Rob Oller's Second Thoughts: Ohio State football coach Brian Hartline should know better
Welcome to Second Thoughts, my semi-regular staple of snark, stream-of-consciousness opinion and random thoughts that can be consumed in a "second" – Get it?
What were you thinking, Brian Hartline? We all make mistakes, but when you’re the offensive coordinator at a VERY public football program like Ohio State you have to live differently, unfair as that may seem to hardcore proponents of individual privacy. You can’t drink and drive … and crash a UTV, even when doing so on your own property, as the Delaware County Sheriff's office indicated happened this weekend.
Just like LeBron James and Tom Brady cannot expect to go grocery shopping – wink, wink – without being approached while buying organic produce, Hartline should not expect to be treated like just another dude riding his UTV at 1:22 a.m.
More: Ohio State football offensive coordinator Brian Hartline recovering after accident
About that, I understand the hue and cry that Hartline, or anyone, should be able to do whatever he pleases on his own property. It’s his private space. But the push for individual “freedom” fails to consider that a big part of any OSU coach’s responsibility is to lead by example for players who must operate under the same rules.
I hope Hartline’s injuries are not severe – he was released from the hospital Monday after spending Sunday night there – but if the Buckeyes are to live out their team motto of “Tough Love,” then Ryan Day needs to lovingly set his OC down and explain that with great power comes great responsibility.
Curious how Ohio State approaches NIL collectives
Ohio State athletics are big business, except when they’re not. At least that’s how I read the OSU athletic department’s association with The Foundation, which has pinned to its Twitter site: “We are now An official partner of THE Ohio State University and the only NON PROFIT (sic) Collective JUST supporting @OhioStateFB and @OhioStateHoops!
In other words, you’re on your own, women’s tennis, men’s lacrosse and all of the other non-revenue sports financially supported by football and basketball.
That’s not exactly operating in the kind of all-for-one spirit the university should be pursuing. It’s true that other OSU collectives embrace the so-called minor sports, but I’m scratching my head that athletic director Gene Smith would welcome any business that celebrates an “us” and “them” mentality.
Cleveland Guardians: A nickname by any other name …
Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team switched its name from Indians to Guardians in July 2021, but whether by habit or in protest of political correctness I find that more than half the fans I come across still say Indians. I still occasionally slip up myself; when you grow up saying one name it becomes ingrained. I know older Cincinnati Reds fans who still say Redlegs.
PGA slow play: How to implement a shot clock in golf?
Baseball’s new pitch clock is a big winner, cutting nearly 30 minutes off games, but would a similar timing system work on the PGA Tour? It would be challenging, having to police 120 players across 18 holes. Actually, a clock already exists – players are expected to hit their shot within 40 seconds when it is their turn – but slow-play penalties are rarely enforced. Patrick Cantlay has become the poster boy for slow play, having brought play to a crawl the past two weeks at the Masters and Hilton Head. He is not the lone slowpoke but is the latest, best example that something needs to be done to quicken a game that cannot afford to be seen as overly sluggish in our short-attention-span society.
Listening in…
"The problem (of slow play on the PGA Tour) is metastasizing," Golf Digest's Dave Shedloski said. "Look at the number of early season PGA Tour events in which Thursday and Friday rounds could not be completed even though there were no weather delays. That never happened 10-15 years ago. Everyone has become a tortoise."
Off-topic, 'birds are pretty cool' …
I recently became a more serious “birder.” After spending 50 years barely noticing these flying things I suddenly looked around and thought, ‘Birds are pretty cool.’ I mention this now because spring migration is in full swing, when birds leave their southern haunts for northern climes. Of particular interest are the many different types of warblers that find their way through Franklin County. A few hot spots to visit if interested: Green Lawn Cemetery, Kiwanis Park and Battelle Darby Metropark. Bring your binoculars.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football's Brian Hartline admits to drinking before crash
