Groce wakeup call as coach heads to Illinois

My subconscious was talking.

Last night, I had a dream about the Bobcats that didn’t really make sense. Ohio was in the MAC Championship at a convention center, definitely not the Q. There was a band, but definitely not the 110. And my friends were there (they actually were my real friends).

Just like that, I woke up to my 3:15 a.m. alarm for work. Never saw what happened on the court or how it played out for Ohio.

Many Bobcats fans woke up to the news Thursday morning that John Groce would be the next head coach of the University of Illinois.

Just like that, the Groce era was over.

It took only 48 hours for fans to be pulled down from the high of Ohio’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 1964. That was when the talk of Groce to Illinois began.

Thursday afternoon the whirlwind of what was called 'GroceWatch' – and Groce’s Ohio tenure- came to an end when Illinois officially announced him as its next head coach.

While his time in Athens was short, Groce’s impact was significant.

He made the NCAA Tournament twice in three years and won three games. The Bobcats had four tournament wins in program history before that.

Groce will make much more money at Illinois, $1.4 million a year for five years. He’ll go to a Big 10 program with the big name and pedigree. It's an offer too good to pass up. There’s no way to fault his decision. It’s just a cold, hard reality of being a mid-major.

Now, Ohio must figure out its next move. It has the momentum of the Sweet 16 berth and greater exposure on its side.

There are multiple routes the Bobcats can go. Possible candidates are current Ohio assistant Dustin Ford and Ohio State assistant Jeff Boals, both Ohio grads.

The Bobcats would be in good hands with either of those choices.

However, there's still that feeling of waking up from a dream for Bobcats fans, one that ends with a D.J. Cooper missed three at the buzzer.

That's the ringing of your alarm. You wake up, but never find out how Groce's 4th season at the helm, with everyone back, turns out.

You just continue on with reality.

Nothing beautiful about sting of Bobcats Sweet 16 loss

There was no one shining moment. For the Bobcats, it was one fleeting moment Friday night.

It was one that got away.

After their overtime loss to North Carolina, you can and should surely be proud of how the Bobcats played. But you can’t help but think what could have been.

Game tied, Walter Offutt at the line, one made free throw away from a one-point lead against the No. 1 seed Tarheels.

Offutt kept the Bobcats in the game with 26 points, helping to mitigate D.J. Cooper’s 3 for 20 shooting night.

But in college basketball, and especially the tournament, small moments define your run.

For all the Bobcats did right, taking North Carolina to the brink, they were close and just that.

They know it.

"As a leader on this team, I take responsibility that I've got to hit that free throw. ... It just feels terrible to kind of let my team down in that sort of way," Offutt said in the post-game press conference.

Ohio should be proud of its run. Step back, out of the moment, and you can appreciate that. The Bobcats were the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament, a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and they made it to college basketball’s final 16.

That’s pretty damn impressive.

But there is no beauty in Friday night’s loss, unless you consider pain and heartbreak lovely feelings.

Ohio will not see beauty in getting knocked out. Winning and nothing less was their mindset, not just giving a good team a heck of a fight.

What made Friday night even more difficult, the sting of the loss stronger, is the prospect of not knowing if the program will ever get this far again.

After the loss many fans were saying, “wait ‘til next year” or “we’ll be back.”  

Yes, the Bobcats return everyone.

Yes, John Groce has won three tournament games in three years.

But there’s no avoiding the fact that Ohio is a mid-major in a conference where only the conference champion has been assured a bid for a while. One bad night in the MAC Tournament and it may not matter how good you are. You don’t get a chance to be Cinderella if you’re not in the dance.

If Groce eventually moves on to a major conference program, who knows what a new coach would mean.

They’ll have a good shot next year but wait ‘til next year is one of the worst things you can say as a sports fan. Expecting to be back is an unrealistic notion. Sports are too variable to expect this kind of run again. 

It’s certainly possible but these moments are passing, especially for most mid-majors.

