LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: John ross

  • It’s winter in Cincinnati, but the sun is shining on Paul Brown Stadium

    It’s winter in Cincinnati, but the sun is shining on Paul Brown Stadium

    If this team drafts Joe Burrow with their first pick in next year’s draft, the trajectory of this franchise drastically changes

    Willie Lutz is a former Loveland resident, graduate of Loveland High School, and former sports writer for Loveland Magazine

    by Willie Lutz

    The beginning of the Zac Taylor era in Cincinnati isn’t bringing the sweeping organizational changes some fans might’ve hoped when the team moved on from Marvin Lewis a little under a year ago. The team is off to a 1-13 start with their new head coach, they might lose the second-best player in franchise history after taking one snap in the team’s last 20 games, and they’re still probably not going to spend in free agency.

    Further, they’ve got a lot of their cap tied into older players and don’t have a ton of obvious young talent on the roster to try to extend. Trusting Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, and Shawn Williams to carry this team for the next decade isn’t going to cut it.

    Key draft picks like tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, center Billy Price, and tackle Jake Fischer were trusted to be the future of this team’s line, only for the three to get benched over and over again, with Price trending towards the third in the group to be off the team before the decade flips. We won’t even get a chance to see this year’s 11th-overall pick Jonah Williams play a snap until 2020.

    They’ve also had issues with buy-in, as veteran linebacker Preston Brown gained weight throughout the season, eventually getting cut from the team, and starting left tackle Cordy Glenn pretended to be so injured that he couldn’t play, only to be called on his bluff by line coach Jim Turner who eventually found a way to put Glenn on notice with a one-game suspensions.

    All of that and I can still say, in the words of Dave Lapham, it’s a great day to be a Bengals fan.

    Some of the ugliness of the first few weeks was mitigated and the football started to get more watchable (for lack of a better term).

    The sky was falling in Cincinnati through the first eleven games of the season. After the team took its trip to London, did some bye week soul searching, and revaluated what they wanted to do with their offense, some of the ugliness of the first few weeks was mitigated and the football started to get more watchable (for lack of a better term). After clearing the hurdle with their first win of the season by taking the top off a rocky New York Jets squad, this team played a better four quarters of football than the Cleveland Browns when they visited First Energy Stadium two Sundays ago, when the men in stripes took a 19-27 loss in the battle of Ohio, a game where Andy Dalton certainly outplayed Baker Mayfield.

    Around the trade deadline, players lamented the thought of any of their teammates heading to other destinations almost as much as their own departures.

    Right now, I much rather be the Cincinnati Bengals than the Cleveland Browns, if for no other reason than culture alone. The Bengals’ locker room raves about the internal communication, something that was incredibly important in Zac Taylor’s initial statements about the job. Around the trade deadline, players lamented the thought of any of their teammates heading to other destinations almost as much as their own departures.

    Trust me, if you’re the Bengals, you’d rather lose that game by 8 than be on the same boat as the Browns, who are drowning under their own ego clashes after coming into the year with mixed playoff and somehow Super Bowl expectations. No one thought the Bengals would be good, but at least this team doesn’t have a star player asking other quarterbacks to lineup a trade for their talents after games.

    When Andy Dalton was benched, the team rallied around Ryan Finley. When Andy Dalton was renamed the starter, the team rallied around Andy with excitement you wouldn’t expect from a winless team who ranked 32nd in the league in just about every statistical category.

    Not to mention, this team is really starting to play some good football. Not without their stupid mistakes, of course, but the combination of Joe Mixon getting going in the rushing game and the defense starting to kick some tail, they’ve become a pretty tough team to beat over the last five weeks. 

    If this team drafts Joe Burrow with their first pick in next year’s draft, the trajectory of this franchise drastically changes.

    If this team drafts Joe Burrow with their first pick in next year’s draft, the trajectory of this franchise drastically changes.

    In sports, there is no worse place to be than in the middle. That’s why the Miami Dolphins are bottoming out, that’s why the Philadelphia 76ers did the process, it’s why the Baltimore Ravens took Lamar Jackson in 2018. You can choose to be average or you can choose to be extraordinary, but extraordinary is always going to take more work. Eventually, franchises are forced to take a hard look in the mirror and decide what they want to be; usually, the answer is a title contender.

    Could the Bengals have gone to Zac Taylor and given him a playoff-level roster headed into week one? Sure, but then all you’re doing is betting on Andy Dalton to take you into January, which has resulted in the same thing over and over again, a playoff loss.

    Bottoming out for one season to take a franchise-changing player is a tried and true formula, even with varying results.

    Bottoming out for one season to take a franchise-changing player is a tried and true formula, even with varying results. While teams are increasingly striking gold atop the draft, there’s still a Ryan Leaf for every Peyton Manning.

