Welcome to this week’s latest edition of Weekend Wonderings. Since I write this before the Big Ten Championship Game, the outcome is still in doubt. However the game turns out, I hope you’ve all recovered, for good or ill, and we move on with our lives. And hopefully, we move on to the NCG. Please take a few minutes, grab a beverage and let’s get into this. Also, the Browns play the Patriots today, so you may need to double up the elixir.
The James/Wexner
Here’s some interesting news from The James. Due to the generous efforts and donations of Pelotonia volunteers and donors, nine research grants have been awarded.
“These pilot grants, funded by Pelotonia, are so critical to ensure that Ohio State stays at the forefront of speeding the development and delivery of treatments that target the molecules and markers fueling each person’s unique cancer,” says Michael Caligiuri, MD, director of OSUCCC and chief executive officer of the James Cancer Hospital & Solove Research Institute. “These projects represent bold, out-of-the box thinking to develop preventions and treatments that target individual cancers. None of these ideas would have been funded—along with so many other big ideas in cancer research—were it not for the thousands and thousands of Pelotonia riders and donors. Each of rider helps bring us closer to our shared vision of a cancer-free world.”
After 90 picks, tBBC’s pick ‘em between Gary and myself has come down to the final week.
With our contest deadlocked, we will pick the winners of Saturday’s games and use the total points scored in the B1G championship game as the tiebreaker.
To recap last week, both of us took Ohio State, Nebraska, Sparty, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Indiana.
We missed on Nebraska and Wisconsin and head into the last week deadlocked at 30-15. Thanks Bo Pelini.
I’m glad the Huskers don’t play this week.
Who forced you to pick us?
Anyhoo, we are going to pick all the relevant and not-so-relevant Saturday games and see if we can’t get this thing figured out.
Games we are picking:
Gary likes Marshall, UCF, Oklahoma State, Uconn, Baylor, Missouri, Rutgers, Arizona State, FSU, Buckeyes, LA Lafayette and Fresno State.
Gary questioned my manhood and told me not to copy his games. “Well I know how much you have to cheat off me to stay in this thing,” Gary said.
Unfortunately, there is not one game I would and will pick differently. So it comes down to total points in the B1G title game.
Gary has 45 points. I’m going with 46 points.
Let’s hope that we’re both WAY under. Go Bucks.
It’s the last week of the regular season and just like when we started our pick ‘em we are tied.
Last week’s dud by Gary allowed me to tie it up. I was sooooooo close to taking Iowa over Michigan but I didn’t want to risk it.
Oops.
Gary went 3-3 last week, picking OSU, Sparty and Whiskey correctly, while whiffing on TTUN, Purdon’t and Penn State. The only difference with my picks was that I took Illinois over the Boilerstinkers.
Hey, I know when a team is really bad. I’m a Cubs fan.
So this week we have six games.
SPOILER ALERT: We will have to have a tiebreaker next week.
Gary and I have picked the same on all the games. We are taking Ohio State, Nebraska, Sparty, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Indiana.
No matter how you slice it, we are going to end up tied. I really, really tried to pick one game against Gary. But I couldn’t find one where I felt even remotely comfortable. Gary didn’t want to take any chances either.
Soooooooooooooooooooo, we will look ahead to next week where there are eight games we will use as our tiebreaker. And total points in the B1G title game will serve as the ultimate tiebreaker. IF we both pick the same number of points, I don’t know what to tell you.
Beer chugging contest? Jagerbombs?
Maybe we will take suggestions from our readers.
Standings heading into final week:
Gary and Scott: 26-13
The Buckeyes sit at 11-0 and Hate Week is here. Last night students participated in the annual Mirror Lake jump and tomorrow we settle in for Thanksgiving before the weekends fun begins. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Senior Send-off
Saturday at Ohio Stadium was both bitter sweet and bitter cold. Bitter sweet in that we said goodbye to the seniors (and Bradley Roby) and bitter cold because, well, it was cold and snowed like crazy for parts of the game with Indiana.
