Ohio Against the World?

 

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This past Saturday, September 23, I watched the #9 Notre Dame v #4 Ohio State game.  The game took place in South Bend in prime time.  I was looking forward to a good game and was not let down.  Both teams fought hard with Ohio State taking the lead in the waning seconds of the game to win 17-14.  Football pundits often note that close hard-fought games like this, the games are decided by a few pivotal plays.  This one certainly was.

Notre Dame held Ohio State at the goal line when they went for it on fourth down.  They held them another time in the red zone Ohio State went for it again on fourth down.  Ohio State could have had a minimum of 6 to 14 points more which would have had them winning the game handily than the nail biter it was.

On the other hand, Notre Dame had the ball with a few minutes remaining in the game and a 14-10 lead.  All they had to do was make a first down or two and the game was theirs.  Ohio State’s defense did not allow them to do that.

At the end of the game, Ohio State coach, Ryan Day, was interviewed on the field.  He basically had a meltdown.  He ranted at Lou Holtz.  Lou Holtz?  I wondered why I he was attacking the 86 year old retired football coach and googled it to find out.  It turns out that Holtz was on one of those game day shows and asked to predict who would win the Notre Dame Ohio State game.  Holtz, a stellar coach at Notre Dame, is known for being enthusiastic about Notre Dame.  He predicted Notre Dame would beat Ohio State because they were tougher than Ohio State.  Holtz said, “Everybody that beats him does so because they're more physical than Ohio State.  Just tell Ohio State this: you tell them they better bring their lunch, because it's going to be a full day's work.”

To me this was just Holz being himself.  It was normal pre-game enthusiasm and hype.

That is not how Ryan Day took it.  When doing an on field interview after the game, Day said, “I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now.  What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here.  We're proud to be from Ohio and it's always been Ohio against the world.” 

The first reaction of many was that Ryan Day was reacting to the pressure he was under with his job being on the line.  That might have been the case.  A couple of more losses to top ten teams this year or not making the playoffs could cost him his job.

But I have another interpretation.  He was just a poor winner.  The Ohio State fan base are all poor winners.  What is a poor winner?  A poor winner is a nasty, arrogant, and obnoxious fan whose team just won.  Ohio State fans are just that.  Many fans from other teams will make the pilgrimage to Columbus to see their team play the Buckeyes.  Because of the fan base and their behavior as poor winners, most never return for a second visit.  That was certainly the case for me.

Ohio against the world?  Really? 

Some say he was unhinged or made a fool of himself.  Michigan grad and current Seattle Seahawk, Mike Morris, tweeted, “Always ranked in the top 4 every year in the NCAA, always got the best receiving core, and get praised for everything yall do, and everybody against you? Delusional!”  When I first heard Day’s rant, I agreed with Morris.

But, the more I thought about, I have a theory about this phrase “Ohio against the world.”  Maybe Day wasn’t unhinged.  Maybe he was using Holtz’s comments and the win over Notre Dame as a was to galvanize his team and the fan base.  Maybe he was just giving them all a battle cry for the rest of the season.  A fellow Floyd Johnson made a hoodie for himself about ten years ago.  People in Cincinnati where he lived, liked and wanted the shirt.  He ended up starting a clothing company.  Johnson called the phrase a “battle cry for the underdog."  Day may have just become a battle cry for Ohio State Football and boost in sales for Johnson’s brand. 

Chidem Inch: Olympics and Artsakh

It is Thursday morning, August 31. Our bags are packed, and we are ready to fly to Washington, D.C. for the AYF Olympics, the annual gathering of AYF members, alumni and families to enjoy back-to-back athletic events and dances and meet friends old and new. The 90-year-old tradition with humble beginnings, held over Labor Day weekend, has grown and flourished into a celebration of being Armenian.

These long weekends have a magic and allure that keep us coming back. There will be the inevitable sadness on Labor Day, when we return home exhausted to resume our everyday lives.   

Yet while I am excited to go to Washington this year along with my whole family, I find myself departing under a cloud of sadness. We all feel constant angst regarding what is happening to our people in Artsakh. It is Day 263 of the blockade – let’s call it what it is, a siege of 120,000 Armenians. No food or medical supplies are passing through the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor. Armenia cannot send aid and has no military options to break the blockade. There is a pall over everyone as we wonder when Azerbaijan and Turkey might use their militaries to…I can’t even type the words.

