Just an excuse to post a pic of Flav, really.Sunday's Uplifting Athletes charity event provided a rare press opp with the Buckeyes hard at work on winter conditioning ahead of the start of spring ball next month.
The big news of the day was Pryor's comments on his knee surgery (the left knee, unlike the school's statement indicating it was the right knee), but The-Ozone's Brandon Castel dug out another nugget while speaking with cornerback Chimdi Chekwa:
“First thing coach Tress mentioned to us when we had our first meeting after winning the Rose Bowl was DBTH – “Don’t Believe the Hype,” senior cornerback Chimdi Chekwa said.
“Right now we’re getting a lot of hype and this is going to be a great season next year, but right now what we’re trying to do is just get back to the basics.”
No doubt a good approach for a season where expectations, especially for Pryor, will be off the charts.
Also significant was the news of Tyler Moeller back working out with the team. His presence on the field this fall is still TBD, but these are solid steps back.
Comments
...My '98's boomin' with the trunk of funk..
The hype is going to be difficult to block out. Hopefully these guys can keep a level head.
My best friend graduated from Miami and we are going to try to go to that game at the 'Shoe next year. We had better win that damn game or someone or some wall in my house will pay dearly. I don't care if we scrape by other winnable games as long as we go for blood in that one.
06 team did a pretty good job up until December/January. Glad we're aren't looking at a pre-season #1. Very hard to go wire-to-wire.
Yeah, Alabama will have so much love going into next year with Ingram and company back that even a 2 or a 3 will be somewhat under the radar.
The hype started less than 5 minutes after the Bucks won the Rose Bowl when John Saunders asked Tress about making a run for the national title next year. Just five frickin' minutes after one of the biggest wins in the last decade, and it wasn't good enough for the media to just let us enjoy what it was.
So, in my opinion, the hype is already misplaced. Several defensive leaders are gone, Pryor could be shaky with this knee thing, still no definitive LT option, and the jury's still out if we're going to see an offense like we saw in the Rose Bowl, or an offense like we saw vs. Penn State. In either case, beating a top SEC team will require a few steps forward. Hopefully the guys know that we're really not in dramatically different shape than we were last spring.
I don't think the expectations are all that unreasonable. EVERYONE said this would be the season Ohio State makes their run. That's those close to the program or the media whoever else out there you can think of. They lost a couple of good players on defense, but there aren't gaping holes out there. D-Line still has depth. LB is actually stronger. The secondary has some questions but both CB's are back and Hines played very well last year as well. The offense should be very good, they have virtually everything back, and so long as the flu doesn't hit the O-line again this they should be pretty good. In my opinion the line played very well down the stretch last year.
I think the team is quite a different position coming into the the spring this year than last year. I also think that it's anyone in the media's job to ask the coach of a team that has a ton of talent coming back if they will be poised to make a run this year. I'm sure Saban had to answer those questions right after the game too. It's just the nature of being a big program and winning big games.
Fear of a Buckeye Planet
All I can say is Kinnick and Camp Randall. I can't see a Tressel team being overconfident again.
I have the feeling this group of Sophs and juniors will be Tressel's best shot at an MNC for the next few years.
Night of the Living Bucknuts
Re: Good Shizzy winter workout article.
Apparently, they've got Moeller penciled in at the "Star" position. Could we finally see Sabino hit the field as a starter on opening day?
I didn't say they'd be overconfident, I just think the hype is warranted. There aren't that many teams returning the level of talent this team is. Sure there are questions, but there are always questions with any team. It's not that often a team is supposed to win it all coming in and then they go out and do it the next year.
If you guys checked out the combine today, you'll find that Kurt Coleman was front and center in front of the coaches every chance he got. The kid is gonna be a steal for somebody.