Sing to the morning light, dear readers. Though we now turn the calendar to the non-football, non-basketball months of the year, please don't retreat into a deep, dark depression. For us, it's never the offseason when it comes to Ohio State sports talk.
In case anyone missed the announcement yesterday, 11W will be hosting a Spring Banger the evening of the Spring Game. While it looks doubtful that I will be able to attend, it's probably for the best considering at our last gathering that centered around obscene amounts of alcohol consumption, I cynically, and unfortunately correctly, predicted an Alabama football national championship and a Kentucky basketball one1. I'm still kicking myself for that.
Also, if you follow baseball like I do, a new season is upon us. St. Louis and Miami starts things off tonight, but for most, opening day is tomorrow. As a Reds fan, I'll watch them begin their World Series run as they take on, again, Miami.
POP POP, CAPTAIN2. With the Spring Game still a couple weeks away, football practices are in full swing. However, Urban Meyer, his assistant coaches, and some members of the team took a break yesterday for the Buckeye Football Spring Kick-off.
The event, whose proceeds benefited The Earle & Jean Bruce Alzheimer's Research Fund in Neurology, attracted almost 1,000 supporters and raised more than $20,000. Among the items auctioned off were an O-H-I-O picture featuring Meyer, Bruce, Jim Tressel, and John Cooper, and a brotastic dinner with Luke Fickell and Mike Vrabel.
Meyer was the headliner of the luncheon, which Brandon Castel of The Ozone covered, and he spoke highly of Tressel, calling him "a dear friend" who oversaw "arguably the 10 best years in the history of the program."
The new coach disclosed that the team will continue to vote on captains, but he will hold veto power over their choices and one of them has already been decided. Meyer informed teacher's pet John Simon in front of the crowd, "you're going to be a captain", just as he was this past season. According to Steve Helwagen of Bucknuts, his admiration of the senior-to-be has not abated:
“We don't want to spend all of our time with the elites, because that's easy. For me to coach John Simon or have a strength coach spend time with him … Donald Duck could be the strength coach for a John Simon."
In other news, Meyer mentioned that the linebackers needed to improve, and after evaluating them over the first week of practice, he expects that to happen. He provided a similar analysis of the playmakers on the team, though he wants them to pick up the tempo.
SPENCE REPORT. At the same function, Meyer referred to the defensive line as "the strength of our football team" and a unit that's "performing at a very high level and can even get a little bit better." One incoming freshman who could help with that is five-star recruit Noah Spence.
ESPN's Brian Bennett named the defensive end one of six best newcomers to the Big Ten. Although Spence did not enroll early and Meyer sets his two-deep after spring practices are over, he does not like to redshirt players either, especially those rated as highly as Spence, who was considered the fourth best recruit in the nation. Bennett did not forget other freshmen on the DL who could potentially contribute like Se'Von Pittman, Adolphus Washington, and Tommy Schutt. Of those, Pittman is already at Ohio State.
Also on the list were four transfers: WR DeAnthony Arnett (Michigan State), WR Kyle Prater (Northwestern), QB Danny O'Brien (Wisconsin), and RB James Gillum (Minnesota). The only other freshman included by Bennett was Ohio native Joe Bolden, a linebacker who enrolled at Michigan in January.
Aw, phooey! Urban hired Mickey instead.
TIGHT END UP. When Brew Crew member Jake Stoneburner signed with Ohio State, many thought the wide receiver-turned-tight end would signal a broadening of the Buckeye offense's horizons, one in which the TE could be a legitimate threat catching the ball.
Despite leading the team in touchdowns (7) last season and tying Devin Smith for the most catches (14), it was hardly a coming out party for Stoneburner3. The Dispatch's Bill Rabinowitz wrote how that's expected to change this season with a more tight end-happy coaching staff. Under Meyer at Florida, Aaron Hernandez excelled, hauling in 68 catches in 2009. At Rice and Iowa State, offensive coordinator Tom Herman drew up plenty of plays for the position, as evidenced by the 111 receptions Rice's James Casey recorded in 2008.
It's a talented group for Ohio State, with sophomores Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett backing up Stoneburner. The fifth-year senior is thrilled that it's finally his time:
"It's like a dream come true. You want to come to an offense where the tight end is almost the focal point. I wouldn't say we're the focal point, but we're definitely going to get the ball a lot."
Nevertheless, Meyer's main goal on offense is to put the ball in the hands of playmakers, and if tight ends don't fill that bill, the ball won't be thrown their way. Considering the man in charge hasn't been all that impressed with the wide receivers, it's a safe bet that the TE will be targeted, as will the fullback position, with Zach Boren leading the way.
YO, THE SIGN IS REAL SIMPLE, B. IT SAYS WRAP IT UP. Now that the NCAA Tournament is over, sports writers are offering their final thoughts on the Big Dance. ESPN's Myron Medcalf selected his All-Tournament team, and to no surprise, his first-teamers are almost all Kentucky and Kansas players. However, Deshaun Thomas made his second team.
Averaging almost 22 points before the Kansas game in the Tourney, Thomas struggled on Saturday, going 3/14 from the field. The Buckeyes obviously missed his offensive production and his presence as a whole, as he sat with foul trouble for most of the second half.
East Region MVP Jared Sullinger was not mentioned by Medcalf, but Aaron Craft and his thieving ways were. He ended up with 16 steals in the tournament, giving him 98 total for the season, which is a school record.
Mark Titus presented twenty observations from this past weekend, sadly pointing out how Ohio State has been ousted in the tournament by slim margins in recent years. Besides a three-point defeat in 2010, they have lost by two points in 2009, 2011, and now 20124.
Like I did, he found a little solace in William Buford's final performance as a Buckeye, leading the team with 19 points on 6/10 shooting and grabbing 7 rebounds5. Titus defended the idea that the senior failed to show up in big games:
his career scoring average and field goal percentage in games against ranked teams and in NCAA tournament games are barely worse than those same stats for his overall career. This, of course, should be expected, since ranked teams and tournament games provide better competition.
SO LONG, WILLIE BUCKETS. On that topic, Rob McCurdy of the Mansfield News Journal reflected on Buford's career at Ohio State, one in which Matta says "helped us build this basketball program into something special."
He should be remembered for more than his inconsistency. Other than a starting a school record 137 games, Buford finished just behind 12-year player David Lighty in career wins and matched Jerry Lucas with 1,990 points, good for third place in Ohio State history. In addition, WB is one of four Buckeyes to notch 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 300 assists.
After the loss to Kansas, Buford couldn't quite fathom the end of his college days:
"I'm not over it yet. It might look like it, but I'm cool," he said. "There ain't anything I can do about it. Just open up another chapter in my life and hopefully I have success at that."
I think all OSU fans will be rooting for him.
WISHFUL LINKING. The Ohio State men's golf team won the Wildcat Invitational... A lot of people are on the Hoosier bandwagon for next season... David Stern prefers a two-and-done rule... Is it time to do away with the Wonderlic?... VottOs... Who's got better moves: RG3 or Robert Quarles (quasi-NSFW)?... Breaking Mad... Not everyone can be part of a team.
- 1 I thought I had reversed the curse after New England lost the Super Bowl. It apparently was still in effect for college teams.
- 2 Six seasons and a movie.
- 3 /2011'd
- 4 I never want to see one of my teams get blown out, but in some ways, it'd have been easier to take if they had lost the game by, like, five points.
- 5 Since he was the only OSU player to shoot better than 50% versus KU, I wanted him to take the potentially game-tying three-point shot that Thomas attempted (twice) near the end. On the other hand, if he had missed like he did against Kentucky, I worry he never would have recovered, psychologically.
