Ohio State, Cavs and...Chipotle?
Scott Miles
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Opinion
My buddy Mike and I have had the opportunity to work as high school basketball statisticians for the Columbus Sports Network (Columbus' version of STO, for those of you from Cleveland, except better), and Friday night we were in the presence of Ohio State royalty.
For starters, Ron Stokes was doing the color commentary on the broadcast, and let me tell you, what a nice guy - he had a smile on his face all night, and he was very thankful for us helping him out all night. Clark Kellogg's son Nick played for the one high school team (Desales), so the Great One himself was in attendance and joined the broadcast booth for the entire third quarter.
When I noticed Kellogg walking our way, I elbowed Mike to point him out. Even Mike, a diehard Michigan fan, was impressed. "How are we supposed to focus on the game?" he asked, with Kellogg and Stokes sitting about three feet to our right.
Also in attendance were Archie Griffin, whose son also played on Desales, and Thad Matta, whom I have to imagine was watching Nick Kellogg. Just a sophomore, he's averaging about 23 points per night, and trust me - he's a pretty smooth ballplayer already. Wonder where he got it from...
But needless to say, it was a pretty star-studded night. Without tooting my own horn here, I've grown fairly immune to being around big-time athletes over the past few years - eat your hearts out, ladies, I interviewed Grady Sizemore twice - but this was still an impressive collection of talent. I was much more composed than the 16-year old kid filming the game for Watterson, who asked me for paper and an extra pen so he could try to get Matta's autograph. Amateur.
Since I was working, I missed the entire Cavs game. I've honestly missed more Cavs games this year than any season since AWDLBJ - After We Drafted LeBron James. Part of the reason is due to scheduling - I always just seem to have other commitments, such as work, during the games. On top of that, I think that because of the team's makeup, and the play of the Eastern Conference, I just expected them to win about 50 games again, no problem.
For starters, Ron Stokes was doing the color commentary on the broadcast, and let me tell you, what a nice guy - he had a smile on his face all night, and he was very thankful for us helping him out all night. Clark Kellogg's son Nick played for the one high school team (Desales), so the Great One himself was in attendance and joined the broadcast booth for the entire third quarter.
When I noticed Kellogg walking our way, I elbowed Mike to point him out. Even Mike, a diehard Michigan fan, was impressed. "How are we supposed to focus on the game?" he asked, with Kellogg and Stokes sitting about three feet to our right.
Also in attendance were Archie Griffin, whose son also played on Desales, and Thad Matta, whom I have to imagine was watching Nick Kellogg. Just a sophomore, he's averaging about 23 points per night, and trust me - he's a pretty smooth ballplayer already. Wonder where he got it from...
But needless to say, it was a pretty star-studded night. Without tooting my own horn here, I've grown fairly immune to being around big-time athletes over the past few years - eat your hearts out, ladies, I interviewed Grady Sizemore twice - but this was still an impressive collection of talent. I was much more composed than the 16-year old kid filming the game for Watterson, who asked me for paper and an extra pen so he could try to get Matta's autograph. Amateur.
Since I was working, I missed the entire Cavs game. I've honestly missed more Cavs games this year than any season since AWDLBJ - After We Drafted LeBron James. Part of the reason is due to scheduling - I always just seem to have other commitments, such as work, during the games. On top of that, I think that because of the team's makeup, and the play of the Eastern Conference, I just expected them to win about 50 games again, no problem.
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