Carlos Hyde in final performance at Ohio Stadium
It’s truly incredible to think of where this senior class has been, or should I say been through. This is a group that was part of the Sugar Bowl winning team against Arkansas in January of 2011, went through the turmoil of “tat-gate”, lost their head coach, lost the Gator Bowl in January of 2012 and now sits on a 23 game school record breaking win streak.
I don’t know that there is a senor class that has gone through those type of massive ups and downs in their careers at Ohio State. You’d be very hard pressed to find one. It is a tribute to the character of them all that they stayed the course through the hard times and are now riding an unprecedented win streak into The Game and the upcoming bowl season where they will hopefully get a chance to play for the national championship.
They could have left, transferred to the schools of their choice. But they didn’t. It’s ironic that during Hate Week a quote by Bo Schembechler would be fitting: Those who stay will be champions. Read More
The No. 10 Ohio State men’s swimming and diving team won the eighth-annual Ohio State Swimming and Diving Invitational over the weekend.
The Buckeyes finished with 1,137 points, just 46.5 points ahead of Florida.
Ohio State’s performance on the final day was highlighted by junior Connor McDonald, who finished first in the 200 backstroke with a school-record time of 1:40.83. It is also an NCAA “A” qualifying time. The previous record was 1:41.22, set in 2012 by Andrew Elliott.
Connor McDonald set school record in 200 backstroke.
In addition to McDonald’s performance in the 200 backstroke, Steven Zimmerman had a third place showing in the event, finishing in 1:42.66.
The Buckeyes followed up the 200 backstroke with a second-third-fourth finish in the 100 freestyle, led by Josh Fleagle (second, 43.59), Michael DiSalle (third, 43.61) and Vladislav Komarov (fourth, 43.67).
In platform diving, Christian Holstein (286.65) was eighth and Stephen Ettienne (285.15) was ninth.
Ohio State will return to competition on Jan. 17-18 at the Kenyon Winter Invitational.
Fencing team takes on Penn and Princeton
The Ohio State fencing squad split matches at the recent Penn-Princeton Invitational, competing in both team and individual competition.
The Buckeyes pulled a 28-26 victory over Penn in team competition, highlighted by big wins from the men’s epee, women’s foil and women’s epee units, 6-3 each. OSU fell to Princeton, 21-33, with another win coming from the women’s foil unit.
In individual competition, Chris Colley, Joe Guinan and Celina Merza earned first place finishes for the men’s epee, men’s foil and women’s saber units, respectively. For the women’s unit, seven Buckeyes finished in the tp 10, highlighted by Mona Shaito, second, and Eleanor Harvey and Eugenia Falqui, tied for third.
Women’s soccer falls in NCAA Tournament
OSU’s women’s soccer team fell to Kentucky, 3-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the UK Soccer Complex. With the loss, the Buckeyes’ season ends with a 10-7-3 record.
OSU started eight freshmen or sophomores and picked up a lot of experience in the post-season.
Down 2-0, the Buckeyes then got on the board in the 73rd minute when Lindsay Agnew beat a pair of Kentucky defenders, found Nichelle Prince with a through ball and the freshman finished far post from eight yards for her team-high 13th goal.
Kentucky answered right back less than three minutes later when Swift snuck in behind the Buckeye defense and finished a one-on-one opportunity after a through ball from Gilliland to push the lead to 3-1. Read More
Roy Hall has been gracious enough to write out his Top Ten dont’s for the best week in college football. It’s Ohio State versus TTUN hate week and Roy tells it like it is around the players headed into this game.
2006 – Big third down grab here and a TD later, Roy knows how big this game is. And what NOT to do this week!
The Ohio State-M*chigan rivalry is the best rivalry ever! With that being said, there are certain things that you don’t do during M*chigan week. Associating with yellow in any way is unacceptable! So here is a guide, my top 10 things not to do during M*chigan week.
