A bit of a damper on the July 4th celebration, as Andy Griffith passed away on Tuesday. Since he represented a slice of America for so many folks, it only makes sense that he’d leave us this close to America’s birthday.

Not enough firepower for Urban

Buckeye 411

• Hall no!! We hope it’s not true, but a number of reports on Tuesday speculated that Jordan Hall’s foot injury might keep him sidelined until much later than the 10 weeks that were initially reported. While some discussed the possibility of a red-shirt, others pointed to Hall’s own comments about his willingness to work beyond those limitations. As a fan, though, you’ve got to want what’s the best for him over the best for the program… It’s good to be loaded at Running Back.
• iPad Pushback- The OZone’s Brandon Castel has a pretty good summary of Ohio State’s new iPads For Athletes program, including discussion of how they’ll be used in the classroom and in the locker room. He also points out that these are similar to the laptops that Buckeye Student Athletes were given in the past, particularly in that these are loaners to be checked out and back in. Hopefully this will go a ways toward mitigating some of the “privileged athletes get even more perks” critiques that the program initially received. Again, these are not the property of the recipient… in a good way.
• Sully The Celtic- Introductions all around earlier this week, with additional news that Kevin Garnett will be staying, Jason Terry might be joining, and Ray Allen is in limbo for Jared’s new team. Still gonna’ take a while to get used to the green and white uniform, though.

Buckeye Fireworks

Commentary: The Myth of Independence.

Before anyone starts going Ricki Stanzi on me for desecrating “‘Merica’s Birthday”, let me clarify by saying that this is a reflection not on our country but on the “ties” that bind the college football programs that we follow. Specifically, a program that hasn’t lost less than three games since the 1993- the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

With all of the whispers and rumors about expansion and conference alliances that have been occurring for the past three years or so, one of the discussion points has constantly been whether or not the men of the Golden Dome would step away from their “national prestige” and independent status and partner up with other programs.

The Big lEast was the obvious choice, since all other ND sports perform there, but their decision to primarily be a basketball conference seems to have eliminated them from consideration. For numerous reasons (Previous snubs? Fear of geographical limitation? Research concerns?) the B1G also looks to be passed over, in spite of the natural fit for the Irish.

Word the past two weeks have had the Domers trying to play the ACC and B12 against each other as all three parties try to negotiate new or better television deals; with the NBC in discussion as the Peacock looks to develop their own sports network.

And that’s just it… Notre Dame is no more independent than any other major football program, in that their allegiances are for sale.

Sure, they’re not currently tied down to any specific conference, and that allows them to act in their own best interest rather than have those interests be impacted by other schools.But to pretend that they function without an agenda that’s dependent on outside agencies; and that they’re not 100% OK with that dependency, is a lie no more true than the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

There’s an old joke about a man who approaches a woman with the proposition to have sex for a million dollars. She quickly accepts. He then makes the same proposition for twenty dollars, only to have her respond, “What kind of woman do you think I am?”.  He says, in turn, “We’ve already determined that… we’re now just negotiating price”.

We already know that Notre Dame is no different than everyone else; we’re now just waiting to see what their price will be.

Gun Show?

College Sports News

• It Takes A Big Man To Admit He Was Wrong, and a bigger man to laugh at that man. At any rate, research today indicates that Eric may have been on to something, and that there is a correlation between football success and benefits to the larger University community as a whole. According to data from Berkley (of all places), Alumni giving, enrollment applications, and other key areas are impacted by on the field excellence in BCS conferences. However, the article ends with a pretty interesting quote from Jason Lanter of the Drake Group-

“We need to think about the impact that this has on an institution as an educational system,” he said. “If our mission is to educate young people, help them prepare for after college, then what does athletics do to help benefit that after college component?”

He and Anderson both said that since a lot of Football Bowl Subdivision teams still lose money, the positive effects outlined in this report aren’t enough to justify additional spending.

• Hey, Whatever Happened To… About this time last year, we started hearing whispers that Oregon would soon be visited by the NCAA Grinch. It’s also been a while since the Miami Hurricanes’ investigation was brought to our attention, and word has it that UCF is also due to hear back from the good folks in Indianapolis.  These reminders have been brought to you by the Committee To Highlight Things That No On Pays Attention To Since It’s Not Ohio State.
• Speaking of Oregon- This weekend is “The Opening”, a Nike Sponsored and ESPN covered recruiting showcase held down the road from… wait for it… the University of Oregon (aka “Nike University“). So you’ve got a major network co-hosting an event with a corporation who has essentially bought a University’s academic program… and saying “Good luck” is an impermissible benefit and NCAA violation? Nonetheless, best wishes to Buckeye verbals and targets in Eugene: Eli Woodard, Cam Burrows, Jalin Marshall, Marcus Baugh, Jayme Thompson, Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Green, Taquan Mizzell, and others.

And Finally

Have a great Fourth of July… What better way to celebrate than with America’s greatest creation: Rock And Roll!

Tags: Academics, Auburn, Conference Expansion, ESPN, Jared Sullinger, Jordan Hall, Miami, Nike, Notre Dame, Oregon, Recruiting, Scandal
Categories: College Football, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football