It would be wonderful if the Bobcats could do it again but you can’t count on that to make it feel better.   

If you want Ohio to one day be more than a Cinderella, you have to put aside the whimsy. Spare the prose and see it for what it was - one free throw away from a shot at the Final Four. It was that close.

One biting moment that slipped away in a run of many special ones to remember fondly.

John Groce pushes Bobcats into basketball golden age

It wasn’t too long ago that ‘life on the road in the MAC’ was an all too common mantra for Ohio Bobcats fans to hear. In 2012, the only road Ohio is worried about is the one they have paved to the Sweet 16.

As a freshman latching onto Ohio Bobcats basketball for the first time, I witnessed a talented but disappointing team in 2007-08. They beat George Mason in a nationally televised Bracketbuster game. But they got bounced from the MAC Tournament in the quarterfinals.

That was just the beginning of what I would see in my first two years as a student in Athens.

The image that best defines that time is Ohio head coach Tim O’Shea looking frazzled on the sideline, not knowing what to do next.

After the 2008-09 season, O’Shea moved to greener pastures (if you want to call it that), heading to Bryant University (who knew it played basketball).

It was O’Shea’s departure that set in motion the beginning of this golden age of Ohio basketball.

With a savvy new athletic director, Jim Schaus, in place, the Bobcats hired John Groce, an Ohio State assistant with a great pedigree, coaching under Thad Matta and credited with recruiting stars like Greg Oden.

Groce’s first regular season had its ups and downs. The Bobcats finished 7-9 in the MAC and were the 9th seed going into the 2010 MAC Tournament. It took overtime for the Bobcats to defeat Ball State and even make it to Cleveland.

That was where the Groce magic began.

Two years ago, about this same time in March, we saw a new type of Bobcats team, one  that didn’t fold in March but rose to the occasion. Armon Bassett lit up the scoreboard setting the record for most points in a MAC Tournament. D.J. Cooper and company landed the Bobcats on the front page of USA Today with a stunning 14 over 3 upset of Georgetown.

2010’s journey ended in the round of 32, a game away from a trip to the Sweet 16 in St. Louis, with a loss against a good Tennessee team.

Last season was a blip. A disappointing quarterfinal collapse to Ball State ended the Bobcats’ campaign with a bitter aftertaste. However, it wasn’t one that carried over into 2012.

Ohio opened this season on fire. December had the Bobcats on the cusp of the top 25, narrowly losing at Louisville and beating Northern Iowa. But a loss to Robert Morris ended that talk, then two straight February losses to low RPI Eastern Michigan and Toledo in February killed any hopes they had at an at-large.

All said, Ohio finished the regular season 27-7, most regular season victories in school history. They won the MAC Tournament again in thrilling fashion, one-point victors over rival Akron.

The win meant another automatic berth in the tournament. But this time the mentality was different. It wasn’t just about getting there. The Bobcats had their sights set on winning multiple games.

Just beating Michigan wasn't enough. They didn't celebrate as if that was their championship game. It was taking care of business which they did again Sunday night against South Florida.

Now, Ohio has reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 13 seed, the lowest seed left and the first to do that since 2006.

A lot has changed for this program since I first stepped foot on the red bricks of Athens as a freshman.

No longer is the ho-hum business of making excuses acceptable. John Groce does not stand for that.

No longer do the Bobcats underachieve. In fact, they now overachieve.

Think about this – in Groce’s three years, Ohio has won three tournament games. Before that, the program had four tournament wins in 50 years.

Groce has put together a scrappy bunch that thrives on tough defense. Most importantly he has instilled in them an innate belief that they can beat anyone and simply getting to the big dance is not the ultimate goal.

They have bought in. The culture has changed in Athens. With Groce and Cooper leading the way, it’s ‘Attack U’ instead of ‘Whimper at U.’

Cooper drips with swagger, while Groce radiates intensity.