I am going to D.C. to live it up while all this is happening halfway across the world. I feel conflicted, but life must go on. Folks I know went to Armenia this summer, for weddings or vacations. I saw their photos and videos of a thriving Yerevan just a few hours’ drive from the blockade. I cannot criticize – I am going to the Olympics for the same reason. Our churches held picnics this summer with music and dancing. We have to keep our communities vibrant and financially solvent.  

Our collective sadness is amplified by the fact that we Armenians have little power to end the blockade. Diplomacy without some military or economic leverage is not helpful. As we near the one-year mark of the blockade, countries around the world are urging the opening of the corridor and a peaceful solution. What is a peaceful solution – what Azerbaijan and Turkey want? What about the Armenians in the homeland? 

We have the humanitarian and moral high ground for sure, but this is another example of us using a paper ladle to get our fair share.  

It is easy to criticize Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. I hear it all the time – people are always telling me, “I do not support Pashinyan,” or worse, “He is a traitor.”  I wonder what I or any of the rest of us would or could do in his position?  I have yet to hear anyone propose a plan that might work in our favor. It is gut-wrenching to realize our national impotence.

The “SOS Artsakh!” protest is taking place on Friday, September 1 in front of the White House. I imagine it will be well attended, as it should be.  Will it have any impact?  Will U.S. President Joe Biden notice?  Will he change course and stop aid to Turkey and Azerbaijan? Sadly, probably not. A month or so ago, Turkey agreed to let Sweden into NATO, within a day of the approval of the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. In the behind-the-scenes discussions that obviously let this exchange happen, would the U.S. have insisted the blockade be lifted? I assume not.

In a discussion with Pauline Getzoyan, editor of the Weekly, she said we have to protest. Our people in Artsakh see and appreciate it and feel fortified by the support. So, protest we will. We will do whatever we can to urge the U.S. to take a stronger stand to guarantee the territorial integrity of Armenia and the security of the Armenians in Artsakh. 

Life must go on, but it feels like one foot on a dock and one foot on the boat, and the boat is drifting…

 

This was written on August 30 and first published in the Armenian Weekly

Chidem Inch: What is the future of our homeland?

 

Like most every Armenian who reads this, I am feeling very sad and helpless. 

Armenians around the world knew it was likely this day would come, when our enemy would begin a military offensive to take Artsakh. We knew this was more likely than a favorable outcome for the Armenians. We have felt this way since the blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor started over nine months ago. We have felt this way since Aliyev began referring to the Republic of Armenia as Western Azerbaijan.

We knew, but felt helpless to do anything about it. The government of the Republic of Armenia seemed unable to do anything either. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan earlier this year. Many in Armenia and the diaspora were appalled by this announcement and accused him of caving in, but no one offered any viable alternatives. 

Sadly, an alternative based on self-determination required the Armenians in Armenia or Artsakh to have a military capable of providing a military defense. The days of grabbing a rifle or pitchfork and heroically defending the homeland are well behind us. The only other option was to wait for another country to step in and make Azerbaijan and Turkey agree to terms favorable to the Armenians. Who would do this? Russia, the U.S., France or India? 

Countries rarely act on altruism. Look at the news. Our story is buried on page six, if anywhere. It is not the lead story. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing the U.N. is a top story. The U.S. giving $24 billion in aid to Ukraine is a top story. We are an afterthought or no thought at all. The U.S. still gives aid to Azerbaijan. Yet the U.S. State Department made a statement:

The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately. These actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and undermine prospects for peace.

Nice words. I can’t imagine they will have any more impact on the outcome in Artsakh than the words I am typing here. 

What is the best we hope for now? Will the U.S. and France provide evacuation and resettlement aid for the people of Artsakh? A guarantee of the sovereignty and borders of the Republic of Armenia? Who can possibly make and back-up such a guarantee? Does Armenia become a vassal state of…you tell me?

I am not a diplomat, in the leadership of any government or political party, or an expert in international affairs.

What do I know? I know that Artsakh is Armenian. We all know that to the core of our beings. Yet we seem to be the only people in the world to believe that. Borders were drawn a century ago, and everyone but us believes that land is now part of Azerbaijan. We cannot do anything to change that or what is happening in Artsakh. 

Armenians are in a very precarious position. What is the future of our homeland, our self-determination? I am not sure we even have a paper ladle these days.

 

First published in the Armenian Weekly 9-20-23