The Power of No Expectations - by James A. Baumann

The Power of No Expectations

This evening, the Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team will take the Value City Arena floor for the last time this season. It will be the last home game for seniors Jae’Sean Tate and Kam Williams as well as Keita Bates-Diop if he decides to test the NBA waters (subliminal message “please stay”). It will be the last home game of coach Chris Holtmann’s first year. And it will be the last home game of a season that, to be honest, about 90 percent of the city of Columbus had totally written off.

The story has been oft repeated: past disappointments; new coach hired late; committed players released to go to other schools; would-be returners taking off (and being let go); and questions about who would even fill out the roster. Projections had the Buckeyes as low as 11 or 12 in the Big Ten. When people said, “Do you think this team can make the tournament?” they were talking about the NIT.

From a personal point of view, the uncertainty manifested itself with repeated questions if I was going to re-up on my season tickets. For the last dozen years or so, attending games with friends and family has been a highlight of the battleship gray days of Columbus. I’m not saying I have to roll loose change to make the purchase, but it’s not an unsubstantial one either. I admit I gave pause, but in the end I decided to take the plunge. When asked why I would say, only half-jokingly, that I hoped the fan defections would allow me to get better seats and that “when everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon, I want to say I was there at the beginning.”

Well, the bandwagon pulled up a lot sooner than anyone (except perhaps announcer Dan Dakitch ) expected. Sure, there were a couple of tough losses early in the season, but those were quickly forgotten as this team now sits in the top four of the league and most likely will be the higher-seeded team in their first NCAA tournament team. There was the incredible comeback against Michigan and two dramatic upsets over Michigan State and Purdue. The Schott saw its first sell-out in years and, maybe more importantly, the student section has been filled and loud.

Here’s the thing, for me all the wins have been gravy. Yeah, the Ws are great, but this also is a fun team that is filled with interesting stories. They play hard and work as a team. There are the Wesson brothers, local kids playing together and following in the footsteps of their Buckeye father. There’s Musa Jallow, who may be the best athlete on the team despite the fact he should be planning for his high school prom. Andrew Dakich has been welcomed into the fold despite his school-up-north history. The scrappy, undersized Tate has put up incredible numbers while also becoming probably the team’s most beloved fan-favorite since Aaron Craft. And, of course, there is the emergence of Bates-Diop (“please stay”) as one of the country’s best players and also one of its best human beings. As he comes back from the serious leg injury that led to his red shirt last season, there have been as many feel good stories about him (like this and this)  as there have been ways announcers have pronounced his name. (I swear I heard one call him “Beta Dates-Kiop.”)

The city’s collective blood-pressure would be much healthier if more fans looked for the stories behind the scoreboard. I remember falling into the trap somewhat during the 2006-’07 season as Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., and company made it to the national championship game. There were a number of great moments that season: a game winner against Wisconsin  and a last-second block against Tennessee. But with all the winning came a mixture of complacency and raised expectations. If the team won, well, that’s what they were supposed to do. If they lost, it was a gut punch. There literally was nowhere for the mood to go but down.

That is why this season has benefitted from the power of no expectations. The ups-and-downs are the nature of a college basketball season as teams juggle lineups, navigate injuries, evaluate strategies, deal with matchups, and set themselves up for post-season play. This flies in the face of the football fans for that handful of teams whose season is ruined with just one loss. To that end, I actually wonder how much the seemingly most fanatic OSU followers really appreciate or enjoy watching the sport – regardless of what it is – being played.

I’ll be in my seat tonight, sending off the seniors and rooting for another win. I’ll also be sure to take a second and appreciate what may not prove to be the most successful season I’ve seen, but certainly has been among the most memorable. I encourage other fans to do the same and be ready to come back next year and see how the next chapter of this story plays out (please come back Keita). But if they do, I hope they are behind me in line for tickets. After all, I was there this year.

Petty: The Biography. An Interview with Author Warren Zanes - by James A. Baumann

You Don’t Know Tom Petty

by James A. Baumann

Click here to purchase Petty: The Biography

Anyone who grew up within earshot of an FM radio during the last three decades thinks they know Tom Petty. Depending on their age and inclination, they may think of him as the young punk who, armed with a Rickenbacker, celebrates the American girls and urges us not to live like a refugee. Or maybe he is the displaced Florida son who still speaks with a southern accent. He could be the video star who refuses to back down while running down a dream. Or maybe he even is the elder statesman who has the pull to play a Super Bowl halftime show as well as the rebel spirit to sing about the over-commercialization of his beloved rock and roll.

