"Bizarro 2002"

Remember the “Bizarro Jerry” episode of Seinfeld? Elaine ditches Jerry, George, and Kramer to associate with her new friends Kevin, Gene, and Feldman, that turn out to look exactly like her former cohorts, but act almost the complete opposite. Jerry refers to them as her “bizarro friends” in reference to the alternate Superman universe “where up is down and down is up”. Well, now that we are approaching 2007, looking back at this past year; I think it’s safe to say that 2006 could be considered “Bizarro 2002”.

Think about it:

In 2002, Ohio State finished the regular season undefeated, waiting to play in the National Championship game in Tempe, Arizona. After managing to barely squeak past each of their opponents throughout the season, they were the heavy underdogs heading into the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl against a flashier #1 team. In 2006, the Scarlet and Gray finished the regular season undefeated, waiting to play in the National Championship game in Glendale, Arizona. After dominating their schedule, the Buckeyes are heavy favorites to win the Tostitos National Championship Game, against a team that barely played their way to up to #2 (Now, I’ve said before in this blog, I don’t think you can compare the 2006 Florida Gators to the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes, because the Gators have a loss, while the Buckeyes were undefeated, but forgive me for the sake of this argument)...

In 2002, Maurice Clarrett dominated the headlines for his on-the-field performance. In 2006, Maruice Clarrett dominated the headlines with his off-the-field performance...

In 2002, a second year coach for the Cleveland Browns led his team to the brink of the playoffs. In 2006, a second year coach for the Cleveland Browns led his team to the brink of disaster. (Still don’t believe its “Bizarro 2002”? At some point this Sunday, the last day of the year, Ken Dorsey will be starting at Quarterback and will probably connect with Kellen Winslow Jr., and they’ll be playing for an Ohio team…and I’ll be rooting for them.)...

Anyway, you get my point. All in all, 2006 was a great year for those who rooted for THEE Ohio State University, and a not-so-great year for those who rooted for “That City by the Lake” (and a roller coaster ride for those, like me, who rooted for both). So as we countdown to 2007, let me countdown my Top 5 storylines from 2006.

5) Pronk Power

It was a disappointing year for the Cleveland Indians as they were the pre-season favorites to win the A.L. Central and perhaps contend for the World Series. The Tribe had good hitting and good pitching, then the season started, and yada-yada-yada they finished 4th in their division. Travis Hafner delivered the best storyline from an otherwise substandard year, hitting a record 6 grand slams, tying Don Mattingly for the most in a single-season.

4) Wherefore Art Thou?

Romeo Crennel continues to show that he is in way over his head, not winning a single game within the division for the first time in 50 years, and on the verge of going 4 and 12 for the second consecutive season. One of the positives that can be taken from this otherwise dismal campaign, Kellen Winslow Jr., Braylon Edwards, and Kamerion Wimbley (the Browns’ last three #1 picks) have each played full seasons and have each competed at a high level – even though Edwards is starting to become a real problem in the locker room. Regardless, this is encouraging considering how snake-bitten our #1 picks have been since the Browns returned to the league in '99 (damn, I just jinxed them).

3) The Year of the Rivalry

For the first time in the long history of the rivalry, Ohio State and Michigan faced each other as the top 2 teams in the country (and both with undefeated records). The game on November 18th dominated the headlines for the last 4 weeks of the regular season, and with a 42-39 win by the Bucks, it was as good as advertised. Mini-rivalries with Texas and Florida over the past year have also added to the enjoyment of Ohio State's sprint to the Championship. The White Sox and Indians hate-fest picked up where it left off the previous season (although it didn’t turn out to be as big as it should have been). And the Cavs found competition that will stand between them and the NBA Championship in the coming years, namely the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons.

2) Basketball is Back!

Before LBJ, basketball in Ohio had been pathetic (with exception to Ohio State making the Final Four in 1999). However, a great season by the Cavs, taking the defending champion Detroit Pistons to Game 7 of the Quarterfinals, and brought a relevant playoff series back to Cleveland. Those who had their eye on incoming freshmen Greg Oden and the Thad Five, missed the Buckeyes come out of nowhere to win an outright Big Ten title and snag a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament (not to mention how much fun the Buckeyes are to watch this season). As The Rock would say: "FINALLY...Basketball has COME BACK...to O-HI-O!

1) #1 With a Bullet

Troy Smith started the year off as MVP of the Fiesta Bowl and built on that success by delivering nothing short of the greatest season ever by an Ohio State quarterback (not to mention becoming the first Quarterback at TOSU to win the Heisman Trophy). Overall, the Buckeyes won 13 games in 2006 (losing 0), and hope to start 2007 where it left off, by winning a bowl game in the desert.

Looking back, 2006 was pretty fun for Ohio Sports. It was a great year to be a Buckeye and for the first time in a long time we saw a meaningful playoff run by a Cleveland team. Moving forward, 2007 will either start with a bang or with a bust, but I'll always remember 2006 as the year we time traveled back to 2002, even if it was "bizarro" (Good Times!).