Mailbox: Reader thinks Big Ten, Dispatch are unfair to Harbaugh
Unfortunately, we don’t have room in the print edition for all of the great reader feedback we’re getting. For more of the letters, go to Dispatch.com. Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity.
On Michigan football
To the editor: Your take on Michigan couldn’t be more biased. You’re from The Columbus Dispatch. That’s like trying to take Wolverine Wire seriously. What the Big Ten did was against Big Ten rules in making a decision off an angry mob instead of letting the investigation play out. Due process is a big deal. Your stance makes no sense other than to tarnish their reputation without having anyone be able to defend your accusations. You’d see the head cut off before things could legally be handled. I’d ask you to use your logic on everything in life and you might see how skewed your thinking really is.
Zach Hosek
To Zach: First off, our coverage is fair. Second, we’re all curious to see what the NCAA has in store for Michigan when its investigation is finished. I think everyone would prefer the whole mess go away, but I think most prefer teams win without cheating, too.
On the Cincinnati Bengals
To the editor: To Jason Williams’ article about Joe Burrow’s injury, I have to wonder if Jason has ever heard of Greg Cook, AFL Rookie of the Year 1969, retired 1973 due to shoulder injury. Passed away from pneumonia in 2012.
Warren Hone, Columbus
To Warren: Greg Cook was a big loss, for the league and for Bengals fans who were excited about the team’s future. But he was mostly potential and played in only 12 games, while Burrow has led the team to AFC title games and one Super Bowl.
On football and officiating
To Brian: We remember the hit last year on Marvin Harrison Jr. In the Georgia game and the controversy surrounding the overturning of the targeting call. In the Michigan-maryland game, there were penalty flags on two plays involving high hits and helmetto-helmet contact on defenseless players, one resulting in a targeting call, again reversed upon review. It seems the NCAA targeting rule is a joke, and no one really cares about injury potential, CTE or other effect of such rulings. Was the targeting rule just for show? It certainly seems so.
Lee Martin, Columbus
To Lee: I agree that the targeting/not targeting rulings are among the most inconsistent in football. It’s such that defenders aren’t even sure how to properly tackle anymore. They do care about injuries. They just haven’t figured a good way to officiate it.
To Brian: If there’s one penalty that’s easy to judge with the help of replay, it’s holding/interfering - grabbing of the jersey by a defensive back, slowing down a receiver well before the ball arrives. The problem is repeated nearly every game I watch. Is this due to showing more games on TV from noon to well into the night, or is it somehow a tactic that is privately taught or copied as something to possibly get away with doing? (Possibly, there’s a scheme.) University of Washington’s Rome Odunze was held early by a Utah DB, but no call resulted. On replay, both commentators agreed to the obvious. Soon after, on another matchup of the two athletes, the official threw the flag. Odunze had only three receptions, but two were magnificent TDS, the DB having stopped with the cheap contact. How refreshing. The refs need to call these penalties early on, as opposed to the trite “the officials are letting them play” desire of some announcers. It’s too prevalent to dismiss and, frankly, it’s tiresome.
Larry Cheek, Dublin
To Larry: I believe the problem is twofold. First, defenders and receivers have been allowed to use their hands more than ever. Second, the players are faster than ever and officiating in realtime speed is very difficult. It’s a tough job. It’s actually funny when they go to the “expert” in the booth and he says, “Well, it’s a close call.” And he’s not seeing it in real speed.
On Lindsay Nelson
To Brian: I enjoy the letters column very much. As you point out, there’s never enough space for all those great letters you receive. Hopefully next week you’ll find a few that deal with OSU sports instead of devoting nearly 60% of your column space this week to a mini bio of announcer Lindsey Nelson. I grew
up listening/watching The Wide World of Sports, Shenkel, etc., but if we’re going to walk down memory lane (trust me, I need all the help I can get), let’s keep it about our Ohio teams.
John Essig
To John: I’d guess that more than 90% of the letters we run are about Ohio State sports, so it’s nice to get variety. Plus, if we hadn’t run Larry’s letter, we wouldn’t have gotten responses such as ...
To the editor: I enjoyed the letter from Larry Cheek of Dublin regarding Lindsay Nelson and his career as a broadcaster. Having grown up in Queens and a lifelong Mets fan since their first years in the Polo Grounds, it was a revelation when Shea Stadium first opened in 1964 within walking distance.
Besides Lindsay Nelson, the broadcast team consisted of Bob Murphy and one of the greatest home run hitters the National League has seen, Ralph Kiner. But for Mr. Cheek to describe Tennessean Lindsay Nelson as having “an almost unnoticeable drawl in his distinct voice” reminds this transplanted New Yorker that an accent is in the ear of the beholder.
Syd Lifshin, Columbus
To the editor: Larry Cheek’s letter about Lindsey Nelson reminded me of another Hall of Fame announcer, Jack Buck, who began his professional career while a student at Ohio State. Buck served in the European Theater during World War II with the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division. He entered OSU under the G.I. Bill and took classes in Quonset huts hastily built to handle the overload of veterans.
Columbus radio station WCOL hired Buck to call Ohio State basketball games, and in 1950 he announced all the OSU football games for WCOL.
After graduating, he announced for the Columbus Redbirds, a Cardinals farm club, until moving to St Louis and a 50-year career as voice of the St. Louis Cardinals. Jack Buck is in 11 halls of fame, according to his autobiography, “That’s a Winner,” his signature phrase.
Robert B. Stevenson, Columbus