Of late, people around campus have come to see me as some sort of an information desk when it comes to Ohio sports, particularly the Ohio men's basketball team. All of my fans send me e-mails asking questions about who is playing well and what expectations I have.
And, as hard as it is to return more than three e-mails a week, I have been trying to send out a message of late: Maybe this Bobcats basketball team is the real deal.
Now let's not jump to conclusions (there may be some water on the floor, and we could slip and bruise our knees). At 12-8, they are certainly a surprise, as they have snuck way up to second in the Mid-American Conference East Division. All the while they have made a nice run in conference play, putting up a solid 7-5 MAC record, including a recent victory against West Division leader Western Michigan.
And while that is as nice as a picnic in the park, we all know that my cynicism will not allow me to give them too much credit without what I would call a defining win.
That defining win could come this weekend.
This Saturday the Miami RedHawks are coming to The Convo for a showdown with the Bobcats. Now, as I've been trying to instill in Post readers all year long, a game against Miami should always be big. They are not only our biggest rival, they are also very uncool people. We're talking like Ryan Cabrera uncool. Ryan Cabrera is not cool.
But, despite my best efforts, the fans at Ohio have still not taken to creating a true rivalry with Miami. The problem, I think, comes from a lack of commitment to disliking Miami. Sure, we all have a cousin or a former high school friend who goes there. They say nice things about the campus, and we don't think too harshly of it. Heck, I've even heard rumors of people rooting for Miami because their improving reputation is good for the whole conference.
Don't buy into their Miami propaganda.
That's how they've lulled us into a non-competitive sleep that has kept the Bobcats out of the NCAA Tournament since 1994 and held to a meager 28-30 record against MAC opponents between the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons.
In all rivalries, there is a redeeming aspect to your opponent. I hate John Elway for what he did to the Browns in the '80s, but realize that his desire to win is worthy of respect. I hate everything about Michael Jordan for what he did to the Cavaliers when he hit The Shot. Nevertheless, I realize he is the greatest NBA player this side of LeBron James.
All this respectful hospitality does not change one point though: Those men need to be booed. They need to be harassed when the game is on the line, and my team needs me to hate them in order for them to have any hope of succeeding.
As a fan, there is not much you can do to alter the outcome of a game. I mean, that will allow you to stay and watch the game outside of jail. Your only influence on the finish comes from your ability to energize your team while blindly turning your inner hostility towards your opponent. Any opponent should feel uncomfortable, but a rival should feel like a burglar that just broke into a rottweiler farm.
So, as Miami makes its way to The Convo Saturday, with sole possession of first place in the MAC East, I hope that something I started during football season -Hate Miami Week -will pick up during basketball season, and the RedHawks will feel the first sting of a real rivalry as we send them home with a big loss and a bruised ego.
-Cottrill is a senior English major who doesn't like his friends who go to Miami because they wear more pink shirts than Paris Hilton. Send him an email at michael.cottrill@ohiou.edu.
17 Archives
Mike Cottrill
