Mailbox: Preview of Ohio State-Arkansas State game was 'arrogant'; plus advice on TV sound
Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com
On Ohio State football
To the editor: I like you guys. I love The Columbus Dispatch. Yes, even with all the changes the last 3-4 years, I still love The Dispatch! That point made, the column where all your staff weighed in on “how much” OSU would beat Arkansas State by was the worst! I bleed scarlet and gray. Lifelong Buckeye fan. And reader of The Columbus Dispatch. But this article was total disrespect for Arkansas State. Yes, we all knew OSU would win. But c’mon, guys. Your idea to make an entire column with all your writers was nothing short of arrogant and low-class.
Let's go, guys. Have a little more class. You can do better!
John Clifford
To John: Thanks for the continued love. No disrespect meant for the feisty Red Wolves. We just thought a "Who will win?" headline wasn't very interesting.
To Brian: I’m with you in wondering why Emeka Egbuka was in the game late returning punts. In fact, I wonder why he is in there at all. Same thing as last year when Garrett Wilson was returning punts. Why put your best players at risk unnecessarily? Speaking of special teams, don’t the coaches go over the rules (like not leaping over blockers) with the players?
Why the snide comment about waiting for Day to establish the run? I saw several plays when Arkansas State had nine guys in the box and their two safeties up close, and not always on third-and-short. Isn’t it better to take what the defense gives you, i.e. the pass, instead of running into their strength to prove what? That we are tougher than you, but perhaps not smarter?
Fred Mussler
To Fred: If Arkansas State had nine guys in the box and two safeties up close, shouldn't the score have been 70-3 or so with receivers running free?
To Brian: Rob Oller's commentary on the expectations of Ohio State's football program was impactful, like the insect greeting his windshield. He's right to point out glaring deficiencies vs. Arkansas State: OSU's secondary is struggling this year, giving up nearly 9 yards per catch and 223 yards total yards to the Red Wolves. Notre Dame averaged 17+ yards per catch in only 10 attempts. It cannot be easy covering (unpredictable) receivers, but like the offense going flat - "three-and-out" − this much ground-giving is unacceptable and, potentially, a greater concern. Unfortunately, the team recently lost Sevyn Banks and at least a star recruit, both to SEC teams. I'm not sure who is to blame here, but those who remain must come together soon.
Coach Jim Knowles seems to be getting his message delivered to his defense, with the Buckeyes holding opponents to 22 points, one TD. If players have heart and a take-charge attitude, the talent (we hope to see) should eventually surface. But progress cannot be hurried. Conference opponents will soon present more challenges. The question is ... can our secondary be a more accomplished unit in time for MSU? Penn State? Michigan?
Larry Cheek, Dublin
To Larry: I'm guessing Knowles is happy to see a few struggles early in the year, so he can have his players' attention in meetings and can build toward excellence for when it matters.
To the editor: Since I read your article about people not happy with the OSU-Notre Dame broadcast, I felt I needed to comment on my current pet peeve. It has nothing to do with either broadcast, but rather what the OSU coaches are wearing. For both games, all OSU coaches were wearing peachy/salmon colored shirts that look nothing like scarlet, gray or red, that last I looked were THE Ohio State colors.
What am I missing here? Husband says they must wear what Nike tells them to wear. Maybe it’s time we told Nike what they can do with their hideous shirts and many, many billions.
Melinda Saneholtz
On the TV telecast of the Ohio State, Notre Dame game
To the editor: I agree wholeheartedly with the four letters regarding the Ohio State-Notre Dame telecast and the poor job done by the ABC audio engineer. Additionally, the video shots were off the game too much. It clearly was the first game of the season for the behind the scenes crew. Your response didn’t seem to acknowledge the input you were receiving.
Mike Kehoe, Dublin
To the editor: I had the same problem with the TV audio of the OSU-Notre Dame game as your readers who were unable to hear the announcers over the band and crowd noise. The broadcast audio may be optimized for higher fidelity systems because when I switched from my TV speakers to my home theater BD player speakers, everything was fine. If that's true, then hopefully the broadcasters will adjust their settings to accommodate both types of systems.
John Kociecki, Powell
To Brian: Like you, I had no problem with sound during the OSU-Notre Dame broadcast. That makes me wonder how (cable, satellite dish, antenna, other) those who complained about the sound got the broadcast. You’ll need to check with someone more technologically knowledgeable than me, but it sounds like the folks who had a problem with the sound were only getting one audio channel for a two-channel stereo broadcast. That would explain why the background noise was so strong while Fowler, Herbstreit, and Rowe sounded like they were speaking from a cave a couple of states away.
Michael S. Lucas, Columbus
To the sports editor: To eliminate the noise, turn off the surround sound mode on the TV. Had the same problem until doing so.
Michael Kunkler
To Brian: You published several letters in Sunday's newspaper from viewers who complained about the sound levels and audibility of the announcers during the telecast. I, too, experienced exactly what they described, the announcers' voices being very difficult to hear and understand due to too loud background sound from the stadium. I can't imagine how/why you did not experience the same issues. Did you watch the whole game on TV? And, even when there were times when there were no stadium sounds, background music was played while the announcers talked that was both unnecessary and annoying. Why, I ask, is it even necessary to play background music that has nothing to do with what's being said? Also, ABC and its sibling ESPN stations all have another problem − their commercials all are very much louder than the sporting events or shows being broadcast making it necessary to hit the mute button.