    However, with what we’ve seen from LSU quarterback Joe Burrow this year, it looks closer to the latter than the former. If Burrow is the next quarterback of the Bengals, he should be thrilled for the opportunity to succeed in Cincinnati. On top, his coach will be Zac Taylor, who spent a large portion of the beginning of his career, including with the 2018 NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams, as a quarterback coach. Further, in the Bengals locker room, there’s a lot of interesting young talent teams around the league would clamor over, even if that’s not resulting in wins at the moment.

    Whatever passer winds up in the Bengals backfield next season is going to be in a situation to succeed.

    In his first year in Cincinnati, Burrow (or any quarterback the team drafts) will have incredible weapons like John Ross (who’s made a significant leap in limited year-three reps), Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green (we assume), Auden Tate (another guy who made a leap), and Joe Mixon coming out of the backfield.

    Clearly heading towards a quarterback selection in the 2020 NFL Draft after Ryan Finley showed as an incapable starting option, whatever passer winds up in the Bengals backfield next season is going to be in a situation to succeed.

  • Calvin Spencer’s work to preserve local log house

    Calvin Spencer’s work to preserve local log house

    Scouts from Loveland’s Boy Scout Troop 888 carry a 200-pound 8-foot timber to its destination at the Ross Log House. Scouts moved 7,200 pounds of timbers by hand in support of Calvin Spencer’s Eagle Scout Project. Pictured here are Spencer, Nate Stewart, Caleb Reed, and Sam Reed.

    Symmes Township, Ohio – Boy Scout Calvin Spencer, Troop 888, Loveland, is a 15 year-old “rising Sophomore” at Loveland High School. He is striving for Eagle Scout Rank and his capstone project was making some much needed improvements to the re-stored, Ross Family log house on the Meade Property in Symmes Township.

    Spencer’s project was to repair and improve the tiered gardens surrounding three sides of the Cabin, including re-clearing and re-mulching the back area of the Cabin. The project encompassed two 8-hour work days, with labor contributed by Troop 888 Scouts and adults as well as community volunteers. Six weather delays were endured and overcome.

    Project Details

    • Removed 268 linear feet of dug-in and anchored double-stacked timber wall and replaced with 36 200-pound railroad ties.

    • Cleared weeds from 289 square feet of gardens, covered the area with weed guard and mulch. 

    • Cleared minor brush up-growth in 6750 square foot backyard area and covered with mulch.

    • Total amount of mulch spread:  40 cubic yards (4 giant dump truck loads!).

    The backyard area of the log home was the Eagle project of Calvin’s brother, Gary, who in 2015 cleared the wooded area and installed a drainage system, which works beautifully to this day. 

    Two new 5/8” holes were drilled into each of 36 timbers to accept rebar anchors. The rebar was reutilized after being straightened. Pictured here are the project leader, Calvin Spencer (left), and his lead drill operator, Nathan Dygert. The photo shows the before and after of the tiered garden, with the boys standing next to the new upper tier and the old lower tier in the foreground.

    You can arrange a visit and tour of the Ross Family Log House by contacting the Symmes Township Historical Society.

    Rear and side of Ross Family log house after restoration work by Calvin Spencer

    ABOUT THE ROSS FAMILY LOG HOUSE MUSEUM on the Meade Property in Symmes Township

    The Symmes Township Historical Society and the Symmes Township Board of Trustees joined together to guarantee that this historic 1830’s two-story (20’ x 24’) log house is restored for future generations to enjoy. The Society entered into a long-term lease with Symmes Township which allowed for the log house to be reconstructed on a portion of the Township’s historic Meade House property at 11887 Lebanon Road.

    The Society received a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Cultural Facility Commission, but bringing this history to life through restoration required the support of many other individuals and groups. The Society is thankful for all the donations received for this project. Everyone’s contribution, no matter how large or small, was important.

    This 2-story log home was originally located at the corner of Rich Road and Mulberry Street. The Society believes John and Mary Ross built the log house about 1836. In the 1830’s there were no “building permits” issued so it’s hard to know for certain. But when the Ross’ purchased the 137-acre tract they had 8 children. This house is 20′ x 24′ and is a full 2-story log house.  The size of the house would have accommodated the family and the Society’s research to date points to this family as builders of the log structure.

    John Ross’ parents, John and Jeannette Ross, were natives of Ireland who settled in Juniate County, PA. In 1812 they emigrated with their 11 children to 20-Mile Stand in Warren County. The elder John Ross was a Revolutionary War soldier. The Ross family helped organize the Somerset Presbyterian Church (the church building has been moved to Sharon Woods Village). John and Jeannette are buired in the Township’s Union Cemetery.

    The original log home had an interior chimney. This is somehwat unusual but a feature that would have kept the house warmer in the winter months. The beams are hand hewn and the 2nd level had the original floorboards. There would have been a privy and a smokehouse/cookhouse also on the site. An unusual feature of the house is the front door, which is no higher than six (6) feet. Why such a short main entrance to the house – were people really shorter 180 years ago?