Possibly Insane Ohio Lawmaker Proposes Bill To Prevent Buckeyes From Playing At Noon on Fox

One Ohio lawmaker has decided that he's had enough of Ohio State being forced to play noon games on FOX, so he is introducing a bill that would punish the network if the Buckeyes are forced to play a game before 3:30 p.m. ET. 

Yes, you read that write. Ohio Representative Tex Fischer, which is such a good name, is presenting a bill to state leaders in the hopes that Ohio State can get away from playing games at noon, as opposed to 3:30 or later. 

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the nonsense these elected officials decide is important. Tex is clearly hoping to garner some good-will with voters across the state. But this time, he's just pandering to the crowd, along with wasting taxpayer time and dollars in the process. 

How did all of this start? When FOX Sports announced that Texas versus Ohio State would be the premier game of the day for the network, a majority of fans understood what that meant. The network would have ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ as the lead-in to the Buckeyes and Longhorns taking the field in Columbus at 12 pm ET. 

This sent fans of Ohio State into a tailspin on social media, with most lamenting that the network is out to get them, considering the school didn't get many night games last season. In fact, the Buckeyes played seven games at noon last season. 

But, there's a catch that some Ohio State fans might not understand, which is fine because I know this contract stuff can be complicated. When the Big Ten agreed to the massive $7 billion deal with FOX, it also allowed the network to sublicense a number of games to CBS and NBC. So, every once in a while, these two networks would get first dibs on which Big Ten game they wanted on that particular Saturday. 

Obviously, CBS and NBC are going to pick the best game from the conference, which would then leave FOX to snag the second or third-best game. This left Ohio State as an option for a number of weekends last fall, and FOX rightfully decided they wanted the Buckeyes on their network. Who wouldn't? Ohio State draws ratings, so it's clearly the smart choice. 

Ohio Rep. Tex Fischer Really Going Out On A Limb For The Buckeyes

While there are plenty of Ohio State fans upset about losing out on a full-day of tailgating before a big matchup, this is clearly what the athletic department signed off on when agreeing to the contract terms with FOX. 

But, Representative Tex isn’t having it. So, he is introducing a bill that would levy a financial penalty towards any network that schedules a game before 3:30 pm that features a state university team. How much is that fine? Oh, just $10 million per occurrence. 

Here are some of his key points. You'll see he's clearly not pandering to voters. 

• One competing team is the football team of a state university.
• Both competing teams are ranked among the top ten teams in the associated press poll, or its successor, of the national collegiate athletic association’s football bowl subdivision, or its successor.
• Division (8) of this section does not apply if an earlier start time of a college football game between two teams is a college football tradition (Michigan). For this purpose, a ‘college football tradition’ is a start time of a game between the teams of two institutions whose football teams have competed against each other at least fifty times and the start time has been the sa,e for at least ninety-five percent of those games. (Again, he's talking about Michigan versus Ohio State)
• If a game subject to division (8) of this section starts at a time earlier than permitted by that division, the attorney general shall impose a fine of ten million dollars against either the host team's football athletic conference or the television network broadcasting or streaming the game, whichever party scheduled the earlier start time.

Hmm, he's really thought this one out. So, fining the Big Ten conference or FOX Sports ten million is going to go over well within the Ohio State athletic department, considering they are involved in a very lucrative contract with FOX. 

Do these people think before typing out some ridiculous ‘bill’ that they think would work? 

All of this is just a cheap way to rally support, and make yourself look good to voters or Ohio State fans. This might be the dumbest waste of taxpayer dollars I've seen since another Ohio representative proposed a bill that would ban opposing teams from planting their school flag inside Ohio Stadium, which is the home of the Buckeyes. 

But I promise you Ohio State fans will love it. Even I'm tired of seeing the Buckeyes play at noon, especially with Texas coming to town for the season opener.