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Friday, December 4, 2015

Ohio State of Mind: Deus ex machina



This is all part of the script, right?

In our culture, we should be used to it by now.  The hero finds himself in a desperate situation.  The odds are stacked against him.  All hope is lost.  But we know better.

We know that somehow, someway it will all work out in the end.  We see it before it even happens.  Out of nowhere, the day is saved.  Deus ex machina.  The god from the machine.  We would complain about the contrived plot device, but we're too busy celebrating.

In ancient Greek culture, they literally lowered a god onto the stage.  Will the football gods grace the field this Saturday?  They've interfered more than once already this season.  They dangled a victory in front of Michigan and then snatched it away.  We laughed at the time but now we wish that the gods just let Blake O'Neill punt the dang ball.  They hated Nebraska.  Except for that one time.  They mercilessly toyed with the Seminoles.  They must have felt sorry for the 'Canes, because they gave them a gift.  They almost ruined Alabama's season and then indirectly saved it.

Are the football gods to blame for a windy rainstorm that happened to roll into Columbus, Ohio on November 21st?

Maybe it's all part of the script.

One of the main reasons last year's championship run was so incredible was because of the improbability of the whole thing:  An early-season loss.  Having to go to our 2nd, and then later, 3rd string quarterback.  Being heavy underdogs in every big game.  And then came along Cardale Jones. Zeke started running over everyone and everything.  The Silver Bullets became bulletproof.  Deus ex machina.

Everybody expected us to come in and easily beat everyone this year.  How boring would that have been?  The football gods just wanted to make sure it was a little more exciting.  They just wanted to add a little drama.

They're just sticking to the script.  It's called entertainment value.

I don't know if we'll make the playoffs.  We might not see the deus ex machina this weekend.  But if we do, and the football gods lift us up into the top 4, I'm betting on us to win it all again.

And either way, we'll still have this:


Go Bucks.  Go Chaos.

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