All of these could be parts of Tom Petty, but to pigeonhole him in one of these descriptions would be greatly missing the bigger picture. It’s a portrait that was mostly uncovered in the 2008 documentary film Runnin’ Down a Dream, but it wasn’t until Warren Zanes’ new book, Petty: The Biography, that the complete story (or, at least as complete as the world is likely to get) has been told.

Warren Zanes first crossed paths with Petty, like all of us, through his radio speakers. Later, as a member of the garage-rocking Del Fuegos, they came face-to-face as compatriots when the band served as Petty’s opening act. 

After the Del Fuegos split, Zanes would earn a PhD in visual and cultural studies. He since has successfully blended both sides of his life, writing for the 33 1/3 book series and a variety of publications. He’s been a vice president at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is the executive director of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation. 

He and Petty came back together as Zanes helped power the Runnin’ Down a Dream documentary directed by the legendary Peter Bogdanovich. It was the documentary research that continued and, eventually, led to this biography. 

While the documentary is expansive, Petty had the final cut. With this biography, though, he put all editorial decisions about what would or would not be included in Zanes’ hands. The result is a rather unflinching look at Petty’s life. 

In the promo materials Petty says, “At this point in my life, there’s no reason to do anything but tell the whole story.” And he does even as that story includes an abusive and opportunistic father, a wife saddled with mental health issues, the twisting ride of a professional music career, business deals gone sour, lost band members, and Petty’s own depression and heroin addiction. 

Fortunately, the book never falls into the “Behind the Music” template trap of success-flameout-redemption. Zanes delivers the downsides of Petty’s story with empathy. He also balances them with the top-of-the-world times as well. Of course there are all the hits and critical acclaim of his career that lead to fame and fortune. But the story also celebrates the less tangible opportunities such as being the (relatively) young pup in the Traveling Wilburys. The value of friendships and loyalty is shown through individuals like Stevie Nicks, George Harrison and  roadie Alan “Bugs” Weidel. Petty’s second wife overcomes his skeptical circle of friends and becomes a saving grace.

And, of course, there is Petty’s lifelong bond with the Heartbreakers, without whom there is no story. The narrative repeatedly winds around the relationships, the trust, the hard decisions, the creativity, the hurt feelings, and the striving for greatness that are part of any collaborative relationship. Zanes spoke with all of the Heartbreakers past and present (except bassist Howie Epstein who overdosed before the project began) and let them tell their side of the story. He also spoke with members of Mudcrutch, the precursor that would, eventually leave the Gainesville, Florida bar scene, head out west, and send Petty’s story into overdrive. 

There can’t be many people that know Petty better than this group. Throughout, their insights are honest, illuminating, and – in many cases – include some variation of the phrase, “Hey, it’s Tom’s band.” In the end, one gets the feeling that the reason behind so much of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ success came from the fact that they were a true band, but they weren’t a democracy.

Zanes took time out from his parade of radio interviews and promotion for the book to answer a handful of questions for Pencilstorm about relationships, the story behind the songs, and knowing what to cut.

Baumann: You were in a band and a rock & roll peer of Tom Petty. You’ve also been a writer and an academic for several years now. Were there times when you were researching and writing this biography where you felt one side of your life pulling against the other? Conversely, were there specific times where you really felt the two sides most came together?

Zanes: Really, both sides of my life were in the mix at all times. That was the only way to do this project. Not that it was a conscious thing. I merely responded in relation to the subject, one of America's best songwriters and record makers, and the job, writing his biography. I wanted readers to get closer to this musical life, while also giving them something with an intelligence reflective of someone as smart as Petty. I had to be both an academic and a rock & roller.
 
Baumann: A lot of the focus in the book is on Petty’s relationships and many of those – Petty’s father, his first marriage, record label execs, etc. – are contentious. Even the productive ones – such as with Mike Campbell and all the different band members through the years – are touched with stories about unpopular decisions and sacrifices he had to make in service of those relationships. Was that a story line you had in mind when you began work on the book or was it something that evolved organically as you worked on it?

Zanes: When writing about a bandleader, one has to delve into the psychological. Being a bandleader is an impossible job. I wouldn't say his relationships are "contentious," unless we're willing to admit that any long-term creative relationship is going to have some of that. Petty is just one of several musicians in bands that have managed to stay together for decades that has complicated relationships in his past. The good news - and perhaps the difference - is that he had the willingness to talk about those relationships in an unguarded fashion. Did I know we needed to go there? Absolutely.
 
