While the details are still coming out, I can’t stop thinking about how amazing the situation in Cleveland was yesterday. We need more folks like Charles Ramsey who would be willing to get involved when it’s easier to just mind their own business. Only one soundtrack possibility today, then.

Silver Dollar Pancakes- Exquisite!

Buckeye 411

• Mmmmm… Pancakes. Ken broke the news yesterday, but here’s the official word on the best offensive lineman to ever play the game’s induction into the College Football Hall Of Fame. It’s the first time that anyone can remember that Eddie George led Orlando over the goal line…Here’s a video clinic on how to play the left tackle position, and a very very very long afternoon for Penn State’s defenders.
• Speaking Of Greatness- Another Buckeye was honored on Tuesday, as Cris Carter was the toast of Middletown as they celebrated his induction into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in Canton this upcoming August.  Also of note, Cris has still got wheels.
• Somewhat Related- Attn: Duron. Alas.
• More Honors-  Coach Meyer was received yet another accolade on Tuesday at the Northeast Ohio Football Foundation as the college coach of the year (shared with Mount Union’s Larry Kehres).  Coach Meyer again accepted it on behalf of this year’s senior class, who Coach Tressel recruited. I can’t decide what the best part of this video package is, but “Tress goofing with Urban” has the lead coming down the stretch.
• Divine Intervention- We all heard the rumors regarding Urban and Sharif Floyd; seems like Tebow’s Dad wanted to stay involved in Coach Meyer’s programs, since Vonn Bell received a sign that he should matriculate to Columbus. Me? I just get the Daily Show or Kimmel late at night… Perhaps I need to upgrade my provider.
• Good Good Byes- The OZone has great interviews with some of the Buckeyes who are headed to “the Show” from a media event at the WHAC on Tuesday- check out what John Simon, Jake Stoneburner, and Zach Boren had to say as they prepared for the next step in their careers.
• Good Byes? For what it’s worth, there are reports that Ohio State sophomore David Perkins may be transferring out of Columbus. If true, I fully believe that it may have something to do with an assault earlier this spring (totally kidding, people).
• Lucrative Business, That- In addition to some amazing moments, the Dayton Regional brought in the cash. Good to know.
• This Week In Sammy Silv- Ready for The Chase? Read More

Tags: 'Da U, Arizona, Bob Stoops, College Football Hall Of Fame, David Perkins, Duron Carter, Eleven Warriors, ESPN, Finances, Higher Education, Jake Stoneburner, Jim Tressel, John Simon, Kaleb Ringer, Kansas Basketball, Larry Kehres, Miami, Money, Nevin Shapiro, Orlando Pace, Pro Football Hall Of Fame, Sammy Silverman, SBP, SEC, Tommie Frazier, Uniforms, Urban Meyer, Vonn Bell, Will Hagerup, Wyoming, Zach Boren
Categories: Michigan Football, Ohio State Football

I find tinsel distracting

Tuesday’s news gave us two hall of fame suggestions for today’s sountrack(s).  And no, it’s not Christmas music- we’ll get to that later.

Buckeye 411

• Major Awards- It’s the silly season for College Football, and sure enough America’s favorite collegiate popularity contest machine has decided to include some Buckeyes as a reward for the undefeated season. ESPN put Bradley Roby on it’s All American First Team. (FWIW, ESPN also tabbed TTUN’s Tyler Lewan to it’s All American list; you may remember Lewan from his impression of a turnstile against Ohio State’s freshmen defensive linemen.) The Associate Press had a little less love for Ohio State’s defense- Roby and Johnathan Hankins were on the second team, while John Simon was a third team award winner.
• More Love For Simon- He told a Youngstown paper earlier this week that he was planning on playing in the Senior Bowl; certainly a sign that his rehab is going according to plan. Simon was also named a finalist for the Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s national award for the Bobby Bowden Award.  We say this a lot, but I will honestly miss watching #54 lead his teammates on the field more than any Buckeye I can remember of late.
• Coaches, Too- Urban Meyer is a finalist for the 2012 Liberty Mutual Coach Of the Year, in spite of the fact that he couldn’t win the B1G CotY (an award that Ramzy nailed in his description of it as an award that’s  “granted only for temporarily overcoming institutional mediocrity.”).  Offensive Line Coach Ed Warriner has also picked up some hardware this week, being named the national offensive line coach of the year by his peers… pretty interesting what happens when you stop trying to run “Dave” every single play, ain’t it?
• Directions- “Well, you just go down to 12-0 Row and take a left…“
• Boom. Well, Cincinnati and their fans had a lot of fun with their brief success and stint as “Ohio’s BCS Team”- but any visions of being the premier program in the state ended on Tuesday, when it was revealed that Urban Meyer was asked to stump on their behest as they seek ACC membership. For those keeping score at home- Ohio State coaches don’t leave for other programs, and Ohio State doesn’t ask Cincinnati coaches to help hook them up.
• Pretty In Pink- There’s nothing more awkward looking than a middle aged guy standing in Victoria’s Secret during Christmas, picking up something for his special someone. Well, that “awkward” just got a little less so, ‘cause now you’re shopping for Buckeye gear.
• Best For Last- It should be no surprise that we’re huge fans of Sammy Silverman, the graphic design guru for Ohio State this season. So, we’ve got a ton of love for his “season recap” poster- check it out after the jump: Read More

