I first was angry, then in denial, then angry again, and then just depressed, basically my rollercoaster of emotions for that night. I purposely stayed away from the forum and and news articles till this monday morning.  Was just too depressing of a loss to even deal with for me.  I would have rather lost due to us not being able to even make a drive after their FG, but to lose in the fashion we did was the most heart breaking gut wrenching feeling I have had in quite some time.

Five-minute tirade.  Refused to watch football the rest of the evening because I knew the score would be running every five or ten minutes.  Got on BA after I calmed down.

Before the play, I verbally said "Just don't take a sack".  I guess TT couldn't hear me from Section 1 .  Extremely tough way to lose....but a couple things stick out positive:

Have you ever seen another team that excited to be an Ohio football team?  They were celebrating like North Face announced it was opening an outlet store on campus.  Sucked to watch it, but we have a program that other teams circle on their schedule.  I think it's awesome that fans are excited to watch Ohio and opponents are excited to play us.

Pressure is taken off.  No more BCS talk or SI articles; we aren't the hunted, we're the hunter; we can focus on winning first MAC championship in 40 years.  Kent still has to play AT BGSU AND AT Miami. Season's not over.  We can still win out and expect Miami to pick up a loss along the way to head back to Detroit.

Leaving the stadium I was yelling, "You take one look, if no one is open you throw the ball out of bounds... you throw the ball out of bounds .... you throw the ball out of bounds ...... yes, I was quite redundant.  I also was screaming this one's on TT.  It's not on Frank."  Someone around me was blaming Frank, and it was getting on my frailed nerves.  That's actually still my take.  There was no huddle, just a play called in from the sidelines.  I'm sure Frank thought is QB knew what to do if no one was open.  He had managed the clock so well to get into position for the FG.  There was no reason to believe that he'd have a brain cramp at that juncture.  I remember a very similar thing happening to a UCB QB about five years ago at the end of a game I was watching on TV with my son.  I think, though, that he was a freshman.

Pretty much it was "throw the ball throw the ball throw the ball NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!  MOTHER********* NOOOOOOOO!!!!!  WHYYY!!!!!!" Quite literally that was my reaction.  I actually had my parents yell at me for yelling about it and telling me it was only a game (anything beyond sitting there and doing a golf clap if something amazing happens is unacceptable to them).  I then went on a rant for 5 minutes.  Sat down, cried, then another few minute rant.  Cried a little again.  Calmed down again.  Then went and drowned my sorrows at the local bar and muttered from time to time about the game (thankfully everyone there knew me and knew how much I love OHIO, so they understood my pain).  My meltdown was probably a little worse than most.....

My reaction was - WTF was that! Then anger, then befuddlement, dazed and confused.

Then I remember that earlier in the day I told my 70's yr old parents, O$U Undergrad degree alums and Miami Graduate degree alums, who paid for a good chunk of my education at OHIO (late switch decision on my part After getting accepted to O$U), that I would have to come back to their house w/them after the game and root AGAINST O$U and for Penn State. Their TV/entertainment room looks like a bar on High Street - O$U memorabalia, pennants, pool table lights, framed autographed photo's, etc. fill the very large room. They are the definition of "bucknuts". Heck - I was born in the O$U hospital when they were students there. This could have been a very tense situation. I root for O$U also a lot (it's pretty much literally in my blood) - but my OHIO loyalty is unquestionable and foremost, can Never be surpassed. I would have Had to root for Penn State - Emphatically - and I thought they would beat O$U. I was fully expecting tempers pushed to the max, red faces, terse exchanges, maybe change of Thanksgiving travel plans................ 

But, we lost. So then did PSU. And then it all sucked even more..................

And I have to admit - guilt and paranoia then began to sink in and grow. Maybe the problem wasn't the coaches, TT, receivers dropping passes, the O line, the D line, the D backs, or the fact that the Fiami crowd finally figured out that after the PA announcer says loudly "Another Miami...." that they are supposed to chant back "First down". Maybe it's just me. Maybe I am just incurable and chronic bad luck for the 'Cats in Oxford. I want to support the team. Increasingly over the years I attend more and more away games. Over the years I have attended I think 7 BBall games in Oxford. This was my first FBall game in Oxford. OHIO IS 0-8 for games I have attended in Oxford. 0-7 BBall, now 0-1 FBall.

So here is the therapy, er prescription for a cure - When the next "Miami Travel Thread" comes up on here - do us all a favor - someone immediately post a "RSBobcat Banned From Oxford" thread.................



  

pretty much what I did. Yelled NOOOOOO, shut off the game, and called my girlfriend and said I need a drink.  And we made it so.

felt bad until notre dame and the browns won. still upset, but that's life.

I was a little disappointed, but i'm glad it helped the rivalry out at least a little bit.  Miami fans are going to be talking smack next year, and I'll be sitting here waiting to talk smack back.

At first I was shocked and frustrated by the end. It was so close, yet it didn't work out. But then I realized that the team, and TT in particular, probably took it harder than any fan. I remembered that sooner or later the odds will catch up with you - you may win some close ones, and you may win more than your fair share of close ones, but you're never going to win all the close ones.

Next I remembered that the season is far from over. 11-1 would still be a great season, and probably would mean a MAC East championship. I'm thinking that without the pressure of the eyepatch, the 'cats are going to relax a little, and turn loose, and play like they did early in the season.

The final part of my restorative therapy was to avoid BA for a few days, because I feared that Ohio fans had become too much like those of OSU, etc, and on a loss would point fingers at the players, and the coach, and take it personally, as if the coach and players lost it for them, and owed it to them to win. I was pleased to find, when I came back, that it wasn't as bad as I feared. There were a few posts like that, but on the whole the fans were willing to credit the team for the good things they did to get in position to win, and ready to stand behind the team at a time the team needs support, and ready to move on to the next game.

Best therapy possible . . . a Bruce Springsteen concert.

    Got to Pittsburgh early to find a place to watch the game. The TGIF bartender was kind enough to find the pre-game show only to have the broadcast go to a blackout at 3:30. A couple of other Ohio alum (circa mid-1980s) and I had to settle for Gametrack updates on a phone and couldn't believe Ohio had first-and-goal prior to the game ending with a sack.

    A 3-plus hour show by the Boss more than made up for the low feeling.

As I was, at the time, sitting among OSU fans watching the OSU - PSU game on TV (and OUrs on iPhone), I just kept praying that Penn State would pull it out and prevent the A&M fans from heckling.  What I should have realized was that not one them gave a s%$# about Ohio as long as A&M was on the air.

Punched the recliner I was sitting on, hit the basement door, and immediately came on to BobcatAttack after walking to my room and complained about not attempting the 56 yard field goal in the 3rd quarter.

In fact, I mentioned that not taking a shot at the points was going to come back to haunt us.