Re NIU. Its interesting that their advantages haven't helped them in basketball.

What are we doing here-what's the purpose? To see the Marching 110 perform! Duh!

But seriously, I guess it's what it's always been-win the MACC and all that winning a MACC entails. What's the team's purpose? The same that it's been for the last umteen years really-provide an enjoyable Fall afternoon (I mean really, what's nicer than Athens in the Fall!? Well, Athens in the Spring but I digress) for it's fans, win the game that's on the schedule and act in a manner that reflects well on the school, its students and its fans. I admit, my answer is very "Polyannish". But for me, I've never had any delusions where Ohio stands within the grand Ponzi scheme known as NCAA Division 1 football.

And you can indeed have higher expectations but please realize the high cost associated with wanting to achieve more. Coach Solich makes a great deal of money but didn't I read somewhere that he's not even within the top 90 of college football coaches? And many people within the Ohio University community moaned and groaned when when he got the raise he did get. And in major college football what Solich is making is chump change! Ohio just now got an IPF and it's no-frills one at that (granted, I love the place). A lot of the MAC has had an IPF for years, so it's not like Ohio's racing ahead of anyone there. Quite frankly, where it not for the Walter faamily's financial contribution there'd be no IPF now. Ohio barely had the financial resources just to renovate the players' locker room. And what I'm about to say will be heresy to a lot of you but it is what it is-Peden Stadium's a dump. I mean really. The Tower has been renovated and from the outside looks OK, but look down in the concourse where refreshments are. It's like the Luray Caverns of Virginia down there for heavens' sake. I am being harsh, Peden's quaint and has its charm, at least to us. I like Peden. But as far as major college football stadiums go? I don't think so. And our ticket prices are much, much cheaper than at other large schools yet many people complain about how expensive our tickets already are. All this is why I say Ohio doesn't have the infrastructure nor the stomach to elevate itself into the big football conferences, and I for one am more than OK with that.

...(A) After 3 games, we're 1-2. This is where most of us predicted we would be....

Hey, stop hoping! You convinced me. Ohio will never have the facilities of an NIU and will never ever be able to recruit a Jordan Lynch, so we should never aspire to or hope for anything greater.

During my corporate career, my team members heard me say with some frequency: "Our standard is perfection. We won't always achieve perfection, but that is our standard." My team members consistently worked toward that standard and sometimes did achieve it.

Now I'm less than a year from being a certifiably old person. Perhaps I've mellowed. Here is what I didn't expect when Ohio hired Coach Solich:

* That he, a year older than I, still would have impressive fire in his belly.
* That he would take Ohio to 3 division titles and 3 MAC title games and contend in other seasons.
* That he would lead Ohio to 6 bowl games.
* That he would score wins over the likes of Pitt, Illinois, Penn State, Utah State and Marshall 3X. (Was Ohio a Vegas favorite in ANY of those games?)
* That he would make driving from northern Ohio to Athens on game days something to genuinely look forward to.

Yes, I wish his teams would have won more games than they have and, yes, I wish at least one of his teams would have won a MAC title. That said, I am grateful that I got what I didn't expect.