Baumann: You make a good point:  what relationship as close as family and a marriage, or a band that lasts more than three decades, isn't going to have some contention in it at one point or another? And you did give equal weight to those relationships that would buoy him up, such as those with Stevie Nicks or George Harrison and the rest of the WIlburys. The creative foil of Mike Campbell & Benmont Tench, and Scott Thurston's contributions later in the band's career. 

I particularly enjoyed the passages talking about Petty's and Harrison's relationship. Many, many years ago my grandmother was visiting in England. She was at the house of an acquaintance who was a minister. An old church had been damaged in a storm and, by pure coincidence, she was there that afternoon when George stopped by for afternoon tea and to talk about donating some money to help with repairs. She obviously was before Beatlemania's time, but she wasn't stupid. After George left, she grabbed half a cookie that he had eaten and slipped it into her purse. That half a cookie now sits in a box in my office.

From that time she would buy his records and, after she died, I found a bunch of newspaper and magazine clippings in her house about George's passing. I don't know how much she was ever a fan of his music, but just in an afternoon tea he made a great impact on her. So, your stories of his ukulele playing and bear hugs certainly rang true.

Zanes: That cookie story is as good as it gets, James. Wow.

Baumann: When the advance word got out that you were able to get Stan Lynch to submit to an interview for this book, fans reacted like you had found a missing Dead Sea Scroll. How were you able to make that happen and why do you think it was such an important part of the story?

Zanes: Tom Petty's story is a band story. So I needed the band to talk. Stan played a big role in the first half of the group's history, but it was the half in which they came together, faced early success, defined a power structure, experienced their first personnel change, tasted elation and disappointment. It was the time of becoming. And Stan was the lone extrovert. He was the band's greatest champion and its greatest internal threat. An amazing, complicated guy. I needed him. After several refusals, he accepted a visit. But I went to his door, and asked only for twenty minutes. Though I got eight hours.
 
Baumann: There are a handful of times in the book where you purposely jump out of the narrative and tell a first-person anecdote. What motivated or inspired you to utilize that device? (Which, for what it’s worth, I found to be effective.)

Zanes: That was something I had to ponder, had to work on at length. But I'm no different from many Petty fans: I've spent my life getting the next Tom Petty record. He's followed us through life, just as we've followed him, and we're lucky for it. I wanted to show some of that, just as I wanted to detail the crossing of our paths. We've known one another over thirty years, in a few different contexts. That needed to be understood, though it couldn't take too much space. I trimmed it, a lot.
 
Baumann: What was the one thing you learned while researching the book that surprised you the most?

Zanes: That Tom Petty is a worker, a tremendously hard worker. The decisions that get made on both the art and business sides are his decisions. The songs have an ease that we love, like Buddy Holly and Hank Williams have an ease, but to achieve that requires a fastidiousness and intuition and talent and work, work. I see him in the same light as the legends of country, like George Jones and Johnny Cash: he's going to keep doing this, probably as long as he can, because it's who he is.
 
Baumann: Two elements that many people are going to focus on from the book are Petty’s previously undisclosed heroin use and how his first wife suffered from mental illness. Obviously this information hasn’t widely circulated before now. To that end, it appears that you had unfettered access to most everyone around him from band members to friends and even his daughters. Why do you think he chose now to open up about those issues? 

Zanes: I think he was ready to do it, and I was in the right place. My relationship with him has always been a professional relationship, based around various projects, but he must have felt enough trust to do this. He was nothing short of unguarded when it came to talking. At times I was surprised at the degree to which he was opening up. 

But, really, he's a reader. He's read books that put a high gloss on things, just as he's read books that go after the truth. He knows that the latter books are the ones that mean something. When he read Peter Guralnick's Elvis books, he didn't love Elvis less. Tom wanted a good book, a smart book, a well-written book, but, above all, I think he wanted an honest book. He empowered me to write one. He never told me what could be in or out, never told me how I had to think.

Baumann: Many times you make the connection about how what was happening in Petty’s life at the time had an impact on the album he was working on. Now that you're done with the book, what albums – for better or for worse – do you listen to differently than you did before? 

Zanes: I listen to them all a bit differently. I haven't lost my old connection to them, but I have new information that is somewhere in me that affects how I process the content. It's a combination of the conscious and unconscious minds I think. But if you know that a songwriter was physically abused as a kid, or that he was lost in his own marriage, you're going to hear the reverberations of that, the longing and loss that you know is inside that person. 

