

From Colin Cowherd to just about any fan that doesn't live in the midwest, sports fans around the country adore the teams who play in sunny, warm cities or cities with big lights and plenty of superficial glam. The players are becoming more and more the same as they sign with these teams leaving smaller markets out to dry. Economics play a large role in this too. But in the name of my hate list, I will disregard that.

9. Notre Dame

Originally I couldn't stand Notre Dame because they were so good and I was tired of them. It was a hate rooted in envy. Then they started to suck. Now they have sucked for almost 20 years. In the middle of this span of suck, people still talked about them as though they were relevant when they weren't. Any other school playing like they did would not even register on ESPN's "other notable games" segments. But they continued to make headlines. So my hate was less out of jealousy and more out of fatigue and annoyance of the obvious bias.
They used to be higher on this list but have sunk near the bottom because I am starting to think I would like for them to be good again. They do have a rich tradition and they have done their time in suckdom. So now is a good time to return to true relevance and add to the lore of college football's history.

8. Mark May


Any fellow Buckeye fan knows exactly why he has made this list. He entered Buckeye Hater lore back in 2002 when he and Trev Alberts led the charge of over rated claims in the national media regarding the undefeated Buckeyes. Apparently, wins meant less than the style of play or point differential in wins. They repeatedly heralded Iowa as the better Big Ten team even though Iowa wasn't even the better Iowa team!! They lost to Iowa State early in the year.
But my Buckeyes showed him and every other doubter that year that the slow and outdated Big Ten team was the elite as they physically beat down the glitzy and overpaid U to win in the best football game I have ever and will ever watch.

7. The Mythical Torture in Chicago

Growing up a fan of Cleveland sports, nobody and I mean NOBODY has any right whatsoever to tell us about sports misery or pain. Yet, Chicago with the dominating 85 Bears, the glory years with the Bulls during the Jordan seasons and the recent titles from the Blackhawks and White Sox continue to act as though that Cubs streak trumps everything.

Two words: SHUT UP!

6. Detroit

The Tigers. The Pistons. The fact they exist in that state up north.

5. Cincinnati Bengals

I don't include the whole city because they share my state. Many are Buckeye fans. And I like the Reds. Always have. But the hillbilly Bungle fans, in particularly from south of the river in Kentucky and small towns that dot southern Ohio, are some of the most annoying and laughable fans I have ever come across. The thing is, they may be the only football fans whose pro team sucks more than mine. Well, the Lions may trump us both but I already listed Detroit.

4. Miami

As recently as 15 months ago this probably wouldn't even be on the list let alone appear in the top five ahead of in state rival Cincy. But one man managed to shoot this city and everything it represents up this high. He magnified the other little things I can't stand about Miami as well.

There are only two teams (both will soon register on this list) that I get more joy out of seeing lose. There is no way they can lose too badly or painfully. Watching the Mavs destroy their chances at a title last season was wonderful. Watching the NBA lockout continue is beautiful even if it is cutting my nose off despite my face with the Cavs suffering a lack of a season as well. Longer lockout, less of him.


The Marlins broke my heart in Game 7 of the World Series in 1997. The U is one of the most annoying programs on Earth. So freaking flashy and loud and obnoxious. Not to mention filled with thugs and low character individuals that make a glorified garage sale for tats seem like child's play. Fortunately, my Crimson Tide took them out in 1991 and, as mentioned in #8, my Buckeyes took them out in 2002. So I have had some pay back.

But in the end, they represent the hatred I listed in #10 with their South Beach attitude and party lifestyle.

I hate that superficial crap.

Of course I am in the minority and the people I need to feel the same as me in order for my teams to win, don't see eye to eye with me in this either. So once again, the envy factor kicks in even though I have no urge whatsoever to live that way myself and love my life in the midwest.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

I have a deep rooted disdain for this team. While many Top lists you read are prisoners of the moment and rank recent buzz worthy entries higher on the list than they really belong, I give longevity a good bit of weight. It takes a franchise changing reason (see #4 over #5) for a recently hated team to beat out teams I have hated for a long time.

The Steelers are everything I wish my football team would be but isn't. They are a tough, bad weather, well run organization that consistently wins and remains relevant.

Man I hate them.

The mere sight of those uniforms or that Hines Ward smile makes me want to puke.

2. Baltimore Ravens

They took my most beloved team. What more needs to be said? Then they go and win a Super Bowl while my team that we fought to have back has pretty much sucked ever since. They have stolen the rivalry with the Steelers because we suck too much to make it worthwhile to the Steelers. It is similar to the OSU v. Michigan rivalry.

Is Art Modell still alive? Because I don't like that guy. But I won't say anything too negative about a man in his position in life if he is.

Also, they are an in division rival like Pittsburgh and Cincy so the natural competitive hate exists there too. I don't respect this organization like I do the Steelers though. It is not a respectful hate. It is straight up hatred hate.

Drum roll please.......

Think you know?

1. The Whole State of Michigan

With Detroit already taken care of, let me focus on the university in Ann Arbor. I can't stand the maize and blue. I hate those helmets. I will never forget the heartbreak they put me through in the 90s while I was a student at THE Ohio State University ruining multiple title hopes and rubbing our face in it every time. Desmond Howard and his Heisman Pose. Charles Woodson. Tim Biakabutuka ( I don't even care if I spelled his name right because I can't stand him or that team) causing an argument between me and my dad.

This past decade of dominance over them is not enough. The epic victory in 2006 is not enough pay back. I never want to lose to this school.

Ever.

In addition, the stupid Fab 5 in hoops. Hate them too.

