Thursday’s cup of Mulligatawny, carefully crafted for the best damn fans in the land… since you know how to ask. Fingers crossed for good weather on Saturday!
Buckeye 411
- We Talkin’ About Practice- Today’s event was open to the press, and was a bit less spirited than last week’s affair. Afterward, Coach Meyer said that this was pretty typical, given how hard the team had been working. Highlights included John Simon being John Simon, Jordan Hall making plays in space, Sabino doing a great job bringing pressure, and some standout opportunities from some of the younger Bucks, including a couple of great plays from new DL Chris Carter and Connor Crowell. We also are hearing solid things about Michael Bennett… Bennett, Hankins, Simon are going to be in a lot of offensive coordinators’ nightmares, methinks.
- Injury Update- Lots of dings and nicks today: Shazier and C. Jones were out altogether with an illness, and Christian Bryant, Curtis Grant, CJ Barnett, and even Drew Basil were banged up. And that’s on top of the guys who have been rehabbing all spring: Storm Klein, Wood, Domicone, Nathan Williams, Reed, and Perry.
- Tie? Today’s practice ended in a “tie”, with no winners and no losers. The coaching staff reminded each other that this is like kissing your sister… one more aspect of the SEC that Coach Meyer has brought to Columbus.
- Getting Drafty In Here- By the time you’re reading this, the football staff will have drafted teams for the Spring Game; Coach Hermann against Coach Fickell. And the draft will not just include players, but athletic training staff, team secretaries, etc. We’ll have full coverage at tBBC once the lineups are announced.
- Format- Four 10 minute quarters. Clock will stop in 1st half. Running clock in 2nd half.
- Passing? Fancy! Don’t expect the Spring Game to make Woody proud- the QB’s will be off limits for contact, and it will mostly be a passing scrimmage according to Coach Meyer. He’s a bit worried, though, about the catching part of that exchange.
- N00bs- Coach Meyer said that Taylor Decker (who got time with the one’s today), Mike Thomas, and Brionte Dunn have really excelled during the Spring Workouts.
- Where I Disagree With Urban- The losing team on Saturday will get to do some Community Service, mostly likely in the Buckeye Grove dedicated to OSU greats. I love this idea, but don’t think that Community Service should ever be a punishment. That being said, he’s Urban Meyer and I drive a Honda. FWIW.
- If Only I Were A Student- I could tell him myself in the open forum that’s coming up in May. Wonder if anyone will try to take him up on his offer to kick a field goal in next year’s spring event
- That Awkward Moment- The Four Letter Network was in town today for interviews and practice footage… all while they are still involved in suing the University.
- Anyway– Some great quotes from their time with the Buckeyes, including Stoneburner saying that this team sees the season as twelve bowl games and The Game as the Superbowl. Braxton compared the new offense to Oregon in tempo- the goal would be to run 80 plays a game and create mismatches in conditioning as well as talent and strategy. Let’s just hope that’s the only “Oregon” aspect we see in Columbus (more later).
- Get Them Now- Between 45 and 60 K tickets have been distributed for the game; and Students get in free with ID. Pack the ‘Shoe!!
- Oh, And By The Way- I love Cam Burrows. That is all. And no, I’m not going to tweet at him to tell him so.
Hoops Scoops
- Transfer Story One- South Carolina (USCe)’s Anthony Gill hosted coaches from Ohio State on Tuesday, and will be visiting Columbus soon.
- Gettin’ Paid, Son- Well, legally at least. The University of Kentucky had their entire starting five declare for the NBA draft. You know my position on this… since they lost the Colonels, they deserve some sort of pro team, right?
- But Can You Spell “APR”? Due to academic fumblings, the Toledo Rockets will be banned from the postseason for next year. I guess the folks in Indy were serious after all…
- Transfer Story Two- Well, kinda. Bo Ryan? Still an ass… and yet, completely within the
archaic ridiculous mentally deficientrules.
This Week In Scandal/Other College News
- Great Gig, If You Can Get It- Bobby Petrino’s former BFF has resigned, and will receive $14K in severance. On top of the $20K she got as a “signing bonus”, that’s a lot of money for a couple weeks of work.
- You Don’t Say- As someone who’s lived in the Pacific Northwet (no typo), you can count me as underwhelmed by ESPN’s huge expose on drug usage in college sports, focusing significantly on the University of Oregon. How else can you ‘splain those uniform choices, right? But, since this doesn’t involve tattoos, I can’t be totally sure it’s a hanging offense. Again, not everything “Oregonian” needs to be replicated in Columbus, m’kay?
- There’s This Then- Good quotes from TSUN AD Dave “Pizza Man” Brandon, including,
I think it’s a competitive disadvantage to have a program where there is drug usage as part of the culture. I don’t look at it as a competitive disadvantage if we have to suspend a student-athlete from time to time to make a point.
I certainly hope that none of this year’s team is so “disadvantaged” that they had to work at a local Ann Arbor Meijer.
- Whoopsie! Well, someone broke one of Alabama’s eleventy championship trophies… here’s one idea on how it might have happened-
- Captain Obvious, To The Rescue- Well, the great “Conference USA/Mountain West” merger is seemingly dead in the water, due mostly to the fact that no one really gives a flying fig. Personally, I want to be the type of consultant who can get people all worked up about the most ridiculous ideas possible and then collect bags of cash… think the Sun Belt and/or MAC are looking to merge any time soon?
- Coaching Carousel- Haven’t done one of these in a while, but news today was that Peter Carroll had been contacted by Arkansas, but said “no thanks”. Also, in a hopefully hilariously related story, Todd Graham has a press conference tomorrow.
- This Week In The Freak: Another look at the ‘Bama Blowup:
- Where Credit Is Due- This is a great resource from the Ducks, particularly in the crazy world of illegal benefits and recruiting contacts and so forth. Funny, “burning down a fatty and heading to VooDoo” isn’t really covered therein.
And Finally
- It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye- Pat Summit stepped down today as coach of the Tennessee Women’s Hoops team. I’ll be honest, I’ve been two three D1 women’s college games in my life, and all of them were because I wanted to watch Coach Summit do what she did better than anyone. Thanks for what you’ve done for basketball, Coach; for men and women across the country.
- Spring Game? These are the tickets I want!!
- Also- Dick Clark passed away, which was not related in spite of what one of our readers might believe. As such, here’s a clip with Columbus’ own Jack Hannah:
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