Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
With their big win over No. 24 Wisconsin last night, the Ohio State men’s basketball team took a step toward the NCAA Tournament. There are still a number of other steps that they
need to take before a spot in the Big Dance is within reach, but if they had lost to the Badgers, that possibility likely would have been gone.
However, there are some in the greater Ohio State community that would like to see Jake Diebler’s team miss out on the NCAA Tournament so that it might lead to changes within the program. Last week, 97.1 The Fan’s Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith ruffled feathers by saying, “TKTKTKT.”
The comment, especially after it was posted on social media by the radio station, drew a lot of discussion, including from current and former members of the men’s basketball team. Now that the more intense emotions around the debate have subsided, we wanted to wade into the idea of whether or not it was acceptable for fans to root against their favorite team; in our case, any Ohio State team.
So, in this week’s fan survey, we ask that very question, and have given you a handful of potential responses. Of course, if none of our possibilities line up with what you think on the topic, please feel free to write in your specific thoughts in the comment section. Now, I don’t really have any interest in litigating T-Bone’s specific comments or thought process, as he was talking about one specific situation. I am more interested in what Buckeye Nation believes is required of them as a fan.
Check out the question below, and then make sure to vote in the survey beneath the article. If none of the options included in the survey line up with what you want to pick, feel free to head down to the comments at the bottom of the page and write in your pick. Then, later this week, check back with LGHL to see the results.
Is it ever acceptable to root against your favorite team?
I am generally of the belief that fans don’t owe anything to anyone outside the normal social contract (don’t be a dick, don’t be toxic, treat people with respect). So, if that means it’s best for you to leave a game in the seventh inning, go for it. If you want to wear a jersey with someone else’s name on it, be my guest. Every does fandom differently, and as long as they aren’t harming anyone else, no one else has the right to to lecture them on how they love their teams.
A little over seven years ago, I argued that I did not want Ohio State to make the 2018-19 College Football Playoff. While I did make mention of potential negative recruiting impact another postseason blowout could have on the program, my thoughts about that season were mostly influenced by my own personal nervousness. I was trying to protect my heart after repeated late-stage Urban Meyer Era disappointments. Obviously I always want OSU to win the national title, but the risk, in this situation, felt like it was too great given how bad the team was playing on defense.
Now, of course, I was not rooting for the Buckeyes to lose against Michigan in The Game and/or to Northwestern in the Big Ten Title Game, (I would have gladly traded a win over TTUN for a postseason embarrassment), but a lot of people didn’t like that article at the time, and I understood why. So much so, that I followed it up four years later, writing about how I thought the 2022 season was much different and that I desperately wanted OSU to make the CFP that season; the Buckeyes did not make the 2018 field and went on to send Meyer out on a Rose Bowl victory, while they did make the CFP in 2022 and were one field goal away from winning the national title.
So, I know firsthand that allegiances and loyalties can be tricky things to navigate, and there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to how a fan has to behave. So, what do you think?
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