But we can't forget the other school in this horrid, hideous state over in East Lansing. They may not have a long list of reasons for me to hate them, but 1998 is all it takes. That was heartbreaking enough to almost make the list on its own merit as its own entry. That walk back to my apartment that evening was a LONG, painful experience. The rare season in the 90s that the other school didn't ruin our title hopes, MSU made sure to pick up the slack.

I'm shaking right now just thinking about it.

Honorable mention: Micheal Jordan, John Elway, USC, Boston and Colin Cowherd.

My Grandma

I have always been one to wear my emotions on my sleeve and display my feelings publicly. It may or may not be the right way of doing things, but it is what I do and I have conceded to fighting it. So naturally with the passing of my grandmother, I feel the urge to share my thoughts.

My mother has a gift. She can write some of the most meaningful pieces of reflection, tributes or most anything that captures people's emotions. Her tribute to her mother today was touching and beautiful.

There are any number of things I could take from it that I would love to share but the one thing I have thought about all day was one sentence about how the great grandchildren will remember her mostly as a warm, loving person who would hold them and tell them how beautiful they are. Even after she couldn't change diapers or feed the babies a bottle, she still loved having them around.

This reminded me of how my mom and mother-in-law, both grandmas themselves, not only accept duties of changing diapers and feeding my children, they welcome and even request it. I always ask myself, "do they REALLY want to do this?" I worry that maybe I shouldn't be burdening them with these tasks. They did their time. I must be making them feel as though they should be doing these things.

Now, after hearing my mother's tribute, I feel as though from now on, I will: LET GRANDMAS CHANGE DIAPERS AND FEED BABIES....if they request to.

In addition, I received several comments from good friends on Facebook sending their warm wishes to my family. I read things like, "Grandma's rock." or "Losing grandma's sucks." A colleague of mine told me it is hard losing a grandma no matter how long she lived or how much it may have been her time. There is no "right" time to not feel sad.

Yep, those comments pretty much capture the feeling I have had this past weekend.

Finally, when my father's mother passed away three years ago and we went to lay her to rest back in her home state of Alabama, we played "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynard Skynard several times over the days we were there and it has become a symbol of my grandmother ever since. I went through a period of time when I was thinking about her a good bit where I coincidentally heard it on the radio numerous times. I said it was sign that she was communicating to me from another realm.

For some reason I felt compelled to listen to "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum this weekend as I thought about my recently passed grandmother and what do you know, but I stumbled upon it on the radio today as I was thinking about her.

It was perfectly appropriate. So now, I have a song for each of my grandmothers to remember them by. The best part is that these songs are ones I came up with on my own naturally. I didn't seek them out, but they found me. Just how it ought to be.

This one's for you, Baca:


If any family happens to read this and would like to share their own memories or thoughts, I would love to read them in the comments.

The Shaping of Huey: Part One

There have been a number of events over the past week that have caused me to reflect on my life and what has shaped me as an individual.

There is no single event or experience or person that has made me who I am, but a collection of all of the above.

I would say this is true for most of us.

So I am beginning a series of posts writing about the things that have played the largest roles in shaping the person I am today. I anticipate there to be more events and shaping in my future.

One thing I have learned so far is that life and people are not static but fluid. We change over time. Our opinions, preferences, points of view and even values all change. We learn and we grow.

Although it is trite, I recall stating that I hated The Doors and would never understand how people enjoy their music. Today, I can't get enough.

But The Doors haven't shaped me at all.

My first entry is: My Mother

Mom's are often given credit for their roles in their children's lives. You see football players on the sidelines mouth "Hi Mom" to the camera, not "Hi Dad." You hear award winners thank God and then their moms. One of the first people kids cry for is their mom.

Specifically, my mother has shaped my live in two prophetic moments.

First, when I was entering college she told me I should teach. She added that I should teach in an urban setting.

Her words were driven by observations she made and her knowledge of who I was and my passion as a social entrepreneur. All three of her children have traveled very different paths in our professions as adults. She knew mine was in public education. I wanted to make a difference and she knew this was where it would happen.

So as I continued to tackle the decision of going into journalism to be a sports writer (writing....as anyone following my blog would know...not one of my bigger strengths and a reason why I started blogging in the first place; to work on my writing), education or some other line of work I hadn't thought of yet, education won out and it was probably because I had that conversation in the back of my head.

Sometimes I wonder if this was more of a case of where I was unable to make a decision for myself. Maybe I was just trying to please my mother in some sort of subconscious, Freudian inner struggle for acceptance.

Other times I feel as though it doesn't matter. During times of confidence when I feel pretty good about myself because I heard from an old student, I get invited to a graduation or a parent of a former student showers me with praise, I feel like the cause of this path means little because the result has been so good for more people than just me.

Secondly, during the height of my daughter's health problems and the confusion that was swirling around everybody when I had to make sure she was getting the care she deserved and we were getting answers we needed, my mom (and dad) told me how impressed they were with my composure. She said something that has stuck with me to this day.

At first, she was stating what I already knew. But hearing the words out loud seemed to be more striking than just thinking them myself. She reminded me that my daughter was so young, so fragile and was counting on me without even knowing it. I was her advocate.

Her advocate.

That is the word that hit home.

I was somebody's advocate. Suddenly it hit home how important I was. There was this person whose livelihood was squarely on my shoulders.

It was one thing to say that. Think that. Brag about it when you become a father.

But that word: advocate. It struck me.

Since then I have been been on the borderline of obsessive with the well being of my child. It has even been to the point that I have had to pull back a bit and allow her mother to take on some of the responsibility.

Among the numerous things that have shaped who I am, my mother has played a large role. Genetically, she has given me my passion and I would like to think my smarts (it is all relative though I suppose).

It is her words though, that have shaped major decisions and played major roles in who I am today and what I do and how I often think and approach things.


Part Two: Linden Elementary School