So, as big of an underdog as Ohio may be come Friday night against No. 1 seed North Carolina, don’t count them out.

And if you’re a Bobcat fan, savor every moment of it. This could last for years, like a Gonzaga or Xavier, or it could end Friday night.

Live in this incredible time, and stand up and cheer, cheer loud and long for old Ohio.

Ohio making tournament history as a double-digit seed underdog

Later tonight, Ohio plays in its second round of 32 game in three years, taking on No. 12 seed South Florida (7:10 p.m., TBS).

Once again, Ohio is a double-digit seed, a team that pulled off a big upset to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

With the stunning upsets from No. 15 seeds Norfolk State and Lehigh Friday night, some of the attention shifted away from the Bobcats' defeat of No. 4 seed Michigan. But what Ohio has done in its past two tournament appearances is nothing to look past.

Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only sixteen No. 14 seeds have beaten No. 3 seeds in the first round. 23 No. 13 seeds have knocked off No. 4 seeds.

Ohio falls in both of those categories - and that's unique.

Only six other schools have won multiple tournament games as a No. 13 or lower seed.

•  Xavier: 1987 (13), 1991 (14)
•  Cleveland State: 1986 (14), 2009 (13)
•  Richmond: 1988 (13), 1991 (15), 1998 (14)
•  Murray State: 1988 (14), 2010 (13)
•  Weber State: 1995 (14), 1999 (14)
•  Siena: 1989 (14), 2008 (13)

Most on that list did it decades apart, with different players and coaches. None did it twice in three years, as the Bobcats now have in 2010 and 2012.

Murray State was a top 10 team this season and would have been in the NCAA Tournament even if it didn't win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Xavier was an at-large selection and has been to six straight tournaments, reaching two Sweet 16s and two regional finals in the last decade. Richmond reached the Sweet 16 last year as a No. 12 seed.

What this shows is that winning tournament games as a big underdog can be a starting point to prolonged success. Continually winning tournament games gains you respect and creates an increased national profile.

Ohio will be able to bring in better recruits, schedule higher profile out-of-conference games, build a higher RPI.

There's no telling how long John Groce will stick around or if he could hand off the program to another coach and keep it at this level. But with the entire team coming back next season, Ohio has scary potential looking forward.

For now though, Ohio's focus is on tonight, knocking off another major conference team in the tournament and raising the bar higher.

Chardon: One week later

[A story I wrote for newsnet5.com in the aftermath of the Chardon High School shooting tragedy]

Chilling, numbing, saddening -- those are just a few of the feelings that set in as news trickled in last Monday about a shooting at Chardon High School.

That was just in a newsroom, safe from danger.

For the kids in Chardon High School, it was all live, raw, real.

They watched as a normal Monday morning turned into one that would forever change their lives. As a kid, you never imagine a school day turning deadly. You don’t think it can happen at your school.

Chardon, Monday Feb. 27, at 7 a.m., was no different than many other American high schools. Then, the shots were fired. 

The first 911 calls were received at 7:38 a.m , parents worried, and students shaken.

Evan Erasmus, a student at Chardon High, called into NewsChannel5 describing the scene, hearing shots fired inside the school. 

Nate Mueller described seeing a boy in a puddle of blood on the cafeteria floor.

In an instant, those kids went from worrying about homework to worrying about the lives of friends and classmates. It’s something no teenager should have to experience.

As the morning and days continued, the news got worse. Five students were transported to the hospital. Three of them died.

Three teenagers’ lives were cut short.

Danny Parmertor loved computers. Demetrius Hewlin loved going to the gym. Russell King Jr. loved rock music and enjoyed fishing.

The three victims had their own special passions, like many typical teenagers do.

The three victims were sent off to school by their parents, a typical daily routine for moms and dads from coast to coast.

In the aftermath of the shooting, time tells the story of how the Chardon community dealt with the atypical, the senseless violence of that Monday morning.

Just more than 24 hours after the shooting, thousands gathered and grieved at a vigil for the victims .