#NoYellowDuringM*chiganWeek
10) When the waitress asks you “Do you want lemon in your water?” the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT! Alternative: Get extra ice
9) No matter how much your son or daughter may love SpongeBob, he needs to stay in the sea and off of your tv. Alternative: Watch Dora
8)Yellow deer crossing signs…Those deer need to stay in the woods this week! If they come in the street, they are from M*chigan and deserve to suffer the consequences. Alternative: Walk
7) Forbidden Fruits AND vegetables: Pineapples, bananas and corn! Yes, that means no corn in your Chipotle bowl! Alternative: Try black beans in your bowl
6) If its snowing during the game, like in 2002, AVOID ALL YELLOW SNOW! Alternative: Try a cherry icee
5) No scrambled eggs with cheese! If you eat eggs with a yolk you’re not a Buckeye! Alternative: Egg Whites
4) Do not, I repeat, DO NOT let your child ride the yellow school bus to school! Alternative: Drive them yourself
3) I’m sorry all you “Golden Arch” supporters but no McDonald’s! It’s a giant yellow “m!” Alternative: Wendy’s (The entire sign is scarlet, and they’re from Ohio)
2) Again, I’m sorry, but if you’re a Hugh Jackman fan, take your posters down. He played “Wolverine” in X-MEN. Not to mention in the cartoon he wore a yellow outfit. That’s the ultimate No! Alternative: Become a Magneto fan for the day!
1) Do not use the bathroom (#1) unless you are fully hydrated! What’s in you will eventually come out of you. If yellow comes out YOU ARE NOT A BUCKEYE! Drink tons of Fruit Punch Gatorade and you should be “clear.” Alternative: Only use the bathroom in the dark. That way you can’t see if you are one if them….
The DRIVEN Foundation is growing by leaps and bounds with regards to success and the number of events that take place during the calendar year. The crown jewel of the foundation is the upcoming #DRIVENFoodOutreach #100000PoundsOfHOPE on December 14th at Moler Elementary in Columbus. If you click on the hashtag link it will take you to the site where you can do your part and help feed the needy in and around Columbus. Just $20 feeds a family for two weeks!!! Read More
Searching for BCS sanity
Welcome to this week’s latest edition of Weekend Wonderings. Take a minute, grab a beverage and let’s proceed. Based on my commentary, we are indeed going through the looking glass this week. We have a couple news items from The James/Wexner, my thoughts on Ohio State’s BCS status, and an ode to Autumn.
The James/Wexner
As expected, we have a couple items this week. First, the FDA has approved the drug Imbruvica to use in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma . Here’s the article on the testing by the James’ staff.
Next up, here is a link to an interactive survey on family health history. It provides an estimation of health risk by reviewing patterns of cancer, heart disease and related conditions in a family. I tried it and it took me only a few minutes to complete. This is a nice base document that you and your health care provider can review. Read More
We’ve got two weeks left.
The question is “who wants it?” Gary started out on fire while I stunk up the place.
But I have managed to close the gap the last couple weeks and one game separates us thanks to my brilliance the last half of the season.
Recapping last week, Gary went 3-2, missing the Northwestern and Sparty games. I was 4-1, whiffing on Northwestern as well.
Interesting games this week. Several could go either way and we are both apparently being cautious with our picks.
“I have to get serious now because I’m done letting (Scott) get back in this thing,” Gary said.
He likes OSU, Sparty, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and Penn State. I agree with him on OSU, Northwestern, Michigan and Whiskey. I would love to take Iowa and Northwestern as upset specials, but I’ve got a chance to win and I refuse to do anything stupid. I’ll go along with Penn State just to stay on pace with Gary, but I can’t take Purdue. Even though it’s a road game, I’m gonna take the Illini. I have confidence in them. Someone else doesn’t.
“Illinois apparently never wants to win in the B1G again,” Gary quipped.
Yes they do and yes they will.
So to recap:
Standings:
