Buckeye Blogger Network
Next Stop, Ann Arbor
It’s Wednesday, halfway to what’s sure to be another glorious June weekend. Big thanks to “Darth Grant” for finding the inspiration for this week’s title and lead photo- Eric may have some more on this story a bit later in the summer, but for now, here’s one of the men behind that amazing flying machine.
Buckeye 411
So as we stare down the coming 2012 college football season, a billowing cloud of fury and excitement just now beginning to peak over the late-June horizon, it becomes apparent that no matter how bad things got in Columbus last year, that the Buckeyes were merely down on the mat for a short time. The cartoon birds flew in quick circles as Ohio State shook its head and looked up at the rest of the Big Ten standing over it grinning. But the birds have gone away and the Buckeyes are back on their feet.
Back again with another preview, this for the bowl FKA the Peach Bowl.
The Basics: Saturday, December 31st from Orlando Florida Atlanta Georgia at 7:30 PM EST. The game will be televised on ESPN. Auburn (7-5 4-4 SEC) and Virginia (8-4 5-3 ACC).
History: The SEC and ACC have been playing in this game in the Georgia Dome since 1992. Originally known as the Peach bowl and then the Chick Fil A Peach bowl and now just the Chick Fil A game. Must be a hatred for the Peach because they have kept the Orange Bowl? The game goes all the way back to 1968.
Auburn: Following their national championship season from a year ago Auburn went 7-5. And they come into this game with their #1 offensive threat Michael Dyer suspended due to team rules. I am still trying to figure out what it takes to get suspended at Auburn. Auburn obviously went up against the gauntlet in the SEC West, which may prepare them some for this game, but don’t look for a good display of offense in this one from Auburn. Expect their defense to try and carry them to a victory. Obviously all of us here at the blog are expecting a victory but don’t be surprised to see Virginia nab this one.
Virginia: The Cavs made a huge turnaround this year in the ACC going from 4-8 to 8-4. Coach Mike London won coach of the year honors for the turnaround. Virginia is just a balanced team with their best player being all-america guard Austin Pasztor who leads the way for an offense quarterbacked by Michael Rocco who threw for 2359 and 11 tds on the season. Not a lot but enough to get the job done. The Cavs will also try and pound the ball with their two headed attack Perry Jones and Kevin Parks. Who combined for 1500 yds and 13 tds on the year.
Fun Fact: Did you know that this game has sold out for 14 straight seasons? And that the sponsor has a funny song?
Who we got?
Today, we join with racing fans in mourning the loss of Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon. As such, this week’s soundtrack has a bit of a somber tone. We give ESPN/ABC a lot of criticism, but they got this one right- Thoughts and prayers with his family and friends.
When will it stop?
This week was very very special across the college sports landscape, as special teams highlights and gaffes were the order of the day across the nation. First, the “Woah! Did that just happen?” moments…
When Clemson and Maryland met, the undefeated Tigers should have known that something was swirling that could have put a blemish on their dream season. For starters, the Terrapins chose a uniform that didn’t look like a condiment tray this week, choosing instead the “Fancy Hot Sauce” look. Maryland opened up an eighteen point lead in the second quarter on the Tigers, and nothing in the Michelle Obama playbook was working at all. Then, Sammy Watkins happened, all 345 total yards of his offense, including a special teams play that turned the tide for good.
However amazing his individual performance was for the night, the special teams highlights for the day happened in the “Battle Of The Oil Money”, where T. Boone Pickens University traveled to Austin and found themselves in a shootout with the Longhorns. It was one of those games where you were certain that the last team with a series of possession would win… unless there was time for a kickoff or two: Read More
Well, after a loss there really is only one choice for this week’s soundtrack… Just be thankful I didn’t go all Broadway on you. I know that there were exciting things on the field to talk about, but the big story brings us to…
Not just for Wisconsin fans anymore...
This week in EXPAND-A-PALOOZA: Well, well, well- Saturday awoke to the ACC getting their big boy pants on, and Sunday it became official- Pitt and Syracuse would be joining the conference in all sports. This was a surprising move, since the ACC has been relatively quiet throughout this process, although last week the powers that be agreed to raise the conference buyout to $20 million (from $12-$14 mil). While it looks proactive in many ways, it’s got to be influenced by rumors that the SEC was looking to poach several schools (FSU/Clemson) from the conference. The addition of Pitt and Syracuse also effectively block the B1G; these programs were always in the minds of those who believed that B1G Commish Jim Delaney was looking to connect with the NY media market- that ship may have now sailed. As a reminder, the B1G is constrained, in a good way from my perspective, by the belief that the conference’s affiliations should transcend television dollars or “great matchups”, and include schools that are parts of the CIC or AAU to share research revenue opportunities.
Other rumors today are that TBPU, OU, UT, and TTU would head to the PAC-16 and be in a western division with Utah, Colorado, and the two Arizona schools. To solve the problem of “not playing in California” for recruiting purposes, the conference would move to a “pod” system that would have teams playing three other schools every year, and then two schools from the other two pods on a rotating basis. Yeah, it’s that complicated. Be aware, though, that UT folks were just in LA for the UCLA game (more later), and that UT and OU have board of regents meetings called for Monday, with Texas having “Conference Alignment” on the agenda.
Elsewheres, UConn has also been rumored to head to the ACC (holy cow, is that going to be a basketball powerhouse conference), while WVa is rumored to have submitted it’s petition to be the SEC’s #14. Where does that leave the B1G? Notre Dame/Rutgers/Mizzou are supposedly the next targets… although the CIC/AAU thing is still a strong draw for some who are connected to Longhorn Nation.
