What Did He Just Say?

Much was made last week of Coach Tressel's halftime speech against Penn State. It was never reported what he said, but I think I can guess.

One of the passages in the other book I am working on is about Tom Osborn, and a halftime speech he once gave. If you know anything about Tom Osborn, you are probably aware that he is a straight shooter never known to use profanity. We recount that in the passage, how Gall Dang was Tom's version of a four-letter word. I suspect if you went back far enough Coach Tressel and Coach Osborn came from the same DNA. In any case, one game Nebraska was getting their Husker rear ends kicked all over the field. Osborn was ticked and he ended his half-time speech with a thundering "And let's go out and kick the Hell out of them!"

They said you could have heard a pin drop. Three Hundred Pound tackles turned to quivering jello and had to grab the wall to hold themselves up. Running backs scraped their jaws and mouthpieces off the floor. Linebackers stood in a blank stupor. "Holy Cow, this is serious," they told themselves. And they went out and blew the other team away.

I'd wager good money that the Buckeye locker room was a repeat of that the Penn State game. Funny isn't it. If you never cry wolf, people actually believe you when you really do see one!