Buckeyes Enjoying The Sights So Far
Almost immediately after touching down into Southern California, the Buckeyes made the ultimate touristy trip to Disneyland. The press conference at Disneyland, on Saturday, serves as the welcoming event for both teams playing in the Rose Bowl. While shaking hands and taking pictures in front of an iconic Disneyland backdrop may be seen as obligatory things beyond the control of the individual players, riding rides and seeing Disney characters is strictly for pleasure, as Austin Spitler notes.
“I met Mickey! I just want to ride some roller coasters. I’m a thrill seeker,” declared OSU linebacker Austin Spitler on his plans for the day.
From the looks of it, the Buckeye football players that made the trip had some fun.
Oregon coach Chip Kelly also gets brownie points for telling Mickey that his program is a little more interested in Donald than they are in him. Face.
Last night, the Buckeyes made their way to Lawry’s in Beverly Hills to partake in Lawry’s Beef Bowl. This event has been around for awhile, and this recent edition was the 54th done by the Tournament of Roses Association. Nevertheless, Ohio State first took part in this event in 19801, where a few players on that team apparently overdosed on Lawry’s famous prime rib. Allegedly eating over 110 ounces of prime rib, Earle Bruce was evidently not pleased with those members of his team that ate more than they should have.
It’s precisely that topic — overeating — that came up among the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes, as we know, are lumbering corn-fed monstrous Midwesterners and, therefore, there may have been a few that would have to be dragged away from the table before devouring their weight in cow meat. One of those players was Justin Boren, our starting left guard and likely the beefiest of our offensive lineman. Jake Ballard, while promising not to eat more than he could feasibly stomach, identified a few other players that go into predator mode when food is in front of them.
“We’ve got a lot of big eaters on this team. Justin Boren and Reid Fragel and Marcus Hall, I think all those guys will eat three, four, five plates full,” said OSU tight end Jake Ballard who swore he would not be one of those who would over eat.
One Buckeye football player apparently identified himself as the David, or Rocky Balboa, of this eating contest. That player: Kurt Coleman. Freely admitting that Boren, the Goliath or Apollo Creed/Ivan Drago of the dinner, may top him in total consumption, Coleman said he at least wasn’t going to take it lightly.
One guy who was not making that promise (to not overeat) was safety Kurt Coleman, but Coleman admitted that it was Boren who was most likely to put away the most poundage this year.
“It’s going to be a tough race between Justin Boren and me who can eat more.” said Coleman.
Coleman actually seemed in awe of Boren’s ability to eat and speculated on the offensive lineman’s strategy at the restaurant.
“He would probably say ‘Let me get three plates,’ then have three more on deck, coming right after that. He can kill some food,” said Coleman.
“You know how O-linemen get. Once they see food they have to attack.”
The game itself, which haunts me because I want the victory so badly, comes on Friday. A preview post will obviously come and, when that time comes, the vacay is 100 percent over for the football team and it’ll be time to get back to work. Until then, the festivities, such as the trip to Disneyland and Lawry’s in Beverly Hills, are uniquely Rose Bowl experiences that Ohio State football, no matter its long connection to the bowl game, has only enjoyed three times in the past 30 years prior to this year. The players will no doubt remember it forever, but hopefully remember it even more fondly with a victory over Oregon to cap the week off.
- I wonder if everyone means 1979 here, since it’d be strange for the Buckeyes to take part in the Beef Bowl when they were not playing in the Rose Bowl. [↩]