Wonder if it's a metaphor for something...

Well, here we are, at the second biggest shopping day of the holiday and fiscal season. It’s kind of sad, really- all those unwanted or mis- purchased gifts being dragged back to the mall, where “Good Will To Men” is certainly in short supply.

That being said… how hard is it to follow a list? And what part of “bullets” looks like “marbles”… grumble grumble grumble.  Given what’s in the theaters beginning yesterday, you’ve got two choices for today’s soundtrack.

Buckeye 411

• Perfect Ten- Well, not perfect, but the Buckeyes find themselves at the ten spot in the AP poll following losses to Duke and Kansas. Indiana and Michigan both hold their spots above the Buckeyes, who find themselves the highest rated two loss team in the country.
• Great Dane? News Monday was that the Bears had dropped former Buckeye Dane Sanzenbacher, who only amassed 2 catches this season after 20+ at the end of last year. The good news is that he was immediately claimed by the Bengals, so congrats?  I’m excited to see if he will be able to make an impact on the playoff bound Cinci squad, or if this will be a short-term assignment.
•  All Is Not Wells? Speaking of Buckeye alumni, Beanie is convinced that he’ll be traded following this season.
• Ballin’- Elsewheres, Jared Sullinger had a pretty good Christmas Day game against the Nets: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists. Well done, young fella.
• Stars- They make no sense at all.  Case in point: This is the tape of a “four star” high school senior. Four. Not five. Four.  Without setting the bar too high, I hope Joey Bosa turns the “star snub” into the same kind of drive that created John Simon.
• That Being Said- Bradley Roby was supposed to go to Vanderbilt to play wide receiver.  I guess the folks at OSU must know that they’re doing with recruiting and positions and so forth- here’s his sophomore video, in case you were wondering how things worked out for him. Read More

Tags: BCS, Beanie Wells, Bowling Green, Bowls, Bradley Roby, Chip Kelly, Dane Sanzenbacher, Expansion, Finance, Jared Sullinger, Joey Bosa, NCAA, Oregon, Oversigning, Rice, Uniforms, Virginia Tech
Categories: Humor, NCAA Investigations, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football

All The Better To Hear You With

Buckeye 411

• Shower Ends Sweat- This “Duh!” headline actually points to an interesting story Tuesday about why former Buckeye Andrew Sweat chose to end his bid at a professional career. According to the Dispatch, Sweat slipped in the shower the morning that mini-camp was to start and experienced concussive-like symptoms similar to what he wrestled with during his time in Columbus. After they lingered longer than he’d expected, he sat down and talked with his family; I’m sure the recent news about health issues in the NFL had to be at the back of his mind (OK, maybe not the best choice of phrase there). Given that he’s also been accepted to several law programs, it does make sense to look at the bigger picture- heck, even Michigan fans think so. Godspeed and best wishes, Mr. Sweat!
• Hall Of Fame? More Like Hall O’ Lame, AmIRite?-  The College Football Hall of Fame announced their incoming class, and somehow Orlando Pace was not amongst the nominees in spite of the fact that he was a potential candidate. Seriously- the best offensive tackle in the history of Ohio State sports, a two time Lombardi trophy winner and one of two people to win either the Lombardi/Outland three times.  Pace was also a Heisman (!) finalist, and should have been a cake walk into the CHoF.  Doubt me? Watch this video…  Pace wasn’t the only snubbed choice, as Nebraska’s Tommie Frazier also missed the cut. You remember Frazier; three time National Championship Game MVP, Heisman runner up to Eddie George, and dude I met last fall. Video evidence hereabouts.  You know who did get in? Ty Detmer, the guy who brought us such memorable moments as this.
• Rocketman-  JD Weatherspoon announced today what we’d expected for a while- he’s transferring to Toledo to finish his college career. Best of luck, ‘Spoon!
• Justice, Of Sorts- The man who shot former Buckeye recruit Jamel Turner was found guilty on all charges today. The shooting took the life of another Youngstown native.
• Your Weekly Dose Of Swoon- Double shot this week: Craft the pitcher and meeting the governor.
• A Hairy Situation- Nick Mangold getting his chest waxed? Nick Mangold getting his chest waxed.
• Meet The New Boss- Tuesday was the Urban Meyer Town Hall for students at OSU; it was pretty much what you’d expect (huge thanks to @KristinPantoni), except for this bit of brilliance: Read More

Tags: 2012 Basektball, Aaron Craft, Academics, ACC, ACC/B1G Challenge, Andrew Sweat, B1G, Big 12, BTN, Charlie Weis, Duke, Finance, Gene Smith, Jamel Turner, JD Weatherspoon, Mark Pantoni, Mickey Marotti, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Money, NCAA, Nick Mangold, Orlando Pace, Playoffs, Rose Bowl, SEC, Southern Cal, Texas, Tom Osborne, Tommie Frazier, Urban Meyer
Categories: College Basketball, College Football, Conference Expansion, Humor, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football

Weekly updates and miscellany from around the world of college sports…

Urban Meyer's Secret Identity?

