Bruce came to visit Ohio last night… and at least one person had a great time at the event. UPDATE: Video Evidence. So, today’s soundtrack is one of my favorite songs from The Boss… even if it’s somewhat new, it’s still a classic.
Ohio State Quarter Back
Buckeye 411
After being away for a while experiencing my oldest daughter giving birth to my first grandchild, I have had plenty of time getting ready for a little bit of spring cleaning. So I am going to take this opportunity to kinda wrap up everything that is RSB overall from football and basketball. Let’s get rolling with the good of Buckeye sports.
It’s time to start the argument. My favorite all-time basketball buckeye on the men’s side has been Jay Burson for a very long time obviously. So here is the dilemma for you to ponder. Has there been a better point guard in Ohio State history than Aaron Craft? Let’s do a quick comparison of their career numbers, and then I will give you my two-cents as to why there never has been a player like AC, and probably never will be.
JB AC
Scorer, through and through
GP 122 148
FG% 50% 46%
3P% 41% 33%
FT% 81% 74%
APG 2.77 4.7
SPG 1.67 2.3
RPG 3.3 3.3
The big difference between the two basically comes down to their area of expertise and what was asked of them by their head coaches and the era’s in which they played. Jay Burson was always a scorer and told me in an interview a couple years ago about the adjustments he had to make to college and how he realized he had a lot to learn after his freshman year. Jay was a pure scorer first and foremost and worked hard to become a better defender. He will go down as the second best at the position in my book now. Read More
In town for one of eleven stops on his Patriot Tour, retired Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell was a guest of Urban Meyer this past Saturday as a guest speaker to talk to the team after practice. As a lot of you know, Luttrell wrote the book Lone Survivor based on his account of the events surrounding “Operation Redwing” in 2005 in Afghanistan. The book was made into a major motion picture aptly titled “Lone Survivor”.
If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I strongly recommend reading the book first. Having done both, I can attest that the book is much better, though the movie does do it justice.
As some of you may recall, Jim Tressel required the Ohio State football team to read Lone Survivor over the summer of 2009. This of course aroused my curiosity and made me want to read the book. So, one hapless day while bumming around Barnes and Noble I came across it in the best sellers section and took it home.
The title leaves nothing to the imagination: The story has one survivor and it is obviously Luttrell. Knowing that, I wondered how good of a book/story it could be if you already know that only one of the four SEAL’s on the mission are going to be coming home? After reading it, “how good” was not the question. The question I was left with was “what am I doing with my life and how can I make it better?” And yes, the book is an amazing. Early on you realize that knowing that he is the only one who makes it out is secondary to how it happens. It will take your breath away and that is no exaggeration. Read More
Life is full of decisions. Sometime soon (Friday?) we’ll get the official word that LaQuinton Ross has decided to head to greener pastures… but until then, here’s the soundtrack for our midweek musings.
Decisions, Decisions…
Practice Notes
Well, not really- it’s still sunny and eighty degrees here in California. But our Ohio (and TSUN and Buffalo) readers certainly could use a break from all of the snow and ice, and might enjoy a trip to some warmer climes. So, perhaps we can celebrate Ohio State’s break with a soundtrack that will encourage and enlighten your Winter Wednesday.
Sun, Surf, Scarlet And Gray
Buckeye 411
They’ve been ranked as high as No. 3 in the country and have felt the pains of being unranked and unimpressive.
But now the Ohio State Buckeyes have a signature win and some momentum heading into the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan State’s Gary Harris missed a jumper as time expired and OSU came from behind to beat the Spartans 69-67 at Value City Arena on Sunday.
Ohio State said goodbye to seniors Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr., and had a chance to say hello to the No. 4 seed and a much-coveted bye in the upcoming B1g money-maker, uh, tournament, but Wisconsin ruined that idea by choking against Nebraska Sunday night.
So Ohio State gets the No. 5 seed and a matchup against Purdue on Thursday. The winner gets Nebraska, which likely earned an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. That winner gets top-seeded Michigan.
LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points and had five rebounds while Craft had 12 points, 7 assists and became the conference’s all-time steals leader to help OSU overcome a pathetic 19-of-31 effort at the free throw line, which almost cost OSU in the final seconds.
Adreian Payne led all scorers with 23 points while Harris had 12 and Denzel Valentine 11.
The Buckeyes improve to 23-8 and 10-8 in the B1G. MSU, the No. 1 seed in the tourney, is also 22-8 and is 15-4 in the B1G.
It was one of those games where it felt like Sparty should have been blowing away the Buckeyes at times, but could only manage a 7-point lead as the game’s biggest spread.
More than once OSU was down at least five points but didn’t let that deter them from winning on Senior Day.
OSU trailed 38-36 at the half but began the second half with a 6-0 run, which ultimately sparked the Buckeyes to a 44-39 lead with about 17:30 left. Michigan State quickly answered and took a 49-44 lead with 16:56 left on a pair of Harris 3-pointers, a Payne dunk off a Harris assist and a Travis Trice dunk.
That led to an OSU timeout with 15:16 left.
Harris hit a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 51-44 and a cap a 12-0 run.
Craft hit a pair of free throws to end the run and make it 51-46 with about 14 minutes left.
Harris then hit a long catch-and-shoot bucket to increase the lead back to seven with about 13 minutes left.
But OSU wasn’t done despite having no real go-to scorer.
Amir Williams made one of two from the line and a Ross 3-pointer cut it to 53-50 after the under-12 timeout. Trice missed a shot, the Buckeyes rebounded and after a foul at the other end and Shannon Scott hit a pair of free throws to cut it to one.
That caused Coach Tom Izzo to bring his starters back in the game as he was resting Branden Dawson, Valentine and Keith Appling.
We lost a great one on Monday, and another iconic figure on Tuesday. Today’s soundtrack hopes that these guys are both on a better path, if you can dig it.
Buckeye 411
The The #24 Ohio State Buckeyes (21-6. 8-6) host the Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-10, 6-8) this Saturday evening. The Buckeyes are out to avenge a 63-53 loss to the Gophers on January 19th. More importantly, the Buckeyes are in the midst of a five game stretch prior to the regular season finale against Michigan State. Currently, the Buckeyes sit in 5th place in the conference, one game behind Wisconsin. Ohio State wants to overtake them to get into the top four to earn a 1st round bye in the B1G Tourney.
Here’s their Profile