Wednesday night, students went to a basketball game and cheered like crazy, as Chardon won its playoff game.

Thursday, they marched from Chardon Square together and returned to the hallways where the shooting happened.

Friday, classes resumed again, an opportunity to try to find some normalcy in a sea of abnormal.

Over the weekend, the first victim, Danny Parmertor, was laid to rest. Demetrius and Russell will be in the coming days.

Chardon, Monday, March 5, is forever changed, marked by the tragedy.

Monday morning, Chardon student Megan Stark tweeted, "It's been 168 hours since the first 911 call was received. Wow, it seems more like 168 days."

It was a week that felt like months for those students, parents and community members. The tragedy has shown the strength of Chardon, individuals stepping up to help the healing. 

Students like Brady Lawrence and his friends who helped create a T-shirt to raise money for the victims and their families. Cleveland kids who stood in the cold for hours, selling ribbons for the victims’ fund. Thousands outside the Church of Saint Mary’s who linked arms to prevent a potential protest of Danny Parmertor’s funeral. That's only touching the surface of what was done.

Chardon was shaken but stands strong, moving forward as best it can, as best as time will allow.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/oh_geauga/chardon-one-week-later-time-tells-story-of-chardon-tragedy#ixzz1ojEMpJbW

NFL championship games show sports fans need greater perspective

Sunday, the Ravens' Billy Cundiff and 49ers' Kyle Williams joined the likes of Scott Norwood, Bill Buckner and Greg Norman in the club of infamous chokes in big moments. 

Cundiff's missed 32-yard FG at the end of regulation and Williams' punt handling issues cost their respective teams trips to the most hallowed of sports stages, the Super Bowl. No doubt they missed up -- and did it with a lot of people watching. 

But Cundiff and Williams receiving death threats -- tweets so filled with vitriol they sound more like something to be spewed at a dictator than professional football player -- are absolutely uncalled for. 

Diehard fans devote a lot of time and energy to their teams. They're passionate and that's a good thing. You should care about your team and want to see them win championships. I love rooting for my teams and get angry when they mess up. It's natural. When Doug Brien missed two potential game-winning field goals in the 2004 playoffs against the Steelers I never wanted to see him in a Jets uniform again. I also didn't have a need to send him a death threat. 

In the aftermath of Sunday's Championship games, some fans were so compelled to take to Twitter and post wildly outrageous threats, stuff like this:

@KyleWilliams_10 I hope you, youre wife, kids and family die, you deserve it - @javpasquel

BreakingNews: Death warrant for Billy Cundiff, wanted Dead or alive... - @IAMDJBUNK

I'm not naive enough to say it's 'just a football game' and totally discount these games as meaningless. Sports mean a lot to many people. When 50 million people are all watching the same thing in this age of segmented viewing, as they were the Giants/49ers game Sunday night, it takes on a great cultural significance. 

The problem is that some people push it too far, go to extremes that are absolutely unnecessary. Too often in many spheres, not just sports, we get caught in the moment, unable to grasp the bigger picture. Perspective is lost in the heat of emotions, which is natural, but somewhere along the way it needs to be gained again.  

Sports bringing out emotions in people is nothing new. Players and coaches have brawled, bawled and balled for centuries. It just seems like lately fans are pushing it too far.

Fans like those in San Francisco who weren't just cheering on their teams in a preseason game between the 49ers and Raiders but shooting in the parking lot and brawling in the stands. Three were hospitalized following the incidents.

Then there's the case of Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan, a father of two, beaten so badly by a couple Dodgers fans he ended up in a coma. Stow suffered a traumatic brain injury and couldn't speak for months. 

That's disturbing action, unacceptable no matter the issue. Sports should be getting people excited, acting as an escape from some of life's greater problems, not creating life-threatening ones.

Getting riled up, taunting players, vehemently cheering is all part of being a fan. Threatening others and being violent is not. 

