Page Title

LOST IN THE WILDERNESS

   Along the Minnesota-Canada border lies a seemingly endless system of rivers and lakes that are known as the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Voyaguers National Park. By the late 1700's, the Ojibwe had replaced the Cree,
Monsoni and Assiniboin tribes in the area and they played a key role with the coureur des bois and voyaguers in the
fur trade. Pelts were gathered and transported by birch bark canoe to trading posts on western tip of Lake Superior
to be sold to the Hudson Bay Company. There were many lost voyaguers who never made it through the watery
maze and were lost in the wilderness. Today, a bit farther south, a coach finds himself continuously paddling
upstream, as lost a voyaguer reaching for the northern lights. To his dismay, his quota of pelts was one short this
season as James Laurinaitis escaped to Columbus.   The two will meet again on Saturday. Guess which one will be
skinned.
Rumor has it that upon the firing of John Cooper, the former Buckeye football player and assistant coach employed
a realtor to find new digs in an upscale Franklin County subdivision. So sure was he that he was the heir apparent
to the throne at OSU, he never considered that the 1-AA coach could be anything but a courtesy interview. Glen
Mason returned to the Land of the Loon seriously disappointed. So was his realtor.
Coach Mason enters Ohio Stadium with a career record of 120-119-1. He will exit all square. Last Saturday his
Gophers were almost upended by another 1-AA coach. North Dakota State led 9-3 into the middle of the 4th
quarter before Mason’s team grabbed its first lead. The Gophers had to block a field goal on the last play to
preserve a 10-9 win and raise their record to 3-5. They remain adrift in their canoes with their coach. The coach
has been on a “rebuilding” program since 1997. Safe harbor is not in sight.
The old Buckeye will find no joy upon his return to Columbus. Jim Tressel and Mason once coached together at
OSU. That may be the only fact that keeps the Buckeye score from exceeding 50. Tressel’s juggernaut has an
appointment to be kept on November 18th, and a mission to accomplish on January 8th, 2007, in the desert. Like
eight who have come before them, the Gophers stand in the way of our steadfast legion of stalwart silver knights.
They will be similarly dispatched.
The voyaguers are gone and have been replaced by recreational enthusiasts paddling and portaging from lake to
lake. Along the way they are certain to find Coach Mason paddling his canoe in a circular route with team in tow, but
will be able to offer little help. He is on an upstream course with a team that will keep him lost in the wilderness for
years to come. There were those who felt passing over Mason for Tressel was a bad mistake. How do you feel
today?

Fearless prediction:      OHIO STATE 48   MINNESOTA 6
Actual Score       44-0