Oh, and if the insiders at a certain Northwestern message board are to be believed, ESPN is at the heart of this. Anyone else curious how media conglomerates became involved in the actions of institutions of higher education? And you thought the “coverage” of B1G sports by the four letter network had an agenda now… what do you think will happen when three of the four super-conferences have deals with Bristol’s network. Now THAT’s something congress should look into, if you ask me- particularly given the fact that the organization that was created to monitor and guide these matters is pretty much powerless on top of other issues.
You're WEAK if you picked Notre Dame in Week 1 - Brian Kelly
There ain’t no thunderstorm bright enough, ain’t no rain storm long enough, ain’t no computer smart enough –to keep me from helping you weaklings! Week 1 is in the books, and though I finished sub .500 in the first week of our picks, I am spry and ready to prove that Week two is my week!
Okay, so finishing 4-5 wasn’t so bad in our first round of games. Considering TCU was a lock ( son of a). Notre Dame never loses in week one right?? (Fight this Irish) I thought Ducks fly together? I guess not when you spread em’ out in Dallas.
Breakdown of Week 1:
So just how ugly was it in the very first analysis for our panel? If your name starts with an E and ends with @tBBC then you’re smilin’ this week. If you’re the dope that writes this article, then you are just happy you tied the computer! Apparently anyone named Joe is a week 1 WEAKLING. Here is a look at this week’s results.
Experts (David Fox/Yahoo!): 7-2
Eric: 6-3
Mali: 5-4
Jim: 5-4
Joe D: 4-5
Computer: 4-5
Joe L 3-6
Props going to David Fox, for boldly picking Baylor over the favored Horned Frogs. He said it in the interview, this defense has a lot of work to do. Fox’s only lost came from Notre Dame and Oregon.
Eric went toe-for-toe, but chose TCU instead of Baylor. Let’s just say he has been wishing bad things upon the Bears all week. Don’t worry Eric, the whole panel was. The Bulls and Bears swept the panel in week 1. Eric says this is a true sign from the football gods that TCU belongs in the Big East.
And well, with the Irish, we are used to this by now aren’t we?
The panel got back on track with sweep wins by selecting Oklahoma over Tulsa and Mizzou over Miami (OH).
Week Two Analysis:
Speaking of those Wacos, this week’s guest writer Lisa Horne of Fox Sports.com and I discuss Big Ten and SEC expansion and the Big 12′s role in it to open things up. Lisa then helps us break down Michigan/ND (EWW), Arizona State/Missouri, Auburn/Mississippi State and Wisconsin/Oregon State with us. A very solid interview with Lisa, as she brings us her great football knowledge. And yes, she chose Michigan, but what else was she supposed to do? Take Notre Dame?
Picks of the Weak: Week 2 With Lisa Horne by The Buckeye Battle Cry
Now it’s time to get to the Games!
Quick notes for a Thursday:
Buckeyes
Best Wishes
Stay Tuned
tBBC has some big news tomorrow… very large indeed. (This is only site related… no need to freak out about NCAA stuff)
Fourth installment of our Q&A regarding the recent happenings in Columbus- today’s question was also put to our team before all of the events of this week, and should be viewed as such:
Question- Why do you think this story has gotten more media coverage and “energy” than the ones at Auburn, Oregon, or earlier scandals?
And we're coming... to your citaay...
Jay- Because it’s “sexy.” This isn’t just recruiting violations. This is about tattoos (originally), and cars, and trophies. But more than any of that stuff, this is big because (sadly) it involves Tressel and his well-known reputation. Ohio State will always get attention when things happen, but Tressel has been such a figure for the school and college football. The story has shock value because of him.
Joe- Easy, We are the Ohio State University. We have a ton of alumni all over the country, it is something that everyone from the huge sports fan to the average Joe has an opinion on.
We are disliked by many because we have been successful for the past decade, and it seems that people like to bring down teams that are on top and preach the squeaky clean, “always do the right thing” way- think about if Tim Tebow or Duke basketball were to get in trouble; there’d be big time stories based on the persona that the two put out there.
Everyone feels like Auburn is dirty, but the articles if this were ever proven would probably read “it was just a matter of time”.
Robby- There’s a couple different circumstances that contributed to the more media coverage and energy devoted to this story. For one, ESPN is the Worldwide ‘Never stop talking about the same story over and over again’ Leader in Sports and that’s everyone’s source of sports news now a day. They fed the Ohio State scandal frenzy in the beginning, and kept it going on and on. That was a big factor, and the other centers around Ohio State being at the epicenter of that media scrutiny. Being in the Big Ten, the Midwest, and having a high profile name like THE Ohio State University, everyone wants to see the Buckeyes crumble. When it happened, everyone couldn’t get enough of it. The Cam Newton story at Auburn was pretty significant, but you never saw that story or the allegations at Oregon take off because of what ESPN can do to a story.
Too soon for a car reference?
Quick announcement and some short news updates this morning…
Introducing: tBBC Mobile platform. If you’ve been reading us on your iPhone or Android Device, hopefully you’ve noticed that we’re a lot more user friendly these days. Thanks to the great work of Chad at digital:construct, we’ve launched a version of this that you can take with you- especially helpful in solving bar arguments with fans from other programs.
Over the next couple of months, we hope to roll out a couple of other ideas and initiatives to help our goal of getting you the news, commentary, and shenanigans that you’ve come to expect whenever and wherever you want it. Now, there’s no excuse to not get involved… in your tweets, on your book of face, or on your phone. In spite of what they say, we think it’s awesome.
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