Posts from January 3, 2008

Continuing a tradition that goes back 10 years, The Ohio State University leaders and other fans will be conducting a public service project in New Orleans while in town next weekend to cheer for the Buckeyes in the BCS Championship Bowl. On Sunday morning, Jan. 6, they will rebuild two baseball fields at the Boys and Girls Club of New Orleans, which were devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Approximately 160 faculty, staff, students, trustees, public officials, coaches’ wives, family members and other fans, along with about 50 volunteers representing Louisiana State University, will take shovels, wheelbarrows, wrenches and gardening gloves in hand to rebuild the infields and pitcher’s mounds; assemble bleachers; pull weeds; apply baselines and otherwise put the fields back into working condition. In a related project, children and others able to do less physical work will assemble fleece blankets for some of the 12,000 New Orleans residents still homeless.

Although the work will be done on a baseball field, this year’s community service project has a football connection. Keith B. Key, President and CEO of Columbus-based Keith B. Key Enterprises (KBK), John Wooldridge, Vice President of Business Development for KBK and Butler B’ynote’ Marketing Director for KBK, are all former OSU football players, and more specifically, all played tailback for the Buckeyes. Key was a tailback on the 1983 and 1984 teams, Wooldridge was a tailback from 1982-1986, and B’ynote’ was a tailback from 1990 to 1994. KBK has been awarded the redevelopment of the B.W. Cooper housing community in New Orleans. The B.W Cooper project is a $250 million undertaking, one of the single largest projects in the city’s redevelopment efforts, and only minutes from the Superdome, the site of the Buckeye’s championship game. When OSU Student Affairs asked for advice on a location for a public service project, KBK recommended a site adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club and the B.W. Cooper community in an effort to provide a safe place for children in the neighborhood to play.

KBK has contracted other OSU Alumni to participate in the B.W. Cooper revitalization project including OSU Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George’s company, The EDGE Group Landscape Architects, along with former OSU Basketball player Curt Moody’s company, Moody/Nolan Architects. Both are planning to have to representation at the service project. KBK also arranged for several former LSU football players to participate in this service project led by former Tiger, Robert Packnett of R&P Landscaping, a prospective subcontractor on the revitalization project, and several of his former teammates.

Who: About 200 OSU and LSU officials and families. OSU President E. Gordon Gee and LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe will stop by. Scheduled workers include several OSU Trustees; football coaches’ wives; OSU student government leaders; Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner; Cheryl Krueger, founder of Cheryl & Co.; and other members of the official party, along with their spouses and/or children.

What: Rebuilding two baseball fields and assembling blankets

Where: Boys and Girls Club of New Orleans, 1140 S. Broad St., New Orleans, LA 70125

When: 9 a.m. to noon, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008 (buses depart Hilton Riverside Hotel at 8:30 a.m.)

Why: To offer an opportunity for Buckeyes to work together to benefit the host community.

Contact: Tracy Stuck, director of the Ohio Union and Student Activities @ 614.657.8761

Popularity: 31% [?]

Coming into the Ohio Hockey Classic this past weekend, at Value City Arena, the Ohio State men’s hockey team was looking for signs of continuing progress against nationally ranked opponents. After all was said and done, there is no doubt that this team has made significant improvement from its play earlier in the season with a solid 4-2 win Saturday night against #15 Harvard, and a tough one-goal loss against #1 ranked Miami in the tournament championship game on Sunday.

The Buckeyes trailed 2-1 after twenty minutes against Harvard the opening night. Sloppy defensive zone play by the Bucks led to the first goal of the game by the Crimson’s Michael Biega off of a rebound of a shot by Jimmy Fraser at the 4:32 mark. The lead held up until freshman Kyle Reed scored his fourth goal of the season at 19:06 as he netted the rebound of a shot by fellow freshman Patrick Schafer. Another freshman, Corey Toy, picked up the second assist on the play. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, the tie was short lived as Brian McCafferty scored for Harvard just 2 seconds before the buzzer sounded to end the period. Assists on the play went to Doug Rogers and Jon Pelle. Shots were even for the period at 12 apiece.