Being angry about the Ravens or 49ers missing the Super Bowl is fine. So is not wanting to see Billy Cundiff or Kyle Williams' face for a few months. Sports change people's lives, many times for the better, but in the case of goats, for the worse. There's no stopping that. Let's just keep it in perspective. 

NFL Conference Championship Preview and Picks

One game away. The ultimate goal is so close for the four remaining NFL contenders. The two conference championships present teams with different preseason expectations. Both New England and Baltimore in the AFC were playoff and Super Bowl prognostications by many. The NFC's final two, San Francisco and New York, were playoff afterthoughts. 

Which two will head to Indianapolis and Super Bowl XLVI?

AFC Championship: Ravens at Patriots
Whaddya know...Tom Brady in his sixth conference championship in 12 seasons. There's no denying Brady has created a benchmark of both consistent winning and exemplary statistics for the modern quarterback. He undoubtedly has to be in the discussion for best ever. To reach his fifth Super Bowl, Brady will have to beat the perennially stout Ravens defense. While the Ravens forced three interceptions from rookie QB T.J. Yates last week, they recorded no sacks. The Giants showed in Super Bowl XLII that the blueprint for minimizing Brady's impact is pressuring him, so the Ravens will need to do that. 

Offensively for Baltimore, Joe Flacco has had ups and downs. He was called out by teammate Ed Reed this week. He faces a Patriots secondary that has been vulnerable all season due to numerous injuries. But you have to wonder if he can exploit that. A key factor will be the play of rookie Torrey Smith. Last week, Smith caught just one pass for nine yards. Smith can stretch the field and use his speed to create big gains, so the Ravens need to find a way to get him involved. 

It's tempting to pick the Ravens, following the mantra of 'defense wins championships.' However, it just feels like it's Belichick and Brady's turn again. While they haven't recorded any real signature wins yet this season, the defense has come to play when needed, like last week.  

The Ravens are 13-4 this season (including the win over Houston last week) but just 4-4 away from home. The Patriots are 4-0 in home conference championship games. It's difficult to imagine that spotless record becoming blemished.

Prediction: Patriots 37, Ravens 24

 NFC Championship: Giants at 49ers
It's again a matchup of Super Bowl winning vs. maligned quarterback on the NFC side. Most had written off Alex Smith as another first pick quarterback bust. He has proved his doubters wrong, emphatically sending a statement by outdoing Drew Brees in last week's instant classic 36-32 win. It was truly shocking seeing Smith channel the great 49ers QBs of yesteryear. 

That said, this is not your grandpa's or even dad's 49ers. Jerry Rice isn't walking out of the locker room. While Smith was phenomenal against the Saints, make no mistake that the Niners are predicated on running the ball and playing strong defense. Also, don't question the lethal nature of that defense. It is for real, especially against the run. 

At one time Eli Manning was the quarterback many questioned. Now, he has emerged as one of the game's top five, a Super Bowl winner and bonafide big game winner. Manning threw for more than 300 yards against the 49ers in the regular season and will have to again as it will be difficult to establish a solid run game.

Vernon Davis was a huge factor in last week's win and is the core weapon in the Niners' passing game. Look for the Giants, who struggled early on in the season against tight ends while playing zone, to try to suffocate Davis with man coverage. Shutting off Davis will then give time to the Giants' ferocious front four to fluster Smith.

San Francisco thrives on turnovers, five against the Saints and two picks of Eli Manning in the week 10 matchup. The Giants defense is fueled by the pass rush creating problems for the quarterback. Each of these strong units will create problems for the offense and winning the turnover battle will be key. 

It may be similar to the 1991 NFC Championship these two franchises played, which the Giants won 15-13 on a Matt Bahr game-winning field goal. Again, it will come down to the final minutes as these teams have an affinity for close games. However, with overtime looking possible, it will be the Giants, led by Manning, that advance to Indy with a game-winning field goal.  

Prediction: Giants 20, 49ers 17