Ohio State Football: Like Sand Through the Hourglass...

by Cody Blubaugh (Analyst)

931 reads

Editorial

September 03, 2008

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Credit to Scout.com’s Buckeye Sports Bulletin writer Adam Jardy and his original story, “Playing for all the Marbles”.  His archive can be found here.

Most of us have played organized sport at one time or another, at all different levels of skill and dedication.

When it comes down to game time, we all know the importance of finding some sort of motivation, a place within ourselves if you will, to push us to our greatest ability.

It may be at a place like Michigan, where Mike Barwis delivers his raspy, adrenaline pumping, profane filled message to send you into an emotional frenzy.

Maybe you prefer traveling back in time and going old school, such as Notre Dame’s legendary coach Knute Rockne and his famous speech, or perhaps a pep-talk in the form of those delivered by Lou Holtz gets you going.

Maybe you pop in the ear phones of your iPod and blare your favorite music.  You might watch one of your favorite sports flicks, such as Any Given Sunday and Al Pacino’s Peace by Inches speech.

How about the necessary pre-game group prayer to calm the nerves and help you focus?

All of these practices have proven over time that inspiration and motivation come from all sorts of different techniques and methods, and that everyone has their own individual preferences

Well here’s a new one for you: Marbles.  Yes, that’s right, Marbles.

After losing to Florida in a blowout in 2006, Jim Tressel made sure his team didn’t forget that game.  He changed all of the codes to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to 4114, signifying the final score of the Florida debacle. 

As the season went on, Coach Tressel pushed an “us-against-the-world” mentality, to no avail as LSU shattered the Buckeye’s championship dreams.

This year, Tressel took a much more subtle approach, but one with resounding symbolism: Marbles.

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• Go to the College Football Page »

comments (32) write a comment »

1. reply to comment by Lisa
   2 months ago

   Wow...kewl story! Very kewl. Lets hope those Buckeyes put those marbles in their jocks on the 13th. (OK...sorry, it was there, and I couldn't help myself!)

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Hey now! We don't have our players wearing pink thongs, now do we Lisa! And speaking of the jock straps........let us not forget that USC had the "ITCH" to get the season underway!

      In all seriousness, thanks for the comment Lisa!

2. reply to comment by Kristofer
   2 months ago

   Great story Cody! I hadn't read that one. I have to say I like this form of motivation much better. I really never liked the constant reminder of disappointment Tress used last season. This type of motivation is much more meaningful and significant.

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      I agree. You start hearing too much negativity and hate, especially being pushed at you by your own head coach, you may start to believe the stuff.

      This way, it's up to the players t make the most of it, however they want to.

      Thanks for the comment!

3. reply to comment by miamimitchdotcom
   2 months ago

   So basically Tressel joins Lou Holtz as coaches who've lost their marbles?

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      But he gets them back slowly over the weeks, lol.

   2. by miamimitchdotcom
      from 2 months ago

      It's a good read so I won't go where I was going to go.

   3. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Well thank you Mitch, appreciate it!

4. reply to comment by Gone
   2 months ago

   Very thoughtful work Cody, a great story told.

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Well thank you L.J.,

      But like I said in the article, I owe it to Adam Jardy, because he brought the story to light, I just wrote my own thoughts on it.

   2. by Gone
      from 2 months ago

      A great translation of a story then.

5. reply to comment by David
   2 months ago

   It's always interesting to hear different coaches' methods of motivating players.

   Urban Meyer's favorite mantra is "four to six seconds" because that's how long the average play lasts. If a guy is feeling tired or hurt or something, he may naturally look at the time left and wonder if he has another however many minutes in him. Maybe he doesn't have 20 minutes left in him, but he sure has another four to six seconds in him for the next play.

   I don't know who came up with that, though I know there are other coaches who use it. It's pretty genius if you ask me. The marbles are pretty good too since colors tend to stick out in people's minds.

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Thanks for the comment David!

