Poison Nut 2012 - A New Hope

The OSU football season starts tomorrow. I have to say it's been a long time coming! Last season was an abysmal letdown to say the least. 6-7? No one could have foreseen that (save for a rabid wolverine or two). I certainly didn't see it. If you read my prediction post last year you see that I was looking through some very thick rose colored glasses.

To say I'm excited about this season would be an understatement. My Cubs have sucked like there is no tomorrow. That's nothing new, but always a disappointment. I still love them though. My second favorite and AL adopted team, the Rays, have struggled with injuries but once they got healthy they looked strong. Then I mentioned how good they looked on Facebook and the jinx was on. 1-4 in their last 5 and fading away from the two wildcard spots open. But enough about baseball, it's the freakin' start of football!

What I'm looking forward to this season: 

• First and foremost it's putting the Tressel era behind us. Doesn't mean I want to forget all of the great things he did do for the school. He built a perennial contender. He had the Buckeye's in the discussion nearly every year. Yes, at times, it was hard to watch but it was also damn exciting. I like to look at the positive (and still be mindful of the not-so positive).
• Second is the new look team under Urban (I like Urban better than Meyer). I read somewhere that his full name is Urban Frank Meyer, III. So does that mean we'll start calling him UM3, UFM3 or U3? My personal preference (if we really had to choose one) would be U3 as a play off of the immortal band U2. But we're not here to rename the guy... He's installing a new high power offense. To be fair, anything was higher powered than that sludge from Jim Bollman. It should certainly be more fun to watch than anything Tressel Ball ever gave us and hopefully a little easier on our poor, weak hearts. The defense should be getting better, but is that possible for the Buckeyes who have always been known for their great D? Urban kept the best thing going for OSU last year, and that was Luke Fickle. 
• Third, new traditions from Urban. I understand he's implementing a new tradition to take place just before kick-off. The strength and conditioning coach will be leading the players in front of the student section in the south stands through their Quick Cals (rapid, military style calisthenics). They have released a YouTube video asking the students to join in. Now imagine the whole South Stands moving in unison with the team... Follow that up by what I can only call one of the most gratifying experiences outside of the actual playing of football at a game - the band entering the field, getting set and marching down the field (yep, goosebumps just writing that).

So, with kick-off a mere 14ish hours away, what are you looking forward to tomorrow?