Welcome to the second round of the 11W Heart of It All Classic. Voting is now open in the Sports region, and boy, is it loaded.
The Sports region saw two upsets in the opening round, with No. 12 Jim Tressel knocking off the hit king, Pete Rose, and No. 11 Archie Griffin taking No. 6 LeBron James to the woodshed. The region also saw the biggest blow out in round one, with former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, a four seed, destroying No. 13 Roger Staubach with 98.02% of the vote.
The top two seeds, No. 1 Jesse Owens and No. 2 Jack Nicklaus are both expected to advance with ease, but the 4/5 matchup is a dandy, featuring Hayes and Tressel. We're pretty much asking you to pick your favorite parent.
2nd ROUND VOTING: Business & Science | The Arts | Politics & Military
#1 Jesse Owens vs. #8 Jerry Lucas
Jesse Owens: The "Buckeye Bullet" tied the world record for the 100-yard dash in high school. I'll repeat that, in high school.
From there, he won a record eight individual NCAA championships – four each in 1935 and '36 – before going on to win four gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin. So much for the master race, eh, Adolf?
Owens had no trouble with No. 16 Branch Rickey in the opening round, winning 1,235-29.
Jerry Lucas: The pride of Middletown Ohio holds the distinction of earning a prep state championship, an NCAA championship, an Olympic gold medal and an NBA championship.
Lucas, who has a veritable computer for a brain, was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
In round one, Lucas topped No. 9 Ken Griffey Jr., capturing 66% of the vote to advance.
#4 Woody Hayes vs. #5 Jim Tressel
Woody Hayes: More than 30 years after coaching his final game, Wayne Woodrow Hayes is still the face of Ohio State football for many.
In his 29 seasons with the Buckeyes, he went 205-61-10, collecting national championships in 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968 and 1970. Hayes was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
Hayes absolutely clobbered No. 13 Roger Staubach in the first round, collecting 98% of the vote.
Jim Tressel: Tressel made a name for himself rolling teams in FCS, then known as Division I-AA, while the head coach at Youngstown State. In his 15 seasons at YSU, he won 135 games and four national titles.
In 2001, he took over for John Cooper at Ohio State and won game after game, to the tune of 106 victories in his 10 seasons in Columbus. Tressel won the school's first national championship in 34 years with a classic overtime win over Miami in 2003 and was particularly effective against the Michigan Wolverines, going 9-1.
In a classic 12/5 upset, Jim Tressel knocked off Pete Rose 786-474 to move into the second round.
#3 Paul Brown vs. #11 Archie Griffin
Paul Brown: Born in Norwalk, Ohio, Brown built a juggernaut at Massillon Washington High School before getting the call to take over at Ohio State. He spent three seasons in Columbus, winning the school's first national championship in 1942.
In 1945, Brown took over the Cleveland franchise of the All-America Football Conference and the team took on his name and winning ways, collecting four league titles and three more NFL championships after the merger.
Brown had no trouble with No. 14 and fellow coach Don Shula in the first round, raking in 94% of the vote to advance.
Archie Griffin: The only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, Archie Griffin was born and grew up in Columbus before making his way to Ohio State.
He would conclude his career as the NCAA's all-time rushing king with a 5,589 yards and also became one of only two players to start in four Rose Bowl games.
No. 6 LeBron James was no match for Archie Griffin (on an Ohio State website, at least) in the opener as he scored a 975-284 upset to move on.
#2 Jack Nicklaus vs. #7 Cy Young
Jack Nicklaus: "The Golden Bear" won the first of five straight Ohio State Junior titles at the age of 12 and then, for the next four decades of his life, he kept winning and winning.
Nicklaus won the U.S. Amateur twice, an NCAA Championship and 18 majors – including a record six Masters championships – during a long a hall of fame PGA Tour career.
Nicklaus made quick work of No. 15 Buster Douglas in the opener, hauling in 97% of the vote to move on.
Cy Young: In 21 seasons as a Major League pitcher, Cy Young threw harder, longer and better than anyone then or since. He holds MLB records for wins (511), complete games (749), starts (815) and consecutive hitless innings pitched (25⅓) among many others.
He entered Cooperstown on the second ballot, was named to Major League Baseball's All-Century Team, and is honored with his name on the award given to the top pitchers in each league to this day.
Young knocked off No. 10 Bobby Knight in the first round, 809-444.
