Mailbox: Ohio State football fans need to lighten up and appreciate Ryan Day

Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com.

On Ohio State football

To Mr. White: Thank you having the courage to print the piece about Kirk Herbstreit's comments and Mr. Oller's column about the OSU football fringe. Thursday's Dispatch Sports section's two excellent pieces about the crazy minority of OSU football fans who expect the Buckeyes to win every game by at least 50 points, gain at least 500 yards of offense, hold the opponent to less than 100 yards and have a QB rating of at least 200 for every game were spot on. These 15 percenters (Mr. Herbstreit) or more (Mr. Oller) will never be satisfied.

My advice to Mr. Oller and Mr. Herbstreit is to ignore the poison that will be directed at them for their honesty and insight.

Raymond D'Angelo

To Raymond: I don't know Herbstreit that well, but I assume he's as good as our Rob at ignoring the haters. And the good news for us is that both will keep being honest.

To the editor: Oh, boy. I’ll bet you get letters on Rob Oller and Kirk Herbstreit telling Buckeye fans to back off coach Ryan Day. From fan reaction and a “lunatic fringe” (OSU season-opener against Indiana) you would have thought the season is lost and throw the “bum” (coach) out of here. Let’s call it Ryan Day “derangement.” You know that term you’ve heard in the political realm meaning crazed, demented, irrational, maniacal and − let’s face it − immature. Look in the mirror, Buckeye Nation, and cut the childish behavior. The players, coaching staff, sports fans and all of us deserve better.

Susan B. West, Athens

To the editor: Buckeye fans, present company included, are an overreactive group. Sure, our Buckeyes this year lack a star quarterback, our offense line is Swiss cheese and our short-yardage execution is not in spitting distance of where it should be, but let's not get our bloomers in tatters just yet.

Ryan Day will captain the Buckeye battleship through these early season turbulent waters and will get the Buckeyes prepared for Notre Dame and the team up north. Remember what the captain of the Titanic said: It looks like smooth sailing ahead.

Michael Oser, Columbus

To the editor: I have to say that Day appears completely unable to get a football team psyched up for a game.  Indiana has 10 times the energy and urgency of Ohio State.

Paul Van Doorn, Columbus

To the editor: I can go back to the 10th grade at good old Columbus Central High School (may she rest in peace) and Howard "Hopalong" Cassidy was a senior there, and have been told many times over the years by people who know a lot more about football than me − when you have two quarterbacks, you have none.

Rick Higgins, Columbus

To Rick: I'm certain Day, and any coach, would rather have one person who is clearly the QB1. Ohio State fans are fortunate this situation hasn't happened more often.

To the editor: There is no "preseason" in college football. And OSU vs. IU was a Big Ten conference game.

Mary Otte

To Mary: OK, let me rephrase it: The Indiana game was the first of three games the Buckeyes play before they have even a remote chance of losing.

On Harvey Haddix

To Brian: Thanks for a fine article in today’s Dispatch. Harvey Haddix autographed a baseball for me when I was 10-12 years old. My granddaughter has the ball. Harvey was from Westville, Ohio, outside Urbana. Dad loved baseball and he delivered milk to the Haddix farm and saw Harvey practice pitching. He could throw a baseball through any pane of a six-pane barn window. All you had to do was tell him which one.Bill McNicol

To Bill: I'm all in for Harvey Haddix stories. Wish I knew an athlete like that.

On college football

To Brian: Next time Fox does a Colorado football game, Vegas has to set an under/over line of about 50 of how many times Gus Johnson and Klatt say "Coach Prime." They had a new level of obnoxious this week.

Craig Svab, Zanesville

To the editor: It’s time. With 18 and counting, it is time to get real with the name of the league. “The Big League.” We certainly can’t have a number because who knows how many teams will end up in The Big League? When the new teams join, member schools can say, “Welcome to the Big League.”

Tommy O’Shaughnessy, Upper Arlington

To Brian: College football will need 82 teams to fill all the bowls again this year. What used to be a reward for excellence is now a reward for mediocrity. So few attend or watch games with two 6-6 teams playing in front of empty seats in a baseball park, how can sponsors still be found? They have one game played on a weekday at Fenway Park at 11 a.m. in the dead of winter and another in Hawaii starting at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time, and some bowls obviously inflate attendance figures dramatically. And then there are those corporate sponsors which change constantly. Bowl names should all have a set generic name which I would use with the changing sponsor's name inconsequential.

Dennis Singleton, Dayton

On the upcoming prevalence of Hilltoppers

To the editor: Next Friday, Chardon’s Hilltoppers will play Bishop Watterson at Ohio Dominican, and the following day, Western Kentucky’s Hilltoppers will play the Buckeyes. Eclipses happen more often!

Dave Jevnikar, Chardon

To Dave: I see Chardon's mascot is a big burly mountain man, but I hope he's even half as cool as Western Kentucky's "Big Red," described as a "huge, furry, loveable creature." Big Red is a genderless creature who apparently has a bit of a temper.

Big Red also apparently is an all-around athlete.

More from the Mailbox:

If Quinn Ewers stayed at Ohio State, would things be better at QB for Buckeyes?

Does Ohio State football need to hire a search party to find a quarterback?

Jeers for having to watch Ohio State football on Peacock; and more on Rapinoe

Great Aaron Owens tribute; Joe Roberts' Ohio State Hall of Fame delay a 'disgrace'

What's wrong with keeping the Ohio State-Michigan football game at season's end?

Want Ohio State football to beat Michigan? Add Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel to staff

Was Pat Fitzgerald firing at Northwestern a rush to judgment?

Are critics of Columbus Blue Jackets coach Mike Babcock out of line?

Ear-splitting noise levels taking the joy out of attending sporting events

Does Brittney Griner appreciate being an American now?

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mailbox: Ohio State football fans need to lighten up, appreciate Ryan Day