At the same time, great songs and records have lives beyond the people who made them - so the biographical details never own a song. And Tom's are good enough that they have had rich and full lives in worlds far beyond his front yard.

Baumann: I know you were taking requests to put together a Tom Petty playlist on Spotify. What tracks would you choose for readers to listen to as they read the book? These shouldn’t necessarily be your favorite songs, but the ones that paint a picture of who Petty is.

Zanes: "Lost In Your Eyes" is an important Mudcrutch song that I refer to. "Dreamville" captures a Petty who is seeing the great rock and roll era tarnished and at risk, its world slipping from view. "Even the Losers" is his anthem. "Forgotten Man" is a guy out in Malibu trying to figure out what his connection is to the strange, shifting world in which we live. "Southern Accents" is Tom saying good-bye to his mother, I think. Frankly, I wouldn't know where to stop with this question. This is only as finite as his catalogue.

Baumann: When I would interview bands I always liked to ask them when they knew to stop messing with their records in the studio and declare them to be finished. So now I’ll ask you this: How did you know when to stop writing and editing this book?

Zanes: I didn't know. I had help, which is often the case with people making records. My editor, Gillian Blake, helped a lot. Petty's life and career are worthy of an 800-page biography, but I don't think that would have been the right experience for the fan and reader. Some of them, yes. But, most of them, not. 

I know Tom Petty songs that are so good that I'd love a twelve minute version, but he keeps it to three and half minutes. I know Hitchcock movies I'd love to see clock in at three hours, but he sticks to 90 minutes. I had to remember that and make this feel right as a reading experience. 

Baumann: You must have a bunch of leftover Tom Petty stories that you could put out as literary B-sides or outtakes. What’s your favorite story or quote that, for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the final version?

Zanes: Well, we're talking about a very quotable, very funny, very sharp guy. So there's always more. It was no mistake that artists like Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Johnny Cash were drawn to Tom Petty. But, in particular, I remember him talking about his dogs. He has a real connection. And when he talked about one of the dogs dying, it was very moving. But he cut through the emotion with a line something like this: "I was so torn up about losing that dog, I went out and got another, exact same model." He was referring to a yellow labrador.

Click here to purchase Petty: The Biography

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Santa Monica Dec 31 1978 legendary Santa Monica, CA New Year's show on December 31, 1978 1. Intro 2. I Need to Know 3. Surrender 4. Fooled Again (I Don't Like It) 5. Casa Dega 6. Refugee 7. You're Gonna Get It 8.

30th Anniversary Concert from Gainesville, FL

Tom Petty-Taxman,I Need You Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne-Handle With Care Eric Clapton & Billy Preston-Isn't It A Pity

Let's Pretend We Are Talking in a Bar About the Great John Fogerty - Colin Gawel

John Fogerty is playing The Jack Casino in Cincinnati Friday August 27th. I'm going.

The movie Green Room made me go back and listen to Green River.

I was going to use that as the title of this story but figured nobody would know what the hell I was talking about. Anyway, it's funny how things work out. This summer my wife and I had a brief window of free time and decided on a whim to go check out a matinee screening of the movie Green Room. We had heard good things about it. The clerk at the Gateway said, "It's a lot of fun."

It was a fun movie if fun means punk kids getting stabbed in the head and young musicians getting their throats ripped out by Nazi pit bulls.  Nothing against the movie, it's pretty damn good, it's just not what we normally have in mind for our typical "date" entertainment. My wife had her hands over her face the entire time. 

As the final credits rolled and one of the pit bulls walked peacefully past what could be his final victim I turned to my wife - who was still covering her face - and said, "What is this song? It's amazing. It sounds like Creedence?" The song was "Sinister Purpose" from the record Green River.  Huh. How I did I miss this nugget? I thought I knew all the good CCR stuff. (Listen Here)

Apparently not. I decided it was time to go back with fresh ears and give it all another listen. AND I finally got around to reading John's autobiography which I had been meaning to do since reading this review by James A. Baumann.

OK, I don't have the time/energy/talent/beer to organize all my thoughts into pleasing prose at this time. I just have to get these thoughts off my mind before going to see Fogerty this Friday in Cincinnati. Let's just pretend we are standing at Colin's Coffee or Four String Brew and I just start rambling off thoughts. You can pretend you are there and start yelling back why I am wrong.

- In 1969 Creedence had the greatest year of any rock band in history. They released THREE classic albums in ONE Year. They outsold The Beatles and did it by completely flying into the face of what was popular at the time (tight, great 3-minute SONGS as opposed to endless jams or, God help us, concept records). They headlined a little festival called Woodstock, but because they refused to let their music or images be used in the film or soundtrack, not many people know they even played that weekend. 

