With all the negativity and general angst permeating the OSU blogosphere, I thought we could all use some positive therapy.
Believe it or not, some favorable Buckeye-related things have happened since the CEO of OSU football and overseer of your outlook on life found himself in hot water with everybody’s creepy uncle, the NCAA, giving the national media a chance to conduct their long prepared public stoning. I want to list a few of the heady nuggets here, but I’m also asking as part of your Saturday morning therapy session that you chime in with your own in the comments. If nothing else, it’s a better alternative to being asked to sit Indian style, put your hands in front of you shaped to form a steeple and sing Kumbaya, only to realize your body is so old and broke down that you can’t even sit Indian style anymore without tearing your ACL.
One man’s list of good news…
- Today is the last day of the rainiest April in Columbus, Ohio history. As of early yesterday, a total of 7.13 inches of rain fell breaking a record that stood since 1893. If 7.13 inches of God’s tears in the capital city don’t prove he’s a Buckeye fan, I don’t know what does.
- Cameron Heyward was not only selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft, he gets to play for an elite professional organization in the same town as his dad played collegiately and where he already has some family stationed. Even better for his career, he gets to learn from a classic Buckeye and fresh member of the pro football HOF, Dick LeBeau. Talk about being put in a position to succeed. Cam's certainly earned it and even Steeler haters have to see what a great situation he's walking into. A truly great Buckeye that we can all be proud of.
- It looks like Braxton Miller will have every opportunity to gain meaningful snaps in the first half of this year, setting us up to at least go into next year with a somewhat seasoned guy under center.
- We have some high character guys, notably Mike Brewster and John Simon, that can lead their teammates through a tumultuous off-season, ensuring as much non-supervised development occurs as possible heading into fall camp.
- Jordan Hall, Jaamal Berry and Rod Smith look to be able to give Ohio State all the versatility and depth they'll need at the RB slot through the first five games without Boom Herron.
- Even though it could lead to him leaving, Luke Fickell gets the shot he deserves to further his coaching resume.
- Jared Sullinger and William Buford are both coming back next year to play with Aaron Craft, Deshaun Thomas and some new kids, most notably Shannon Scott, Amir Williams, Sam Thompson and LaQuinton Ross. Oh, and PJ Hill has been out of eligibility for 2 years now.
- We don't have to look at the camoflauge helmets anymore. (I love our Armed Forces as much as the next guy but those helmets were junk)
- Chris Spielman has taken over as the undisputed former-Buckeye voice of reason, offering genuine, balanced views on the program. I certainly prefer seeing Speils on national TV discussing tough times over Herbstreit blasting away in between gel applications.
- The latest pimped-out drygoods from 11W.
- Mike Conley helped Memphis win a playoff series for the first time in franchise history averaging 14 pts, 5 assists and 5 rebounds in the five games. He may never justify his draft selection but he's evolved into being Matta's best alum in the league and even with careers yet to unfold from Oden, Turner, Sully and Buford, it might stay that way for years to come.
