Most fans probably think the reason why certain teams struggle is because of coaching or players. Well, that might be somewhat true. But, unfortunately for several Ohio teams this season, that might not have been the only reason.
This column goes out as an apology to three coaches and teams at Ohio: Clay Calkins and the cross country team, Joel Greenlee and the wrestling team and Joe Carbone and the baseball team.
These aren't just any three teams, and anyone who has been reading The Post all year knows why I've chosen these sports. These were my beats. And all underachieved this year.
Beginning in the fall with cross country, this sport epitomizes, in a way, the lack of success of the Ohio Athletics Department as a whole. Their results? The men finished eighth and the women 13th at the Mid-American Conference Championships.
In all fairness, the season was to be a rebuilding year. New coach Clay Calkins was working with incredibly young teams. But fifth to last and last? There's no humor in those results.
After cross country, I had the privilege of blundering up a team that had quite a bit of potential.
The wrestling team was picked to finish second in the MAC behind only Central Michigan. And the team had all hopes of knocking the Chippewas off the top of the pedestal. Well, they hadn't a clue who would be covering them.
After a dismal regular season, the Bobcats could manage only a third-place finish at MACs. Not too bad but given there are only six teams, an underachievement, for sure.
Finally, my last apology goes out to Joe Carbone, who took the brunt of my Bartman-esque curse. A team picked to finish first by Baseball America, guided by the strong pitching arms and solid offense, fared the worst.
I suppose if there's no final tournament to decide where each team stands, then the collapse will have to come in the regular season. Injuries and inconsistencies led the baseball team to an eighth place finish, not even good enough to make the conference tourney.
What's worse, Buffalo, a team that had only four conference wins all season, managed to take two against Ohio.
Cincinnati fans should feel lucky that I won't be working in my hometown this summer. Instead I'll be working for a team that needs no help losing: Detroit.
And the Tigers were finally having a decent season.
-Kyle is a junior journalism major who unfortunately is not taking his curse to the Yankees. Send him an e-mail to kyle.jepson@ohiou.edu.
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Kyle Jepson
