Mailbox: For Ohio State basketball fans, March Madness sure is lonely without the Buckeyes

Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity.

On Ohio State basketball

To the editor: I have such an empty feeling. It feels like I lost someone. The best few weeks in sports. I sit on the sidelines left out of the dance. I watched Michigan yesterday, a team that won only eight games last year. Their bigs dominated. What a turnaround. BIG BUCKS bring BIG BUCKS, I hope.

Marty Osmond

To the editor: SHAME ON YOU! What a terrible title for the hard playing, very successful OSU women’s basketball team. They played their hearts out but did not win the Tennessee game. But they did amass a tremendous record of 26-7 against many great teams. With that record they were given a No. 4 seed in their bracket. And they won their first game. Give them credit. Find a better title that doesn't suggest they were losers.

Maybe ... Came up a little short ... OSU women put together a great season.

Next time do a little more thinking about how readers will react to the title of an article.

Pete Kienle, Powell

To Pete: I thought the headlines on Mike Arace's column were fair for a team that was upset at home for the second year in a row. In print, it was "Diminishing returns: OSU runs out of gas, again falls in second round in tournament." On Dispatch.com, the headline was "Buckeyes can't find their way from Columbus to Sweet 16." It was a fine season by the Buckeyes, but a disappointing ending.

On Michigan

To Brian: What do Voldemort, MacBeth and Michigan have in common?

Harry Potter’s nemesis was Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard so powerful and frightening that it was dangerous to even say the name out loud. Instead, everyone referred to him as “He Who Must Not Be Named.”

In the theatre world, "Macbeth" is considered a play so powerful and strange that it is thought to be unlucky to say the name out loud and is therefore called only “The Scottish Play.”

Here in Buckeye Nation, and especially, I imagine, even more so within in the football program, Michigan is referred to as “That Team Up North (TTUN).” Is this because Michigan is a team so powerful and frightful that it is unlucky or dangerous to say the name out loud? Maybe not intentionally.

This irrational fear to name something actually has a formal name: The Voldemort Effect. (Google it!) Well, Harry's triumph over Voldemort began with saying the name out loud, and we know that "Macbeth" is regularly performed successfully on stages worldwide, with most characters speaking the name “Macbeth” out loud. So, what about Ohio State and Michigan?

Perhaps this irrational reluctance to say the name has become a psychological stumbling block leading to unlikely losses by OSU teams that were more talented than Michigan. It certainly seems like something negative is playing with their heads.

As spring training gears up, I have a suggestion for coach Day: Get it out of your head - SAY THE NAME!

Harry Campbell, Columbus

On politics in sports letters to the editor

Hi Brian: You state politics should not be in the sports section, but the sports section of The Columbus Dispatch publishes columns by Nancy Armour that contain criticisms of the president of the United States. Is criticizing our president not political? 

Bob Jacobs

To Bob: Actually, I never said politics should not be in the sports section. I said, and I quote myself in last week's Mailbox, "All sports discussions are best without any political accusations, leaning or segmentation." Also, in my personal life, I get up and walk away from any sports discussion that delves into politics. In fact, I get up and walk away from any discussion of any sort that delves into politics. It didn't used to be that way, but now it's a key to a happier life.

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