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Commentary: Save the OSU tears for real tragedy

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 9:09 PM Thursday, December 22, 2011

There were plenty of long faces and more than a few tears in the Ohio State family on Tuesday, and they had nothing to do with NCAA football sanctions at the school.

Former coach Earle Bruce was greeting long lines of guests at a visitation for his wife, Jean, who died just a few days before of lung disease.

She was 75, and as Earle said, was not only a great mother and friend, but “a great coach’s wife.” The Bruces were married 56 years and had four daughters, so Jean was with him when Earle was coaching high schools and other places before succeeding Woody Hayes in 1979.

She stood by him when he was fired nine years later, not for hitting anyone or breaking rules or lying or not being able to beat Michigan (he was 5-4). He played for a national championship his first year and never again, so it was time to go.

He wasn’t good enough for the school, but he was good enough for Jean.

They went on to other coaching gigs, and now the 80-year-old Bruce does radio commentary on OSU weekends. His old players — St. Henry’s Jim Lachey, Chris Spielman and others — stopped by. His replacement, John Cooper, and his wife, Helen, were there.

Former OSU athletics director Jim Jones was in attendance, and later Rick Bay, the guy who quit as AD in protest of Earle’s firing.

Halfway through the line, word came of the OSU sanctions. There was some headshaking, but it wasn’t a matter of big discussion.

After all, no matter what people think, what OSU does on the football field is not a matter of life and death.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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