The evolution of the birthday cake..

Another Monday, another week. Grab your coffee and let’s get right to it. Before we begin, I want to wish a (some posthumously)  happy birthday to:

• Ralph Abernathy (civil rights)
• Vannevar Bush (analog computer, Manhattan Project)
• Helmuth JG von Moltke (Nazi resistance)
• Rupert Murdoch (media mogul)
• Lawrence Welk (band leader)
• Shawn Springs (Buckeye)

I’m sure there are others, but we need to move on.

Football
Spring Practice began with a couple practices this week. Mali has some (Silver Bullet) points on it. The biggest take-away for me is that after the first day, Urban didn’t think the team looked like a “clown show”. Which he did last year, prior to the team going 12-0. If things have changed that much, I’m somewhat optimistic about this year.

The other item that caught my eye, was some prose by a fellow Big Ten blogger. He had little regard for OSU fans/commentators expressing their relief that Bollman left Purdue to take a better position at MSU. Evidently the source of his disregard is that “we (and he wasn’t clear if “we” were his fellow front pagers, Purdue fan base in general, etc.) don’t like Ohio State a whole bunch.” And then he goes on from there..

And, it took him 330 words so say that he didn’t care. Seriously. I get the (probably Freudian) antipathy towards All Things Ohio State. However, regarding the Purdue coaching staff, they do need to acknowledge their debts to Ohio State (Marcus Freeman), Muskingum University (Jon Heacock, brother of Jim) and both schools (Darrell Hazell).

The James

I hadn’t done anything regarding The James lately, but this is a nice segue from football. The Urban and Shelley Meyer Cancer Research Fund is a general cancer research support fund dedicated to advancing cancer research for all cancers. The dollars raised will advance cancer research through innovative ideas, novel therapies, state of art technology, basic/translational research and many other initiatives at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

As long as I’m on the topic, let’s not forget the Spielman Fund. Well, here’s another way to contribute to the fund this month.

Month of Giving this March to benefit breast cancer research at the OSUCCC – James. Throughout March, when you visit Jersey Mike’s, you can make a $1, $3 or $5 donation to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the register.

On March 27, plan lunch at any of the 14 Jersey Mike’s Subs locations in central Ohio and 100 percent of the proceeds from your order will benefit the the Spielman Fund.

Additionally, “Toward a Cancer-free World” is a partnership between the OSUCCC – James and WBNS-10TV featuring weekly segments with world-renowned experts from the OSUCCC – James. Each week, 10TV Anchor Tracy Townsend and OSUCCC – James CEO/Director Dr. Michael Caligiuri explore the latest discoveries to prevent, detect, treat and cure cancer.

Together, they share some of the world’s leading-edge research — all going on at The James, such as: the latest in cancer-fighting foods, how who you are influences what cancers you’re most vulnerable to developing, the latest in skin cancer-detecting technologies, and the most promising research studies going on right now.

Watch “Toward a Cancer-Free World” on WBNS-10TV every Thursday during the noon, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. To view past segments, please visit our “Toward a Cancer-Free World” playlist here.

Men’s Basketball

Not much happening this past week; other than the Buckeyes taking down #2 Indiana @ Bloomington and finishing off Illinois to complete the regular season. To be honest, the team has been a treat to watch these past two weeks. Hopefully, this is a gelling of the team entering post season. The win got the #2 seed for Ohio State and a Friday late afternoon match-up. I’m sure we’ll have more on this over the next few days.

With a few more games yet to be played, I want to extend my appreciation to Evan Ravenal for his efforts and contributions to the program’s success. Although probably not the  most physically gifted, you cannot dent his effort, energy and selflessness during his career at Ohio State. Thank you, Evan.

Women’s Basketball

The Buckeyes opened the Big Ten tournament facing off against  Minnesota, which went quite well.  They took on Penn State  next, but the season came to an end as OSU just ran out of gas. Now, we wait to see how all this is interpreted by the NCAA selection committee.

Women’s Golf

The Buckeyes did not play this past week, but will play in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational on Mar. 12-13 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Long commute, but not a bad way to spend Spring Break.

Monday Melody

A bit of a reversal from last week’s song, where Mark Knopfler backed up Eric Clapton in Layla. This week, in Sultans of Swing  it’s Clapton backing Knopfler in the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert. [Ed: Note. To my brother, yes I did think of Dad, Uncle Ed, Jim-Bob,  Buke, Wolfie and Doc].

So, what do you have in store for the week?

Tags: Charles Darwin, football, Ohio State Women's Golf, Pay It Forward, Urban Meyer
Categories: Analysis, College Basketball, College Football, Non-Revenue Sports, Ohio State Baseball, Ohio State Football