Mr. Popular
Tressel holds book signing in BoardmanBy ED PUSKAS Tribune Chronicle Sports Editor
Article Photos
BOARDMAN - Jim Tressel might not be as popular as Hannah Montana nationwide, but in Ohio - and particularly in the Mahoning Valley - an appearance by Ohio State's football coach is as big as it gets.
How big?
Former Youngstown resident Garrett Botirius drove from Charlotte, N.C., back to his old hometown to purchase several copies of Tressel's new book, ''The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life,'' and have it signed by the Buckeyes coach.
Botirius arrived outside the Barnes & Noble store on Boardman-Poland Road in Boardman at 12:30 a.m. on Thursday. Almost 10 hours later, Botirius finally got to chat with Tressel as he signed his copies of the book co-authored by Chris Fabry.
''It's an honor just to see him. He's the best coach in all of college football,'' Botirius said. ''I haven't slept in a day-and-a-half, and it's completely worth it to get all these books signed. I was just worried I wasn't going to get a spot, so I wanted to make sure I did that.''
Botirius said he and four or five other fans spent the night outside Barnes & Noble. More people began to arrive at about 5 a.m. By 8 a.m., when store representatives began passing out wristbands, the line stretched from the entrance a few hundred feet past the nearby Kohl's store.
Virginia Smith, of Girard, said one of the books she purchased will be a Christmas present for her son, Mark, who lives in England.
Smith and Debbie Feke, of Boardman, said they were Tressel fans long before he arrived in Columbus. They followed Tressel's Youngstown State football teams from 1986-2000.
''I was a fan of the coach when he was at YSU, and now that he's at Ohio State, it's like he didn't leave,'' Feke said. ''I think the Ohio State fan base just got a lot larger when he left here.''
Smith agreed.
''We've been YSU fans for the longest time,'' she said.
Smith said she and Feke arrived at Barnes & Noble at 6 a.m. to get in line.
Dave Philibin, of Austintown, and George Porinchak, waited until about 7:15 a.m. Philibin's wrist band was No. 122.
''We've followed Tressel since the YSU times, and we've got a group of guys who go to all the Ohio State home games,'' he said. ''We respect what he's done for the area and for Ohio State. For the whole state, in fact.''
Porinchak purchased multiple copies of the book. He hadn't yet had a chance to leaf through it, but has a theory about Tressel's success with the Penguins and the Buckeyes.
''It's his class,'' he said. ''It's honesty, a laid-back attitude and respect. He really pushes respect and 'Do your best.' ''
Tressel, who was in the final day of a three-day book tour at various stops in Ohio, said it was Ohio State football that drew the crowds.
''That's Ohio State,'' he said. ''That has nothing to do with me. You have to know that when you're at Ohio State, they were lining up at 6 a.m. to see the Ohio State coach at 6 a.m. then, too. That's just the world we live in.
''Ten years ago, if I would have been here, we would have had a group, but probably not lining up at 6 a.m. Because I'm at Ohio State it makes a little difference.''
Jennifer Bradley, of Struthers, was a YSU student from 1992-96 during the middle of Tressel's years with the Penguins.
''I just like the fact that he's from Ohio, he stayed in Ohio and he's given a lot to the community,'' she said. ''This is a football town and people love him for that.
''Even if he never went to Ohio State and was still at YSU, it would probably still be like this,'' said Bradley, who arrived at Barnes & Noble at 6:15 a.m. and waited nearly four hours to get her copies of Tressel's book signed.
Tressel said the genesis of ''The Winners Manual'' originated at YSU in 1986, when he took over as the coach of the Penguins.
''It was easy to do this, because it wasn't like you had to sit down and do some research. This is what we do,'' he said. ''Whether it's a good idea or not a good idea, it was, 'Here is what we do.' We chronicled that.''
Tressel said he has been approached with other book proposals, but this one felt right.
''It was the first approach that made sense to me,'' Tressel said.
There was a reason the proposal from Tyndale House Publishers, which specializes in Christian-themed books, was attractive to him.
''They're the only one that approached me,'' Tressel joked.
Actually, when Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy wrote a book after the death of his teenaged son and later his team's Super Bowl Victory, THP was the publisher.
''In my world, Tony Dungy is a big deal,'' Tressel said. ''When that was the group Tony entrusted in sharing his message, I felt like that must be a good group. That made it a lot easier for me to listen.''
Tressel said a major portion of the material in the book was covered in a single weekend.
''The folks at Tyndale were very easy to work with,'' he said. ''What I liked best was that it was important to them that the message we wanted to get across was the one that was getting across. They didn't have an agenda. That made you feel very comfortable.''
The main message in the book, Tressel said, is about separating who we are from what we do.
''When we get too much assigned to what we do, like I'm a football coach and if my whole self-worth is built upon how I do as a football coach, then I think that's a problem,'' he said.
''To me, that's the biggest message.''
William Bundy, of McDonald, arrived at the store at 6:15 to get his copies of Tressel's message. Some of it he already knew about.
''I've been studying him for years,'' Bundy said. ''I'm a football coach, and I've studied his philosophies and how he goes about things. I believe he's a great man and a great role model. We have a lot to learn from him, so this book is exciting.''
Theresa Sullivan, of Poland, waited in line for three hours. She said Tressel's message is perfect for her children.
''I have three sons and I just can't of anyone better to have them look up to than Jim Tressel,'' Sullivan said. ''He sets the standard. He's wonderful.''
But as Tressel conceded, his star power can't match Hannah Montana or, in real life, Miley Cyrus.
''Not even close,'' Tressel said. ''Not even close. And I haven't done any photo shoots.''