- For these reasons, overall rocking-ness and the bands' continuing relevance, one could make the case that CCR are the greatest American rock band ever. They have hits like the Beach Boys, lyrics as strong as Bruce or Bob and the punk/grunge influence on a generation similar to the Ramones. Once again it's worth mentioning that in a two year period they had TEN top five singles, (OK, "Fortunate Son" was #6) and they outsold The Beatles in 1969 and 1970. I know The Beatles were breaking up and coming to an end, but it still counts to be the man who beat the man. Just ask Buster Douglas. 

- Taken in context of the Vietnam war, the draft, and the campus riots nationwide, the song "Fortunate Son" is the greatest protest song in American history. Or as James Baumann puts it, "the first punk rock song." 

"Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no"

Holy Shit! (John, by the way, served two years in the reserves, active duty.)

- Two hundred years from now, songs like "Proud Mary," "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Centerfield" will be held in the same esteem as the works of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. It could be possible that only Bruce Springsteen's songs will have left a bigger mark on America than John Fogerty. Yes, John could eventually be considered more important than Dylan.

"Left a good job in the city
Workin' for the man ev'ry night and day
And I never lost one minute of sleepin'
Worryin' 'bout the way things might have been"

"Just got home from Illinois,
Lock the front door, oh, boy!
Got to sit down,
Take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in,
Pretty soon I'm singin'.
Doo, doo, doo,
Lookin' out my back door."

"Well, a-beat the drum and hold the phone
The sun came out today
We're born again, there's new grass on the field
A-roundin' third and headed for home
It's a brown-eyed handsome man
Anyone can understand the way I feel

Oh, put me in coach, I'm ready to play today
Put me in coach, I'm ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield"

- John Fogerty is now my favorite guitar player. I love the way John finds a guitar hook and before rushing off to the next lick, he lets you hear it a couple of times. It's why CCR "jams" like "Ramble Tamble" hold up and jam bands never do. 

Uploaded by lovalver on 2010-11-28.

 

Off the top of my head, my new personal guitar hero rankings 1) John Fogerty 2) Willie Phoenix 3) Bruce Springsteen 4) Chuck Berry 5) Pete Anderson 6) Angus Young 7) Willie Nelson 8) Ace Frehley 9) John Speck 10) Andy Harrison

- John got screwed worse than any white musician in pop history. He lost all his songs. He got sued for sounding like himself. It went all the way to the Supreme Court. He lost all his money in an off-shore account set up by his label. Fantasy record owner Saul Zaentz is truly an evil bastard who is hopefully rotting in hell as I write this.

- I'm sure working with John was no walk in the park but many of the greats are a huge pain in the ass. But the fact that his Creedence band mates sold their "votes" to Saul for $30,000 so he could outvote John on band issues 3-1 is beyond contemptible. John was justified in his refusal to play with Doug, Stu and his brother Tom after that knife in his back. John may have been a load to handle, but without his talent and work ethic nobody in that group gets rich or famous. 

- Still, John likes to bash his former band mates lack of musicality but I have to defend the original CCR on this one. No matter how many crack musicians John stacks in his solo band, there is a magic to the original line-up that cannot be recaptured live. The most talented band isn't always the best band. See: Neil Young and Crazy Horse in which Neil obviously was trying to follow the path CCR had laid down. Watch below. 

Live In Royal Albert Hall 1970

OK, that's it for now. Let's continue this discussion over a beer at the Cleveland Browns kick-off party at Four String Brew Sunday, September 11th. League Bowlers playing a FREE set at noon, sure to include some CCR. 

Colin Gawel is going to see John Fogerty in Cincinnati Friday August 26th. 

 

 

The 50-50 Squad: The Good and Bad of a Young OSU Basketball Team - James A. Baumann

1) What makes this Buckeye team so fun to watch?
It's fun to watch young, athletic, and talented players come together, and grow as a team. Want to enjoy this team? Consider every win an overachievement.  

Case in point, this year:  Kam Williams is turning into DeShaun Thomas, just shorter and with a mohawk. I'm hoping that somewhere he has a tattoo that reads "Shoot to get hot. Shoot to stay hot."
Daniel Giddens and Jae'Sean Tate are becoming fan favorites simply through the effort. Trevor Thompson has been a nice addition as well. Part of this may be fans still shaking off their Amir Williams hangover, but the development will be fun to watch.
The crowd gasps with about every move Mickey Mitchell makes. He still needs to slow down a bit and let the game come to him, but we've got the slackjawed yokels from the NCAA to thank for that.
You are going to have to look long and hard to find any college player quicker with the dribble than A.J. Harris is. 
I'm a huge Thad Matta fan and, even though he says he's not wearing a tie this year to avoid the temptation of hanging himself, I have faith in him coaching these players up.

