| 29 May 2009
We talk about how Jim Tressel accomplished the thing that John Cooper wanted so badly but never obtained, building a fence around Ohio. That is not entirely true. There is a hole in the fence. Look at the Buckeye roster. There are four scholarship kids from Cincinnati. That includes Andrew Norwell.We have twice as many kids from Florida as we do from Cincinnati. That number boggles the mind. We have nearly double the number of kids from Pennsylvania, 7, as we do from Cincinnati. I hope you are sitting down for this one.We have as many kids from Glenville on the roster as we do from Cincinnati. More kids from one school than we do from the entirety of a major American city 2 hours drive from the Horseshoe.
Growing up I always heard that Cincinnati did not want to be part of Ohio. Some said it was more part of Kentucky. Others say it was more like Indiana. All I know is there has been and remains a clear disconnect between the Queen City and the rest of the state. I have talked to fans from Cincinnati who will get on their soapbox and say this is wrong but the numbers tell a different tale. 3 kids from Maryland. 4 from Cincinnati. Look at what is happening right now. We don't get our foot in the door with Alex Welch before he jumps on an offer from Notre Dame. We don't throw to the tight end is the argument. What about Matt James? He is not a tight end. He is even talking about Cincinnati right there in the mix with the Buckeyes.
The interesting thing about the disconnect is the fact that the Buckeyes are not suffering from it and are not going out of their way to mend it. There are two facts that are hard to dispute. The best high school teams are coming out of Cincinnati right now. The best high school talent is not. This is a banner year for the city with football talent. The best quarterback in the state is coming out of Cincinnati. The 2 best offensive linemen. The best defensive tackle is Jibreel Black, a potential Buckeye offer. Arguably the best tight end in Alex Welch, a Buckeye offer. Last year I recall one Cincinnati kid offered by the Buckeyes, Pat Muldoon, who chose Wisconsin. The year before there were two kids, Posey and Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph chose Notre Dame. To ignore the disconnect is like ignoring the elephant in the middle of the room. I think the Buckeyes get James and Hendrix. This may be beginning of a time where the city starts to produce more Buckeye caliber talent. It would be a great time for the Buckeyes to begin being a "Cincinnati Kid" dream school.
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