A mere 33 seconds into the second period the Buckeyes showed their determination to get back into the game as senior Jason DeSantis scored on a shot that appeared to bounce off two Harvard players before finding its way into the net. Tom Fritchie got one of the assists on the goal, which marked his 100th point as a Buckeye. Tommy Goebel also assisted on the play. The only other goal of the period went to OSU’s Shane Sims who fired a low shot past the Harvard goalie with assists from freshman John Albert and Jason DeSantis. The goal was the freshman defenseman’s first as a Buckeye, and gave OSU a 3-2 lead heading into the final stanza. Harvard had the edge in shots at 11-6 for the period.

The Buckeyes maintained their thin one-goal advantage until the 18:18 mark of the third period when senior captain Matt McIlvane scored on the power play to ice it for the Bucks. Harvard outshot the Buckeyes for the game 37-31, but freshman goaltender Dustin Carlson shut the door after the first period to record his first victory as a Buckeye. The win, against a quality opponent, gave OSU some momentum heading into the championship match Sunday evening against #1 ranked Miami. After the RedHawks eaked out a 2-1 overtime win over St. Cloud State, the stage was set for a rematch of last year’s championship game between Ohio State and Miami.

In the opening minutes of the OSU-Miami game, the RedHawks speed and maturity were in evidence as the Buckeyes scrambled to keep up with the nation’s top ranked hockey team. When the Bucks’ Jason DeSantis was whistled for hooking at 4:50 of the period, the RedHawks put on a dazzling display of passing that led to a point blank power play goal for Ryan Jones. The goal was Jones’ 17th of the year with assists from Carter Camper and Pat Cannone. The Buckeyes looked as if they might be in trouble, but they got right back into it when Kyle Reed fired a shot that managed to dribble through the pads of Miami goalie Jeff Zatkoff just 57 seconds after Jones’ goal. It was Reed’s second goal of the weekend and it pulled the Buckeyes even at 1-1. Despite playing the RedHawks even at equal strength, the obvious difference between the two teams was in power play efficiency and that advantage for the RedHawks would ultimately prove to be the difference in the hockey game. The Buckeyes went on the power play at 13:24 of the period, but a turnover in the neutral zone gave the RedHawks a 2 on 1 break and tournament MVP Jarod Palmer found the back of the net for a shorthanded goal with an assist from Justin Mercier at 14:33.

Down 2-1 entering the second period, the Buckeyes pressed the action and at 2:08 John Albert took a drop pass from Tommy Goebel and converted for his second goal of the season to tie the score at 2. The score remained tied throughout the period as both goalies, Dustin Carlson for the Bucks and Jeff Zatkoff for the RedHawks, made key saves to prevent any further scoring.

Both teams had golden opportunities to break the deadlock as the third period played out. End to end action kept the crowd on the edge of their seats, but neither team could put the puck in the net. Just when it looked as if the game might be decided in overtime, the RedHawks took control of the puck in the Buckeyes end of the ice, and with 1:38 remaining in regulation, Gary Steffes had a shot go airborne and into the Buckeyes’ net for what would prove to be the game winning goal. Nino Musitelli and Mitch Ganzak picked up assists on the goal. While OSU outshot the RedHawks 12-5 in the period, it was Ohio State’s inability to convert on a two-man advantage for almost a minute and a half early in the period that came back to haunt the Buckeyes at the end.

On the plus side, the Buckeyes beat the #15 team in the country one night, and played the #1 team even for most of the game the following night. The young Buckeyes are starting to hit their stride, and should only get better as they continue to adjust to playing top flight competition. First year players like Kyle Reed, who made the all-tournament team along with senior Jason DeSantis, and goalie Dustin Carlson are just two more young Bucks looking to make their mark as collegiate players.

On the minus side, Ohio State needs to dramatically improve on the power play and scoring in general, but in that regard they seem to be showing signs of improvement. As I mentioned in my last blog, the support for OSU men’s hockey is still nowhere near where it should be. Attendance for each sessions ran a little over 4,000, and when you consider that almost half the crowd appeared to be RedHawks fans, turnout by Central Ohio sports fans in support of the Buckeyes is disappointing at best. The game is fast and exciting, the team is steadily improving, and now it’s time for Buckeye fans to cheer on this team. Why not check out the action this coming weekend when the Bucks battle Alaska on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th at Value City Arena.

Popularity: 28% [?]