Buckeye Blogger Network
I would like to start this week’s article with an apology as what follows is a bit rambling. Do to some events in my professional life this week, which actually sparked an idea for next week’s column, I did not have time to go back and edit/rewrite the article like I normally do. Hopefully people will still find it at least somewhat interesting and I promise that next week’s will be more on point.
As many of my readers probably know, prior to moving to Australia I was high school football and basketball official in the States. Officiating was a fun activity that allowed me to be involved in sports and helped me to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of sports, you get a very different perspective from watching the game on the playing surface. It also gave me a different perspective on officiating, showing me that it was a much harder job than I had ever anticipated and causing me to back-off considerably in my criticisms of officials and their calls during games. In fact, as many of you who follow me on twitter or who have joined us for our game chats here at The Buckeye Battlecry (if you haven’t joined us for game chats you really should as they are lots of fun), I have often taken to defending the officials, occasionally to the annoyance of others.
As an official I read with mild interest an opinion piece published on ESPN last week about teaching respect for officials. These type of pieces pop up from time to time and while I agree with the sentiment I have given up expecting the piece to actually do anything to change how sports fans view officials and a quick perusal of the comments section confirmed that view. The comments section was filled with the standard responses that one sees when you tell fans to respect the officials as people responded ‘I will respect the officials when they call the game right’ or ‘if I made a mistake at my job as big as what officials make, I would be fired’ or the ever famous ‘I will respect officials when they realize the game is not about them and that they should be invisible’. Of course I am paraphrasing on these but those statements encompass the spirit of most of the posts in the comment section and they are things that we have all heard and many of us have probably even said; I even said things like that before I became an official and I may have even made comments along the lines of ‘if I missed a call like that in a game I would never work anything higher than middle school ball again’ a time or two since becoming one.
Sometimes I think of something. Then other times I think I thought of something before but can’t remember the details of what I was thinking. Then other times I think I think something, but I’m not really sure. One thing I know? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
One of my favorite sports writers is Sports Illustrated legend Peter King. Some of you may only know him for his role on Football Night in America on Sunday nights during the NFL season. I’m here to tell you, Peter King’s “Monday Morning Quarterback” is a must read for me every week and, if you haven’t, something I think you may like as well. 
Let’s put it this way: Wednesday Night Rumble isn’t a rip-off of Monday Morning Quarterback, but it is very much influenced by it.
One of my favorite parts of King’s weekly column is his segment called “10 things I Think I Think”. Ten ideas that have popped into his head that span a variety of subjects, not just NFL related though he does stick to his core subject matter primarily. There ideas that he feels may work out, or maybe outside the box quips that try and make the reader think outside the box with him.
So, without any further ado, here is sort of version of “Things I Think I Think”.
It’s not summer yet, no matter how many days of 90+ degree weather that we have in Los Angeles… but the summer blockbuster season is upon us. With that in mind, let’s revisit an SBP favorite for this week’s soundtrack.
Buckeye 411
It’s Disney? Rats…
The beauty of it is, kids are kids and people are people, and if they first and foremost feel that you care about them and that you really are there to serve them, it’s easy. I’ve had the chance to hone those skills for many, many, many years, and to me it’s second nature to want to see what I can do for someone.
This also sounds familiar,
That marketing and television and all of the funds that are involved in major college athletics have certainly taken a little bit of control, not just for the institution, but I think it’s affected the experience for the youngsters. It’s not necessarily what I believe in, and I worry a little bit that there’s so much time invested into that singular passion, that — are we giving them the experiences that they are going to need through the rest of their lives?
Akron students… I hope you know how fortunate you are.
Buckeye Hoops
Welcome to another Monday Musings. I’m glad that you stopped in. Grab a coffee and have a seat. Frankly, I’m a bit light on sports this week, so we’ll start there.
Football
A big week for Orlando Pace, who was elected into the Collegiate Football Hall of Fame. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve seen a lot of quality offensive linemen play at Ohio State, but I think that Pace was one of the most dominant linemen I’ve seen. He obviously institutionalized the ‘pancake’ block, while possessing very good strength and extraordinary agility for a per his size. This was a very well deserved honor bestowed upon Mr. Pace.
Women’s Golf
The NCAA tournament is upon us with the Regionals being played May 9-11. Coach Hessian’s Ohio State team will be traveling to Palo Alto to compete in the Western Region. I’ll have recap in an upcoming Musing. Good luck Buckeyes.
Since moving to Australia last year I have grown used to talking with people who do not understand many aspects of America. Things like US politics, our view on guns, our appreciation of good Mexican food, etc… seem to baffle many Australians. This lack of understanding continues to sports and one of the things that many Australians seem to have a hard time understanding about Americans sports, other than our realization that cricket is boring, is our love affair with college sports. It’s not that Australians do not understand or appreciate American sports, the NFL, NBA, and MLB all have decent followings over here; NFL and MLB games are on free television here at least once a week and you can find NBA jerseys in many sporting goods stores here. This interest in American sports does not extend to the college ranks though and many Australians cannot understand the passions that Americans have for college sports and the amount of money that is involved in them.
A big reason why Australians do not understand the love of college sports is that students here have a very different relationship with the university they attend than students do in the States. The obvious difference is that college sports do not exist here but it goes even beyond that. When most Americans go to university they live in the dorms for at least a year and then move to an apartment, normally near campus. This means that most American students spend a major portion of even their non-class time on or near campus. It is a very different story in Australia where dorms are pretty much non-existent, the small amount of on campus housing that exists is mostly in the form of residential colleges which function as a sort of academic fraternity in many ways, and a large percentage of students live at home due to the high cost of housing. This means that students here tend to spend far less of their non-class time on campus.
A couple newsworthy items regarding The James this week. First, a notice that The James will again be offering free skin cancer screenings on Monday May 5th. The 2nd item is an update on breast cancer research.
JAMES CANCER HOSPITAL TO OFFER FREE SKIN CANCER SCREENINGS
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James) and the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s division of dermatology will offer free skin cancer screenings from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday (May 6th), on the fourth floor of Ohio State’s Martha Morehouse Medical Plaza Tower Building, 2050 Kenny Road.
People who have any of the following symptoms should schedule a screening appointment: moles that are changing in color, size or shape, new skin growths, skin lesions that are painful, itchy or bleeding, or skin sores that will not heal. To register for an appointment, call The James Line at 614-293-5066 or 800-293-5066. Appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Free parking is available in the attached surface lots.
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
“Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” Immanuel Kant
Welcome to another episode of Monday Musings, thank you for stopping in to see us. A little light this week, but when has that ever stopped us? Grab your coffee and let’s proceed.
The James/Wexner
I’m going to give you the link to the latest news regarding The James work regarding breast cancer. As a reminder to the horrific nature and prevalence of the disease, here.
A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to the drug fulvestrant and perhaps improve the effectiveness of other breast-cancer drugs.
Men’s Gymnastics
Yes, we have a national champion… redshirt junior Michael Newburger is national championship on the pommel horse. Michael is now a two-time All-American.
Michael Newberger.. National Champion
I don’t know much about gymnastics, but do know that their level of athleticism is damn impressive, especially the ability to seemingly levitate and in Newburger’s case, fly over and around the horse. Congratulations Michael.
