Ohio State Football and Over-Rated Stuff

I hate planning a night out at a nice restaurant and being disappointed.

My wife and I heard about a restaurant from five different people. Rave reviews. It was a local restaurateur that had some success in the past. He ran a great tapas place, his partners in the new business were solid too. Sounded like just the ticket for a nice night out.

If you are like me (married with young kids), going out isn’t as simple as calling a friend, booking on Open Table, and heading out. Oh no sirree…

I got a baby-sitter, made the girls a quick dinner, put on my “good” flip flops, and finally headed out.

In short, the place sucked. It was the same old bullshit menu at tourist prices.

I live in North Florida. Here’s what I know about restaurants...don’t advertize local seafood and have salmon and halibut on the effing menu. The salads were all drenched in mayo-based dressings and the sides were all fried. Truffle fries were undercooked and dosed with too much oil.

This was hands down the most over-rated restaurant I’d ever seen.

Turns out, Columbus is full of over-rated stuff too. A quick google search turned up a whole blog on over-rated restaurants:

• Alana’s
• The Happy Dragon
• Nong’s Express
• The Mohawk

There’s nothing worse than listening to someone expound the virtues of something (like food…) only to find out the reality is lacking.

We see this throughout today’s life.

• Try this supplement, it’s the best thing in the world - does nothing but give you gas.
• Use this contraption to improve your golf game - makes you look foolish and leaves an odd stain on your hands.
• Spray this on your counters to kill bacteria - actually turns your skin blue.
• Do this in football practice:

• Still lose seven games this season

So today’s Potluck is about over-rated stuff. In particular, is Ohio State an over-rated program? Is Urban Meyer really as good as Nick Saban? Is Ohio State Alabama North? Or are they punching above their weight class right now and destined to come back down?

As a food-related follow up, what’s the most over-rated dish you’ve tried?

GF: I would say, properly-rated, when it all shakes out. OSU recruits at a high enough level to raise expectations through the roof. Along with the program money and the history, OSU should be top-level every year. Every single year.

With that said, playing for natties is hard, winning is harder, so to be in the conversation yearly, to pull Urban and keep him happy...that’s a mark of a stable program.

MNWildcat: Having watching a couple unfortunately-overrated Northwestern teams in the last few years, I don’t have many stones to throw in this glass house. Ohio State has lost 6 games in 5 years, made the playoff twice in four chances, and (on record alone) won or shared the Big Ten East/Leaders title every year under Urban Meyer. So they’re not punching above their weight class--though they did get a rough lesson in efficiency on both sides of the ball from Clemson. (Satisfied, Penn State fans?)

I get that this week we’re going to see the Penn State inferiority complex display whether Ohio State’s status as the “best of the East” comes up, but they are. It just is a thing. Congrats on representing the East in the title game; we’re all very proud of you. But you’re not in Ohio State’s stratosphere of reputation as a program.

Whether they’re destined to sink back into the “merely very good” portion of the East with Michigan and Penn State… I am withholding judgment. One year of losing the East on a tiebreaker (and they lost it on the tiebreak, please don’t @ me) does not mean they’re regressing, it merely means they failed to run the gauntlet of 9 Big Ten games. I’d need at least one, if not two more years of Penn State and/or Michigan dethroning Ohio State to even worry about that.

I’m trying to think of a food that I’ve had to try that didn’t reach the hype levels I was sold on… While the closest I’m coming is Chicago pizza hotdish, I still really enjoy eating the stuff. But given that Townie didn’t answer that section of his own potluck question, I’m sensing it’s just a veneer to give this the impression that it’s not a Penn State complaint-fest ;)

WhiteSpeedReceiver: They're good. Really good. We don't play them in the regular season, so I don't need to worry about them until December 2nd. And as far as the most overrated food, how could food be overrated? It’s the best!

Now components of food, like certain condiments or sauces, are the worst. In particular, mayo and ketchup. They are completely fucking useless and should be banned from the universe, but some people seem to tolerate and even like these affronts, so they’re the most overrated.

MNW: hear hear, WSR. Ketchup and egg jizz are the fucking worst.

Dead Read: I salute WSR’s optimism. Welcome to Lake Woebegone, where the women are strong and the football fans have access to psychedelics. It is August, so everyone has a chance (WSR Note: Except Illinois and Purdue). I will not stomp on WSR’s buzz.

Ohio State is the class of the conference. They will remain so until somebody knocks them off. They combine tradition, stellar coaching, and top shelf recruiting. I remember when a team close to my heart had that confluence of positivity....sigh, how I long for the days of yore. Ohio State will fall off its perch if they lose their coach or when/if there is an internal problem - i.e. poor upperclassman leadership can prevent a team from reaching its potential.

I look forward to Nebraska facing Ohio State in Lincoln. Perhaps some home cooking can make the game competitive. I, too, am allowed some positive thinking.

BRT: Well, the way they ended last season does beg the question...but overall, no, I don't think they're overrated. I legitimately think Meyer is one of the best coaches in the biz, and they will never be hurting for players or facilities or whatever they want. Especially as far as the Big Ten goes, I see no reason to think they won't be top dog, or damn near it, every year for the foreseeable future. Perhaps we will be gifted another Bausermann some game. It's really our only hope.

I have two overrated beverages and a dessert. First, coconut water. WTF rich white ladies? It sounds like it should be delicious and refreshing, but it tastes like water wrung from a warm towel. Awful. Second, IPAs. Yes, come at me, Manbuns. I keep giving them chance after chance, and they keep tasting like Pine Sol. No thanks.

And finally, red velvet cake. I. Do. Not. Get. It. It's fine, as cake. But it lacks the commitment to flavor of almost every other cake out there. Sure, it's pretty and red, that is neat. But nothing about it at all legitimates the “RED VELVET ALL THE THINGS!!!” moment we are currently experiencing. Now cream cheese frosting? Delicious. But can we just celebrate that on its own merits? It doesn't need some meh cake to be great. Today, I stand up for cream cheese frosting rights--you're the kick-ass women of history who have had your achievements claimed by some mediocre white guy in their own name. But enough of that. Celebrate who you are, cream cheese frosting. Smash the red velvet cakiarchy!

Townie: NO NO NO NO NO! I soft-tossed that ball to you all and you still didn’t get it. I guess I’ll have to write my own essay for friday...

Your friend,

Townie