Buckeye Blogger NetworkWelcome to another Monday Musings episode, I’m glad that you stopped in. Grab your beverage of choice and let’s get to this.
A Bit of Context
This past Saturday marked the 43rd anniversary of one of the more horrific events in war/policy protest, free speech exercises, 1st Amendment type of stuff. May 4th 1970 was a sobering, tragic day at Kent State University; the day of the Kent State Shootings when 4 students were killed and nine injured. May 1970 was spring of my freshman year at Muskingum, which is just less than two hours south of KSU.
The period of late 60’s/early 70’s was a turbulent period; really the first that I can remember of an “us vs. them” mentality. Somehow the fact that we were all Americans escaped a lot of people. As a nation, we’ve seen much worse, and managed to work our way through it. There is currently divisiveness in various political/social topics. Frankly, the “us vs. them” mindset is a false dichotomy. My father had a saying that’s appropriate here; “folks are the same as people”. Indeed. So my advice is to relax, we’ll get through this.
Been welcoming QB’s with open arms since 2010
.. not so much, but I’ve a few thoughts on this year’s NFL Draft and, to me, the relative paucity of Buckeyes chosen. The pre-draft chatter regarding Buckeyes indicated that there likely were not many going to be drafted and those who were, not going very high. Let’s start with the draftees.
Who Got Drafted?
This section won’t take too long to cover, since there were only three Bucks drafted.
Jonathan Hankins New York Giants 2nd round
A good pick for the Giants. They need help in defending the run, and Big Hank should provide it. You can be sure that Coach Tom Coughlin will demand high effort from Hank. A year under Urban may help with this transition.
John Simon Baltimore Ravens 4th round
The Ravens need help at LB, so Simon should get a legitimate opportunity to make the team and see playing time. I see this as a good match between a hard-nosed player and a hard-nosed organization.
Reid Fragel Cincinnati Bengals 7th round
I was hoping to see Fragel go higher, but glad that the Bengals took a flyer on Reid’s potential. I’m going to be interested to see his development. [Note to opposing coaches: when Bengals are in goal-line situation and Fragel checks in as eligible receiver, you need to pay attention to him.
The Leaders and the Legends will sing their swan song in 2013. The NFL draft has come and gone: Where did the Buckeyes end up? How stupid or smart were the Cleveland Browns? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Don’t go away mad, just go away…
“It’s good for the fans, it’s good for the players. It strengthens our schedule from the perspective of the postseason and binds the conference together in a powerful way.”
And with those Jim Delaney comments, the Big Ten has realigned for the 2014 season. The first year to include Maryland and Rutgers will also include the newly realigned Big Ten East and Big Ten West.
Those eyebrows look like a bunch of spiders in a wrestling match!
Let me say it, Hallelujah!
Last week I mentioned in Quick Hitters that the BCS had tapped the strongest of their think tanks to come up with the name of the college football playoff and appropriately named it The College Football Playoff. Kudos to Delaney, Gene Smith and the guy who ruined Domino’s Pizza (can you really ruin something already terrible?) and is now AD at TTUN for bringing in some world class nerds to do major research and realize that the fans of the Big Ten were almost unanimously in favor of one thing: Michigan sucks. What I meant to say is they were in favor of the divisions being called anything other than Leader and Legends and preferred a more simple approach like North/South or East/West. Thanks to Jim Delaney and those crazy eyebrows for finally giving the people what they want.
Side note: I remember being in favor of Lakes and Plains over what they chose.
The Buckeyes are in the East division with Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers and TTUN.
Meanwhile the West will be home to Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa and Minnesota. Read More
Welcome to Wednesday, the first of May… it’s officially grilling season (unless you live in California, where it’s always that time). Here’s today’s soundtrack; if you don’t know why, then… well… keep reading.
Archie’d
Buckeye 411
Our Buckeye Bracket Challenge winner sent us this reflection as a part of his “major award”.
Buckeye born and bred
Here’s a pic of my step dad and I at one of the spring games before he got sick.
This was his only Buckeye game, but he was really excited that day knowing it was cold and a little rainy. He never let it let him down and enjoy every bit of it.
I’ve wanted to take him to a game but the only game I went too was the Indiana game when Braxton was a freshman. Dad was sick at the time and couldn’t go. I even got tickets to go to a Browns game last year and he was too sick to go. Now when I go to another game sometime, I know he will be there with me at his first game in spirit. Love ya dad… you’ll be missed but never forgotten!
As a boy I always loved playing sports and it was something I had a deep passion for. Growing up my step dad had a big influence in my life, and I got into sports because I got into watching him playing softball & basketball.
My step dad use to coach baseball when I was younger. He was one heck of a coach who knew his stuff and turned me into a pretty good player. In junior high, when he stopped coaching, then when I stopped playing,when I stopped playing baseball. I didn’t want to play for anyone other then my step dad.
I also grew up watching and liking the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was something My step dad and I had in common- always major Buckeye fans.Every time an Ohio State game was on, Mark and I was always in front of the tv rooting and yelling together. So getting involved with the Buckeyes will always be a memory my step dad and I had- I like to attend Buckeye Autograph sessions as much as I can and it’s become a hobby of mine to get Buckeye autographs. Read More
Tomorrow is the NFL Draft and the Browns are set to be on the clock. Their owner, however, may be in some serious hot water. When will this year’s crop of Buckeyes come off the board? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Nightmare on Lou Groza Blvd.
Compliments of an outstanding 2012, the Browns find themselves once again not only picking in the top half of the draft but in the top 10 at number 6. Obviously the team has plenty of needs to fill and they did a solid job this offseason in the free agent market to help sure up some of the more glaring weaknesses.
New Brown Paul Kruger sacking QB Brandon Weeden in 2012
According to experts, the addition of former Baltimore Raven Paul Kruger was one the off-season’s biggest moves not just in Cleveland but the NFL in general. Putting him at rush end in the 3-4 (as he played with the Ravens) opposite Jabaal Sheard is supposed to give the Browns (Along with Phil Taylor inside) a formidable front 3. I’m not sold.
I love Phil Taylor and the possibilities of him sliding out into the gaps off the nose and being paired with Aytahba Rubin at the same time. I like the thought of Sheard as a hybrid DE/OLB with his wheels giving him an ability to play standing up or in a 3-point stance. Now, from what I am led to believe, Paul Kruger is the “missing link” to bring the defensive line from good to great. I just can’t help thinking: This is a guy who in his entire career has been strictly a third down pass rusher, literally, almost exclusively. Don’t believe me? I’ll bet you didn’t know that in 2011 he played 373 total plays. That number nearly tripled in 2012 when with Terrell Suggs nursing an Achilles tear. Read More
If there’s one thing I have learned officiating two of DRIVEN’s events, it’s that the former Buckeyes involved are just as competitive now as they were when they played. A few are just recently removed from their playing days for the Scarlet and Gray and the others? Well, they all hail from the National Championship Buckeyes and a couple stole the show Friday night at Marysville High School
The night began with a dinner of fellowship with the former Buckeyes and their guests. Some of the players brought family with them and some just brought themselves. After the eating and hobnobbing finished, the emcee for the evening, Pastor Steve Rouch began a question and answer session with each player asking them all about where they went to high school and how they became a Buckeye;what it meant to be a Buckeye; what was their favorite memory, and why DRIVEN.
One of my favorites during the dinner Nate Oliver, HUGE DRIVEN supporter and works with FCA
It’s starting to make sense now…
Welcome to another Monday Musings episode, glad that you stopped by. We made it past the Spring Game and now enter relative sports doldrums. Nonetheless, we’ll come up with something. First stop is The James, then we’ll wend our way through various sports and wind things up on a lighter note. After the horrendous week the nation has gone through, let’s get settled in for something fairly harmless. So, grab your cuppa joe and let’s go.
The James/Wexner
Several updates on the medical front this week. Below are lead-ins, please click on titles to view the articles.
OHIO STATE LUNG CANCER RESEARCHER RECEIVES LANDON FOUNDATION-ACCR INNOVATOR AWARD
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Lung cancer expert David P. Carbone, M.D., Ph.D., who leads the thoracic oncology center at The James, received the Sixth Annual Landon Foundation – AACR INNOVATOR Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research presented by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10.
The Award for International Collaboration in Cancer Research supports an established international cancer research collaboration involving institutes in multiple countries by supplementing existing funding and providing the means to facilitate travel, training in new techniques and disseminating scientific knowledge gained from the collaboration.
A great example of the staff at OSUCCC-James driving research on an international scale. Cancer knows no borders, nor does The James research collaborations.