Paul Kittinger, Hilliard
Hey Brian: In response to letters about ABC broadcast sound quality, this has been an issue going back to the COVID season, when stadium noise was pumped up with artificial crowd noise. Absolutely agree that I felt the announcers were sitting in the horn section with the band but with a caveat. I had the game on two TVs, one with a decent quality sound bar and one with much better quality (including a sub-woofer cabinet). The broadcast audio, while still annoying on occasion, was much better on the better sound system. That (stinks) because I had a 50-inch TV with the sound bar outside on my deck and it was an awesome night for that.
Second, not having the Browns on locally against the Panthers for Baker's revenge came is BS. I imagine the whiny Stealer (mis-spelling intended) fans crying in previous seasons influenced the decision. Browns fans have carried TV ratings for local networks in Central OHIO (emphasis on OHIO) for decades, not the Johnny-come-lately transplants. Let the Stealer fans have to go to the local bars to watch the games, not the indigenous Browns population. Bengals? Outside of Joe Burrow, Who Day is actually Who Cares...
Tony Federer, Powell
To Brian: I also had a difficult time hearing the broadcasters during the OSU-Notre Dame game because of the background noise from the band and crowd. I noticed this problem a lot last year, as well. I did not notice a problem during the Big Ten Network's broadcast of the OSU-Arkansas State game. This seems to be a production problem for ABC/ESPN.
Your response implies that because you didn't notice a problem, there can't be one. Well, there is. Because so many people wrote to you, the appropriate thing for a reporter to do would have been to contact ABC/ESPN and inquire about the problem that so many complained to you about, and then report back to us. You passed up the opportunity to do some actual reporting.
Stan Bialczak, Columbus
On sports on TV
To the editor: My dictionary defines Logorrhea as “excessive use of words” though everyday usage suggests “the inability to shut up.” As many Forum contributors pointed out last Sunday, this is a chronic affliction among American sportscasters such as Monday Night Football’s Million Dollar a Game Man Troy Aikman, recently lured from FOX. Recognizing Aikman’s ability to drone an audience into submission, ESPN has doubled down with a second team of commentators, the timeout-signaling Manning brothers, to provide what they envision as a more laconic, folksy viewing experience.
Of course, there is another way. Many sports fans watch games in sports bars, casinos and other venues where multiple events are shown simultaneously and therefore the sound is limited to one game or, often, music. Fans rely on a comprehensive array of screen graphics that make the game easy to follow − much as if you were there. In my view, there are only two tidbits of info the in-game commentators can offer: 1) injury updates; and 2) that most important of all inside-football factoids we crave − which of today’s combatants are playing with chips on their shoulders. I hope someone is working on graphics for those as well.
Jon Armstrong, Columbus
On the length of college football games
To the editor: How often have, say, Oklahoma fans tuned into the big 2:30 CDT game vs. Texas only to discover they’ll miss the first quarter thanks to the 12:00 EDT Rutgers v. U Conn barnburner entering overtime period number four?
High school football games last 2 hours and fifteen minutes, pro games 3:15, while college games − not unlike U.K. cricket matches and trips to the DMV − are often denominated in days. Reasons: a bloated menu of commercials and alma-mater-celebrating “messages,” interminable halftimes and endless clock stoppages for chain-moving, dropped passes and out-of-bounds tackles.
Now that multimedia’s “partnership” with college football is measured in the billion$, you can bet TV scheduling will be tightened up a notch. How? By cutting halftime highlights, network promos for new talent show and knee slapping insurance ads? Sure. Though both play 60 minutes games, pro teams run about 65 offensive snaps a game while the colleges tally about 85. Look for 85 to become 75 or fewer soon. Not only will scheduling be a bit tidier, but the asterisk-wielding stats mob will have a field day comparing passing records from the “long game” and “short game” eras of college football.
Jon Armstrong
On Richard Strauss
To the editor: The Ohio State University is a leader in payment of it coaches, and they should be a leader, not a laggard behind Michigan and California, in paying the student athlete victims of the alleged sexual assaults of Dr. Richard Strauss.
If Ohio State University can pay Ryan Day over $9 million per year, they can monetarily resolve this very sad chapter for the student athletes who suffered from the despicable deeds alleged by Dr. Strauss.
Michael Oser, Columbus
More from The Mailbox
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Reader says most can't understand pressure athletes like Deshaun Watson face
Leave Deshaun Watson alone. No, ban him from NFL. Readers have a lot to say
The Cleveland Browns are an embarrassment, and the Crew are painful to watch
Readers say Big Ten should add entire Pac-12. And Notre Dame. And Boston College
Ohio State is now a pro football team; school's NIL dealings don't feel right
PGA vs. LIV Golf dispute is maddening, confusing; Where's the Crew's defense?
Big Ten, SEC should break off on their own; Browns should trade Deshaun Watson
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Coverage of Ohio State called 'arrogant': Letters to sports editor
