Another Wednesday, another mainstream media member making less than accurately informed statements about issues they think they understand…
Buckeye 411
- Hall? Maybe- This week, Jordan Hall was cleared physically to play by the OSU medical staff, but the jury is still out on how “ready” he is- game speed, etc. Tuesday was a testing day, so we may hear more as the week progresses; personally, I’d prefer that he rest and get ready for B1G season.
- Dodson? Better- Late Tuesday night news broke that Ohio State freshman Kyle Dodson had experienced dehydration as a part of Tuesday’s grueling practices. The University reports that he is healthy, though, and we will keep you up to date as the situation develops.
- Injury Updates- Nathan Williams is still banged up, and may be limited this week. Michael Bennett’s groin injury is more complicated than initially thought, he will need further time off to recover (some whispers of a possible redshirt for the sophomore).
- Bears: One of the points that Coach Meyer emphasized was that normally this week would be a chance to review the fundamentals with the team, particularly given some of the miscommunication that still is happening on offense and defense. However, the Cal Bears run a defense that Ohio State will only see in this week’s matchup, the famous Buddy Ryan 46 (named after former Buckeye Doug Plank). If there weren’t concerns already about OSU’s ability to run in the interior of the line, Carlos Hyde’s replacements will have to do so against a stout three man front.
- Consider Yourself Warned- There’s a strike in Chicago that’s getting all of the news these days, but Buckeye fans should be aware of a brewing controversy on campus as well... #TeamGroundCrew
- West Coast Speed- Cal is a program known for producing great receivers and return specialists, and this year is no exception. In the teleconference this morning, Coach Meyer pointed to Keenum Allen as yet another in the long line of skill position performers for Coach Tedford; given some of the miscommunication in the secondary, this has got to be a concern for Ohio State on Saturday.
- Greatness Comes In Pairs: Newest Nissan “Heisman House” video is amazing for all the right reasons:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g9-yBsmQjc]
Commentary– Facts? Who needs ’em?
On Tuesday, the great team at Land Grant Holy Land were the first to draw Buckeye fans attention to the comments of CBS Sports’ Tim Brando regarding Urban Meyer. Quick summary, Brando stated that Coach Meyer was attempting to get Ohio State’s post-season ban lifted so that they could play for the B1G title; and characterized his attempts as “whining”. He went on to say that the “whining” behavior was something that Meyer had done during his tenure at the SEC as well… although, I don’t remember much coverage of that from CBS while Urban was at Florida and CBS had a sweetheart deal with the SEC.
Brando’s commentary, linked above, includes speculation from former Notre Dame “star” Aaron Taylor regarding Meyer’s motivation and timing for leaving Florida and Utah. I’ll leave this alone, other than to say that Brando’s twitter comments regarding Ohio State fans not being able to handle their team’s irrelevance could more directly apply to Taylor’s former program.
As is often the case, the Ohio State twitterati responded to Brando’s comments, with Tony Gerdeman leading the way. Gerd’s hilarious comments were centered around one point: If you have sources, provide a link to them. And yet, after hours of “discussion” including other media members (Paul Finebaum, Matt Hayes) coming to his defense, Brando only continued to state that he had “read published reports” and provided a link to an LA Times article with the following quote:
Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer was pleased when told of the news.
“I never heard that. I never thought about it. And it’s not going to make us play harder this Saturday,” he said. “But somewhere at a point in November or something, yeah, that’ll be interesting.”
Yup, that sure sounds like whining to me. Heck, if you listen to the audio of Coach Meyer following his finding out that a divisional title might be a possibility, you hear even more of the arrogance and schtick that Brando is referring to. (note, tBBC doesn’t have an intentional sarcasm font… it should always be assumed)
For the record, I believe that Coach Meyer did comment “let me know when they change their mind regarding our playing for the conference title” or something to that effect in a presser last week, but every person in the room knew that he was joking about the issue.
The key there is “every person in the room…”, and Tim Brando was not among them. As is the case in our hyper-media enhanced game of “telephone”, a comment is shaped by people with a particular perspective or narrative, and then regurgitated as fact for general consumption. Thus, a non-story becomes a central focus.
A great example is this past week’s commentary from Coach O’Leary regarding the ‘Shoe not necessarily being a hostile environment. While that certainly makes interesting bulletin board material, it was more than frustrating to see that the four letter network decided to make it the common thread for the game and talk about it on every occasion.
It’s been reported that a statement made at a recent political convention implied that the group in question was “not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers“. Given that we know that people gravitate deeper toward their already held positions when confronted by evidence that contradicts these, and that people seek out ideas that concur with their ideologies more often than trying to hear both perspectives, it’s no surprise that even the “media” would be more than willing to drop their ideas of “news” and instead present “commentary” that reflects whatever agenda and bias that they bring to the table. Heck, we’re just as guilty of it as anyone.
The difference, though, is that we admit our bias in the masthead, rather than trying to come off as the national “voice of reason” in such matters.
Other News
- False Starting Over- Best of luck, JB:
The Price Of Fame- Oregon fans are discovering that having a strong football program comes with a cost; one that can’t be outsourced like Nike labor. Attendance at Autzen is struggling early in the season, and ticket price increases are part of the problem. Given the economic issues at UO, where state funding is being cut and courses are being discontinued, this is not all that unexpected. Similarly, TSUN has issues with ticket value and cost, our “frenemies” at the MZone are doing a season long expose on prices for the privilege of key jingling at arm punts that’s worth a read. In an unrelated bit of news- need seats for the Cal game?- Show Me The Money- Another recruiting advantage for schools in California: a state mandate that student athletes receive full cost scholarships and health care if injured while playing. This is an upgrade to the already prestigious “if your roommate dies, you get a 4.0” reality.
- This Week In Michigan, Part 1- HT to Jon Thoma:
- Impending Doom Report- Thanks to the twitters, we know that Mississippi State has some ‘splaining to do in the near future, and that all of the schools with ties to the Home Of The Blues might soon be singing them, and that ‘Da U has more work to do.
- This Week In Michigan, Part 2- Al Borges, always hip to what the kids are doing. I’m guessing he forgot to say “Jump” in front of “Baller”.
- SEC Accuracy-Grantland had a great article today about aTm’s “addition” of conference and national titles, which we talked about last week. While the author goes on to say that creative and selective memories are a part of the national college sports landscape, the reality is much simpler: the SEC is just really really bad at math.
- Really? The NCAA has limitations? Tell that to Penn State fans…
- Arrogance- Interesting take on whether or not “attitude” is a good thing, and whether conferences can have it.
And Finally
- I Have No Idea What This Is– Perhaps an ad for a KC rib joint?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yir8LYKXjdE]
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