Found this on Deadspin today. It is post about an embittered Xavier fan’s hate letter to Greg Oden. It mentions Oden’s mother by name and even makes mention of his parent’s divorce. Classy.
But it struck us because it points to a larger issue: blaming Greg Oden for Saturday’s loss. We don’t quite understand this. Why it is that Oden is receiving blame for the loss instead of:
The Refs – let’s suspend reality for just a second and assume that Oden’s fifth foul was indeed a flagrant or intentional one. In this case, shouldn’t the referee who was four feet away from Oden at the time and made the call be to blame? Oden made the foul, but it was the ref who actually made the call, right? Why don’t you call him out rather than trashing a 19-year old and his parents who may or may not be divorced?
Justin Cage – If Cage makes the second free throw, then Xavier goes up by four points with nine seconds left. Instead, he missed it, and left the door open for Ron Lewis’ buzzer beating three-pointer.
Sean Miller – These Cinci-Tucky crybabies are so focused on Oden that they have neglected the fact that their head coach completely fell asleep at the switch in the final seconds. He should have been SCREAMING at his kids to foul Mike Conley or Ron Lewis as soon as the ball was ad
vanced over half-court. This would have put a Buckeye on the line with somewhere around four or five seconds left and only two free throws. OSU would have needed a miracle missed second free throw and a tip in just to tie the game at that point if Xavier had done the smart thing.
The entire Xavier team – Because lets call a spade a spade here, they CHOKED. Not only did they completely cough up a double-digit lead in about five minutes of game time, but once the game went into overtime, they folded up like tent. Xavier completely fell apart in the face of the OSU rally.
But it struck us because it points to a larger issue: blaming Greg Oden for Saturday’s loss. We don’t quite understand this. Why it is that Oden is receiving blame for the loss instead of:
The Refs – let’s suspend reality for just a second and assume that Oden’s fifth foul was indeed a flagrant or intentional one. In this case, shouldn’t the referee who was four feet away from Oden at the time and made the call be to blame? Oden made the foul, but it was the ref who actually made the call, right? Why don’t you call him out rather than trashing a 19-year old and his parents who may or may not be divorced?
Justin Cage – If Cage makes the second free throw, then Xavier goes up by four points with nine seconds left. Instead, he missed it, and left the door open for Ron Lewis’ buzzer beating three-pointer.
Sean Miller – These Cinci-Tucky crybabies are so focused on Oden that they have neglected the fact that their head coach completely fell asleep at the switch in the final seconds. He should have been SCREAMING at his kids to foul Mike Conley or Ron Lewis as soon as the ball was ad
vanced over half-court. This would have put a Buckeye on the line with somewhere around four or five seconds left and only two free throws. OSU would have needed a miracle missed second free throw and a tip in just to tie the game at that point if Xavier had done the smart thing.The entire Xavier team – Because lets call a spade a spade here, they CHOKED. Not only did they completely cough up a double-digit lead in about five minutes of game time, but once the game went into overtime, they folded up like tent. Xavier completely fell apart in the face of the OSU rally.
So please Xavier fans, if you are going to whine about your own shortcomings, leave Oden, and his mom out of it.
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