Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon Notes – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/7/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
August 7, 1998
CHICAGO, Ill. – Buckeyes Picked as Favorite
The Ohio State University Buckeyes were chosen as the team to beat in the Big Ten Conference by a vote of media members attending the 27th annual Big Ten Conference Kickoff Luncheon Aug. 6-7 at the Chicago Hilton and Towers Hotel. As the 103rd season of Big Ten football nears, head coach John Cooper’s squad collected 499 points and 141 first-place votes. Defending national champion Michigan was chosen second with 340 votes (45 first-place picks) while Penn State rounded out the top three with 114 points and a pair of first-place votes.
Says Cooper
“Whether we are the best remains to be seen. At OSU, we have high expectations every year. Top to bottom, the league’s got great balance. But I like our team. I like our attitude and work ethic. We have more young football players who you haven’t heard about who will be playing this year than in recent years.”
Katzenmoyer Honored
Ohio State junior linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer was selected as the Big Ten’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year by a vote of media members attending the luncheon. (Wisconsin junior running back Ron Dayne was selected as the preseason Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.) Last year, Katzenmoyer was one of four Big Ten consensus All-America choices (and the only one returning), the Butkus Award winner and a first-team all-Big Ten pick. He enters his junior season with 182 tackles including 36 for losses totaling 133 yards. He is ranked among Ohio State record holders in nine different categories.
Representing Ohio State
Each Big Ten school brings two players to the annual kickoff luncheon and this year the Buckeyes are being represented in honorable fashion by senior quarterback Joe Germaine and junior cornerback Ahmed Plummer. Germaine is the only quarterback in attendance. On Thursday, the two were interviewed by ESPN Regional, the production company for the Big Ten Conference’s game of the week, and they also went through a gauntlet of television interviews with stations from around the midwest. There were 33 stations in the magnificent ballroom of the Hilton and Towers and Germaine was the first to start interviews and the last to leave. Everyone wanted to talk to the polite and soft spoken quarterback with the marvelous skills. If Germaine was No. 1 in interview requests, Plummer was just possibly No. 2. The talented cornerback who is overshadowed on his own team by the likes of All-American Antoine Winfield and all-Big Ten hitting machine Damon Moore, was a big hit as well with the midwest media.
Thursday Evening
After their day of interviews was finished, Germaine and Plummer hopped into a taxi and cruised down Michigan Avenue looking for Michael Jordans restaurant. They found it . . . incredibly overcrowded. So the two dined at Planet Hollywood before spending some time shopping in every athletes favorite store: Niketown.