Tags: 2012 Season, aTm, BCS, Bradly Roby, Cincinnati, Ed Warinner, ESPN, John Simon, Johnathan Hankins, Johnny Manziel, LSUFreek, Mark Emmert, Money, Oklahoma State, Oregon, SBP, T. Boone Pickens' University, Television Revenue, Urban Meyer
Categories: College Football, Conference Expansion, Humor, Miscellaneous, 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

Today marks the sacred celebration of Festivus, so we here at tBBC have been prepping for the Feats of Strength- JoeD used to wrestle, Rob and Jason have Buckeye football backgrounds, but my money’s on Jim… I think he brings a ton of tenacity to the table.

Anyway, another important Festivus tradition is the “Airing Of Grievances”… and we turn the mike over to our friend and investigative reporter Westy, who weighs in on the state of the sport in Columbus and beyond.

So what do you say now that the news has been handed down?  The Ohio State University will be punished with additional scholarship losses, and most notably no Bowl game in 2012.  If you’re anything like me you spewed a line of almost incomprehensible obscenities and threats at your radio while driving back to work from your lunch break.  But pause for a moment and take a look at the bigger picture with me, if you will.  College football is broken.  No not in this “everyone is cheating, oh heavens to betsy!… quick get Grandma off the roof!” sense of the word broken.  It’s broken in the sense that it’s dominated by greed and money, and the game quite frankly doesn’t matter anymore.  Let me list for you a few of the plethora of reasons college football is broken…

ESPN

Locked And Loaded

The biggest source of sports news in the world is ESPN.  This goes for college football as well.  There are other sources out there (you’re reading one right now), but if you want to talk the head honcho — you talk ESPN.  ESPN has a financial contract with the SEC; a FIFTEEN year contract worth several billion dollars, to show SEC games on their family of networks.  They are in every sense of the phrase, “in bed” with the SEC.  Pause and think about that for a moment.  The number one source of college football commentary, reporting, news, etc … has a vested interest in seeing only ONE of the eleven major college football conferences succeed.  Am I the only one who noticed the conflict of interest there?  Am I the only one who doesn’t wonder aloud if all of their hardcore investigating into Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, UNC, USC, etc, etc… is just a bit curious since they by in large ignored situations at Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, LSU… How many of you can tell me what the cases even WERE at all four of those SEC schools?

Think for a moment if the President of the United States, (be it Barrack Obama, George W Bush, Harrison Ford, whoever…) had all of the major new networks on his side.  Let’s say that maybe those networks have a contract with the President, where they get to show his public addresses on their networks, in return for a huge chunk of money. No switching to Fox or to MSNBC for the opposite prospective, they both like the guy and dislike his rivals….  Does that make your stomach turn a bit?  Does that make you wonder about the “slant” they’re giving their information?  ESPN is to sports, what MTV is to music, only ESPN doesn’t air Jackass (although you’d never know the difference if you looked at their commentary line up, ahem, May/Holtz/Corso/Herbstriet/etc). Read More

Tags: Amateurism, BCS, Bowls, ESPN, Money, NCAA, Playoffs
Categories: Analysis, College Football, NCAA Investigations, Ohio State Football

After a brief hiatus, we’re back with another fantastic edition of the Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour, and it’s certainly one you don’t want to miss- a special “show me the money” episode.

Mali talks to “The Wiz of Odds”, Jay Christensen from the blog thewizofodds.com. They discuss Jay’s research into the financial realities of the college post-season, and the impact this has on the sport as a whole.

First up is none other than Mr. Jonathan Wells, Ohio State running back from 1998-2001. Jonathan weighs in with Eric on the recent Big Ten discussion of extra support for athletes, the current situation of OSU Football, and his perspective on Coach Tressel.  He and Eric talk a bit about his take on Nebraska joining the conference, and he also lets us in on what he’s currently up to, including his Record Label (From the Ground Up Records) and coffee interests.

You definitely want to hear what this power-packed duo has to say! And be sure to subscribe on iTunes so that you’ll be up to date with the latest from our writers and guests.

Tags: Bowl Games, Jim Tressel, Jonathan Wells, Money, Tattoo Gate, tBBC Radio Hour, The Wiz of Odds
Categories: Analysis, Buckeye Battle Cry Radio Hour, College Football, Ohio State Football