Buckeye 411

• Hoops, There It Is- #Hop2theRafters
  
• We’re Stars- With the Senior Bowl nigh upon us, we’ve been hearing good things about the former Buckeyes in attendance. Mike Adams, in particular, is getting rave reviews; his form and size have many projecting him into the first round. Mike Brewster has been, according to report, owning Michigan’s Mike Martin (what else is new?), and things are getting a bit chippy between the two. DeVier has been rumored to have a case of the dropsies, and we haven’t heard much from Boom as of yet.
• Don’t Just Take Our Word For It- From an article on the Cleveland Browns website about DeVier, it sounds a bit like he picked up with Tressel was laying down,

“To be able to lead, you have to serve first,” Posey said. “I feel like being on scout team, helping the younger guys and being in the meeting room and telling them the little tips that I have allowed me to understand the game more and it humbled me as well. That’s what I needed going into this process and going to the next level. Through this process, everything you hear is what you can’t do and everyone’s tearing you down. Going through the draft, you’re going to hear a lot of negative things and then, when you get into camp as well, you have to be humble as well. You have to serve the team and show them you can play. I felt like I learned all those lessons this past year.”

• Don’t Just Take Our Word For It, Part Two-  Again, from the Browns’ website, Mike Brewster said that his work at OSU prepared him well,

“Every day at practice was a challenge, so I definitely think that will pay dividends,” Brewster said of Ohio State. “It really comes in the preparation the last couple weeks and really, four years of college. Now, it’s just show time and it’s time to go out there and do it. Anytime you get a chance to go against the best, you want to measure yourself.”

• Crunching Numbers At Crunch Time- Even though we’ve hit a lull in the Urban Meyer Recruiting Cavalcade, there are still worries that Ohio State might have some issues when it comes to making the 2012 class fit under the 82 scholarship limit imposed by the NCAA.  The Dispatch takes a close look at the numbers, while the OZone’s Brandon Castel has some insider information on some of the attrition that usually happens when there’s a change in coaching. While we (and our friends at Oversigning.com) will be watching the numbers closely to see if there are any SEC shenanigans, it should be remembered that this is not something Urban’s been wont to do. Oh, and Cincinnati has over thirty current verbals. I guess Ohio’s BCS team is trying to become Ohio’s SEC team.
• You Will Comply- The Lantern has an update on the move to make athletic compliance a part of the larger University oversight.
• Urban Sez- Bonus material from the interview with the BTN-

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Tags: Baltimore Ravens, BCS, BTN, Chip Kelley, Cleveland Browns, Columbus Dispatch, Compliance, Craig James, DeVier Posey, ESPN, Finance, Higher Education, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Mike Adams, Mike Brewster, NCAA, Oregon, Phil Knight, Recruiting, SBP, Urban Meyer, Wisconsin Badgers
Categories: College Football, Humor, Miscellaneous, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football

tBBC Investigative Reporter Westy drops in to provide another point of view on the recent Terrelle Pryor news.

Continuing the excellent tradition, of having No Clue At All

I had a rough day talking about Buckeye football yesterday, so to prevent myself from getting all preachy to the OSU fan base in my first ever blog post, I’ve decided to take a step back and let feelings and facts simmer for a while before commenting on the events of yesterday.  So lets try something different for now….

I want you to picture something for me, an alternate life for yourself.

Let’s imagine you’re 18.  You’re 18 years old, and you’re about to graduate High School.  Now by the good grace of God you happen to be a financial genius.  You have the talent and the know how to go into the stock market and start earning hundreds of thousands, if not hundreds of millions of dollars.  People are already beginning to whisper that you may be the next Warren Buffet, or possibly even greater!  But there’s one problem.  Wall Street recently decided to enact a rule that you have to be at least three years removed from High School in order to trade stocks.

This is devastating news for you isn’t it?  What are you going to do now?  Get a job at McDonalds or something for three years?  Maybe you can go trade stocks in the Canadian Stock Market?  But wait, there is still hope!  Lucky for you the local University has a program for people just like you.  They are going to offer you free room and board, along with a pretty nice monthly stipend of $1000.  You’ll get to practice trading on the stock market under a legendary financial guru, one of the best of his time.  On a frequent basis you’re going to have a place to show off your talents to the big whigs running financial firms on Wall Street.  Assuming you live up to your potential, they’re going to be licking their chops to get at you when your three years are up.  The University is even going to give you free tuition towards a degree in finance!  In return all they ask is that you go out into the stock market and use your talent and trade in their name.  Use your talent and make them millions of dollars, millions upon millions of dollars.  If you’re talented enough you might even make them hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Tags: Finance, Jim Tressel, NCAA, Ohio State, Terrelle Pryor, Wall Street
Categories: Analysis, College Football, NCAA Investigations, Ohio State Football