2) What makes this Buckeye team so frustrating to watch?
It's frustrating to watch young, athletic, and talented players make so many ridiculous mistakes.

Case in point, this year:
The Indiana and Maryland games were embarrassing. I'm not sure that Maryland isn't 20 to 30 points better than Ohio State, but it's been a long time since you saw a team with that collective deer-in-the-headlights look. 
If you told me that JaQuan Lyle was going to get a triple double this year, I would have bet multiple Schottenstein Center $8 beers that one of those categories would have been turnovers. Already this year I have seen him dribble the ball off his leg and out of bounds before he crosses half court more times than I have seen in all my collective years of watching basketball. For every nice pass he has made, he's thrown another one directly into a defender's chest.His defense and outside shot is suspect at best. I'm typing this during Thursday's Purdue game and earlier Tate was bringing the ball up the court instead of Lyle. That probably means something. Of course, I'm the same guy who called Evan Turner "Evan Turnover" most of his freshman year. I'm still hoping to be proved wrong. (*Note: the second I typed that phrase, Lyle had his pocket picked while he was more than 30 feet from the hoop. So, yeah. That happened.)
Marc Loving and K'aite Bates Diop are being asked to do more than they probably are ready to at this point in their career. Imagine if D'Angelo Russell was still on this team and they could be number two scoring options behind him and be on the receiving end of a drive-draw-and-dish for wide-open three pointers. When there is less than 10 seconds on the shot clock, which Buckeye do you want to have the ball in his hands? I don't know. I'm not sure they do either.
Giddens is built like those plastic figures that blow around outside car washes, and sometimes seems to have as much control over his extremities. Again, he's only going to get better -- and those lanky arms and legs will also provide about a dozen more "holy crap, how did he do that?!?!" moments before this season is over. But once the Big Ten season kicked in, he's been in perpetual foul trouble.

What might be driving Thad Matta the most crazy, though, is the spotty team defense. There have been very few steals and deflections to start any fast breaks, which should be a strength of this team. There is little pressure on the ball on the perimeter. And, once the perimeter defender is beaten on the dribble, when Giddens or Thompson comes over for the block attempt, even if they cause a miss, nobody is rotating down, so their man is getting the easy rebound and put-back. In those two non-conference home losses, the other team's best play was to drive past Lyle, throw the shot off the backboard, and get the rebound.

3) The Buckeyes  slide into the big dance this year if....
First I don't see this happening. After the Kentucky game, their chances were at their highest point. But considering the Indiana and Maryland losses -- and the fact that the Kentucky win looks less impressive as they took a few more losses on the chin -- it's an outside shot at best. It would take a couple more signature wins in the Big Ten season and then, probably also playing on Sunday in the Big Ten tournament to earn any consideration. 

I'm not going to deny the prestige of continually making the NCAA tournament, but a deep run in the NIT tournament could give these youngsters two more weeks of practice than a first round loss in the big dance. 

4) Other points?
I wrote most of this during the Purdue game and, in retrospect, it served as a pretty good microcosm of what the year is likely to hold. They went on the road into a really hostile environment -- though probably not as hostile as practice has been the last few days after the Maryland whooping -- and fought hard. They were outsized, but had flurries of being hot from the field. They had a lead and a true chance to win the game, but down the stretch their youth reared its ugly head. Purdue made shots. Buckeyes missed theirs. It reminded me of the Memphis game earlier in the year. 

5) The Farmers Almanac predicts the 2017 snowfall and Buckeye basketball team to be above or below average?

Considering how the weather has been the past couple of years, everyone should just replace the almanac with a Magic 8 Ball. Related, I think the Magic 8 Ball would say of next year's Buckeye hoops team, "Outlook Good." Everyone will be back -- it would have been wonderful to have Kobi Simmons joining them -- and we know the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. So the team will be better and will win more games. Now, "good" is also relative to what happens with other teams in the league in terms of graduating players and those that leave early for the draft (look at Wisconsin this year).  So, long story short, 2017 will be the next step in this team's growth. In the meantime, I'm feeling that this year will be the one that real fans will point  to when we look down our nose at all the bandwagon jumpers in 2018.