i’m not one to mince words really, but i’m really not too keen on throwing around the word “cunt”

be that as it may, this bitch is completely one. for those of you not in the know, there’s a link to this story from ESPN. i just find it funny that she’s choosing to badmouth the university after leaving. everyone around here knows that she did not get along with the board during her 4 years at the helm, and it was hardly a secret that the board wanted to promote the football culture while she did not.

now i’m no superjock or meathead or something, but i do love me some college football. i love the diversity of the game that is shown on the college level. at the professional level all you get are a lot of the same styles of play with varying levels of talent. in college you have a much broader philosophy to play by. you have all kinds of different regions and styles to watch. so please do not take this as a heavy handed “she break football. she make norb mad” kind of mongoloid rant. i’m trying to get past that here…

the problem is her choice of wording to describe what she calls a “riot culture” at ohio state. i attended osu from 1998 to 2002 and lived through the “absolute drunken orgies” that happened on campus after many football games. it bothers me that she seems to think that “rioting” is something that is a base part of the ohio state experience, and that it was something that everyone participated in. if you think that standing by and watching 20 drunk people burn a couch or throw things at cops is participating, i hate to think that you and i share the same american values.

i would like to pose these questions:

maybe the incidents were brought on by a lack of other places for people to be? — many of the local hangouts for college students started disappearing around this time. the university bought up a large swath of what used to be college bars and knocked them down, leaving the students no where to go but to the streets.

maybe it was somehow perpetuated by an overly abundant police force? — living on norwich (which had 2 riots in the years i lived there, one basically directly in front of our place) i was privy to these experiences first hand. on both occasions where i saw a disturbance start, i noticed it was usually directly preceded by an altercation between some kids and some cops. the police used to fill the parking lot of a church across the street from our apt with all kinds of vehicles and officers, plenty of them decked out in riot gear. that kind of atmosphere is bound to lead to altercations.

holbrook likes to think that she did some good while she was here. as far as i can tell all she did was make an enjoyable and exciting experience something less. i understand the need to progress and grow as a university, but i also tend to feel that her heavy handed approach to “tailgating” and the football culture here was not in the best interest of the university. unfortunately for her, football fans make up a large base of the osu community, be it alumni, students, faculty or staff. and if you look at it, the overall experience of any one osu fan is not going to be representative of her comments in the above article.

i’ve had a friend in from michigan for the BIG GAME. he, being the jerk that he is, absolutely chose to wear all his michigan gear and head out with my friends to the stadium to soak up the atmosphere. not once did he feel physically threatened or did he come to any harm. there was the usual good natured ribbing given out at these kinds of things, and at one point he was harassed by a state trooper (“EVERYONE BOO THIS GUY!”) but he made it home just fine. i think if you picked any typical fan you’ll find that they did not have a problem and they did not get into any trouble.

so yeah, that bitch sucks. i for one am glad she’s gone.