      That's awesome to hear about Meyer and the four to six second mantra. It's amazing how the most simple subtle techniques may have the biggest impacts. And in these two cases, the motivation rests solely on the athlete, no need for the coach to step in and push them.

      I agree about colors sticking in your memory......except stinkin' orange and blue :P ....ah who am I kidding, I'm a broncos fan, lol

6. reply to comment by Brian
   2 months ago

   Nice article. One of the signs of a good coach is the ability to motivate, and it appears that Tressel has that ability.

   I'm curious, why didn't Tressel give the players 13 marbles to account for a bowl game?

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Thanks for the comment Brian,

      I would assume either that Tressel is saying nothing is a given (even though a bowl game could be considered a lock for OSU)

      -or-

      that the vase full of the marbles signifies all of the hard work put into the season, result being a bowl game, BCS bowl, or a National Championship game.

7. reply to comment by BabyTate
   2 months ago

   Tremendous.

   Stark, spells it all out.

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Thanks for the comment BT!

8. reply to comment by Saraswathi
   2 months ago

   Great read Cody, very interesting!

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      Thanks Sarah, appreciate the comment!

9. reply to comment by Dan
   2 months ago

   Nice article. I definately like Tressel's new approach to motivation. I wish they had hidden cameras in the players room when they wake up and see there is only one marble left, a blue one. They are gonna be pumped!

   1. by Cody
      from 2 months ago

      I agree that this is the way to go for Tressel. The DVD of all of the hate from last year just isn't his style, and obviously didn't work to well.

      No doubt that these seniors are going to be psyched for the Michigan game, but I doubt the blue marble will add much to their emotions in that one, lol.

      Thanks for the comment!

10. reply to comment by Austin
    2 months ago

    Great read. Reading this made me think about my senior season and how it went by way too fast. Hopefully Tressel's great motivation will finally get them that championship!

    1. by Cody
       from 2 months ago

       I too remember how fast my senior year went, so hopefully it puts it into perspective for them.

       Thanks for the comment Austin!

11. reply to comment by Kevin
    2 months ago

    That's a cool thing Tressel put together... he's a classy guy. But anyway, I guess for OSU's sake, better hope they play for all the marbles and not lose their marbles... though wait, I guess in this case losing all your marbles is a good thing, because you take them out of the case and give them back to Tressel.

    1. by Cody
       from 2 months ago

       There's so many "marble" jokes we can throw around, it's quite fun actually, lol. I do agree though that this was a very cool idea.

       Thanks for the comment Kevin!

12. reply to comment by Pam
    2 months ago

    I like it. What great motivational tool.

    1. by Cody
       from 2 months ago

       Agreed. Thanks for the comment Pam!

13. reply to comment by Ryan
    2 months ago

    Incredibly ballsy move on Tressel's part to motivate the upperclassmen.

    Even ballsier, at least from what I heard, is Sweater Vest's decision to bench Beanie against the Bobcats this Saturday.

    Heard about this on another website (might've been one of the forums on ESPN) but thanks for the heads up and insight, Cody.

    1. by Cody
       from 2 months ago

       Ryan,

       You probably saw this story on scout, and if not there, then it was passed along to the ESPN boards as you suggested. Just my take on it.

       I don't think tat benching Beanie is ballsy at all. If Ohio State struggles without Beanie against Ohio, than this team just won't have"IT", and never will. I don't think you should worry, even being the pessimist you are :P

       Thanks for the comment!

14. reply to comment by JokersWild
    2 months ago

    great stuff Go Buckeyes I hope they win all the marbles this year

    I wrote a few insperational quotes in the Fox Blogs for the Buckeyes

    1. by Cody
       from 2 months ago

       Thanks for the comment Mike, and I too have that hope for this season. Go Bucks!

15. reply to comment by Leanna
    2 months ago

    Very in depth, I must say! Great read! It does say a lot about Laurinitis (sp) and company for them to come back for their senior year.

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About the Author Cody Blubaugh (analyst)

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